PCIeTest software

Top  Previous  Next

Main Window

The main PCIeTest application window is divided into sections: Select PCIe test device/mode, results, voltages and control buttons.

Select PCIe test:

Device: This drop-down list shows each connected PassMark PCIe loopback device (i.e. each slot being tested). Each device will have an indication of whether the PCIe test card is configured in x1 or x4 mode. The relevant device should be selected for each test.

Duration: Sets the duration of tests. Specified in minutes. Specifying "0" means run the next test forever ·i.e. until manually stopped.

Mode: The Loopback function or benchmark function should be selected by selecting either Loopback or Benchmark.

Loopback:

When a Loopback test is started, PCIeTest will send a packet of data to the PCIe loopback card, which will loop this data back in firmware and send the same data back to the PC. This is defined as 1 Loopback operation. This will be repeated until the test is stopped manually or the test duration is reached.

At the conclusion of the loopback test, based on the number of verification errors, an indication of whether the test passed or failed is displayed.

 

Benchmark:

Allows the data transfer rates for short bursts of data transfer to be measured. A Benchmark test can consist of a burst of data to the PCIe test card, a burst of data from the PCIe test card, a burst of data to the PCIe test card followed by a burst of data from the PCIe test card. When a test is started, PCIeTest will transmit or wait to receive a block of data (as appropriate for the test type selected) and display the throughput. This will be repeated until the test is stopped manually or the test duration is reached.

The measured throughput is the measured throughput to/from the PCIe test card and provides an indication of the PCIe slot throughput. The test card can load up small amounts of data to be received quickly, but if the bus doesn’t keep up then the buffer quickly fills and the transfer speed trends towards the underlying bus speed. Also, the PCIe test card hardware is limited to throughput of about 1200MB/s.

A graph will display the maximum read and write speeds. The vertical bar charts are color coded for a quick visual indication of the results:

For an X1 connection, above 375MB/s is shown as green, above 300MB/s is shown as yellow, otherwise the bar is shown as red (i.e. below what should be expected).
For an X4 connection, above 1100MB/s is shown as green, above 900MB/s is shown as yellow, otherwise the bar is shown as red (i.e. below what should be expected).

At the conclusion of the benchmark test, an indication of whether the average benchmark throughput was within a reasonable expected range:

For an X1 connection, above 300MB/s is shown as a pass, otherwise a fail (i.e. below what should be expected).
For an X1 connection, above 900MB/s is shown as a pass, otherwise a fail (i.e. below what should be expected).

These values should be considered a guide, and not an indication of meeting specific hardware requirement specifications.

It should be noted that the maximum theoretical throughput of PCIe slots is approximately:


x1

x4

PCIe 1.0

232MB/s

928MB/s

PCIe 2.0

464MB/s

1855MB/s

 

Voltage and temperature:

Allows the voltage and/or temperatures to be rapidly monitored and graphed.

 

Results

The individual loopback or benchmark results followed by an overall summary, such as the overall maximum, average and minimum.

Temperature and voltage display

Displays the temperature and/or voltage from the currently selected PCIe test card. When running the "Voltage and temperature" test, the 2 sources specified in the test configuration, e.g. PCIe slot 12V and  PCIe slot 3.3V, will be displayed.

The values are color coded to give a quick visual indication whether the value is in or out of range. For voltage values, green indicates within 8% of the target value, and red more than 8% from the target value. For temperature display, below 50C is shown as green, and above 50C shown as red. These values should be considered a guide, and not an indication of meeting specific hardware requirement specifications.

Controls

Start - starts the specified test.

Stop - stops the current test.

Configure - opens the configuration window to allow the setup of the test.

Reset All - Clears all counters and the display. To verify that the LEDs are working on all PCIe loopback cards connected, Reset All will also switch all programmable, LEDs off for 0.5 seconds, and then switch all LEDS on for 0.5 seconds. The LEDs will then return to their initial state.

Save Log - Saves the results to a user specified file. Up to the last 10000 logged lines are saved.

Save Graph - Saves the temperature and voltage graph to a user specified file.

About - Version of software.

Help - This help file.

Exit - Close the PCIeTest application.

 

Configuration Window

 

Various parameters may be configured for each test depending on test mode. The following options appear in the configuration window:

Loopback options:

Loopback load: This option allows the data transfer load to be modified by inserting delays between each Write and Read cycle. It is only applicable to the loopback test.

Benchmark options:

Block size: The test data block size to be used in the test from 2048 to 8192 bytes (in 128 byte increments). "Cycle" will cycle through all block sizes from 2048 bytes to 8192. A graph of the throughput versus block size will be displayed at the end of the test to show the impact block size has on throughput.

Read/Write/Read then Write: This option allows the direction of data transfers to be defined for the benchmark tests.

Test data selection:

Different test data can be sent to the PCIe loopback card (this provides different types of reliability testing and alters the transfer speed). One of the following may be selected per test:

Constant·(i.e. the same) data will be sent all of the time. The constant value can be specified in the box next to the constant (default)·option. The default constant value is 0. This value may be in the range 0 to 255.
Incrementing sequence·means data will be sent in a data block  (i.e. the first byte will be as specified in data to transfer· the second byte will be Byte1 + 1, the third byte will be Byte2 + 1 etc. up to 0xFF (255) after which point the data will resume incrementing from 0.
Random numbers·means a random pattern of data will be sent in the data block.

Voltage and temperature options:

When a voltage and temperature test is run, 2 data sources from the PCIe test card will be displayed on the main screen. For example PCIe 12V and PCIe 3.3V. The selectable combinations are "Monitor sources":

1.Temperature
2.12V PCIe and 3V3 PCIe
3.12V PCIe and 12V PSU
4.5V PSU and 12V PSU
5.3V3 Aux.

The voltage and temperature graph Y-axis scale is specified with "y-axis range". This is updated with default values based on the sources selected for monitoring and the source(s) selected for graphing.

"Graph source 1" and "Graph source 2" determine whether the 2 data sources from the PCIe test card are graphed or just 1 of the data sources. The Y-axis range is modified based on these settings. For example, if Monitor source is set to "12V PCIe and 3V3 PCIe" and only "Graph source 2" is selected, then the Y-axis range will be set to graph source 2: 3V3 PCIe.

Temperature can be reported in Celcius or Fahrenheit.

Other options:

Detailed logging: Include additional 'debug' type logging.

Stop on error: If an error is encountered, stop testing.

Update stats during testing: When selected, voltage and temperature statistics will be displayed during the loopback and benchmark tests.

OK: Accept the specified configuration options.

Cancel: Discard the specified configuration options.

 

Results

The PCIeTest results are contained in 3 sections: Title bar, test summary and a benchmark graph result.

Results heading: Displays two lines:

(i)The name of the PCIe loopback card under test and the current status of the test.
(ii)The duration of the test, the number of operations performed in the current test and the number of errors detected based on the Verify data setting described above.

Test summary: Displays a textual summary of the tests as they occur.

This summary starts with a list of the PassMark PCIe loopback cards connected to PCIe slots. Specifically, this includes the:

-The version of PCIeTest.
-PCIe loopback plug identifier.
-The PCIe loopback transfer mode (x1 or x4).

Loopback test results show the number of:

-Operations.
-Verification errors: Verification errors are based on the PCIeTest software detecting that the data sent is not the same as the data received. This is a serious error.

Benchmark results show the maximum rate for reading and writing to/from the PCIe test card. The average and minimum transfer rates are also displayed.

The current test results (i.e. since the last Reset All may be viewed by sliding the scroll bar on the right hand side of the results section).

Benchmark graph: Displays the overall maximum PCIe rate measured that the current test device is connected. Below this value, a graph displays 2 column bars, the left-hand bar shows the maximum read rate and the right-hand bar shows the maximum write rate (in MB/s). Both bars are color coded with the following meaning:

Red - poor.
Yellow - mediocre.
Green - excellent.