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Incorrect memory speed at first bootup

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Renwick

Registered
Joined
Oct 2, 2002
Location
Budapest, Hungary
Hi there folks!

I'm a bit confused about a strange problem I have with my Abit IT7 motherboard. First of all here's the full system specs:

Abit IT7 (BIOS version AV), Pentium4 2.4B, 512MB generic DDR266 memory (with Samsung ICs on it), Innovison Geforce4 Ti4200, two IBM 40Gb 120GXP in RAID0, one IBM 60Gb 120GXP, Toshiba SD-M1612 DVD-ROM, Teac CD-W540E, WinXP Pro, etc

Ok, here goes my problem: Right after the first POST of the day the motherboard incorrectly sets the system memory speed: during the POST the system reports 133MHz host/memory speed, but the memory actually runs at 178MHz, which corresponds to the BIOS options 'DRAM ratio H/W strap' sets to 'low' combined with 'DRAM Ratio' sets to 3:4. The user only can set these options in ''user definied'' mode of the SoftMenuIII, but I'm using the automatic mode with the CPU speed set to 2400MHz (133). After resetting the computer with the reset button, or turning it off, and right after on the memory speed will be the rated 133MHz, and I also can correct this by manually setting the two BIOS options mentioned above, but it's quite weird, and I really would like to know what the hell is causing this.

Thanks for your answer!

Renwick
 
Yes, the system time seems correct, and the battery voltage is ~3.1v, but I will replace the battery today to see if it helps. I also read about the faulty CCMOS jumper thing, could this be an issue in my case?

regards

Renwick
 
Could be, but in that case it is weird that your system does keep the correct time.

One thing you could do is wipe the whole CMOS (using the aforementioned jumper), reseat all memory (to make sure that it is seated correctly), and then try again.
 
Thanks for your reply Jirnsum!

Unfortunately the clear CMOS/BIOS reflash did not help. The memory is seated well in the DIMM1 slot. It's weird, BTW my generic RAM is 100% stable at 178MHz with 2.5-5-2-2 timing settings, so maybe I will set that mode in SoftMenuIII. :)

Any other thoughts?

regards

Renwick
 
Actually I have a Chieftec 340W PSU, today I will try an Enermax 360W model with better overall performance. Maybe this problem is regarding to the (relatively) low (5vsb) output of the PSU (the Chieftec has 2A on 5vsb, and the Enermax has 2.2A).

regards

R.
 
Damn! It was the PSU!

Replaced the 340W Chieftec with an Enermax 350W PSU, and now everything works just fine. :cool:

BTW the Enermax has 3.34v at 3.3 line, while the Chieftec had exactly 3.3v. Maybe this little increase in vI/O helped. All line is stable BTW. Thanks Enermax. :)

regards

Renwick
 
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