1066-TH7II-03 & 533 drcgs-experiences

[DeviLduck]

Experiences with sys: P2.53, Th7II-03drcgs, TH7II-533TIdrcgs, Samsung 800-45 rdram, Kingston 1066-32 rdram (Toshiba rambus according to Kingston), Bios Abit-7C, MrN-7E, MrN-7F, MrN-40B, Zalman 6500B-Cu air only, no board v mods, core or mem. RDRAM 800 & 1066 tested thoroughly for quality, etc., before professional install of TI 533 drcgs.

USING TH7II-“03” drcgs board:
1. Samsung rdram 800-45 works great, OC stable up to fsb140, mem 4X. OC to 148/mem3X.
2. Kingston 1066 works, but only after using “1066 rdram trick”, & only at 4X. 3X is possible (after 4X boot), but cannot reboot or shut down, without redoing trick. Kingston 1066 will work, but you must have rdram 800 around, for the inevitable times, it has to be re-recognized.
3. Way I did trick: Run using rdram 800/mem auto & selected bios, reboot to bios, set mem at 4X, save (F10), boot several seconds, SHUT DOWN. Replace 800 with 1066 rdram, NO clearing of cmos, boot to bios, recheck mem at 4X, save, bootup. ALL changing/flashing of different bios, had to be done using rdram 800, otherwise, all kinds of error messages/problems.


USING TH7II-“533-TI” drcgs board (professionally installed):
1. Samsung rdram 800-45 works great, OC stable up at 148, mem auto, v1.7. OC over 3Ghz (fsb159), bios v1.85 (40B), mem auto.
2. Kingston 1066 works, with SAME problems found on “03” drcgs board. OC stable to fsb140/v1.7/4X. 3X possible up to fsb148, BUT, cannot reboot or shut down, without redoing trick to get board to recognize the 1066. When running correctly, the 1066 ran very well, according to SiSoftSandra, etc...
3. Kingston 1066 is not stable CONSISTENTLY, at any fsb speed, as routine installing or uninstalling proggies, e.g., on WinXPpro machine caused problems, & 800/1066 recognize process would have to be repeated. Forget games.
4. Thought is that Abit Bios with 1066 support may solve these problems. I think the Kingston 1066 is good memory & has the “potential” to work fine, with a bios (Abit) upgrade.

Now, I’m done with experimenting with 1066 rdram & TH7II-533 mod board. Switched back to the Samsung 800, as it’s very stable, there’s some extra benefit, compared to the TH7II-03 board. I really wanted the Kingston-1066 to work, but it proved too much trouble & constant re-doing the rdram trick. Maybe it’s a consequence of this 2.53 cpu or need a board core or mem v mod to work well. There’s no reason to believe the Kingston 1066 rdram is THE problem, as a bios upgrade should address the basic “1066 support” issue.

If Abit produces a 1066 bios, then I’ll revisit this, unless already moved to the GigaByte 8IHXP or AOpen AX4T II-133. (New Asus boards coming soon too.) (Can’t believe Abit won’t come up with something though, considering the known problems of rdram 1066 & the TH7II, at least a 32bit rimm version of the TH7II plus updated drcgs.) Guess we’re all being “forced” to move to DDR boards eventually.

Apparently, some are running TH7II successfully with 1066. Exactly how, is unclear, since most Samsung 1066 modules are “engineering samples” or maybe a board mem or core v mod is being used too.

If anyone is running TH7II- 03 or TI533 drcgs board, with ANY rdram 1066, with stability & the need not to have rdram 800 around to condition the board, then I’d certainly like to know. If Mr N made a bios with 1066 support for the TH7II, nobody would care about the 1.7 v limitation, on the current 7C bios lines, but that is probably not possible, without Abit’s permission/interaction.

 

[jdmcnudgent]

why would abit make a bios for 1066 support, when they know that the chips on the board now are crap? not everyone has the 533 chips on their board. my personal thoughts on this is that they (abit) should make a th7III board, with the new chips, thats support 1066 RDRAM, put on board lan on the board, and for heavens sake, ata 133. if they made this board, i bet alot of people would buy it, i know i would. BTW, thats good info above about the overclocking experiences.

 

[joemix]

I was also under the impression that the TI 533 DRCGs would negate the need to trick the board with PC800 modules. The problem with the Abit board though is once you push it to far, you most likely have to clear the CMOS, and trick the board again with PC800 modules.

With the TI 533 DRCGs installed, I had my 1.6a running great @ 145fsb 4X(PC1066 modules), with the 7C BIOS. A Lot better than with the 03s!

I now have the Gigabyte 8ihxp, and issues like having to repair/reinstall the OS after OCing to high, and not being able to access the BIOS when using RPM adjustable fans are no longer a problem..

 

[micamica1217]

I would also love to hear from peeps who use 1066 memory from mushkin or an other company.

I'll bet they have better luck, and less problems.

I still belive that it is a kingston problem...yet what do I know?

if you can run at 133x4x2 and yet have problems like a mobo that cant detect memory at start up,then it seems like something with the memory...not mobo. yet it could be a bios thing.

I wish u posted this sooner since I had to return two sticks of kingston 1066 after haveing the same problems.

thanks for all the info.

mica

P.S. after calling up kingston tec support....they said that they are haveing problems with this memory.

 

[DeviLduck]

For those who've encountered a crash with the TH7II quirky memory problems & OCing:

Your system displays the error message. Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

That means the System Registry Hive has become corrupted. There are two ways to get back up and running. The easy way which doesn't always work, and then there is the hard way.

Easy Way --- Note that this doesn't always work. When you are booting your system, press the F8 key during the start of the bootup sequence, meaning after it does the Power On Self Test. Once you press the F8 key, you will be taken to a Menu. Select "Boot Using Last Known Good Configuration". It will now attempt to load Windows XP using a past set of configuration files.

If that doesn't work, there is the next step....the hard way. Hard Way Boot your system with the Windows XP Install CD, let the system boot into the Setup. Once in the Setup, choose to run the Recovery Console. You will now be presented with a screen similar to good old DOS. First, we will recover the System Hive.

Now, type in the following commands with pressing Enter after each line.
md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\system C:\windows\tmp\system.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\system
copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system

Be very careful when you are typing in these commands, one wrong move, and you know, broken Windows XP. Also, change the C in the commands to whatever your Windows XP drive letter is.
Attempt to boot the system, if it doesn't boot, get back into the Recovery Console and do the following commands.
md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\software C:\windows\tmp\software.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\software
copy C:\windows\repair\software C:\windows\system32\config\software

(By WedgeAntilles250 of DSL Reports)

 

[jdmcnudgent]

now lets not forget folks that just because you do the chips doesnt mean that everything will be fine. the th7II uses the i850 chipset, where as the 533 chips are meant fot the 850E.

 

[sunnydale45402]

So whats our choice really?

I have a 1.6a and need the high fsb of the Th711 and I would like to use the new 1066 Rdram. So Devil Duck what is the solution it seems it is almost too much of a hassle to try to use rdram 1066 in the board if you have to go through all the hassle you went through to get the 1066 Rdram recognized. I dont even have any PC 800 Rdram to fill the slots with to trick it. That means I would have to buy both 1066 and 800. That would be way to expensive and then that doesnt even solve the problem even if you solder the new dcrgs to the th711. The new 1850E boards dont seem to go over 150 fsb that would not be enough with the 1.6a. So tell me then what is the best alternative if you want to use Rdram. Wait for new 180E boards that will take the 1066 Rdram and that has an fsb over 150 or wait for the new boards that take the 4200 Rdram? Any help on this matter would be appreciated. It seems the Th711 with 1066 is a real gamble if you can even get it to recognize the ram. I am willling to do the volt mod if it would take the gamble out of it.

 

[micamica1217]

sunnydale45402,

this has to do with "KINGSTON" 1066 rdram.

he has not tryed any other 1066 stick.

yet no one else has any in stock since the oem's have bought them out.

I wonder why no one bought out kingston 1066 rdram...
could it be that they stink???

again,I would love to hear for anyone who has some other brand 1066 rdram in this mobo...

mica

 

[joemix]

this has to do with "KINGSTON" 1066 rdram.

My Kingston RAM works fine with the TH7II. I first read about the PC800 trick WAY, WAY back(before "Kingston" 1066) when Mr. Natural posted info about it! Search the forums!

 

[micamica1217]

My Kingston RAM works fine with the TH7II. I first read about the PC800 trick WAY, WAY back(before "Kingston" 1066) when Mr. Natural posted info about it! Search the forums!

so are you saying that all 1066 rdram will have problems like this?


mica

 

[DeviLduck]

sunnydale45402,
You can wait until Abit produces a Bios, supporting rdram1066. However, as others have pointed out, the "03" drcgs, in the Th7II are not great chips anyway. Some people have lucked out with excellent stock drcgs or unusually good rdram modules. The Bios upgrade, if it comes, may not be the answer, but we can hope.

No one really knows yet, but when Genuine Samsung 1066 is produced (let's say a very high performance yield batch) & for sale in marketplace, then maybe that will work better than the Kingston 1066 we're talking about here. That still doesn't solve the Abit TH7II bios problem.

My experience shows, if nothing else, changing the drcgs alone, does not cure the 1066 situation, with the current bios. It shows Kingston 1066 can work on a TH7II with 03 or 533 drcgs, without a bios upgrade. However, the price is instability, for normal & OC use, along with rdram 800/1066 musical chairs, at least for my system described.

You can hope Abit makes a new i850E board soon. You can look at the latest i850Es from Gigabyte, AOpen, Asus or others.

There will be comparisons, but 32bit RIMM boards are more design enhancing than performance enhancing, at the (1066 rdram) 4200 RIMM level, as I understand it.

 

[sunnydale45402]

Thanks Devil Duck

Thanks Devil Duck that cleared up the confusion for me. It looks like a new 1850E board is really the answer as it doesnt seem abit is going to do anything in the near future. Thanks.

 

[DeviLduck]

E-mail reply from Abit on Th7II & 1066 issues

Recently, I sent Abit info describing problems with Th7II & 1066 rdram.
Here is their email reply, I received from Abit, concerning the TH7II & 1066 RDRAM issue:

"Thank you for this mail.

We not experiment the PC1066 of RAMBUS under TH7II ,
and the 850 Chip just only support the PC800 of RAMBUS spec.

We will try to verify this PC1066 compatible issue as soon as possible.

Best Regards,



ABIT FAE, Taiwan
ABIT Computer Co ., LTD
www.abit.com.tw"

Maybe, there is hope after all, they will fix the BIOS. At least they know some of us would like to run 1066 with Th7II.

 

[Gerry_ie]

What are you hoping to achieve with the pc 1066 ? An oc to pc 1200? Looks like devilduck almost made it with pc800. I've got samsung pc800 40ns here, already stable to 129, the cpu is crapping out on me.