Athlon 1.4 and Abit KT7A won't run at rated speeds

[MACDIVER]

Hey guys,

Please look at what I purchased and tell me if I am supposed to have DDR ram to run it at the 266 setting. I am using 256mb of Corsair PC133 Cas 3 ram.

The first thing I did was to flash the bios to KT77N which sets the 1400(133) in the bios so that it will run the 1.4. I haven't tried the newest one, KT7A9. Just saw it while getting the link below. I am assuming that the newer bios has all the previous bios updates included in it. The bios that origonally had the update to the 1.4 is the KT74A.

http://www.abit-usa.com/download_content9c5d.html?pTITLE=KT7A+/+KT7A-RAID&#Bios



The most I can set it for in the bios is the setting >1300(100) and it finally defaulted at that after first defaulting at 1050(100) for a couple weeks. I can't get it to do anything at 133 at all. When I try to set it for anything in the 133 settings the monitor light goes from green to the yellow color and it just sits there. I have to unplug the PS for a half minute or so to get it to boot back to the bios. I have set the ram at all the settings: 8/10ns, Fast, Normal, Turbo. I have the AGP set right and everything else too I beleive.

Here is the chip I got.

http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80237

Here is the mobo.

http://www.abit-usa.com/pt_main_backc4ab.html?pPRODUCT_TYPE=MotherBoard&pMODEL_NAME=KT7A-RAID

I'm not using Raid. Running Windows 98SE

Water Cooled by Innovatek
1.4Ghz Athlon, Abit KT7A, VisionTek GeForce3 TI200, Viewsonic Q95 19", 256mb Corsair PC 133, 60gb IBM Deskstar Ultra ATA 100, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, Altec Lansings w/woofer, Road Runner Cable

Thanks guys

 

[Sonny]

Welcome To The Forums!!!!!

.....and to the addiction

I'm thinking you havent set the right parameters in SOFT MENU III & ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES. List down exactly what you see there & I'll try to walk you through the settings

 

[MACDIVER]

Thanks for the offer to help out on this.

THis may be a problem:

I didn't install the Via Service Pack drivers from the Abit CD because the FAQ on their site said that I didn't need to if I was going to use 98SE. In the manual it talks about installing on SE and it shows pics of how they show up in device manager and they are there.

In the meantime I'll write down all the bios settings and get back with that too.

 

[MACDIVER]

I should have asked you this first:

Does the mobo/chip/ram that I have match?

 

[NEWBIE911]

imo

I had the problem with my kt7ar.... it won't run @133fsb.
now that board is in the motherboard cemetery under my bed.
with the hot591p both with ram

I have used,Shutltle-Hot591P-Kt7R- Ecs-k7S5A, Biostar-M7MIA, Gigabyte-GA-7VRXP..... that chip runs fine@133fsb (1.2 athlon c) in all the other motheboards.

I got all those MB to overclock except the ECS-k7s5a ......

IMO I will stick with abit ,easy to read manual easy to
overclock... still working with that gigabyte board as i write.

Gave the ecs 600 duron to my mom (she had 133 pentium ) ,gave the kt7r 750 duron to my brother.

 

[MACDIVER]

My mobo is set up the same as the one on My Super PC Bios Settings on this page except for the settings below.

http://www.mysuperpc.com/bios_settings.shtml


CPU >1300(100)
Multiplier Factor X12above
FSB 100/33

Force 4-way interleave Disabled I didn't know zackly what they did so I left them.
Enable Dram 4K-Page mode Disabled
Delay Transaction disabled
PCI Master Read Cashing disabled
PCI#2 Access #1 Retry Enabled
AGP Master 1 WS Write disabled
AGP Master 1 WS Read disabled
Fast R-W Turn Around disabled
Delay DRAM Read Latch Auto

I am going in to change the settings to what he has above and see what happens.

 

[Sonny]

That's not all the settings in either of the menus so my reply might be incomplete as well. You will need to set the following;

CPU = USER DEFINED
Multiplier Factor = X 10.5
FSB = 133/33 This should force the 1/4 divider giving you 4:2:1

Check the Sticky on this section for a link to Paul.

 

[MACDIVER]

Sonny,

I tried the setting:

CPU = USER DEFINED
Multiplier Factor = X 10.5
FSB = 133/33 This should force the 1/4 divider giving you 4:2:1

It did the usual.

I also set all the settings that were different in mine and My Super PC Bios Settings below except for the two that I was unsure about:

Force 4-way interleave Disabled
Enable Dram 4K-Page mode Disabled


I had looked at Paul's site earlier, before I started my post and it's not for my mobo. However, I looked around for problems like mine but didn't find any.

UR right. I tried a shortcut on giving you the bios settings. I reasoned that the others had to do with regular mundane things like the HDD and all. Is there anything else that you want that I left out that may be causing the problem?

In the meantime I will complete the list. At least I can use it on other setups when time to build another rig.

 

[Sonny]

Are you sure the board is a KT7A? There have been a few instances were some of the KT7A-/RAID would not hit 133MHz/266FSB & of the 2 that have been discussed here I was active in both the threads. If the BIOS settings in SOFT MENU III & ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES are correct & that the ram is indeed PC133 there are usually 3 reasons why you can not hit 133MHz/266FSB:

• Lack of Thermal Paste between the NorthBridge chip & it's HSF
• The board is defective
• The chip is damaged(most unlikely)

Of the 3 mentioned above the first one is the most common problem. A hot NorthBridge will not allow the higher FSB settings & in the particular case that was handled here it was the problem. I can't say it is the definite cause but it's worth taking a look at.

The reason I asked for the BIOS settings was to determine the extent of your experience with it. If you feel you do not need help with it there would be no need to go through the 2 menus I asked for

 

[MACDIVER]

Sonny,

Yes I'm sure that the board is the KT7A. In fact it is version 1.0 which will NOT accept the XP processor as opposed to the 1.3 that will. I didn't learn this until after I had placed the order and was reading the Abit FAQs. It said it right there. I called the joint I bought the mobo from when I found this and they confermed it and said that the 1.3 was like TEN bucks more. Too late then, the board had shipped and it would have been more shipping to send it aback and get the 1.3. I decided to live with it and just upgrade to new mobo and chip down the road.

The only thing that I can think that it may be would be the application of Arctic Silver Alumina compound. I used a credit card and didn't touch anything with my fingers. I applied a small amount and scraped the credit card over it leaving just a haze of compound on both the waterblock heatsink and the chip. I use mobo monitor and the temps never go above 96 while gaming with SOF2 and idle at 87.

At this point I think I have a mobo that just will not to to 1400(133). That makes three for you now looks like.

Another strange thing about this rig is that the SCSI entry doesn't show in Device Manager when I install the Hot Rod UDMA drivers. I have tried to install it several times but it doesn't ever show up.


Here is a pic of my rig. It is about the fourth computer I have built. My wife has my old rig. It is a 566@850 Celeron.

I really apprecitate your help with this, dood!!!

 

[Sonny]

Did you check the NorthBridge for thermal compound?

 

[none1]

Paul does have info for the KT7AR

http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kt7/kt7faq.htm

good stuff, recommended.

 

[none1]

OK, I been round and round the KT7AR's. Here's a couple thoughts .....

1) DISABLE the AGP-4x mode. It never gave ME problems, but a few folks have INSISTED that they could not get higher FSB without it disabled.

2) Increase the sdram cycle length, the mysperpc.com site is set to CAS 2, you said you only have cas3.

3) leave the dram timing at 8/10ns, that is slow, but most stable. You can go back and try the other AFTER you get 133.

4) Try clearing the cmos (jumper thingy). I ?think? that will reset you to the most stable / slowest settings, including my recomendations above. Then go in and set the 10.5 with 133/33.

5) Many people have had success running the XPs on the pre 1.3 boards. I plan on this upgrade soon. I know, I know, not offically supported, but all the specs are the same and it usually just works.

6) I gotta think you can get this board to 133. Lets just keep trying some.

7) Have you tried any other FSB settings? 110? etc. with the 133/33, you're not stretching your other componets at all. Try upping the FSB a little. This will get your memory and proc closer to 133. AND, your other componets will be OC, BUT, they look like good ones that can handle it, probably all good to 37 PCI.

8) Try the newest bios. I had a real old one, went to a9 and got WAY stable and higher FSB. Didn't try the one you mentioned, but A9 was way better than what came with my board.


Good luck, and let us know how you do.

 

[shadowdr]

out of curiosity is the 133/33 setting second in the list of user defined?

 

[MACDIVER]

shadowdr

No, actually, it is at the very bottom. The slowest speeds are listed first.

Sonny,

No, I didn't check the heatsink on the Northbridge chip. I guess I friggured it was good to go from the factory.

 

[shadowdr]

hate to say this but i think you were sold a kt7 instead of the kt7a you paid for.the 133/33 setting should be the second from the top. to check for sure look at the southbridge in plain sight,it should have vt82c686b on it.if it has the vt82c686a on it it's the kt7 and you should send it back!there is also a kt7a-raid-sticker(in green) above the cmos on the right side of the board but it could have been placed there accidentally.