Flashed new OC bios...NO PROBLEM

[PDL]

Just switched HDD and flashed to the 3/18/02 beta OC bios that was moded by Jinxster on 'that other forum'. Went without a hitch and is running at 1466 and stable as ever.
Will try 150 again tomorrow and see if it fails!

 

[maxima88]

I also flashed w/ the 0226ocbl.rom bios.
It also has additional memory settings.
works great for me too at 146.6fsb.

 

[PDL]

BTW, I flashed this from the HDD after booting to a DOS floppy.
It is my humble opinion that this method is safer because I trust my HDD a lot more that a floppy drive. And it is quicker!

maxima88, how do you do yours?

 

[maxima88]

I use a floppy.
It's the only way I know.
did you try 150fsb yet?
My pc still wont post at 150 even w/ my new Antec 400w psu.
I'll do the vcore mod this evening.
hopefully that helps me get to 150.

 

[PDL]

Well, I'm running at 150 now but I'm not getting my hopes up!
The first try was with 3-6-4 memory timing but the SMART for the HDD was disabled. Now I am using the same timings and ENABLED the SMART so we'll see what happens. It seems that my external modem is slower, although I don't know why it would be.

As for using the HDD to flash! Here is 2 ways but I am sure there are others. I put the flash .exe and the .rom files in a directory called C:\ECS_FLSH
I keep the name to less than 8 characters so it can be found easily and DOS displays it OK.
You can then boot with a basic floppy with just the system on it and get to the command prompt or, you can set 'MSCONFIG' to restart in the DIAGNOSTIC mode and you will get a menu that allows a choice of starting with the command prompt. Then just go to the C:\ECS_FLSH directory and flash the bios.
NOTE: this is for using Win98! I cannot say for sure about other OSs.

 

[maxima88]

Very nice o/c PDL.
How did you raise your vcore to 1.85?
I'll raise my vcore to 1.85~1.90 this evening and see if I can hit 150fsb. didn't have time last night to mod my mobo.

 

[PDL]

To raise the Vcore to 1.85v, I just take my "#2 carbon based crayon" and color in the TINY L7 bridges on the CPU. Must use VERY sharp crayon and use magnifying glass(unless you have very good vision).

Also, try running with SMART both enabled and disabled and let me know if it makes a difference.

 

[maxima88]

No luck for me PDL.
Did the vcore mod when I get home from work but still won't post at 150fsb. Tried w/ most relaxed memory setting and also tried disabling SMART.
Guess I'll have to upgrade to PC2700 and hope that works.
I know my mobo can post at 150 since I did it w/ my 1200Tbird.
Anymore suggestions?

 

[PDL]

Well, I don't know that I can offer much help. I doubt it is the memory because I am running PC133. Perhaps you could try with only 1 HDD, I'd try the WD. Set the bios to optimal settings and then ENABLE SMART and set timings to whatever is comparable to my 3-6-4 setting.
Was that T-Bird 1200 a 'B' or a 'C' chip?
I have been thinking of getting a 1.4 'B' bird. I checked this one in the CPU database and it seems NOBODY is using this board and a 1400 Athlon!!
It may be that the XP1700 just won't do it at 150. I checked the CPU DATABASE for those using this board and the XP1700 and it seems they are reporting the "XPxxxx" comparable speed. So, it is aparent to me that the XPs won't OC as high as the T-Birds, percentage wise!

Of course someone will say "Just lower the multiplier by cutting and connecting the bridges and with a lower multiplier you can get to 150 FSB" But why??? I'd think you would rather run it at 11 * 146 than 9.5 * 150!!!(or even 10 * 150) A lot of bother for the end result I'd say!

 

[PDL]

Oh, and another BTW...........

I left my system on all day while at work and running at a boot-up of 1500MHz. 10 * 150

No lockups at all and have been online for about 30 minutes.

It's looking good!!!!

But time will tell. I've been down this path before so I am still skeptical.

 

[maxima88]

More power to you PDL.
My 1.2g Tbird is a "C" from A1200AMS3C on the core.
Hope this helps.

 

[PDL]

The reason I asked about the T-Bird is that for a 1200 'C' it gets there with a multiplier of 9, whereas a 'B' would use 12.
Now, since we can't change the multiplier easily and not with this mainboard, it would be the difference of 9 *150 or 12 * 150.
So, theoretically, if you could do 12 * 150 you would get the 50% OC. Whereas with the 9 * 150 you would only get a 12.5 % OC because you started at a higher FSB.
That's probably why I don't see very many 50% OCs in the CPU database with T-Birds above 1000 MHz.

Just my ramblings!!

 

[JDXNC]

I just flashed the oc bios last night,been using CPUFSB but it was a pain, so thought I'd give the bios a try, works great! Thought I'd be a little conservative at first though, only went to 112 bus with my Duron Morgan 1 Ghz, runs perfect the way it is now, will prolly try 124 bus next.

 

[PDL]

UPDATE........

After 3 days of leaving the system on all the time then 3 days of shutting down at night...it is still stable at 150 FSB from bootup.

I did have one lockup that I attribute to an automatic update of netscape messenger. After the restart it has been fine.

Next thing I will try is disabling the SMART option and see if the date read errors return.

I'll let ya know.

 

[JDXNC]

update from me as well, my duron will post at 133 but freezes just after the memory test, will not even post at higher speeds, but seems to be running fine now at 124 bus, I'm pretty sure its my psu limiting me....itsonly 250 watt .... my next upgrade.

 

[PDL]

JDXNC, have you tried with just 1 stick of memory?

 

[JDXNC]

Yes, same thing, pretty sure its the pSU.... same one i used to use on my old K6-2 550


Edit, ordered some Arctic Silver II so will see if that makes any diff when it comes in.

 

[PDL]

ANOTHER UPDATE........

Well, I set the SMART to disable and guess what..
I gotta eat crow...
It is still stable after several cold boots and a few restarts.

Must be the memory timings so I guess I'll change them and try again. I'm at Ultra-2-7-3 and as I see it that is as agressive as I can get. If that doesn't cause it to lockup then I guess it could be the new bios.
I really don't want to 'flash back' to check it but I may, just to find out!!!

Ha! Look at me! I used to spend this much time trying to get a system to BE stable. Now I'm spending valueless time trying to make it UNSTABLE!

Go figure...

 

[JDXNC]

PDL... what would yousuggest I set the memory settings and stuff in the bois for the best performance? Man I need that DDR.... stupid $$$ problems..

 

[PDL]

First, it doesn't hurt to enable the SMART option for the HDD.
Then you could try Ultra-2-6-3 or Ultra 3-6-3. The first number being the CAS latency and a 2 will get you better performance if the memory can handle it.

Why DDR?? I am running 256 meg PC133 by Crucial. I have stressed this DIMM every which way I could and it still performs great.