i can only run at 1050

[hyperpimp]

I have an AMD athlon XP 1600+, an Elite Group (ECS) K7S5A board,(266 FSB) and I'm using generic 168 pin dimm's, 2 256's.

When i configure cmos to run the cpu at 1.4 like it should, the system freezes up while loading windows.

If I take a stick of ram out, it seems to work ok but if I get 10 minutes into a game it freezes up and I get a terrible noise out of my speakers.

I'm just wondering if i switched to some good ddr ram (crucial) would this solve my problem, or is it most likely my motherboard?

 

[Christoph]

Welcome to the forums!!!

That's an interesting problem you've got there. Looks like you're not overclocking at all, so you *should* have no problems. Have you done anything to the BIOS settings, and do you have the most current BIOS.

At any rate, try seeing if it works with a lower FSB, and when it comes time to upgrade, don't buy generic RAM.

 

[Silver]

Welcome to the forums. I am sure that someone can point you in the right direction, unfortunately it is not me.

 

[hyperpimp]

no, i'm far from oc'ing at this point i knew about you guys and figured somebody here might know what's up.

y'all got me interested in ocing my duron 800 and celeron 800 though, so i got some reading to do
as for the problem above, i just don't wanna spend $160 bucks on ram if the problem is the board, and vice versa.
Thanks for the welcome too.

 

[-=UR=- Ranger]

What about temperatures?
Doesn't seem to be the ram, I can't believe that both of your ram sticks have gone mad....
What about core voltage, are you perhaps using some voltage which is below default values...
What about your Power Supply...How many watts?

Just some ideas!

Hope that helps

 

[cjlax5]

What about temperatures?
Doesn't seem to be the ram, I can't believe that both of your ram sticks have gone mad....
What about core voltage, are you perhaps using some voltage which is below default values...
What about your Power Supply...How many watts?

Just some ideas!

Hope that helps

ya, your psu sounds like the most likely cause of the problem, but it could also be temp. what HSF do u have?

 

[hyperpimp]

i just bought a new heat sink and fan because i thought this was the problem, i forget the brand, but the heat sink is red and its got 2 fans on it. i believe this made it significantly cooler.

i've also suspected problems with the psu, so that may be it also.


the ram works fine when i run at 1050.

i'm off to school right now, hopefully the webmaster at ecs.com.tw will have his broken link to my flash bios before i get home

Anyways, i'll be back to give you any more information you need to help me out with this, thanks.

 

[Bender]

Another warm welcome to Overclockers.com

I think your problem is a simple one. Most motherboards come with a jumper set to 100 MHz FSB but if you try setting this to 133 in the bios your PCI and AGP may be way out of spec. Does anyone know if the 1/4 divisor kicks in automaticly or do you have to change a jumper on this board? Thair is usually a jumper on most boards that sets the default speed to 133 while keeping your PCI and AGP within spec. Check your manual and see if you have a jumper like this. I'm having a friend check his board but it might take him a while. You can also try motherboard monitor 5 to see how your PSU is handling the strain. Hope this helps.

 

[AudiMan]

I know someone who has a similar problem, wehre their XP-1700 was only running at 1100 MHZ (11 X 100) instead of 1466 (11 X 133) When they tried to run it at 1466, windows wouldn't boot up and got blue scrrens. It was fixed after cleaning it with an alcohol swab. Possibly, but highly unlikey the silver particles in the ASII formed a conductive trace that shorted something? Lol I have no clue, but that was his experience.

 

[Christoph]

I didin't notice any 100/133 FSB jumpers in the manual, but I've been wrong before. You could try raising the Vcc3.3 if the BIOS will let you.
If you want to test your RAM, use DocMem 1.45a to make a RAM test boot disk, then boot with it and see if you can't get though three burn-in loops. If you can't, then it's time to try for a refund on that RAM.
Good luck.

 

[hyperpimp]

i got motherboard monitor
to save time i took a shot of the dashboard -5 is at 0.00 volts, i didnt have to confiure the other ones, i'll see whats up with that one.

in cmos i have 2 options for both dram frequency and cpu frequency: 100 or 133
with voltage of 1.728 or 1.744.
i'm going to try that memory tester right now, but somehow i don't think that's the problem anymore.

this is driving me nuts

 

[Silver]

Is that temp correct?

 

[NeoMoses]

yeah, judging from that temp and speed, I'd say temperature is what's holding you back. 51C is pretty hot for that chip only running at 1050. You might try re-applying Arctic Silver and your heatsink. What was your heatsink?

Another thought. Does it work better with the case open? You might need better case air flow as well.

 

[tbirdkiri]

wow that sounds..... well bad... i have a friend ( sorta a friend) with a similar problem and i have yet to figure out what his problem is..
but i suspect its the psu

 

[hyperpimp]

that's with the case open

i'll throw a good dab of silver on there and see how that does

this is my first amd, so far i'm too happy with it :\

 

[Malakai]

read the application instructions 4 arctic silver here: www.arcticsilver.com
u only need a paper thin layer on the hsf. also, u might want to check out the front ppage and get one of the higher rater heatsinks in the heatsink roundup. and def run that memory proggie or memtest86(google search) to find out if its the ram
and WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!
-Malakai

 

[hyperpimp]

this is with a new application of silver, and the case open, basic idling (internet, kazaa) i'm sure once i get rtcw going for a few minutes it will crash again.

edit: after about 5 minutes of rtcw it was up to 56 degrees

also, this is with just one stick of ram, i still couldn't do **** with 2 sticks in there.

also, anyone wants to contact me on icq, i'm always invisible, but i'm there

 

[Silver]

56c would most likely cause some instability. Need to work on some additional cooling. You are using as and have checked that the heat sink is correctly seated? What heat sink did you say you were using?

 

[DeRose306]

I would definitely worry about your temps, the XP's are quite cool compared to the older AMD chips. anything over about 45c starts making me worry.

If your HSF is a generic from one of the local chain stores that says its ok to use on the newer XP's be wary. I had one for awhile that couldn't even cool a duron 800, and it said on the package is was ok to use on anything up to 1.5ghz.

Other question. you say everything works fine if you take out one stick of memory, does it matter which stick? does one work better than the other? What are your memory timings in the bios? Try setting everything really conservative (read slow), and see if that helps.

After looking through the manual for your MB, I didn't see anything for changing the pci divisor, so I'm assuming it's automatically handled (but we all know what assuming is)

Also, try running the comp. with minimal extras. pull out your sound card and any other exras you have in, just leave the vid card and a way to connect to the internet, see what happens.

Basically systematically rule out everything you can, and eventually, the only thing left will be your problem.

One last question, which bios are you using? Looks like they've just released one 2-27-02 for the 1800, 2000, and 2200.

Hopefully I've helped some

 

[Silver]

Basic guide.

40 to 45c = good
45c to 50c = need to look for better cooling
50c and up = not on my computer

This is not to say on occasion I have not had brief forays into the 50c range.