PIV 1.6 Nwood + Asus P4B266 problem, help !

[elpapacito]

Hi guys I'd need some advice from you..this is my config

P4 Northwood 1.Ghz
Asus P4b266 BIOS 1003 (shipped w/mobo)
256MB DDR Kingston 2100 CAS 2.5
Thermaltake 4 fan + heat dissipator
2 NICs
1 Creative Live! sound card
1 IEEE 1384 PCI card
1 Geforce2 ASUS 7700 Deluxe
1 Maxtor ata133 60GIG
CODEGEN 300 W


Problem: can't reach FSB higher then 110-112

When I try setting 133Mhz, 1:1 automatic divider, the
system doesn't boot and refuses to power off. I'm forced
to unplug the power cable , then it restarts and I can
access BIOS again normally.

Trying TURBO1 mode (locking PCI/AGP to near to standard
frequencies) doesn't help.

Setting memory to 3-3-3-7 doesn't help.

Overvolting up to 1.85V doesn't help.

The only stable setting seems to be 2-2-2-5 , 1.775V, 110 FSB..
far from the big numbers I've seen around
Using these settings, with full load (video compression ongoing)
I also have (taken with Motherboard monitor)

Mobo Temperature: 35°C
CPU Temperature: 41°C
+3,3V=3,2
+5V=5,05
-5V=-5,12
+12V= 11,25
-12V=-11,75

Any help ? I'd love to reach at least 2Ghz

 

[jdmcnudgent]

i think its the value ram. i did not have good experience with it, and now i have kingmax. does the bios you have let the v-core go up to 2.1, or 1.75? the vapochill asus p4b266 bios is on this site somewhere. very nice for northwoods, and no wire trick needed.

 

[BadThad]

Are you using the 12v cpu power connector or the EZ connector? Maybe that little 300W PS isn't getting the job done. I would think the ram would be OK at CAS3, but I don't have experience with the kingston stuff, JD may be on to something there.

Also, you may want to try pulling all the PCI cards out and experiment.

 

[theflyingrat]

Probably wouldn't be the memory; try running it synchronously with the FSB, if you're using the 3:4 memory settings. This way, if you're still stuck at 110FSB, your memory is also at 110. Seeing as the memory is PC2100, and it's not even running at its stock speed, that would basically count the memory out as the bottleneck. Another way to test the memory is find a friend who has a P4 on DDR or a DDR Athlon board and test their RAM in your board.

Also, try downing the voltage to around 1.6 volts. The Northwoods don't need much more than this to run all the way up to 2.1 to 2.3GHz, and too much voltage may even adversely affect stability, instead of improving it. My 1.6A runs 2.35 at 1.55 volts. Good luck!