cpu at 166mhz and crashes

[mags9098]

Hi i just wanted to konw if anyone could answer why when i go to bios and change the cpu clock speed to 166mhz it crashes, but when i put it on 133mhz its fine. I mean i just built a new computer and the processor AMD 2.8 with a k7n2 delta Mother board, 512 ram, the guy told me when i brought it off him said that make sure that you chenge the cpu clock to 166 mhz, i mean i did , but as soon as windows loads up, for a split second that blue screen erorr comes up then it restarts and the same thing keeps happening at different times ( e.g. while playing a game) until ii turn it down to 133mhz. I thought it was osmething to do with my graphics card, but ...i dont know...can anyone help, if you could i would be very greatful.

thanx

 

[paparazi]

Something I've experienced a few times and usually down to one of two things.
Memory: either set to aggressively, Cas latencey set two low etc or the memory itself is faulty, the Nforce chipset is also very particular about which memory types and brands are used.

CPU: usually damaged by heat, if the heatsink was fitted incorrectly, even for a few seconds, or possibly without thermal paste etc.

Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[cdogg]

What kind of RAM are you using? DDR-266 or DDR-333? What brand?

You may have the CPU clock multiplier or the FSB/DRAM Ratio set incorrectly. Take a look at this screenshot:

http://www.hothardware.com/reviews/images/msi_k7n2_delta_ilsr/bios_3.htm

It's a good board, and you should have no problem running the FSB at 166MHz. Also take a look here for a complete review of this board with tons of screenshots:

http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/Motherboards/msi_k7n2_delta_ilsr(3).shtml

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[mags9098]

Thanx for replying, i'll try checking out the ratio and probablu change a couple of things...buti'll let you know....stay tuned

 

[mags9098]

Ok I tried what you said CDOGG and changed the values and ratio's as to waht was displayed on that JPEG you gave, and i found that you could change the CPU MHX value manually so i saw how far i jcould push it without it crashing, i got as far as 164mhz, which i'm suprised at but how long it will stay at that before it crashes i'm not sure.

Another Question is though if i wanted to push the CPU CLOCK to 200MHZ what additional things would i need to do?

 

[cdogg]

JUST BE CAREFUL!

AMD 2800+ chips are already near the end of their product development line, leaving little room for overclocking. You might be able to push it a little higher, but not much without adequate cooling (more than just the stock heatsink/fan that came with the chip). Always go up in small increments to avoid ruining your CPU for good.

To be honest with you, I would focus more on getting it to run at its rated speed before trying to experiment with overclocking.

Also, it's important that you state what kind of RAM you are running. That's what the ratio's are all about. You don't necessarily want to use the same settings in the screenshot (it was just meant to be a reference). That screenshot was for a Barton 2500+ chip, slightly different that what you're running.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[imquazar]

So a good question here -

Anyone know of a good reference site that'll list the preferred settings of any given processor?

(other than the manufacturer's sites?)

For the record, I've got a AMD Athlon 1700+ that I'm trying to tweak out, and I'm not sure of the general area to start from - Right now it's running Default settings in the bios and is hovering at around 1450 with about 65c temp... so I'm not really worried about it but would like to push a little more if possible.

-IQ

 

[mags9098]

Thanx for replying before, i was able to change the speed of the cpu manually and i managed to push it to 160Mhz without the thing crashing. i was speaking to a friend of mine who said that the problm maybe that the fan which i was provided with does not disperse the heat away quick enough which might be the reason for the computer shutting down.
I just wanted to know if you think that this could be a possiblity and if so would it be possible if y ou could recommend a good CPU fan.

If you could reply back to this i would be very grateful. thanx.

mags

 

[soaplover]

I would suggest that you raise the voltage for the ram
but dont go over 2,9Volts .
This usually gives you possibility to run tighter timings for your ram
and higher frequenzy .

//soaplover

 

[cdogg]

mags
No, I wouldn't say anything was wrong with your CPU fan. The one that comes with the CPU (assuming that's the one you are using) is designed to run efficient enough at the chip's rated clock speed.

However, as paparazi mentioned earlier, you could have incorrectly mounted the heatsink or didn't apply the thermal paste correctly.

When you push it at say 160MHz for a while, reboot and go back into the BIOS. There should be a temperature reading you can look at. It should not be any higher than 70°C (85°C is the absolute max), and should be closer to 60°C.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[soaplover]

As i said earlier push up the voltage of the memory.
It makes it more stable at high frequenzies .

 

[mags9098]

thanx for the tips, i'm going to try all of them i mean at this point..anything would be good to try. I also found one other problem which ithought that you could help me with. Basically whats happening is when i'm watching movies, like every 10 seconds or so the film will just freeze lightly for a split second then contiue, the sound and everything is just fine , its only the visual that it happens. At first i thought it was the film i downloaded, so i tried another film and the same thing happened. i then thought that it maybe the player, as i was using windows media player at the time, so i tried it in teh divx player...and the same thing happened. i then thought that it was the divx codec that i have , but i assumed that it would be fine as when i downloaded the divx player , the latest codec came with it, so my only option i keep thinking about is is it the software, if so what can be done about it but if its the hardware is there anything that i can do.

mags

 

[soaplover]

Have your AGP aperture size at 128mb at max.(not 256)

 

[mags9098]

Yep i changed it from 64 , which it was initially, to 128

 

[soaplover]

Perhaps 64MB is suitable for your card .
Btw i dont think this will effect viewing movies.
Could be your mem. try increasing the voltage .

 

[cdogg]

The movie problem could be anything really: sound or video card, hard drive, memory, Windows problem, or a combination of them.

Although the hiccup occurs visually and the sound continues to run, that doesn't mean it's not the sound card. It also doesn't mean that it's the video card necessarily either.

It's starting to sound like you have a RAM problem. You never did state what brand of RAM or the speed of RAM that you're using. It might actually be causing both problems that you're experiencing.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[mags9098]

The brand of ram that i am using is

Elixir
512Mb
DDR-333MHz
CL 2.5 (guessing that this is the Cas Latency, then this is still set to 2.5)
PC2700U - 25330

So thats the spec of the ram, hopefully it will be helpful.

Mags

 

[cdogg]

mags,
I forgot to ask what version of Windows you're running. As long as it's Windows 2000 or XP, then I would suggest you run out a purchase a new stick of DDR333 memory from either Crucial (

http://www.crucial.com)

or Kingston (

http://www.pricewatch.com).

It doesn't have to be much, say 128MB. You could also borrow a stick from someone if that's an option.

The point is to try a stick of RAM known to be good by itself in your system. It's the first cheapest component to replace/test.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[mags9098]

Right now i'm still running the computer at 160 MHZ which seems to be stable, i've pushed it by running a whole load of movies at once while playing a game (max payne 2 which is unbelievable) and it still seems to be fine. I'm going to try and see if i can borrow my friends ram to see whether it will work or i may just buy another ram stick of about 128mb either way i'll be able to check it and if it does work i would have increased my ram to about 640mb from 512mb which will be a nice improvement but I'll keep you posted about everything, i still gotta try and talk to the guy i brought the cpu and ram from see if he can be of any help.

But thanx for you help guys you helped alot

mags

 

[mags9098]

Ok

I MANAGED TO RUN IT AT 166 and it was going fine, i was playing games and everything but then it crashed this was for a good amount of hours as well.

I called up the person i brought the Mb and the CPU from and he told me that for a AMD 2800 its best to set the settings to 165 not 166 , something to do with balancing out the Mhz or soemthing, maybe you know mor eabout that than i do, so i did, and continued playing halo the end part when you in the buggy and everythings blowing up, normally that part would crash but it stayed alive even though all that stuff was happening, ok wopadedoo, but then later on at night i started playing halo again, being the only good game i have, and about 30 mins it crashed as usual. Right now i'm running it still at 165 , i have;nt played no games so it has'nt crashed yet and this has been on for about 3 hours.

One of my friends said that it might be the fact that i need a more powerful fan, another person said taht its to do wit the timings and im like :-S, ok does this help in anything, could somebody sugest something that i could do regarding this, if you could i would be very grateful.

thanx