Processor not showing proper speed and another question 8

[brianlisk]

Hello...

I have a AMD Athlon XP 2100+ on a A7N8X-Deluxe. HOWEVER, the BIOS and within Windows says that I have a 1500+ running at 1.29 GHz.

Can anyone tell me why? What could some problems be? This is a new motherboard (2 months). I have had problems with my PC pretty much since it was built, and have replaced pretty much everything in there. I just ordered Zalman heatpipe for my Radeon 9800 Pro, and I bid on a NIB Zalman CNPS6000-Cu heatsync/fan.

Games keep closing out without warning. I have heard it could be caused by heat on the GPU... any truth to this?

Any reply is greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[1stITMAN]

ok well athlons are know for heat issues. You need to make sure the computer is well cooled, excellent airflow is needed. Ok u should have a bios option to set the processor to the correct speed. I thin the CPU settings should be set to x10.5 and FSB to 133mhz, in the bios.

http://www.tweakers.net/meuktracker/4109

I.T Systems Support Engineer
Bsc. (Hons).

 

[micker377]

Make sure you have the correct memory for your board, otherwise BIOS memory settings won't do much.

 

[paparazi]

brianlisk
Sounds like the front side bus is set to 100 (needs to be 133)
I think the A7N8X has dip switches on the motherboard so look in your manual and set these to 133.
As this motherboard only takes DDR I don't think you could have the wrong memory for an XP2100+ unless you happen to have some rare PC1600, you have most likely have PC2100 or faster, any of which will run at 133.
The Palomino XP2.1+ (if that is the core you have) is one of the hottest CPU's AMD have made to date, so does indeed need good cooling.
The A7N8X is also extremely fussy with memory and many troubles can be attributed to cheap generic memory on these motherboards.
Martin

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

 

[wolluf]

I think the FSB settings are in the bios.

 

[paparazi]

Wolluf
Have used this motherboard quite a few times, you are definately right about FSB settings in the bios but I thought there were some (hardware) dip switches as well?
Hmmm maybe.
Martin

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

 

[Freestone]

The A7N8X has a jumper labelled CPU_FSB. In its default position 1-2, support for FSB speeds of 400/333/266 is enabled. In position 2-3, it sets support for FSB 200 only.

The XP 2100+ runs at a speed of 1733MHz, with a 266MHz FSB, so in BIOS, Advanced Chipset Features, CPU External Freq. should be 133MHz, with a multiplier of 13. I suspect your CPU External Freq. is currently set at 100MHz.

As far as heat issue, you can monitor it by loading PC-Probe from the ASUS motherboard CD, or download probe22203.zip from ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/utils

As micker377 suggests, if the memory is no good, nothing is going to run well. Some memory diagnostics can be downloaded from:

http://www.memtest86.com

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Both of these memory testers will create bootable diskettes that automatically start their respective memory tests upon boot.

 

[brianlisk]

You guys are THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!

When I changed the FSB setting in BIOS (Motherboard jumper settings were fine), the BIOS would read it as 2100+. Good news, right? No. I got a BSOD on Windows boot up. Upon reboot, I get a POST message saying "System Failed Memory Test" I removed one of the 2 256 PC2700 sticks out, and didn't get the message again. They were both brand name memory, but... Looks like I am SOL with this stick. :-(

Thank you all so much for your help!!!

 

[brianlisk]

Well... now this sucks again. I rebooted the PC again after posting this last message, and it would start to load XP, then reboot. It would ask if I wanted to start Windows in safe mode or normally, I said normally, and it rebooted again. It did this loop until I set the FSB back to 100.

Windows loaded and it said that Windows recovered from a serious error. I submitted the error report and it came back with this:

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/Response.asp?SID=77

I think it is bull. This is clearly hardware...

I don't know what to do.

 

[paparazi]

brianlisk
Reset the cmos, reset the bios to default or lowest performing settings.
As I set this motherboard (especially the earlier 333fsb version) can be very fussy with memory.
I have also seen some damaged CPU's that would only run when set to 100 (200fsb)
Martin

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

 

[Freestone]

What settings do you have for memory in the Advanced Chipset Features section of BIOS? What type of memory do you have? There have been a few flash levels for this board pertaining to stability with memory, so you may want to look into this too.

 

[brianlisk]

paparazi - I didn't reset the BIOS/CMOS yet... I will try that if my settings below are fine...

Freestone -
I now have 256mb of PC2700 DDR. I had 512 before, but I was getting those errors during POST, so......

Here are all my settings in Advanced Chipset Features - (Just in case):

CPU External Frequency: 100 MHz (it BSOD's at 133)
CPU Frequency Multiple Setting: Auto
CPU Frequency Multiple: 13.0x (Grayed out)
System Performance: [User Defined]
CPU Intercace: [Optimal]
Memory Frequency: [By SPD]
Resulting Frequency: 166 MHz (Grayed out)
Memory Timings: [Optimal]
x SDRAM Active Precharge Delay: 7 (Grayed out)
x SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay: 3 (Grayed out)
x SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay: 3 (Grayed out)
x SDRAM CAS Latency: 2.5T (Grayed out)
FSB Spread Spectrum: [0.50%]
AGP Spread Spectrum: [Disabled]
CPU Vcore Setting: [Auto]
x CPU Vcore: 1.750v (Grayed out)
Graphics Apature Size: [64MB]
AGP Frequency: [Auto]
System BIOS Cacheable: [Disabled]
Video RAM Cacheable: [Disabled]
DDR Reference Voltage: [2.6v]
AGP VDDQ Voltage: [1.5v]
AGP 8x Support: [Disabled]
AGP Fast Write Capability: [Enabled]
------------------------------
Now... I have a Radeon 9800 Pro (128mb) 8x AGP, but when I set the Graphics Apature Size to 128, and AGP 8x Support, it boots fine and all, but I will set the AGP Settings in the display properties (SMARTGART) to 8x, I reboot and it starts to come up fine, and blinks a couple times. When I check the properties, it is back to disabled.

Thanks for the replies!!

 

[paparazi]

brianlisk
Just to reiterate
My guess is one or more of three things:
CPU: is damaged in someway, either it has been overheated at some point (only takes 4-5 seconds) maybe it's chipped but either way I've seen many XP's once damaged that wouldn't run at full clock speed.
The memory is faulty: again the same applies to the memory, I've seen lots that would run but not at full speed.
The motherboard itself, same rules apply.
Just to add: what are your CPU temps? have you fitted the CPU heatsink/fan unit on the right way around and with a small amount of thermal paste on the raised core (it is possible at full speed the CPU is overheating due to an incorrectly fitted heatsink)
note* paste should only be applied to the small raised core of the CPU and not ALL OVER the CPU top surface.
Martin


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

 

[TekTippy4U]

You may need to reload your mobo chipset drivers, cause when you first did it, you had incorrect BIOS settings for the CPU...no? and it's possible the wrong/downgraded version got parsed during install. The chipset drivers are usually added BEFORE the graphics drivers, so uninstall them first and let it run VGA.

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[Freestone]

I'm in agreement with Martin as far as the CPU being the first suspect followed by memory. Review your CPU installation with the videos from AMD:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_3734_4348^6678,00.html

Another thing here is that your memory speed is not synchronous with your FSB speed. It's running at 333MHz while the rest of the system is running at 200MHz FSB or 266MHz FSB. Try matching Memory Frequency so that the Resulting Frequency matches CPU External Frequency.

You may also want to set System Performance to Optimal

 

[cdogg]

Also make sure that you check the "Resulting Frequency" after changing the "CPU External Frequency" to 133MHz. If the "Resulting Frequency" goes up when you make that change, then it is pushing your memory faster than its rated speed. Random reboots and mixed results on successful/failing boots tend to point to memory or CPU. It could also be possible that you did not apply the thermal paste correctly. On the Athlon XP's, it is easy to apply too much. You only need a small dab to cover the core center of the chip without any excess runoff onto the bronze shell.

Finally, I would leave the AGP Aperture size to its default of 64MB. Adjusting this setting should only be done to tweak system performance not to resolve a stability issue. The default setting should not interfere with something as simple as booting. The only exception is if the card's manual instructs you to.

~cdogg
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