Need help with BIOS settings on A7N8X Deluxe

NIXNIX
edited December 2004 in Hardware
Hello,

I have an A7N8X Deluxe r1.04 with a freshly updated 1008 BIOS. I am upgrading the system from an Athlon 2100+ to an Athlon 3000+ (400mhz). In BIOS, I set the frequency to 200 and multiplier to 10.5 for the new chip.

I initially got the system to boot recognize the CPU as a 3000+. So far so good. The OS worked great, but had direct 3D stability problems.

I've updated my nforce drivers and geforce drivers. When that didn't work, I upgraded the video card (from ti4600 to 5700LE) and eventually resorted to a fresh install of Windows XP. All this and the 3D stablity problem remains.

Realizing I had pc2700 RAM (2 sticks of 512) and the RAM was not at the same speed as the FSB, I figured this was the cause of the problem. I swapped this out for 2 sticks of pc3200. I set the memory frequency to 100% to sync the RAM and FSB to a speed of 200. I still have instability running 3D applications.

After many hours of trying various combination of settings for CPU External Freq, CPU Frequency Multiple, memory frequency, etc... I decided to try running with the 2100+ chip I started with. I am now unstable with this chip (set at 133x10.5 in BIOS).

At this point, I'm not terribly concerned with overclocking (I'll be happy to underclock the 3000+ to get this thing working again) - I just want a stable system. Can anyone help with BIOS settings for an A7N8X Deluxe with either a 2100+ or 3000+ (400mhz)?

Thanks!

Comments

  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    OK NIX, you are in the same boat as me with your A7N8X-Dlx rev. 1.04 board. These early boards were really problematic on getting to 200 fsb, due to the early northbridge revision of the nf2 chipset. Most of them will not get to 200 fsb without modding the mobo for higher voltage to the northbridge and that's not even a guarrantee that it will be stable at 200 fsb. I even took my nb heatsink off and applied as3 and then added a fan to the nb heatsink and I still couldn't get stable at 200 fsb even when running an uber bios that let me up the voltage to the northbridge to 1.8v. The highest fsb my r 1.04 board will run stable is in the 188-190 fsb range. I'm guessing that your 3000/200 XP is multiplier locked, so you will never be able to run it at it's rated speed on that mobo without doing some physical volt mods to the mobo for the northbridge; I would recommend that you either replace it with a new mobo or just buy a mobile XP for it. You should be able to run a mobile XP at over 2300 mhz without doing any mods to either the board or the proc and I saw a post recently that said Newegg was selling the Abit NF7-S mobos for around $65 and it's a damn fine board.

    As for running the 2100 in it now, have you tried setting back to bios defaults? Also, what are your temps looking like? I've had stability problems before due to me not getting the hsf mounted totally flush on the proc and part of the proc overheating and freezing the computer. It wasn't enough to hurt the proc, but my temps were showing very high over what they normally run and would lock up pretty quick. Reseating the hsf solved that particular problem.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited December 2004
    Just a thought but as this seems to be happening in 3d only have you got fastwrites enabled in the bios, if its an option on this board? If so try turning it off.
  • NIXNIX
    edited December 2004
    Thanks for the quick replies...

    Jimborae - Yes, I've tried toggling the fastwrites on and off and it did not seem to make a difference either way. Incidentally, fastwrite was on before I started this whole upgrade adventure.

    muddocktor - Since some of the settings I tried caused the machine not to POST, I've cleared the BIOS via the CMOS jumper several times throughout the whole process and started from scratch. I tried running the 3000+ at 166x13.0 - but it sees it as a 1gig processor which is pointless since the 2100+ was faster. Temperatures seem ok: low 40c's - mid/high 50c's depending on which chip is in and weather the machine is idle. The 3000+ seems to run hotter than the 2100+. How would you recommend setting up the 3000+ to get a stable build with the best performance this chip will offer?

    At the moment, I've got the 2100+ back in with the pc2700 RAM and a fresh install of XP(SP2). It just locked up at 45% installing Audigy drivers. At the moment no matter which way I go, this functions as a fairly large doorstop.
  • CryptoCrypto W.Sussex UK Member
    edited December 2004
    NIX,
    I wonder if your current instability is down to your memory. You've obviously swapped the modules around, maybe it's worth running Memtest?

    Good luck

    Crypto :D
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    Is that 40's to 50's when reading it in bios or with MBM or Asus Probe? In bios and Asus Probe read the socket thermistor and not the on-die diode and show 5-10 C cooler than the actual processor's temp. MBM will read the processor's diode though and is what I use to monitor temps on my A7N8X. It's possible that the hsf you have isn't sitting on the proc fully flush for some reason and is letting part of the core overheat and lock you up. I had this problem with my A7N8X with an original Swiftech MC462, if I didn't have it positioned precisely right it wouldn't make good contact with the core and even though the socket thermistor was only showing around 40-47 C the processor diode would be getting up into the 70-75 C range and locking up.

    Another thought is to check what your ram timings are set to. If they are set to run by spd, then manually set the ram timings to what your ram is rated for on a 166 fsb. Also, you can try running a higher dimm voltage, it won't hurt the ram. Also check to make sure that the ram is set to run synchronously with the fsb and try the 2100 out again with it.

    As for your 3000+, it will only run the multiplier that is hard coded internally; AMD locked the multi's on all desktop XP's over a year ago so even though your board supports changing the multipliers, the processor doesn't and can't be modded to do so. The only XP procs that can have the multipliers manipulated anymore are the mobile XP's and possibly the MP procs(I haven't heard either way about the MP procs, but they are very expensive compared to the mobile XP's anyways).

    Since you are using an Audigy instead of Soundstorm, why not change the mobo out anyways so you can take advantage of your 3000+ proc? Newegg has the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra for less than $60 shipped and it's a decent board with good overclocking options and it does support a 200 fsb (and faster). I just looked at the Abit boards too and the NF7-S is $83 and it has Soundstorm onboard so that you wouldn't need the Audigy. Be sure you don't get the NF7-S2 or NF7-S2G, which are inferior boards that Abit did the public a disservice by producing with a name closely resembling the high successfull and overclockable NF7-S. :shakehead


    Jimborae, I also had the exact same problems with my A7N8X-Dlx at 200 fsb; it would run until you stressed the AGP with a 3d app like a game, with fast writes on or off.
  • NIXNIX
    edited December 2004
    I was using the Asusprobe for the temp readings - though I installed MBM and got the same readings... I've used some silver compound and reseated the 2100+ (133x10.5) and have not had it go over 49c under load. The machine seems to be fairly stable, but 3D performance seems to decline over time (I have turned fastwrites off). Perhaps still a cooling issue?

    I've looked into the NF7-S, and figured the $83 is a reasonable cost to get things working again, so I can start using the machines insead of frustratedly tinkering with them. The parts should be in later this week :)

    So - with the 3000+ in mounted in the NF7-S with 2 512meg sticks of pc3200 RAM, I should set the processor to 200x10.5 and have the RAM running at 200. Is this correct? Any other BIOS tweeks I should be aware of?
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