A7V333 XP2200 Cpu Speed Problems

[Brian Scott]

I read this on Tom's Hardware site,
Overclocking: Not A Whole Lot Possible
Prior to the test, the THG engineers had some rather high expectations: overclocking with the smaller CPU core should prove to be easily accomplished. The serial settings run at 13.5 x 133 MHz = 1800 MHz. But our attempt to overclock the processor's FSB to 148 MHz, similar to the Athlon XP 2100+ (Palomino), failed. Here, it should be mentioned that both systems were operated with a high-quality watercooling setup. The result: the system remained stable only at 140 MHz FSB, meaning that the CPU clock was increased to 1890 MHz. This is an increase of 5%, which is clearly a weaker result than with the older Palomino, which ran with perfect stability at 1918 MHz (11.2% increase).

[Brian Scott]

As well as this,
Our extensive tests give the impression that the Athlon design is already a bit outdated and is now reaching its limits. We weren't able to overclock our sample of the Athlon XP 2200+ by a significant amount. In any case, the lab results were below that of the Athlon XP 2100+ (Palomino core) in our last test, which we were able to run stably at 1918 MHz. Also, it's no secret that the Athlon design is not meant for extremely high clock speeds as is the case for its arch rival, Intel's P4. However, the AMD Athlon XP is able to reach the same performance as that of a higher-clocked P4, which goes to show that clock speed alone is by no means an indication for performance. The strength of the Athlon still lies in the parallel execution of internal commands.

[Chris Cavell]

I know several people have gotten good results with that cpu. Perhaps you should look into another mobo. I'd imagine you can find a very suitable one around $65-$100. Check the stickie thread at the top "best system for ...." for some recommendations. But, I still think what you've got OUGHT to be working.

[Brian Scott]

Yes I agree, it should work, but after countless hours it's still unstable at 1800MHz.

Is this link from Allan's best system for under $1000. appropriate for me?

PCI Latency Patch for VIA Chipsets Up To KT333 (scroll down to appropriate link)

[genebadd]

Hey Brian, you know I am having close to the same problem with my 2800xp chip and that board. It runs but not very well at its highest setting of 2.08 Ghz. Runs great at 1.6Ghz, its lowest setting. I seen that there is a new bios out v.1004 ( at least its new to me). Im going to give that a try and see if that might clear up my problems. SIS Sandra complains of bus problems. All my hardware ( CPU,m-board, memory) advertises 333Mhz bus capability yet it doesnt act that way. Hopefully there is a solution out there.I didnt buy a 2800 CPU to run at 1.6Ghz. Good luck

Gene

[Chris Cavell]

No kidding.

Well guys, I hope firmware eventually fixes things. Some mobo companies publish unsupported experimental firmwares that open up a lot more options. If one exists, you might want to try it as a last resort. If not, it's back to the store for ya I guess.

[minimoog]

i haven't read this entire thread but the CPU needs to be set at 1800. (133/33)

firstly, is this a new machine? has it run reliably before or has it been troublesome from the get-go?

assuming it is new, you need to set the RAM timing seperately and this could well be your problem, and disable RAID using jumpers (refer to the manual) if you have the RAID model.

don't take this as gospel, i'm working from (rather rusty) memory.

to begin, enter the BIOS setup program. navigate to the Exit menu and select Load Setup Defaults, hit enter then select yes and hit enter again.

now check that the system performance is set to optimal. the fact that the system hangs when set to turbo could possibly indicate that the RAM is either not compatible with that board or it is faulty.

now navigate to the Advanced menu and scroll down to CPU/Memory frequency ratio. the options here may be expressed as a numerical ratio or if you have updated BIOS, in mHz. the fastest will probably be 166mHz so try setting it to 133 (or 1:1). save changes and exit bios.

if the machine runs ok, there's a good chance the RAM is faulty. i've built a few machines based on that board and it seems thay are extremely fussy about RAM, as is the A7V8X. check the Asus websight for details of exactly which makes and models are compatible with that board.

if it is still unstable, i suggest having a tech look at the system as this internet based troubleshooting can become a arduous process.

[Chris Cavell]

Thanks minimoog, finally someone familiar with this mobo to try and help these guys. Hope it works.

[Brian Scott]

Hi Gene,
Thanks for the post. I agree with you, I feel we should be able to run the CPU at it's listed speed and be stable as well. I have 3 computers with the same motherboard one using an XP 2400+ and it will only run at the lowest CPU setting of 1500MHz.
[img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
I feel the need for speed!

[minimoog]

the XP2400+ runs at 1995mHz. once again, check the RAM timing and only use qualified DIMM's.

scroll to the bottom of this page for DIMM's qualified for use with A7V333.