Damned... this is getting more and more wierd.
I forgot to mention that I actually have two identical systems here, except for the CPU.
System #1: In my own computer I updated the bios 1002 --> 1004 at the same time i switched my (for some reason) dead 1700+, for a 2500+ barton. I emidiately noticed that I could not run at 173 FSB, which I had done ever since I built this computer a few months ago. Tried flashing back to 1002, but I'm still stuck at just above 166MHz bus.
System #2: Built this system for my friend, and he has been running his 2400+ at default speed, and 133 FSB (actually the memory has been underclocked). So, stupid as I was, I updated to the latest bios 1004 on his (just after I flashed mine) computer, _before_ I started experiment with max atainable FSB. I was surprised to see that anything above 170 FSB was very unstable, and it didn't even load windows. This was actually before I started testing out the limits of my own computer. Now I have gradually lowered both the FSB and multiplier on this computer, and I just found out that it's not even stable at 166FSB and default speed on the CPU?!
Oh, and the memory in both machines are 2x512MB Crucial.
I have been building computers for years, and have always overclocked etc, but this time I'm really lost. I don't understand what's going on here.... please help me!