Athlon xp 2800+ on Asus A7N8X Deluxe Bios setings

Danadcorps

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Nov 21, 2003
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By the way, i have to do a re-install of Windows (getting another SATA so I'm going to put them in Raid 0) so I'm in the process of slipstreaming Windows with nLite(getting those damn updates is a REAL pain in the ass). Any advice on this? Also, how do i set up my system so that the SATA partition is C:\ (i think i have to unplug my 2 IDE's and then do the windows set up. is this right?)

edit**
>|<Solved>|< Also i have a Sapphire Radeon 9800Pro 128MB. In my BIOS i see Graphics Aperture Size set to 64MB. What is this and what would happen if i change the value (32M)(64M)(128M)(256M)(512M) <---values i can change to. If i do this, do i have to change the AGP Frequency? ******...i just noticed my Primary VGA Bios was set to PCI and not AGP...gotta change that.

>|<Solved>|< Another question. I have windows installed on my SATA drive, however, my bios doesn't have a setting for SATA on the boot-up hierarchy. Right now its at SCSI/CD-Rom/Floppy. However, whenever i have a disk in either the floppy or the CD-Rom it tells me i have to take it out before it can start up Windows. What setting should i change it to in order to boot up straight from my SATA?

>|<Solved>|< Hey guys, I was wondering if you could help me out on this. I have an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ and its on a Asus A7n8X Deluxe Mobo. From what i've read and from what i remember its supposed to be set at CPU Freq = 166 and Multiplier at 13.5. However, a few days ago i noticed that it was at 166 with 6.5 Mult. I didn't know what i was doing at the time so i put it to 200//10.5. It started to hang quite a bit so i read up on it and found the normal settings. I put in the normal settings but according to Windows (in the System thingy) it says its running at 918MHz and doesn't even know what type of AMD it is. It should be at 2.25 and saying its an AMD Athlon(tm) 2800+ but its not. What settings should i change?
 

Frosty47

Junior Member
Feb 17, 2007
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Hello,

It is recommended that you keep the Graphics Aperture Size around 64MB to 128MB in size, even if your graphics card has a lot of onboard memory. This allows flexibility in the event that you actually need extra memory for texture storage. It will also keep the GART (Graphics Address Relocation Table) within a reasonable size. AGP Aperture memory will not be used until your video card's on-board memory is running low. That means it will usually not impact your gaming performance because developers are trying hard to not exceed the on-board memory limits. Remember, the bigger your Video Memory the smaller your Aperture Size could be. Setting the Aperture Size to HUGE values will not increase performance because this merely sets the maximum amount of physical memory that can be used by your Video Card.

I personally recommend leaving that to default (64mb).

Also, it is strongly recomended that you never change your AGP frequency, unless you are into some serious overclocking and you realy know what you are doing. The default AGP frequency is 66 Mhz. Bear in mind, that by changing AGP Bus frequency to higher levels can bring upon serious instability issues that can permanetly damage your system hardware.
 

Frosty47

Junior Member
Feb 17, 2007
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By the way, what are your current FSB and CPU multiplier parameters set to ?

Xp 2800+ Default setting are: FSB of 166Mhz; Multiplier of 13.5; Potential Diference (Voltage) of 1.65V.

Also, if you are experiencing BOOT problems, I recomend that you change the Boot Priority to the following:

1) Your H.D.D
2) Your Optical Drive
3) Floppy

and what is your current Operating System ?
 

Danadcorps

Member
Nov 21, 2003
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Thanks for the information about the AGP stuff. It seems like the Graphics Aperture Size functions similar to virtual memory (except that it uses actual memory from the AGP card). I'll keep it at its default value :)

My settings are what it is supposed to be at: FSB - 166Mhz; Multiplier - 13.5; Pot Dif. - 1.65. Strangely enough, when i set CPU Frequency Multiple Setting to [Auto] instead of [Menu] it puts the Multiplier to [6.5].

As for the boot problems, i know the order in which i want to put it, but my BIOS doesn't have SATA as an option. [Floppy][LS120][HDD0][HDD1][HDD2][HDD3][SCSI][CDROM][ZIP100][LAN][Disabled]

I have Boot Other Device set to [Enabled]. I will set this value to [Disabled] and see if my comp recognizes my SATA as one of the HDD (my BIOS didn't have a setting to set the SATA to be valued as an IDE drive so i doubt it'll work, but i'll try anyway). Then i will set Boot Devices (1-3) to [Disabled] and set the Boot Other Device to [Enabled].
*Edit It is recognized as HDD0. I'll set my order to HDD0, CDROM, FLOPPY.

My OS is Windows XP Pro w/ SP2 and all current Hotfixes.
 

Frosty47

Junior Member
Feb 17, 2007
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Graphics Aperture Size sets the maximum limit of physical memory (DRAM) that can be used by your Video Card only when the memory on your video card is running low. Basically, a part of your RAM will be used as Video memory. AGP Aperture Size does not use memory from ur GPU.

Now back to your boot problem: The BIOS Boot Priority only identifies the device and not its interface. So don't blame the Boot Priority for not listing "SATA or IDE". Simply select ur Hard Disk drive that has the OS on it to be the first "primary" boot device. Normally, you should only see 3 boot priorities. Just make sure that the first one is set to "Hard Drive".

Regarding ur CPU. Some motherboards, when operating in AUTO mode have a tendency to set lower CPU and FSB parameters. This is not a manufacturing flaw. This is done in essence of "stability".

You should manually input/set your system parameters to manufacturer's specs.

Bear in mind that it is recommended that you load "Fail Safe" settings (in your case just put it back to Auto) when installing/reinstalling the OS.
 

Danadcorps

Member
Nov 21, 2003
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I did set the system up to the manufacturer's specs. They, for some reason unknown to me, are not working the way they are supposed to. Since it is set at 166Mhz and 13.5 Multiplier it should be running 2.25Ghz. However, it is running at 918Mhz. I want to know why is it running at 918Mhz when its supposed to be at 2.25Ghz. Are there some parameters that affect the CPU speed other than just those 2 (the CPU External Frequency and the CPU Multiplier)? If so, what should those be set at?
 

Frosty47

Junior Member
Feb 17, 2007
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0
There are only two known factors that affect the CPU's frequency: 1) Actual (not the Effective Dual or QUAD) Fronside BUS; and CPU's internal multiplier. The multiplier tells the chip to "run this many times the speed of the external bus".

The problem you are having seems to be very uncommon. It sounds like your CPU's clock generator having a low frequency output.

Where do you see that ur CPU is running at 918 Mhz? I recommend that you download and run CPU-Z and than post those results for CPU and Memory.

CPU-Z is open source software that can be downloaded from this website:
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
 

Danadcorps

Member
Nov 21, 2003
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I Ran CPU-Z and heres the Results

Processors Map
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of processors 1
Number of threads 1

Processor 0
-- Core 0
-- Thread 0


Processors Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 (ID = 0)
Number of cores 1
Number of threads 1 (max 1)
Name AMD Athlon XP
Codename Barton
Specification AMD Athlon(tm)
Package Socket A (462)
CPUID 6.A.0
Extended CPUID 7.A
Core Stepping
Technology 0.13 um
Core Speed 918.8 MHz (5.5 x 167.0 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 334.1 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE
L1 Data cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control no
K7 Thermal sensor yes


Thread dumps
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Thread 0
APIC ID 0
Topology Processor ID 0, Core ID 0, Thread ID 0
Type 02001002h
Max CPUID level 00000001h
Max CPUID ext. level 80000008h

Function eax ebx ecx edx
0x00000000 0x00000001 0x68747541 0x444D4163 0x69746E65
0x00000001 0x000006A0 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x0383FBFF
0x80000000 0x80000008 0x68747541 0x444D4163 0x69746E65
0x80000001 0x000007A0 0x00000000 0x00000000 0xC1C3FBFF
0x80000002 0x20444D41 0x6C687441 0x74286E6F 0x0020296D
0x80000003 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x80000004 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x80000005 0x0408FF08 0xFF20FF10 0x40020140 0x40020140
0x80000006 0x00000000 0x41004100 0x02008140 0x00000000
0x80000007 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000001
0x80000008 0x00002022 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000

MSR 0x0000001B edx = 0x00000000 eax = 0xFEE00900
MSR 0xC0010015 edx = 0x00000000 eax = 0x05031008


Chipset
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 rev. C1
Southbridge NVIDIA nForce2 MCP-T rev. A4
Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Revision 3.0
AGP Transfer Rate 8x
AGP SBA supported, enabled
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 1024 MBytes
Memory Frequency 167.0 MHz (1:1)
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
Cycle Time (tRAS) 7


Memory SPD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #1

General
Memory type DDR
Manufacturer (ID) Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number VS512MB400

Attributes
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no
EPP no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 200
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# delay 3
RAS# Precharge 3
TRAS 8



DIMM #2

General
Memory type DDR
Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2700 (166 MHz)
Part number K
Serial number 000D4700
Manufacturing date Week 45/Year 02

Attributes
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no
EPP no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 133 166
CAS# 2.0 2.5
RAS# to CAS# delay 3 3
RAS# Precharge 3 3
TRAS 6 7



Dump Module #1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
00 80 08 07 0D 0A 02 40 00 04 50 60 00 82 08 00 01
10 0E 04 08 01 02 20 00 60 70 75 75 3C 28 3C 28 40
20 60 60 40 40 00 00 00 00 00 37 46 28 28 55 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 88
40 7F 7F 9E 00 00 00 00 00 01 56 53 35 31 32 4D 42
50 34 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 00 00
60 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00


Dump Module #2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
00 80 08 07 0D 0A 02 40 00 04 60 70 00 82 08 00 01
10 0E 04 0C 01 02 20 00 75 70 00 00 48 30 48 2A 40
20 75 75 45 45 00 00 00 00 00 3C 48 30 2D 60 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4C
40 7F 98 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4B 00 00 00 00 00 00
50 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 2D 00
60 0D 47 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00


Why is my multiplier at 5.5 when its at 13.5 in BIOS?? Is it just me, or is that kinda screwy? By the way, I see why my sys was hanging prior to the correction for normalcy. I had set the FSB to 200 when one of my DIMMS can only support 166. Stupid error on my behalf.


By the way, here are the options listed (in order) in my BIOS for the Multiplier

[13.0]
[13.5]
[14.0]
[6.5]
[7.0/15.0]
[7.5]
[8.0/16.0]
[8.5/16.5]
[9.0/17.0]
[9.5]
[10.0]
[10.5]
[11.0]
[11.5]
[12.0]
[12.5]

If this were linear, starting at 5.0, then where it says [13.5] it would be the spot for 5.5 which is what is being registered. Could this be the problem? If so, how would i put it at 13.5 or even anything higher than 12.5 since they would not be options in this hypothetical linear system?

The only pattern i can see is that it starts at 6.5 and goes downward increasing by .5 each step of the way and loops once it reaches anything further than 12.5. But how do i get to those values and am i right in assuming that [7.0/15.0] means that if can either function at 7.0 multiplier or 15.0 multiplier? If i am right, how would i get it to be valued at 15.0 (hypothetically) if it is the same option as 7.0?
 

Frosty47

Junior Member
Feb 17, 2007
8
0
0
It looks like a BIOS problem to me. To me this looks like the current version of BIOS on your mobo does not have support for your CPU. Don't panic, Asus has already corrected this issue with their BIOS update. All you need to do is update your BIOS from the link bellow:

http://support.asus.com/download/downlo...delname=A7N8X%20Deluxe&SLanguage=en-us

Double check your "PCB revision" before updating and make sure to back up your old BIOS before you go ahead with the update.

I hope this will fix your problem?
 

Danadcorps

Member
Nov 21, 2003
149
0
76
I flashed the BIOS and that didn't help any. However, i finally remembered the e-mail n password that i used in order to buy the CPU. It was a XP 2800+ BARTON. Goddamn Barton core was throwing us off the whole time. The normal settings for Barton are different for all the other Core's of the XP 2800+. It wants 12.5 as the multiplier, so i set it to that value and now everything is working fine :). I was still really confused as to why the multiplier can't go any higher than 12.5 but when i read up on some overclocking tests that some people did, they said that it becomes pretty unstable when you raise the multiplier so i guess i wont be bothering with it anyway.

Well thanks for all the help Frost47, i really appreciate all the info and advice you gave me.

by the way, have you ever slipstreamed your OS installation?