Biostar Tforce 6100 AM2 mini-review

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Trey22

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2003
5,540
0
76
I found 3 BIOS's for this 6100 AM2 board on the Biostar site. The first two are on the same page, the 3rd you have to navigate to the TForce motherboards section to find it. My board came with the 3rd BIOS.

1. CR51A505bs.exe (371k, 2006/08/01, To support AMD Sempron M2 CPU)

2. CR51A505bf.exe (337k, 2006/08/01, No Biostar Logo BIOS)

3. CR51A517.bst (512k, 2006/06/23, Update BIOS code)
 
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endlesszeal

Member
Dec 19, 2004
85
0
61
yeah i tried that... wierd.. maybe i have to do it with good ol floppy, but i think im going to put it off since everything is running gravy. if it aint broke, dont try to fix it.

and i dont kno much about the speed fan thing, but my cpu says 1687 rpm at 41 C. is that normal for an 3800 x2? my venice idles at 37ish, but thats with a side intake fan.

the only major gripe is no firewire. i have a dummy ieee slot now. haha.

oh yeah is there a way to monitor the mb temp? i tried everest and mbm5, but its too new to be supported.

thanks ahead of time.
 
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lilila001

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2006
11
0
0
Originally posted by: Trey22
I found 3 BIOS's for this 6100 AM2 board on the Biostar site. The first two are on the same page, the 3rd you have to navigate to the TForce motherboards section to find it. My board came with the 3rd BIOS.

1. CR51A505bs.exe (371k, 2006/08/01, To support AMD Sempron M2 CPU)

2. CR51A505bf.exe (337k, 2006/08/01, No Biostar Logo BIOS)

3. CR51A517.bst (512k, 2006/06/23, Update BIOS code)
Click to expand...

Actually the newest one is: CR51A602.BTT

http://www.biostar.cn/driver2005/BIOS/06BIOS/CR51A602.BTT.rar
 
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Trey22

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2003
5,540
0
76
Originally posted by: lilila001
Originally posted by: Trey22
I found 3 BIOS's for this 6100 AM2 board on the Biostar site. The first two are on the same page, the 3rd you have to navigate to the TForce motherboards section to find it. My board came with the 3rd BIOS.

1. CR51A505bs.exe (371k, 2006/08/01, To support AMD Sempron M2 CPU)

2. CR51A505bf.exe (337k, 2006/08/01, No Biostar Logo BIOS)

3. CR51A517.bst (512k, 2006/06/23, Update BIOS code)
Click to expand...

Actually the newest one is: CR51A602.BTT

http://www.biostar.cn/driver2005/BIOS/06BIOS/CR51A602.BTT.rar
Click to expand...

Wow, how did you find that BIOS?
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
lilila001, your Tforce6100 board is the AM2 version?

Trey22, here's some pics and info for ya. My BIOS version is CR51A505 BS. I guess that's the original version... dunno.

Picture 1 is of the packaging for the motherboard, CPU and original RAM (not the gigaram stuff that won't initial-POST in the board). This pic is a composite with the board and the included goodies pasted onto the side - not to scale.

Picture 2 is what I see in CMOS setup. It is a composite of four pics.

Top left shows what I first see when I enter CMOS setup, with the Performance Booster Zone highlighted.

Top right shows what I see when I enter the Performance Booster Zone submenu, with the DRAM Configuration highlighted.

Bottom left shows what I see when I enter the DRAM Configuration submenu, with Memory Timings highlighted.

Bottom right shows what I see when I enter the Memory Timings submenu, with CAS Latency highlighted.

To recap:
ENTER BIOS >> PERFORMANCE BOOSTER ZONE >> DRAM CONFIGURATION >> MEMORY TIMINGS
 
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Trey22

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2003
5,540
0
76
Good info... and the difference was BIOS revs... I might try the newest release and see if that has access to the timings I need.

Cheers! Trey
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
I liked this board enough to purchase a second one from Newegg. Unfortunately I choose to purchase an "open box" item and it was DOA. Well, DOA items do happen, so okay I'll just RMA it. Well, Newegg's policy is to have a restocking fee for all "open box" RMAs regardless of reason. I am very disappointed in their current policy. I know I'm not the only one around here who have had to return "open box" items. If Newegg wants to charge a restocking fee, then they should test everything out before selling it, but they don't. At this time if you buy an "open box" item, you are buying something that is used and has possibly at one time been non-functional and could be missing items. If the item ends up DOA, then you pay for shipping both ways plus 15% restocking fee for the "privilege" of testing the part for Newegg. I find this unacceptable.

BTW, I can't deal with this through the manufacturer because Biostar is still stuck in the 90's with their warranty, which is one year through authorized resellers only. They do accept RMAs from end users, but they consider those to be "out of warranty" and will charge a $30 service fee.

Biostar warranty statement
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
I've only used two different RAM with it, but only the RAM that followed official JEDEC specifications worked right off the bat.

DDR2-400 CAS 3 1.8v
DDR2-533 CAS 4 1.8v
DDR2-667 CAS 5 1.8v

My DDR2-533 works fine and is CAS 4 and runs at that speed at 1.8v. My DDR2-667 is CAS 4 also, and the board will not POST with this RAM unless the latency is already manually set.

I'm not positive that this is the case with all RAM since I only had one of these boards (that worked) and two pairs of RAM.
 
GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2005
2,146
26
91
How about the PQI TURBO 1GB DDR2 800 that Newegg has? I see it mentioned in a earlier post in this thread. Please say yes..Please oh please, cuz I ordered it
I'm getting that sick feeling....

Link to Ram
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
I haven't personally tried that RAM. Please let us know if it worked. If the board just beeps the memory error at you, then it likely has the incompatibility problem.
 
GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2005
2,146
26
91
Is this the same ram that endlesszeal mentions he used in his post earlier in this thread?
thanks
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Your description fits his description. To really be sure, you can PM him with your part number and see if it matches his.
 
GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2005
2,146
26
91
OK, I have major problems here. I have the board and a 3800 X2
I get a flashing #2 LED, which the book says is memory. I tried the PQI PC2-6400, 1GB stick. I then went out I got some Corsair XMS 2 X512MB PC2-5400
Same thing, LED number 2 flashes. Damn. Bad board?
Thanks
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Do you have a PC speaker plugged in? Does it beep memory error too? Out of three socket AM2 Tforce boards, two of them would give a memory error on first POST with my DDR2-667 RAM but was fine with my DDR2-533 RAM.

The third board was unfortunarely DOA (but was also a refurb) and exhibited behavior like you describe.
 
GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2005
2,146
26
91
Originally posted by: Zap
Do you have a PC speaker plugged in? Does it beep memory error too? Out of three socket AM2 Tforce boards, two of them would give a memory error on first POST with my DDR2-667 RAM but was fine with my DDR2-533 RAM.

The third board was unfortunarely DOA (but was also a refurb) and exhibited behavior like you describe.
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. Turned out to be the video card. I got one of those Fuzion 7600GS from Newegg. It does not like the 6100 chipset. The card works in my other PC. So, I put it back on the onboard video, and she starts right up. I did get some Corsair 2X512MB, 675MHz ram to try out. It likes that for sure. I know, my fault. I should start the PC up with minimal accessories attached. I went by the LED lights. I need to get a speaker for it.
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Try a different video card in it. Some of the Newegg reviews (covering all socket versions) claim that theirs had dead PCI-E slots.

I have encountered one such incompatibility about a half year ago. I had a PCI-E Geforce 6200TC (I think MSI brand) that would absolutely not work in an ECS Nforce4-A754 board. Other cards worked fine in that board, and this card worked fine in other boards.
 
GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2005
2,146
26
91
Making some progress. Got a PNY 7600GT card to put in there. It works!
Well, kinda sorta works. I get a error message about the WDM drivers. It won't load them. I get an error 10. I see mention on the web of setting the "assign IRQ to VGA" in the bios, but I don't see that as an option, Also, I don't think the temp reading is accurate. I'm using the AMD dashboard to read it. Always reads 41 degrees with AMD dashboard, but with the Biostar monitor it reads 26 degrees. That sounds too cold. I see a updated bios for the Teforce 550 on 9/20/06, for CPU temp detected eror, . so maybe they are working on it

LINK

Here is a bios update that they say is for the Tforce 6100, but no mention of a socket. Not very helpful. It does say, " Fixed system reported incorrect CPU temperature after resume from S3" whatever a S3 is..

link again
 
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