Can Mushkin Rev. 2 pc133 cas 2 go above 133?

[gdogfib]

I recently bought a stick of rev 2 in hopes of getting my P3 700e at 1000 (143 fsb). I heard that this module would easily go higher than the guaranteed 133 cas 2. (some people said they got as high as 160 fsb using this ram) After putting it in, I could only run it at 133 @ 222. Anything above that wasn't stable at all and running at cas 3 didn't get me much higher either. I could not get it to post higher than 140 fsb. I have an alpha pep66 on my chip and it's at 28-30 idle. I also have an ABIT be6-II, a guillemot 3d prophet ddr-dvi, and a soundblaster live value. Do I have a bad module or is something else up with my configuration? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kishkumen]

Well, if you're sure its not the cpu and not the cpu, maybe it could be the motherboard...The BE6-2 is a BX motherboard right? Seems like I've heard of older BX boards having stability problems above 133MHz. Are you only using one module? I know on my CUBX when I used to run my P3700 at 140 FSB with Crucial Cas2 that if I had two modules in there it ran unstable, but perfectly fine with one at Cas2. Unless you can isolate it to a particular component tho it is hard to guess. Could be the memory just can't go passed 133.

 

[paulip88]

Also, if you run a BX that fast, there is also a higher chance that some of the other components (AGP, PCI) may be the cause for failure.

 

[Gandalf90125]

My guess would be that it is the CPU that is holding you back.

My RAM will do 148MHz forever without breaking a sweat...but that's with my P3 500 @ 740.

My P3 700 is not as nice and has to be pushed hard to even get to 933 (133 @ 1.85v)...and even then, the stability is not quite there.

 

[Archon777]

Try bumping the cas up to 3. Sometimes you can't overclock with a latency of 2. I myself had some trouble with Mushkin when I went to a 143 bus, but changing the cas latency to 3 worked fine. I was able to take it to 157 without any problems.

 

[gdogfib]

If the agp and pci are the cause for the failure, is there anything I can do to help the situation? Would a new video card possibly help? I did try setting it at cas 3 but I couldn't get any higher than 135 (even then it was unstable) Thanks for all the feedback so far.

 

[Gringo]

it very much sounds like a bus problem; ram is solid, good/newer (and few) components, and a rock solid chipset (BX).. *peer* wait a minute. BX, eh? yes its rock solid, but (and esp. on the older ones) they get hot, and get very unstable when hot. and since it was designed for a max of 100mhz fsb, that makes a lot of sense when running at 133fsb. see if the chipset is getting warm...main component you need to worry about has the big ole' green HS on it (think they still do anyhow). Theres a reason its got a HS on it.

Im just guessing on your board, but see if its hot-ish to the touch at 133. might need to direct some airflow over it, put a better HS on it (lame radiating properties), or give it a mounted fan. and it seems that the increase from 133->135 isnt an indicator at all...try sticking to CAS2 on that ram if you can.

post your results too! were all curious!

g/l.

 

[Davegod75]

yes

 

[Archon777]

I agree with beloved patriot, most likely the BX chipset. 133 is usually the limit, and even that is fairly tough to reach. Let us know how it goes.

 

[spidey07]

Probably AGP bus speed and this card or limits of proc. Anybody know if his card can handle the 89+ Mhz?

Make sure your proc can run at this speed (933) by testing on a buddy's system (815e or via) that runs at 133. Getting to 933 on a 700 is great, getting farther takes some work and a lot of luck.

What is your voltage set at? Do you have to increase to 1.80 or higher to get stable at 933. If so you are probably hitting the ceiling.

I've had my REV2 upto 155 MHz CAS2.

spidey

 

[major_major]

it's definitely the bx chipset holding you back--most likely the agp slot...if you happen to have a pci video card lying around, stick that in instead of your agp card and see if you can go past 133 fsb. if not, then it might be a cpu limitation..but i seriously doubt that your mushkin ram is the problem.

 

[gdogfib]

I checked the heatsink on the chipset and it wasn't warm when I touched it. I have arctic silver between the chipset and the HS and air is blowing down on it from my delta fan on the alpha so I don't think heat is a problem. Right now my voltage is 1.85 which is a little high. Does this mean that the chip can't handle anything higher? Should I try going up to 1.9 or 1.95??

 

[scaryjeff]

I wouldnt risk 1.95 volts.
If it is the bx chipset that is causing the lack of stability, then can you not increase the V(io) from 3.3 to 3.45 or 3.6? I know this is what has been done with boards such as the cubx, to enable them to use the 133 MHz FSB, so maybee it will work for boards that do not default to this.(the min V(io) for my cubx is 3.45).
Just a thought - might work.

 

[aceO07]

i'm hitting 150 cas2-2-2 with it on my cusl2