Can't get a MSI MS-5169 (ALi Aladdin V Super 7) to run at 100fsb

[Athlon4all]

I've been upgrading/repairing a computer of my Uncle's gf. It['s power supply died so I got it a new Enlight Ps, and it despite Super 7 capability, it only had 64Megs of SDR and a PMMX 233, so I figured a K6-2 400-550 would give a nice performance boost iwth some additional ram. So, anyway, the CPU arrived, and it has refused to post at any 100fsb setting. I've tried 100x4.5 (the stock setting), 100x2.5, 100x3.5, no POST, but when I run it at 66x3.5, 66x2 (which becomes 66x6), it works fine. Any suggestions to what may be causing this? How big of a loss will there be in performance by running at 400MHz vs 450 and at only 66fsb? Thanks fellows

 

[Iron Woode]

I have played with the Asus version (P5A) and it has consistently annoyed me. A new beta BIOS fixed most of the stability issues I was having with a K6-III 400 cpu. When I used the old K6-II 300 I had, it seemed to work great.

as for you setup:

are the jumpers set correctly or does it use a BIOS setup?

maybe the ram won't do 100 mghz?

a BIOS update may help. which PCB version do you have? There seems to be a ton of BIOS updates.

 

[Athlon4all]

Thanks for the reply Iron Woode. It does use Jumpers and I have double checked them. Nope on the RAM, I am using 256Megs PC133. I did download the latest BIOS that was for myu revisiioon, no go still. So, any other suggestions? I seem to also be having some major stability issues in Windows, maybe the new BIOS is responsible? I cant recall if I had these stability issues (ie blue screens, freezing, etc) before I flashed the new bios. Maybe I will need to mess with it more. Thanks again Iron Woode anyone else?

 

[Iron Woode]

Maybe the cpu has problems?

could be that the board is just shot.

I checked the manual for your board and it lists alot of jumpers. which cpu are you using?

try a different 100mghz bus cpu to see if its cpu or board related.

 

[Xtasy]

I have the exact mobo and a k6-2 300. It is a old revision and runs fine at 100. I think your cpu might be a of the 66mhz fsb k6-2's. It seems to be the only logical reason. Did u check that the cpu is a 66mhz one and not a 100mhz fsb one?

 

[Athlon4all]

To be honest, I wasnt aware that there were any 66fsb K6-2s, but it still should run at 100fsb souldn't it? The K6-2's arent multiplier locked. Anyway, here are the markings on the chip:

AMD K6-2/450AFX
2.2V Core/3.3V I/O
A0009EPBW

In any case, I am having a lot of trouble with this mobo all of a sudden (ie Windows 95 getting windows protection error (yes Ive installed the k6-2 update patch), freezes, Windows registry errors on 98, etc). To be honest, This is my second Aladdin V board that I've used and this is the second bad experience I'v e had with it stability wise. I may decide to get rid of this mobo (its not my system, and any stability issue of any kind concerns me) and CPU and get a Intel BX board and a Celeron 400 or something like that.

 

[MrBumpy]

I have an AMD K6-III @ 450 MHz + ALi Aladdin V + nVidia GeForce 3 Ti200 working with no problems. In fact, it's the most stable system I've ever used. Don't be so quick to blame your problems on the chipset. Your errors sound like you have either a memory problem or an overclocked CPU. You mentioned that your RAM is PC133, so I would venture that either A) your CPU is only designed to run off of a 66 MHz bus, or B) the chipset/version of your motherboard might not be able to handle 100 MHz FSB. I have the ALi Aladdin V version E. I don't know if earlier versions had issues with FSB or not.

-~=Chris

 

[RanDum72]

The K6-2 450's are 100fsb. You may have a shot board

 

[Athlon4all]

The K6-2 450's are 100fsb. You may have a shot board

Yea I never heard of any K6-2's that were 66fsb.

Forgive me for blaming the chipset, I have just heard many problems with this chipset, and my previous experience was just nothign but trouble. I dont even have the K6-2 in there at the moment, the old PMMX is and I still had to fight with it to get Windows to be installed. I'm gonna see if I think oit is stable enough to give to somebody, if not, then I'm gonna find somebody on the forums to trade this mobo and CPU for a Intel BX board and a Celeron/PII 400-500 CPU. I just to be honest woukld rather it be rock stable. Thanks fellows for your help.

 

[MrBumpy]

The only well-known problem with the ALi Aladdin V chipset was its initial incompatibilities with certain graphics cards, mainly the early TNT2 & GeForce cards. ALi has since released many revisions of their AGP driver, and it seems to have mostly eliminated the problem. Some people have to set their AGP data rate to 1X to achieve this. The AGP driver and AGP utility for setting these values can be found at the ALi website. You can see if that is your problem or not, but it sounds like something completely different. You should also see if there is a BIOS update avialable from your motherboard manufacturer. The reason I went with the ALi chipset is because unlike the VIA, the ALi works perfectly with my Sound Blaster Live! that I use for my music production.

 

[RanDum72]

Yea I never heard of any K6-2's that were 66fsb

There were some lower speed K6-2's that were 66fsb ( somebody mentioned a 300mhz). Some higher speeds ones had weird FSB's like 83 or 95fsb, but the 450 is definitely 100fsb. Probably your board was an earlier revision that had flaky support for 100fsb, or something in the board that enables it to properly run a 100fsb gets busted (flaky cap, resistor, etc...). Does thboard have any other settings besides 100/66 fsb? maybe 75?

 

[Iron Woode]

Repeat! There are no 66 FSB K6-2 cpus. Never was or will be.

K6 300 was the highest speed 66 bus cpu AMD made. the 2 in the K6 name meant 100 FSB bus.

some k6-2's were 95mghz cpu's. Stay away from these cpus. 333 was one of them. They are just K6-2 's that failed to run at 100mghz with stability.

Personally I think its the board. And like it or not the chipset was never ready for primetime. There were other issues besides the Nvidia one.

I replaced my P5A with an EPOX GM super7 board and it just rocks. Stable as any intel board and supports 550 cpu.

 

[Athlon4all]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I have purchased a Celeron 600 with an Intel i815 mobo for $55 (pretty good deal IMO) and now I am gonna sell back the K6-2 and maybe get a few more $$$'s for the mobo (hopefully $40 shipped) so I can keep the cost where my Uncle and his gf want it Thanks again guys