Can't set my FSB to 400? Only 166?! Also AGP8x sucks?

[socks]

Hey everyone, was hoping someone could help me out with this problem I have. I have PC3200 DDR400 ram, an Asus A7N8X-X, an Athlon 2500+.

I do not overclock, and things are running smoothly. But the FSB says 166! If I set it to anything above this, the CPU doesn't get recognized properly on reboot, etc. Is this normal? I figured if it said 400 I could get 400?

Also, if I set my AGP speed to 8x from within windows (it's enabled in bios) performance definitely decreases. Not sure why? I have a RADEON 9600.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i had the same problem with my A7N8X-E deluxe,i've posted this a million times! its being returned!

 

[MDE]

If you're setting the bus speed to 200, you're overclocking 166 is the default speed for the 2500+, don't worry about it unless you want to overclock.

 

[socks]

I seriously bought a 400 mhz FSB that I couldn't possibly use under normal conditions?? That's messed up! Any words on the AGP 8x issue?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

the best i could do is set it to 166 and boost the FSB from there. the best i got was a multipler at 12.5 and the FSB to 194 stable. it went up to 210 though.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: socks
I seriously bought a 400 mhz FSB that I couldn't possibly use under normal conditions?? That's messed up! Any words on the AGP 8x issue?

Hi socks The actual bus speed of a 2500+ is 166MHz, and the bus is double-pumped so this equates to DDR333. Your memory modules will give best performance if they are running synchronously to the CPU's bus, so they should be set to the same speed (DDR333, or 166MHz base speed, or PC2700, all synonymous here). Yes, you could run your RAM at 200MHz (DDR400) but it will decrease system performance, not increase it, because you lose the nice clean synchronous operation.

Of course, the other thing is that you could set both the CPU and the memory to 200MHz (DDR400), which overclocks the CPU and results in it appearing to be a 3200+. Bye-bye warranty but hey, an AthlonXP 3200+ for $80... yeah. Your call. You may need to bump the CPU voltage a little, say 0.1 volt, and not all 2500+'s will make 3200+ fyi.

AWhackWhiteBoy is making my sarcasm detector beep, for some reason

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

na,i really mean it,i hate the board. its really odd. its FSB quirks are beyond words. its very picky about the 400fsb but if you increment it, it seems to do it but not very well. all in all its been a very annoying experience, i won't be buying asus again.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

" the other thing is that you could set both the CPU and the memory to 200MHz"

the computer won't boot at 400fsb. like i said,its a very strange board.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
" the other thing is that you could set both the CPU and the memory to 200MHz"

the computer won't boot at 400fsb. like i said,its a very strange board.

Since you obviously don't know jack about overclocking, I suggest you go buy a Dell.

Your CPU is supposed to run at 333FSB. You are trying to run it at 400FSB. Without tweaking to electrical and thermals, it will not work nicely!

- M4H

 

[mechBgon]

Ooops, my apologies, AWWB Hmm, let me rummage around here... I have the A7N8X Deluxe (non-E) and an unlocked 2500+ and it is super-cooperative. In Advanced Chipset Features, you have System Performance and CPU Interface set to Aggressive, right? I'm risking the assumption that its BIOS is similar to the A7N8X Deluxe, which I have the manual for (I gotta download the A7N8X-E Deluxe manual, but I'm on dial-up ).

 

[socks]

Wow thanks for the detailed explanation - that makes me feel much better about what I bought! I do not wish to overclock, so at least knowing it's running at the right settings makes me happy.

Still have no idea about the AGP 8x slowdown?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire


Since you obviously don't know jack about overclocking, I suggest you go buy a Dell.

Your CPU is supposed to run at 333FSB. You are trying to run it at 400FSB. Without tweaking to electrical and thermals, it will not work nicely!

- M4H

i don't know jack? its a barton, they pull 2.2ghz at 400fsb. get off your high horse because your in over your head.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Ooops, my apologies, AWWB Hmm, let me rummage around here... I have the A7N8X Deluxe (non-E) and an unlocked 2500+ and it is super-cooperative. In Advanced Chipset Features, you have System Performance and CPU Interface set to Aggressive, right? I'm risking the assumption that its BIOS is similar to the A7N8X Deluxe, which I have the manual for (I gotta download the A7N8X-E Deluxe manual, but I'm on dial-up ).

no need to apologize. yea, tried every setting, the only way i can get this mobo to run 400fsb right off the bat is with a really low multipler,its really strange. the voltage also has to be jacked up even when in the normal operating speeds of the stock bartons.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire


Since you obviously don't know jack about overclocking, I suggest you go buy a Dell.

Your CPU is supposed to run at 333FSB. You are trying to run it at 400FSB. Without tweaking to electrical and thermals, it will not work nicely!

- M4H

i don't know jack? its a barton, they pull 2.2ghz at 400fsb. get off your high horse because your in over your head.

Not all Bartons will hit 2.2GHz. Instead of returning fire on M4H's blatant flame, look around the forums and see that an increasing number of 2500s won't get to 2.2GHz. It seems to me that AMD is hoarding all of the good chips and marking them as mobiles, so they can make more of a profit off of them, and not have to support "n00bs" RMAing retail chips getting killed while enthusiast friends tell them to overclock. Also, this appears to be a sign of Asus's slipping quality as of late.

 

[socks]

This board isn't good for overclocking as far as I understand it. Just buy a 3200+ processor and you'll get your 400FSB! I bought the 2500 as an entry level, so that when the 3200 drops in price I'll be able to upgrade in a year or so for just the price of a CPU.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

unless you want to unlock your 2500 just say stock, as far as the 8x agp, how did you notice the difference in performance? the benchmarking? fps?

 

[mechBgon]

Weird What are you replacing it with (AWWB)?

socks, sorry to have drifted away from your topic. In the BIOS, specifically the Advanced Chipset Features sub-menu, you'll find Graphics Aperture Size, System BIOS Cacheable, Video BIOS Cacheable, and AGP Fast Write. I would set those to 128MB, disabled, disabled, enabled (respectively). Pages 2-15 through 2-18 of your A7N8X-X manual show those settings, if it helps to follow along in the manual.

If those are already set that way, then I don't know what to suggest beyond confirming that you have the latest 3.13 unified driver package for the motherboard's nForce2 chipset from nVidia's site here, DirectX 9.0B from Windows Update or from Microsoft's download center, and the latest Radeon drivers from ATI. How bad is the performance drop, anyway? Is it noticable in gaming, or just benchmarking?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i have a DFI in the mail with high hopes. i'd be happy with 2.2ghz@200mhz and having it work with my audigy without problems like this Asus

 

[AFB]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
" the other thing is that you could set both the CPU and the memory to 200MHz"

the computer won't boot at 400fsb. like i said,its a very strange board.

Since you obviously don't know jack about overclocking, I suggest you go buy a Dell.

Your CPU is supposed to run at 333FSB. You are trying to run it at 400FSB. Without tweaking to electrical and thermals, it will not work nicely!

- M4H

Pwned !!

 

[mechBgon]

Now, you guys play nice with the new guy, or no :beer: for you!

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

Pwned !!

your clueless too?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Now, you guys play nice with the new guy, or no :beer: for you!

I can't have any :beer: or :wine:, only 18 .[Garth voice]Flame on![/Garth voice]

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Now, you guys play nice with the new guy, or no :beer: for you!

I can't have any :beer: or :wine:, only 18 .[Garth voice]Flame on![/Garth voice]

LOL, I'm 34 and I can't have any either If you saw me with a 12-cup pot of coffee, you'd understand why... I'm not done 'til it's all gone!

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy

Pwned !!

your clueless too?

What about it? You should be linking to this page or this page showing that the A7N8X-X and A7N8X-E Deluxe are supposed to support a 400MHz FSB. Also, I believe M4H was referring to bumping up the CPU voltage.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

he wasn't refering to the boards ability to support 400fsb, and the voltage shouldn't matter if your not overclocking the core,which i wasn't and it still didn't work.