Curious about CAS 2 on MSI K7T Pro 2-A

[Jalapeno]

I'm wondering if anyone is using the MSI K7T Pro 2-A and Mushkin 128MB 133 High Performance Rev. 2 combination? If so, are you able to get it to run at 222 ? How?

I can't...

 

[Jalapeno]

Bump

Anyone???

 

[Charles]

According to HardOCP it's better to set the SDRAM timing to "Auto" since it enabled the 4 way bank interleaving, which is faster than CAS2 settings in VIA chipset. Read the HardOCP review and you'll know what I mean.

 

[Jalapeno]

Thanks,

but I did read that already. I'm just wondering if there is a way in the Pro 2-A, since he was reviewing the MSI K7T Pro 2, without the "A"?

 

[Charles]

You mean how to change the CAS settings in BIOS? I think it's in the Advanced Chipset Features menu, Change the DRAM Timing by SPD to "No" and change the SDRAM CAS Latency and DRAM Clock to "2" and "133MHz".

 

[Jalapeno]

Charles,

I tried that as well. It still posts as 322. Reason being, according to MUSHKIN themselves, "We set the SPD's for our CAS 2 modules to run at CAS 3 by default when the memory timings in the BIOS are set to automatic.
This is because there are a lot of other BIOS settings that can interfere with SDRAM running successfully at CAS 2.".

Well, I'm not at "automatic" and it still doesn't work. What are those "lot of other BIOS settings I wonder?

 

[Charles]

How did you see that it posted at 3-2-2? If you use SiSoft than it only shows you the memory information.

 

[Jalapeno]

SiSoft Sandra's memory benchmark.

 

[Dynamix3D]

Jalapeno: I am in the same situation as you. I have a Pro2-A with REV2, but I have mine set to SPD and CAS2 with 133Mhz, but I wasn't aware that its running at 3-2-2. I would like a solution to this also.

 

[Jalapeno]

Dynamix,

I ran the benchmark with SPD, CAS2, 133Mhz. I have BIOS version 1.9 - could it be different if we "downgrade" to version 1.8?

 

[Jalapeno]

Charles,

sorry I saw it in SANDRA's "Mainboard Information" instead of "Memory Benchmark" Here is what it reads:

"Enhanced Memory Systems 00000013 128MB 16x(8Mx8)SDRAM CL3 PC143U-322-542"

This is not 222.

 

[Dynamix3D]

Jalapeno: I am running bios 1.8, so I guess that won't work.

 

[Jalapeno]

Dynamix,

please try e-mailing "Bruce(MUSHKIN)" at techsupport@mushkin.com about this issue. Latest he told me is he has no specific BIOS info about our mobos.

Maybe if we join forces in this issue they will do more research and fix this problem. Hey, we can try...!

 

[oldfart]

I was over at the overclockers.com website today and saw a review on that mobo. They had some info about what you guys are talking about. They say you are better to use the auto settings than the manual ones. BTW, will you REALLY see any difference running 3-2-2 Vs. 2-2-2?

 

[Jalapeno]

Old Fart,

"BTW, will you REALLY see any difference running 3-2-2 Vs. 2-2-2?"

Most likely, no. I found out yesterday when I went from ATA33 to ATA66 - not much difference, if any.

I guess it's just one of those "is my p.... larger than your p...." things!

Honestly, I just want to see if the "praised" MUSHKIN RAM is everything they claim it is.

PS Even without 222, I'm quite happy with the size of my p....!

 

[Charles]

Jalapeno,

Don't worry. IMO, the information you saw in Sandra's Mainboard Information is only the SDRAM information. That doesn't show your current system/SDRAM settings. If you change the CAS settings in the BIOS, it will "force" your SDRAM to run at CAS2.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[LXi]

Actually 3-2-2 is rated CAS2, but those Mushkins are definitely 2-2-2 capable because they advertised so, the thing is they want to lower incompatibility so they set the SPD at 3-2-2, which is definitely a bummer since if you run it at 2-2-2 you'll lose 4-way interleaving. However, I heard WPCREIDT can enable 4-way interleaving.

 

[Guilty]

Hmm, thats a shame, I just ordered the Pro2A and have Mushkin REV2 as well. I guess I can either settle for 322 or sell the memory and get something else... or return the board. Hmm.

 

[MushkinTechs]

Sorry it took so long to get in on this.



<< set the SDRAM timing to &quot;Auto&quot; since it enabled the 4 way bank interleaving >>



Try the latest BIOS revision 2.0 that is available here This BIOS fixes the following problems with the built-in 4-way memory interleave function.



<< It still posts as 322. >>



Charles is right, the information you're seeing SiSoft Sandra's Mainboard Information is only reporting the information from the modules SPD, although not very accurately apparently. It's not showing your current memory latency timings. If you change the memory latency timings in the BIOS, it will force your SDRAM to run at those timings.



<< the thing is they want to lower incompatibility so they set the SPD at 3-2-2 >>



We now program all of our CAS 2 memory modules at 2-2-2 (PC150 HSDRAM @ 2-3-2) except for our REV 1.5 modules.

 

[Charles]

Try the latest BIOS revision 2.0 that is available here This BIOS fixes the following problems with the built-in 4-way memory interleave function.

What problems are actually fixed?

I'm using BIOS v2.0 now and when I set Detect by SPD to No, I still lose 4 Way Interleaving. The only way to enable the 4 Way Interleaving is to set Detect by SPD to Yes.

Is there any way to run the RAM at CAS 2-2-2 and not disabling 4 Way Interleaving?

 

[Guilty]

http://home.epix.net/~yaffy/howto/msi_k7tpro2a/msi-k7tpro2a.html outlines a way to &quot;hack&quot; in 4-way interleaving after forcing memory to CAS2. You have to first flash a hacked BIOS and then edit some values. I havent tried it yet, but apparently it works well enough for most people.

 

[RayThunderEarth]

any one know website that had write about MSI K7T Pro 2-A and relation with bios or any information

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[Charles]

Thanks Guilty. I'll try it.

 

[Charles]

Great site! I'll definately try it.

 

[MushkinTechs]

<< Is there any way to run the RAM at CAS 2-2-2 and not disabling 4 Way Interleaving? >>



Oops, I made a mistake in my last post. The BIOS you need to download is the Award V1.0B14 Special BIOS. You can get it here. It fixes the built-in 4-way memory interleave function. However it is a Beta BIOS so you have to use at your own risk. I believe it will always be a Beta version because they are disabling 4-way interleave in overclocked condition on purpose for a reason, instability problems. Or maybe they want to make there motherboard seem more overclockable than it actually is.

We have never programmed our modules for 3-2-2, I believe that it is the motherboard that is slowing down the CAS latency when it is overclocked. I have seen this before with other motherboards, including the ASUS CUSL2 (which also disables AGP 4x).