'Fixed' multiplier P4 is dropping from 17x to 14x ???

[imported_DSK]

Hi, I just received my order of Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1gb PC4000 RAM (BL2KIT12864Z503). This RAM was in the list of recommended RAM for my motherboard on the Crucial website. My motherboard is a Gibabyte GA-8IPE775 Pro (with latest BIOS update), CPU is a P4 550J HT (3.4ghz, 17x fixed multiplier).

I figured that I should let the RAM run for a while at stock system speeds (CPU 3.4ghz, FSB 200mhz) before trying to tighten timings, so I set the BIOS settings to 'SPD' for RAM timings, 'Auto' for FSB/RAM ratio, 'Normal' (2.6v) for vdimm, and 'Auto' for CPC (command rate), then saved the BIOS settings, powered down and installed the RAM.

Upon powering up, the RAM is automatically set to FSB/RAM 1:1, timings of 3-3-3-8, dual channel, and CPC (command rate) 'disabled'. This is fine, but my CPU multiplier drops itself from its fixed 17x to 14x, making my CPU run at 2.8ghz instead of its stock 3.4ghz (17 x 200).

I tried increasing the vdimm to 2.8v, no difference. I raised the CPU vcore from stock (1.36v) to 1.37v, no difference. I tried using a 1.66x RAM divider (instead of stock 2x), no difference. I even tried loading the BIOS 'Failsafe' defaults, no difference.

Nothing but the RAM was changed. The previous RAM (2x512mb SMART Modular DDR333 running at 2.5-3-3-7, 2.6v, 1.66x divider) was removed (ie. I'm not trying to run them together). The old RAM ran fine at these settings, even with FSB increased a little to 209mhz.

Can anyone tell me what is going on?

Many Thanks,
Darren.

 

[stevty2889]

Look for speedstep in your bios and turn it off..there are P4's with speedstep..and speedstep will drop your multi to 14x..

 

[imported_DSK]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Look for speedstep in your bios and turn it off..there are P4's with speedstep..and speedstep will drop your multi to 14x..

OK, I'll have a look in the BIO. But ... why would it suddenly start doing this after I change the RAM? It has never done it before in the 2+ years I've had this PC/mobo/CPU. Is it slowing the PC deliberately to prevent damage from some incompatibilty in hardware or BIOS settings?

 

[stevty2889]

Also, have you checked your temps recently? TM2 throttling can also decrease the cpu multiplier if you are running too hot. Might want to double check to make sure the CPU fan is spinning, and the heatsink isn't clogged with dust. Hardware incompatibility isn't going to drop the CPU multiplier. Have you tried taking out the new ram to see if it goes back to normal? You also might have an option in the bios to set your CPU multiplier back to 17 manualy.

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Look for speedstep in your bios and turn it off..there are P4's with speedstep..and speedstep will drop your multi to 14x..

Speedstep will also ramp back up when needed. Run prime95 or any other cpu intensive program and watch your speed with cpuz. Speedstep saves energy and keeps your system cool. You may be able to disable this in your bios but unless your doing major OC it is unnecessary.

 

[imported_DSK]

Thanks guys, PC Wizard 2007 showed that the multipler auto ramped back up when the CPU was loaded (eg. Prime95). For the moment I have disabled the CPU Enhanced Halt State (C1E) in the BIOS Advanced settings while I play around benchmarking some OC figures.

With stock CPU and RAM voltages and SPD settings, it is running fine at 218mhz FSB (PC4000 Ballistix RAM at 1:1 and underclocked at PC3500 dual channel) and it seems stable in Windows apps. I haven't let Prime95 run for long periods yet as I'm still using the stock CPU heat sink & fan. I was just trying to see if there was enough OC performance to justify spending more money on this PC. Given that it is stable at nearly 10% increased FSB (and possibly even more) at stock voltages, it looks like it is for me (I'm not a gamer). I've increased the stock fan speeds in Gigabyte's EasyTune5 and it keeps the CPU at 60C under load and 43C idle (27C ambient), though it is a bit loud.

I've seen this mobo OC'd to 240 FSB and the CPU to 4ghz+ (water cooled), the RAM would do over 250 FSB. I'm not interested in radically OC'ing this system, just getting a nice performance boost on better air cooling. My only problem is my old ATi Radeon 9600XT AGP card is a bit of an anchor perforance wise and I'm not sure this PC justifies the expense of a new AGP card (7600/7700/7800 ???).

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: DSK
My only problem is my old ATi Radeon 9600XT AGP card is a bit of an anchor perforance wise and I'm not sure this PC justifies the expense of a new AGP card (7600/7700/7800 ???).

Whether it's worth the money is up to you, but you can now buy an AGP X1950 Pro, which is roughly the equivalent in performance of an X1900XT, for ~$229 @ newegg, and it walks all over the 7800GS. Of course, it's also considerably faster than your processor, overclocked or not.

 

[imported_DSK]

Thanks for the tip. Not sure this PC warrants that sort of expense, given the (now) relatively slow CPU. I might be better just adding better air cooling to this one (Big Typhoon or Zalman 7000Cu or whatever) and saving for a better PC down the track a little (dual core, PCIe, DDR2 etc etc).

I haven't yet looked at the ol' 9600XT to see if I can OC it a little in the meantime. Do I need to find an ATI utility to do this?