Intel e2200 CPU + Gigabyte P35-DS3L not booting beyond 333fsb

[esteban337]

System specs:

- Intel e2200 CPU (2.2ghz @ 2x11. 1mb cache)
- Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard (Rev2. F7 bios, Nov2007)
- Kingston HyperX PC6400 800Mhz CL4 RAM (2x1gb)
- XFX 7600GT Video Card (non-oc)

Problem:
- System won't boot beyond FSB of 333mhz...

Specifics:
- MB: I'm sure this mb is capable of going beyond 400mhz FSB
- RAM: memtest loop test passed at 400mhz
- CPU: testing with low fsb & high ratios, was able to hit 3.4ghz.

In other words, I can hit 3.33ghz just fine using FSB333 (333x10). Memory ratio is always kept on 2.

BUT if I push the FSB to 400mhz, I can safely boot only to 2.4ghz (400x6).
Attempting to go 400x7 (2.8ghz) or above fails to boot, and bios resets.

As mentioned above, I've eliminated MB & RAM from equation. I also tried with another pair of PC6400 ram with similar results.

So I'm forced to conclude that the E2200 CPU is capable of hitting 3.4ghz, but ONLY with lower FSB of 333. IS THIS POSSIBLE?

I was thinking that perhaps the built in cache is not capable to 400mhz or something... but i'm not sure if I'm understanding the design correctly. Does L2 cache run at full cpu speed or the fsb speed?

Any other theories and/or suggestions?
Please help...

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: esteban337
Any other theories and/or suggestions?

Nope, that's all there is to it. It sounds like you've found your processor's limit. Welcome to anandtech, BTW.

 

[VirtualLarry]

A lot of the E2xxx chips have "FSB walls". A point at which the FSB doesn't go any higher. It seems strange to me though, that if you can run 400FSB at a low multi, why you wouldn't be able to do so at a high multi as well, as long as you keep the CPU freq under max.

Btw, did you have SpeedStep and C1E disabled? Try disabling TM2 temporarily too, and see if it doesn't help things. Someone commented that with TM2 enabled, certain FSB/multi combos wouldn't work. I've never seen that behavior myself, but I thought that I would mention it.

L2 cache runs at full CPU core speed.

 

[watek]

Yeah it's the cpu. The only way I got passed 400FSB was upgrading to E6xxx series.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: esteban337
Problem:
- System won't boot beyond FSB of 333mhz...

Specifics:
BUT if I push the FSB to 400mhz, I can safely boot only to 2.4ghz (400x6).
Attempting to go 400x7 (2.8ghz) or above fails to boot, and bios resets.

So I'm forced to conclude that the E2200 CPU is capable of hitting 3.4ghz, but ONLY with lower FSB of 333. IS THIS POSSIBLE?

This is the proper procedure for determining what your system can do (reduce multi, find max stable FSB) before attempting to find what your CPU can do (max multi, min RAM speed).

So yes, it appears your chip can only do 3.33GHz (10x333) whereas the rest of your system is capable of doing 400MHz FSB.

Have you tried 9x370?

 

[esteban337]

Thanks for the help guys.
Guess my e2200 has "fsb wall" somewhere between 333mhz and 400mhz...
I wanted to run the CPU at 8x400 (3.2ghz), but decided to just run it at 333x9 (3Ghz).
Although the 400FSB is (and sounds) nice, I hear the C2D isn't hypersensitive to FSB & memory bandwidth.

Going over 3ghz required pushing the core voltage beyond 1.5 volts, and I didn't want that,
even though the Scythe Ninja w/fan should handle it fine.
Don't want to waste too much electricity
(which is also why i'm reluctant to disable speedstep etc. as suggested)

3Ghz is stable at 1.4v. So I'm running it at 1.45v for insurance.
Double Prime 95 loop tops out the core temp at 50/52deg C.
I can live with that from a $78 CPU that came with a freebe ECS Motherboard...