Jumper settings and resetting computer

[GrandSpleen]

Hey friends,
First things first, here is my system setup as it stands currently:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000/400
Mobo: Gigabyte KT400 GA-7VAXP
RAM: 512 MB 64x64 DDR
Video: Gainward GeForce 4 T4200 128 MB RAM
Sound: Onboard (Aureal?)
And a 60 GB Maxtor hard drive...

Three weeks ago I was writing a term paper when -- WHAM! -- the screen goes black. It didn't respond for a couple of minutes, and as I tried to breathe life into it, it wound up resetting itself. After that, the computer would not boot up properly -- it would get to the windows splash screen, usually, then reset. It also froze up on me in BIOS. At the time, I was using an Athlon AMD XP 2100. I had to leave school to go home, and I could not take the whole system with me on the flight home, so I was not able to fix the problem at the time. I took the processor, RAM, and hard drive home with me to test them.

At home over the holidays, I built a new system (which had been planned prior to my system failure), and installed the old processor in it. The processor ran (and continues to run) fine. I used the old hard drive as a slave drive, and that yielded no problems. The RAM didn't cause any trouble either. I bought an AMD Athlon XP 3000 and brought it back with me to school.

Present day, I have just installed the 3000 proc and put the old system back together. The problem of the computer resetting has vanished! I don't have any faith in its stability, though -- I would be surprised if the problem doesn't start up again in a week, or at most a month. If anyone has any advice as to how to fix this, or what could even have been wrong, I'd love to hear it! (All I did was switch out the processor, all the old equipment is still the same. The old processor runs fine!)

Now, here's the most immediate problem. My new 3000 CPU is reading as an "unknown 1400 MHz" and I am unsure how to fix that. Do I need to change some jumper settings, and if so what do I need to change? The old 2100 read properly. Do I need to update my BIOS? How do I do that? Any reference link or direct advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a bunch,
GrandSpleen

 

[mechBgon]

According to the owners' manual, your GA-7VAXP only supports frontside-bus speeds of up to 333MHz, so your 400MHz-based 3000+ is probably not a suitable partner for it. I'll look at Gigabyte's site for anything to the contrary, but from the manual, that looks to be the situation. Back in a few with my findings...

 

[mechBgon]

Ok... if your board is a straight GA-7VAXP, using the KT400 chipset and not KT400A, then I think you'll have to settle for running the 3000+ at a different FSB than it was intended for. You can go into the BIOS and boost the FSB to 166MHz (DDR333) and get some of its potential back (look on page 46 of the manual for the place where you set that).

Here's Gigabyte's CPU support chart for the 7VAXP: chart

 

[GrandSpleen]

Hmm, ok. It is just a GA-7VAXP (no a), and I think i see the problem. In BIOS, I only have the option to change the FSB to an integer between 133 and 165. I looked at more of the documentation, and realized that to increase it to 166 I would need to change the jumper (labeled Switch SW1) to the corresponding position. Upon doing this and starting up the computer, I get a black screen. The fans whirr, the system starts up and I just get a black screen --- nothing more. The system runs 100 and 133 fine, but 166 isn't responding. Why is this??
Thanks,
GS

 

[mechBgon]

Well, the CPU would want that set to 200, which the chipset isn't designed to do. Why it won't run at 166, I could only speculate. I think the mobo's BIOS has a table of CPUs that it "knows what to do with," if you see what I mean, and this intruder that's requesting a multiplier/FSB combo of 10.5 x 200 might be causing the mobo to look like this > and just hang.

It could also be that your RAM isn't up to the task of running 166MHz+. What speed are your modules rated for? Granted, some PC2100 will happily approach PC3000 speeds, but some won't.

 

[GrandSpleen]

I'm afraid that question is a little too technical for me to answer. Still learning, and all that. But my RAM is as follows: DDRAM 512MB|64X64 PC-2700 CRUCIAL% .. that's as listed in the order history from Newegg, anyway.

Well, crap. So there might not be a way to fix this with my current mobo? I can't even get it to run at my old speed of 2100..? .... I sure hope I can find a way to do this, I'd hate to buy another motherboard... 1400 MHz is just way too slow.

But... If I do have to buy another motherboard, it might not be the end of the world. After all, I'm sort of expecting this board to crap out on me in a week or so . I have no idea why it was resetting the way it was...
-GS

EDIT: Time for dinner. I'll check back on these boards later tonight. Thanks for your help thus far!

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: GrandSpleen
I'm afraid that question is a little too technical for me to answer. Still learning, and all that. But my RAM is as follows: DDRAM 512MB|64X64 PC-2700 CRUCIAL% .. that's as listed in the order history from Newegg, anyway.

Well, crap. So there might not be a way to fix this with my current mobo? I can't even get it to run at my old speed of 2100..? .... I sure hope I can find a way to do this, I'd hate to buy another motherboard... 1400 MHz is just way too slow.

But... If I do have to buy another motherboard, it might not be the end of the world. After all, I'm sort of expecting this board to crap out on me in a week or so . I have no idea why it was resetting the way it was...
-GS

EDIT: Time for dinner. I'll check back on these boards later tonight. Thanks for your help thus far!

Assuming it is your motherboard, this is the one that I would buy if strapped for cash, for sure: link.
I bought one for my daughter's computer, and I'm not sure that I don't like it better than the board that I'm using on my main system, the one in my profile. It's really an awesome board for roughly $60 shipped...

 

[mechBgon]

That helps! The CPU is made for a 200MHz (DDR400) bus speed, and your RAM is made for a 166MHz (DDR333) bus speed, so unless the RAM felt like overclocking to DDR400 (PC3200) speeds, it's not a good match for your CPU.

At this point, the CPU is the odd man out. The mobo and RAM are both suited for DDR200, DDR266 or DDR333 speeds, but the CPU wants DDR400. You could either get a new mobo AND memory to suit the CPU's desires, or you could get a new CPU to suit the mobo and memory. Or you can run your CPU at 1400MHz.

For a CPU, my nominee would be an AthlonXP 2400+, which runs 2000MHz with a 256kb L2 cache. It uses the DDR266 clockspeed that you know your board and memory like to run at. If you prefer to get a new board and RAM, the Abit NF7-S with some Corsair PC3200C2 would make your CPU happy, and you'd get Audigy-class audio processing, USB 2.0, Firewire and good overclocking potential. The Abit's nForce2 chipset also manages to wring more power out of the CPU on a per-MHz basis.

On a side note, what date did your Newegg order ship out, approximately? There was a batch of Crucial PC2700 512MB modules (note, the 512's only) that had singular difficulties running PC2700 speeds on nForce2 boards, and that was in about Dec 2001 through Feb 2002 that we saw a lot of problems with that.

 

[GrandSpleen]

The order shipped December 2002, making the system roughly a year old now. So it wouldn't be a defective hardware problem.

Well, that stinks. I was hoping I could make this setup work for me. I do have one cheaper option: have my parents ship me my old processor. I don't like that option though, since they'd have no idea how to take it out without breaking anything, and they'd probably pay some other guy to do it. Hmm. What I might end up doing is just buying a new processor (seems to be the cheapest option), but again I'm worried that my current motherboard is going to crap out on me, so I might buy the new board and RAM instead. Maybe I can find someone to take this old RAM off my hands.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. I'll probably end up upgrading the board and RAM. Thanks for the help friends!
-GS