MSI 6309 core voltage adjustment for Celeron 566 / 850

[Max 86]

Hi Folks,

My cousin has a new Microstar MS-6309 mobo, bios ver:1.7, a new Cel-II 566 and a new GOrb.
It is running stable at 808 (8.5x95) @ "auto" core voltage (PC Alert III - 1.51cv).
He'd like to bump up the voltage for an OC to 850 (8.5x100).

However, when he is at the bios screen for core voltage adjustment, if he toggles past the "auto" setting, the optional voltage selections appear as symbol characters (unreadable hieroglyphics). Anybody ever heard of this before? Know of a fix? Is there an onboard jumper he needs to reset? His emails to MSI have gone unanswered. We Thank You.

 

[bubba]

Very odd. I don't see that in mine.

I would re-flash the BIOS. At least re-flash it with the current one, but I would use an updated one from MSI.

Good luck!

 

[Max 86]

Yo Bubba,

Seems very odd indeed, as this is the only bios setting reacting this way.
As far as you know, there isn't any trick to choosing a core voltage on this board, is there?
I mean, it's a pretty straightforward & simple bios adjustment, isn't it?
I'm thinking 1.70cv max (probably less) should reach 850.
Even still, 800mHz at a volt and a half is pretty sweet.

BTW, this mobo came with ver:1.7 bios ... he hasn't flashed it at all (yet).
I thought ver:1.7 was current ... I'll check MSI again.
What bios ver. are you running? What are your cpu stats?

 

[Max 86]

Ah, I see there is a new bios for ver.2 mobos.
I do not know if his board is ver.1 or ver.2, but I'll find out.
Thanks Bubba.

 

[bubba]

I am guessing have a ver 1. How would I tell? I think I am running BIOS v1.3 or something. I actually am not using the board right now, but will drag it back out very soon for a different computer. I moved my celery2 566 @ 850 onto a slocket with my old Abit BH6. I get better performance with the good ol' BX.

I would re-flash with the current bios and see if that does the trick.

 

[Max 86]

I'm guessing the mobo version will be silkscreened onto the PCB itself, near the model number.
I emailed my cousin ... will let you know his reply.

I can understand switching to a BX board if it's available.
In which of your apps would you say the performance difference is noticable?
Was your 6309 stable at 850?
Do you remember the voltage it used at 850?
What RAM you were using in that setup?

While I'm picking your brain, did you have any other issues with the 6309, besides less than BX performance? It seems like an inexpensive, stable 800+mHz solution. I've read good things about OCing a P3 on this board as well.

Thanks Much for your input, Bubba.

 

[Max 86]

My cousins' new MS-6309 is MOBO ver:1.0, preloaded with BIOS ver:1.7.
He has still not gotten a reply from MSI concerning unreadable voltage settings on the BIOS screen.

 

[Jhhnn]

Your problem is unusual, to say the least. I strongly suspect that the bios is corrupted. Flashing is the obvious answer, if that won't fix the problem, send the board back.

You could just pick one of the heiroglyphs, reboot, and see what the vcore changes to, although I wouldn't advise it. Risky, at best.

Obviously you have found the MSI website, so I won't post it. These are the two best reviews I have found, here and there

My own 6309 runs a 550e at 143fsb, mushkin "athlon" pc133 2-2-2, bios rev 1.2.

There are some issues with celerons in older bios, 1.6 apparently had some problems. The AMIBIOS is a little tricky, the hardware-one article gets into it pretty well.

 

[Max 86]

Thanks Jhhnn,

I hadn't read the HardwareOne review in quite some time ... certainly offers a straightforward perspective.

I'd also thought about, like you, that he try one of the settings past "auto", but the risk wasn't something I could fairly suggest. Help me out here a sec ... what are the core volt settings, IN ORDER, past the AUTO setting? Also, please confirm the toggle key (page down, or space bar?) ...

AUTO [TOG] x.xx [TOG] x.xx [TOG] x.xx [TOG] etc...

Worth a shot. Everything else on the board seems fine. We appreciate your time on this.

 

[Jhhnn]

OK, Max 86, at your own risk. MyP3e550@733-using "page down" toggle- Auto=1.60V, my board reads it out .087V higher in VCORE. toggle once=1.55, next1.60, then 1.65, 1.70, 1.75, 1.80, Auto.

Check your vcore reading and # of toggles to come back around to auto, you have to reboot to actually change the voltage and see it on the screen in Hardware Monitor Setup. If it won't boot after you change it, clear the cmos and pray.....

 

[Max 86]

That's a pretty good Dirty Harry impression ... "Do ya feel lucky punk? Well, do ya?" Hahaha I will show this to my cousin, and see how "lucky" he feels. Hahahaha

All kiddin' aside, I appreciate it, Jhhnn ... I think it'll work with info you've provided, if he takes a systematic approach as you've suggested. attaboy / udaman

 

[bubba]

I can understand switching to a BX board if it's available.

Yeah, pulled the ol' Abit BH6 out of the closet!

In which of your apps would you say the performance difference is noticable?

Mainly Quake3, as that was what I was benchmarking. It was quite noticible there, like 15 fps at 640x480, probably due to the better memory bandwidth. (I didn't tweak the memory settings)

Was your 6309 stable at 850?

yes

Do you remember the voltage it used at 850?

1.65-1.7 Vcore, if I remember

What RAM you were using in that setup?

Micron -8e PC100

 

[Max 86]

Excellent. Thanks again, Bubba.

I've recommended to him that he try AUTO plus one toggle [1.55] while leaving the bus at 95, reboot and get a reading ... or call the vendor to see if they have tech support to discuss it with ... re-flash or return.

I think this is where I wash my hands. We'll let ya know.

 

[bubba]

Have you tried re-flashing with the v1.7 BIOS?

That is the only thing I can think of to try and get rid of the strange behavior.

Good luck!

 

[Max 86]

He had previously talked with the vendor, because the installation CD didn't include MSI's Fuzzy Logic cpu setup application. The vendor sent him a new CD, and Fuzzy Logic optimized his system, for a 100mHz memory bus, as follows ...

CPU Fan - 4854 rpm
CPU Temp - 32c / 89f
Vcore - 1.49v
Vio - 2.45v
Mem Clock - 100 mhz
CPU Clock - 877.2 mhz
AGP Clock - 68.7 mhz
PCI Clock - 34.3 mhz

I haven't queried him further ... I think he's satisfied for now. Thanks guys.

 

[bubba]

Fuzzy logic?

Does that work with the MSI 6309? I dont think it was on my CD...

Damn, I can't even find my CD...

 

[Max 86]

Yeah, the screenshot he sent me looked like it worked real well, as the previous numbers show. However, it was still posting to show 800, so he cleared the CMOS, now he's got to reset the applicable BIOS features. He'll get it figured out, I think.

877mHz at 1½ volts is awesome. Fuzzy Logic setup the MEM CLK (100) asynchronous to the optimized CPU CLK (877-8.5x103), while maitaining the 3:2 AGP & 3:1 PCI bus ratios perfectly. I don't know how else to do that on the 6309. I haven't seen a manual adjustment for that. I'm wondering if he can specify the higher MEM CLKs (110,115,120,124), and still have Fuzzy Logic optimize the CPU CLK at 103 and the buses in accordance.

Come to think of it, I seem to remember reading that someone else had trouble maintaining the automatic optimizations that Fuzzy Logic made. In other words, after a reboot, it would revert to the previously un-optimized setup. I'll probably start a new thread on 6309 Fuzzy Logic in a few days, after I learn more from him.

Bubba, I haven't seen the Fuzzy Logic as a download at the MSI site, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

Meanwhile, last I IM'd him, my cousin was going to re-flash the BIOS ver:1.7, as he still cannot read the voltage settings at the BIOS screen. He did try three toggles past AUTO (1.65v), but got the BSOD. I don't know any more about those attempts.

Overall, this board was real easy for him to setup and run stable at 807/1½Cv. The faulty BIOS has made it a bear to attempt higher speeds.

 

[Jhhnn]

The fuzzy logic stuff is interesting, it would be nice if their website actually furnished any information about it. Nearly as impenetrably dense as the Asus or Microsoft sites....

Please keep us informed. I really doubt that fuzzy logic can create the asynochronous speeds displayed, more likely there is some "rounding off" going on. My own 6309 displays 143fsb x 5.5 as 800eb, even though the math says 787, and the voltage selected/displayed doesn't match real well either.

 

[reefguy]

I am the infamous "cousin". I want to thank everyone that has given of themselves and their time to help me solve this problem.

I have a MSI ver 1.0 6309 MainBoard. I have re-flashed the BIOS with version 1.7. I can not get fuzzy logic to repeat the optimal settings that were described earlier in this post and still can not read the votage settings in the BIOS other than "AUTO". I will be calling the tech support line for the vendor (MWave) that I purchased the board from today. Trying to contact MSI is a waste of time as there is no listing for tech support other than the on-line stuff which can be easily ignored.

This is the only complaint that I have about the board as it has performed solidly from the word go, and has been very easy to tweak with the BIOS settings doing all the work instead of jumpers on the board.

Thank You all.

 

[Max 86]

Just an update ... My cousin has replaced the original 6309 with another 6309, can now read the BIOS settings, and is running stable at 850/100 & 1.6Cv ... sweet.

BTW ... I did see Fuzzy Logic as a downloadable file at the MSI website, but information about how it works seems non-existant. I'd be more confident in its' application if I understood it better. Perhaps some SiSoft Sandra readings during a Fuzzy Logic session would be helpful, to verify the bus speeds.

PS ... Anybody heard of 6309 attempts with a Cel-II 633? I've read a lot about hitting 950/100 on BX chipset mobos, and with my cousins' success, I'm curious about the VIA-133A possibilities.

 

[bubba]

I re-installed my 6309 into a box this weekend. I had TONS of troubles getting a Aureal Vortex1 soundcard to work. Eventually I had to give up. Is that a known problem? Ugh.

I did try FuzzyLogicII. I am not sure of its usefulness. Whether I set the memory at manual and 100 MHz or at "timing by SPD", FuzzyLogicII still says that my PC100 RAM is running at 66 MHz. I assume this is wrong, but I am not sure.

 

[rushr]

Max 86
I just built a system using a 6309 and a Cel-II 633.I've got it running 950@1.75v with the mem clock running 133.Had no troubles setting it up and its sweet!

 

[Jhhnn]

I think that the Aureal soundcard has issues with ANY Via 133a board. I seem to remember some discussion to that effect, but didn't pay much attention, I use a soundblaster....I could easily be wrong about it.

 

[Max 86]

Thanks rushr, that's music to my ears!

Is your 633 core stepping cB0 [SL3VS/SL3W9] or C0 [SL4PA/SL4NY]?
And what version of BIOS have you got running?

 

[2336]

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind me jumping in here especially since bubba is around. I've got a version 1 6309 and just flashed the BIOS for v1.7 and still cannot go past 1.7 core voltage. Am I doing something wrong. DainBrammage has a 6309 and I'm pretty sure that it is also a version 1 MoBo and he can set his core voltage all the way to 1.85 and has his Celeron II 633 screamin' at 950 (not sure about voltage though)