Need help w/ my PC not running at correct proc. speeds.

[UDDelt]

I'm having a problem getting my PC running at the proper speeds.
PC Specs:

Mobo: ECS L7S7A2 Mobo
Proc: AMD 2500+ Barton
RAM: Dane-Elec 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
HD: 80GB WD Maindrive & 60GB Seagate Slave
Video: GeForce 2 MX400 PCI card
Sound: Soundblaster Live (onboard sound disabled in BIOS)
NIC: Kingston KNE-100TX (onboard NIC disabled in Device Manager)
400 Watt Powersupply

I purchased the mobo & processor about 2 months ago but was running
the proc as a 1900+ since I only had PC-2100 RAM. If I tried to bump
the FSB up to 166mhz my pc would freeze up on me.

This weekend I finally got the PC-3200 Ram and tried again to run the
FSB at 166mhz and my PC still locks up. It will boot into WinXP but as
soon as I attempt to launch an application (or let it sit for a few
minutes) it freezes up on me. Converting back to running as a 1900+
and my PC runs just fine.

Are there other BIOS settings I need to adjust in order for my PC to
be stable and running as a 2500+? I never did peel off the fan and
heatsink so now I'm worried I got scammed 2 months ago and they may
have sent the wrong processor? I'm really hoping it's something else
entirely and I don't have to deal with trying to get a 2 month old
part replacement...

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Cheetah8799]

You may have the ram set to 1:1 with the cpu fsb. You should be able to run each at their own speed. With the new ram though this shouldn't be a problem. It sounds to me like you are having a heat issue with the CPU.

Better check the CPU and make sure it is a 2500+. Also, check the temps in the bios and make sure they aren't off the chart (> 55C is getting up there...).

You can also try touching the cpu heatsink while running. If it is super hot, like burning you, then you may have problems with cpu heat.

 

[Zipp]

UDDelt,also go and check out the link below. I have it going directly to someone who was having the same problem you are having. One poster suggests setting the fsb to 167 cause that MB is unstable at 166. (I never heard of that one but who knows)......I can't say that will solve your issues but if it doesn't,just poke around those boards or even post back in the motherboard section of these forums...Good Luck


link

 

[UDDelt]

Thanks for the advice. If I pull off the fan/heatsink to verify it is a 2500+ will it be clearly marked or will I need to check a serial # to find out?

I'll also try running it at 167Mhz but I doubt that's the problem. I tried it already at various speeds under 166Mhz and still have not been able to get it stable other than at 133MHz where it runs like a champ (albeit a slow champ).

Could it have anything to do with a bad or corrupted XP install? I recently had other issues with a bad Dimm that I pulled out. It was causing numerous blue screen errors but once I pulled it out everything seemed ok. I never did a reinstall though so could this have anything to do with residual errors from the bad memory?

Thanks.

 

[Verdant]

you will see 2500 marked in the part number

 

[myocardia]

According to ECS's page on your board, it only supports PC3200 sometimes: link.

 

[UDDelt]

What does: "2GB only for DDR400, conditional" mean exactly? They don't really specify what the conditional means but I took it to be somehow related to the max of 2GB. Should I try and return the PC-3200 and get PC-2700?

 

[myocardia]

That would probably be best since you aren't going to be able to overclock any, or much at all, since ECS boards never have voltage adjustments for anything. And I have no idea what they mean by that. You could call them and find out, if you wanted. I would just either buy a good motherboard or take the ram back and exchange it for some PC2700.