SPECS:
Soyo K7V Dragon Plus!
BIOS 2BA1 (15 Nov 01 release date)
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ (and Athlon C 1.4 GHz)
Global WIN WBK38 CPU fan
two 256 Meg PC2100 CL 2.5 DIMMs by Crucial (plus two identical known-good spares)
300W Enhance AMD-approved PSU (and 350W Enermax PSU)
ATI Radeon VE 32 Meg
Greetings to all,
I am having major instability problems with the above setup, but if, and only if, I use the system with the FSB at 133 MHz. Basically, I see spontaneous reboots in WinXP if I am even as lucky to get as far as the desktop. I had to set the FSB at 100 MHz just to get the OS installed. But it's not just with WinXP--using a low level memory testing program (Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com), I note funkiness in the system only when the FSB is set to 133 MHz. However, at 100 MHz FSB, the system appears as stable as a rock hours on end despite the aggressiveness of memory settings in BIOS, and all other parameters.
I am not overclocking the system at all--I let the DRAM frequency be set by SPD at 133 MHz, but have also set it at 100 MHz manually. I have also tried both DIMMs individually, as well as swapping in another set of known good PC2100 DIMMs from Crucial from another entirely different batch purchased weeks earlier. I have reseated the CPU and all other components, and also remounted the motherboard in the case to make sure is was not getting shorted out on anything. Besides the 300W PSU listed above, I have also used another 350W Enermax AMD-approved PSU. After all the systematic parts swapping and configuration changes, this instability has only surfaced with the XP 1900+ when the FSB is at 133 MHz--essentially none of the other parameters appear to contribute to the instability.
This left one last thing to test--the actual CPU itself. I was able to borrow a standard Athlon C 1.4 GHz (266 FSB) T-bird CPU for a few hours to test for flakiness at 133 FSB with that CPU. I didn't get a chance to test it under WinXP before having to give it back, but I did let it cycle through Memtest86 for a couple of hours with the system set at 133 FSB, and not a single error appeared. This was unlike the case with the XP 1900+ using the same 133 MHz FSB--quite a few Memtest86 errors would be generated mostly for test #4, but also for tests #6 and #5 in that order. At 100 MHz FSB with either CPU, no Memtest86 errors were ever generated.
So, though I didn't have time to experiment in WinXP using the Athlon C 1.4 GHz on a 133 MHz FSB, the results from Memtest86 seem to suggest it would have been stable. So, why wouldn't an Athlon XP 1900+ be stable under the exact same conditions? I have seen other folks mention issues using the 133 MHz FSB, but no real solutions.
I talked with Soyo tech support about the problem by phone after about 20 minutes on hold. Unbelievably, they said they had just gotten in an Athlon XP 1900+ for testing YESTERDAY (e.g. 12 Dec 01). This seems a bit absurd--the XP 1900+ has been available for about a month now--I can't imagine Soyo just being able to get one now... The support person mentioned that one other person had mentioned this issue. Together we concluded it was either the mobo or the CPU. Since the CPU was OEM and only had a 30 day warranty from Newegg, I decided to swap that off first. When the replacement arrives, I'll see if it makes a difference.
Nonetheless, I'd like to hear from folks out there that may be experiencing the same problem. In a nutshell, it's basically major system instability when using an XP 1900+ on a Dragon Plus! board with a 133 MHz FSB settings. Any comments?
verbage
Soyo K7V Dragon Plus!
BIOS 2BA1 (15 Nov 01 release date)
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ (and Athlon C 1.4 GHz)
Global WIN WBK38 CPU fan
two 256 Meg PC2100 CL 2.5 DIMMs by Crucial (plus two identical known-good spares)
300W Enhance AMD-approved PSU (and 350W Enermax PSU)
ATI Radeon VE 32 Meg
Greetings to all,
I am having major instability problems with the above setup, but if, and only if, I use the system with the FSB at 133 MHz. Basically, I see spontaneous reboots in WinXP if I am even as lucky to get as far as the desktop. I had to set the FSB at 100 MHz just to get the OS installed. But it's not just with WinXP--using a low level memory testing program (Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com), I note funkiness in the system only when the FSB is set to 133 MHz. However, at 100 MHz FSB, the system appears as stable as a rock hours on end despite the aggressiveness of memory settings in BIOS, and all other parameters.
I am not overclocking the system at all--I let the DRAM frequency be set by SPD at 133 MHz, but have also set it at 100 MHz manually. I have also tried both DIMMs individually, as well as swapping in another set of known good PC2100 DIMMs from Crucial from another entirely different batch purchased weeks earlier. I have reseated the CPU and all other components, and also remounted the motherboard in the case to make sure is was not getting shorted out on anything. Besides the 300W PSU listed above, I have also used another 350W Enermax AMD-approved PSU. After all the systematic parts swapping and configuration changes, this instability has only surfaced with the XP 1900+ when the FSB is at 133 MHz--essentially none of the other parameters appear to contribute to the instability.
This left one last thing to test--the actual CPU itself. I was able to borrow a standard Athlon C 1.4 GHz (266 FSB) T-bird CPU for a few hours to test for flakiness at 133 FSB with that CPU. I didn't get a chance to test it under WinXP before having to give it back, but I did let it cycle through Memtest86 for a couple of hours with the system set at 133 FSB, and not a single error appeared. This was unlike the case with the XP 1900+ using the same 133 MHz FSB--quite a few Memtest86 errors would be generated mostly for test #4, but also for tests #6 and #5 in that order. At 100 MHz FSB with either CPU, no Memtest86 errors were ever generated.
So, though I didn't have time to experiment in WinXP using the Athlon C 1.4 GHz on a 133 MHz FSB, the results from Memtest86 seem to suggest it would have been stable. So, why wouldn't an Athlon XP 1900+ be stable under the exact same conditions? I have seen other folks mention issues using the 133 MHz FSB, but no real solutions.
I talked with Soyo tech support about the problem by phone after about 20 minutes on hold. Unbelievably, they said they had just gotten in an Athlon XP 1900+ for testing YESTERDAY (e.g. 12 Dec 01). This seems a bit absurd--the XP 1900+ has been available for about a month now--I can't imagine Soyo just being able to get one now... The support person mentioned that one other person had mentioned this issue. Together we concluded it was either the mobo or the CPU. Since the CPU was OEM and only had a 30 day warranty from Newegg, I decided to swap that off first. When the replacement arrives, I'll see if it makes a difference.
Nonetheless, I'd like to hear from folks out there that may be experiencing the same problem. In a nutshell, it's basically major system instability when using an XP 1900+ on a Dragon Plus! board with a 133 MHz FSB settings. Any comments?
verbage
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