KT133A / high multiplier CPU 133fsb problem

[fergus]

for those who are getting the new KT133A boards see the overclockers.com article today:
http://www.overclockers.com/
also follow the link that says "What we think is happening with the 133A boards.
In a nutshell it seems the high multiplier CPUs (some) simply may not work. Regardless of unlocking the CPUs multiplier, upon bootup the CPU still runs for a few milliseconds at default then it moves on to "your" custom settings.
e.g., 1.1mhz is booting at 11x133 to get 1463, for brief milliseconds. IF it can, then it moves on to your settings which is a lower multiplier. If it can't--you're out of luck.

 

[Insane3D]

Very interesting...it makes sense. Although it is strange how he said it does not seem to affect the 1.2ghz cpu's. I wonder if they really do something different. I noticed that some people said their 1.2ghz CPU's were a new revision, so this may explain this. I hope the 1.2ghz being unaffected is true because I am getting my 1.2ghz on Monday and it's going into this shiny new KT7A-RAID sitting next to me...

Thanks for the info...

 

[DaddyG]

Fergus, this is interesting. I posted my thoughts in another thread here at Anandtech. Gigabyte and Asus still have dipswitches. I'm pretty sure that the dips completely over-ride the FID signals from the cpu so that the initialization of the chip occurs at the correct lower multiplier. Its going to be interesting to see other results.

 

[AMD4ME2]

hmmmm interesting... I just purchased a 900mhz thunderbird for my kt7a-raid... plan on clicking it at 997 7.5x133. I'll post my experiences when I get the chip this week.

 

[G3DN]

My week old 1.2GHz is affected by this problem.. =(

 

[PieDerro]

G3DN... sorry if I've asked you before, but was your 1.2GHz unlocked from the factory, or did you have to do the pencil trick?

 

[Skiracer]

1000 MHz Tbird unlocked and running at 8.5X133 on a KT7A-RAID. No problems, no lockups at POST. I have not experienced the problem mentioned here. My system will not even POST at 9.5 X 133, so if the system tried to initialize at 10X133 (as discussed here) it would lock for sure.
Just one more data point for consideration....

Also: 1000 MHz Tbird is week 49, and came with all four L1 bridges cut.

 

[Tasc]

Anybody else having this problem with a recent 1.2ghz thunderbird? I was just about to order one today.

 

[rominl]

.

 

[AMD4ME2]

KT7A up and running.. didn't notice my machine not boot, or boot way high before I used the "userdefined" settings. seems to work fine 900@1050 7x140fsb

 

[The Reaper]

Just got my KT7A with a 1GHz Tbird up and runnning. I've tried just about everything and the best I can get is 9x137=1234.

 

[Nesta]

1234 is a nice OC.

I have a week 52 1 gig TBird that will be going into a KT7A soon. Hopefully a BIOS from ABit will fix the 'default' boot.

 

[Dulanic]

From what I know this problem doesn't effect the A7V133 (I own it too). From what Ive read and learned it effects the Abit and Epox.

Its a great board and has all the options of the rest.... Im gonna say so far the A7V133 is winning the KT133A battle IMO I know on my A7V133 I can flip 2 dipswitches to totally turn off CPU ID so the A7V133 wont even check the default speed of the CPU (Yes you still need to short the L1 bridges).

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

If you want your 1GHz+ T-Bird to have a lower default multiplier, than you have to do the pencil trick on some of the L6 bridges, like here. It worked for me and my 1GHz T-Bird on an EPoX 8KTA3 and it's a snap to do!

PS. I set my default multiplier to 7, FYI.

 

[SlickVic]

I have a 133fsb issue...but it's RAM related.

I have an Abit KT7A-Raid board with a unlocked T-Bird 800@950 (9.5 x 100) with no problem...ran a bone-stock Duron 650@891 (137 x 6.5)...both rock solid, around 35 degrees, up to about 40-42 after an hour of UT....I want to run at a 133mhz FSB, but PC-100 RAM is holding me back...with the T-Bird, I got into Windows at 7 x 133, 7.5 x 133, even 8 x 133:Q, but was getting random errors, lock-ups...the PC-100 cannot handle it.

Read somewhere that you cannot go below 7.5 with an 800 or higher CPU or it won't post....I find that untrue...I ran my T-Bird at 7 x 133, and ran for about 10 min., but the RAM cannot handle that FSB 133 speed too long.

What's the best place to get quality PC133 RAM at a good price? Is Mushkin OK?

Thanks.

 

[Hawker]

Mushkin or Crucial are both good. I have a review of a Crucial PC133 CL2 stick at my site:

http://www.templeoftech.com/articles.cfm?ArticleID=46&PageID=1

 

[fergus]

Mushkin (www.mushkin.com)is supposed to be the best for overclocking and is the most expensive, but 128mb of Rev2, cas 2, is on sale this weekend for $89 with free shipping. Crucial (www.crucial.com) 256mb is on sale for $113, 128mb for $57, for cas 2 with free shipping today as well. I bought 2 sticks of mushkin. I'll be getting my Abit KT7A this week. Can't wait!