*** Official ABIT IC7/G (875P) Thread ***

[Ketchup]

Originally posted by: Ramses
I have a semi-board related question. Am I giving up much of the benifit of HT really if I go back to Win2k Pro? I keep haveing stupid problems with XP and this is just not cutting it. It's looking like either back to win2k or off to another board..
Thoughts?

Well, since Windows XP is the most stable OS Microshaft has ever put out, there is a good possibility that your problems stem from hardware. I can't comment on hyper-threading since I have a 2.4B, but I think you should go ahead and try Win2k and see if the problems persist. Either way, you should be able to tell whether or not the OS is the culprit.

 

[kevman]

Originally posted by: Ramses
I have a semi-board related question. Am I giving up much of the benifit of HT really if I go back to Win2k Pro? I keep haveing stupid problems with XP and this is just not cutting it. It's looking like either back to win2k or off to another board..
Thoughts?

what problems are you having with XP? and does win2k not support HT?

 

[KillerBob]

I went for the straight-on approach and installed the new 16 BIOS. It works fine for me, and though I can't prove it in benchmarks, everything just seems a bit faster.

First the initial Post is done and over with in 2 seconds, and second, the WinXP bootup seems faster. Also, in WinXP everything is just a bit more responsive. I also think they may have had a small improvement in the temps.

Some people have had issues with upgrading, especially when using Maxtor HDs in Raid0. Also, you must have already upgraded the IAA driver to 3.5. The Raid BIOS is upgraded and some have had a bit of a nightmare upgrading (see the Abit HW forums).

However, I for one am happy.

 

[Ramses]

Originally posted by: ketchup79

Originally posted by: Ramses
I have a semi-board related question. Am I giving up much of the benifit of HT really if I go back to Win2k Pro? I keep haveing stupid problems with XP and this is just not cutting it. It's looking like either back to win2k or off to another board..
Thoughts?

Well, since Windows XP is the most stable OS Microshaft has ever put out, there is a good possibility that your problems stem from hardware. I can't comment on hyper-threading since I have a 2.4B, but I think you should go ahead and try Win2k and see if the problems persist. Either way, you should be able to tell whether or not the OS is the culprit.

Stupid random problems. Yesterday I came home to a 16 color display with an error saying xp had recovered from a serious problem and I should reboot. This was with the thing sitting completly idle all day. The day before it's media player 9 that has a very similier "serious problem and must close" when I try and play certain files that it should be fine with. Random reboots, errors in programs I've used for years that should not be causing problems. I'm not new to XP either, and I never had these problems before, I'd be happy with win2k if it will give my stability back. I'm an old time SMP/440BX/GX guy, I very much expect stability. I'm also not willing to give up my audigy 2 platinum EX or my ATI all in wonder 9700 Pro, though I know I'm pushing my luck running them together. Going to try this new bios stuff sometime soon. I'm running an Antec Sonata with 380watt PSU, a pair of WD 200gig's on the regular IDE, and a pair or RAID 0 Raptors for the OS and programs. And a gig of PC3200LL Corsair. I've sunk a Ton of money in this comp, mostly retail parts too, and I'll accept nothing less than it working properly, it already has the fast part down pat.

Oh, and the SOB manages to loose my external Motorola 56K serial modem now and then for no reason. That really bothers me, it's one of the most stable and copatable pieces of hardware I've ever owned, even in Linux!

Speaking of Linux, is there much/any support for this board there?

 

[THUGSROOK]

Ramses ~ did you install the intel inf drivers? (motherboard drivers)

either that or its something in the bios you are overlooking.

HTH

 

[vailr]

Yesterday I came home to a 16 color display with an error saying xp had recovered from a serious problem and I should reboot.

Ramses:
Several weeks ago there was a thread by NFS4, complaining about the same kind of problem, using the Radeon 9700 when combined with the Abit IC7 board.
He (NFS4) ended up buying a replacement Radeon 9600, and seemed to fix the problem.


Text

More info copied from here:Text
Begin Quote.

Got this response from ati:

With regard to the error "driver ati2dvag for the display device...got stuck in an infinite loop"

Based on our experience, The "Device driver is stuck in an Infinite loop" and "Could not complete the drawing operation" error messages are a result of a system communication problem.

This issue is seen when using any chipset and the Microsoft Windows XP Operating system.
It appears that this problem is due to a bios setting, which has to do with the way the RAM and CPU communicate with XP and Direct X. The end result is that PC components are competing for system resources and assigning too much ram to the video card.

Microsoft has documented this problem on their web site and the knowledge base article (Q293078) can be found at the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q293/0/78.ASP

If the Microsoft workaround does not work, try the following:

- Load optimized defaults in your BIOS and do not modify memory settings
- Set your memory settings to default values
- Make sure you have an adequate power supply
- Update your BIOS
- Disable AGP fast write

Via Technologies also has an article on this issue. It can be found at

http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Updated drivers for your motherboard's Intel 875P chipset are available at

http://developer.intel.com/design/software/drivers/platform/inf.htm

Regards,

Vaughn Shideler
Customer Service Canada
ATI Technologies, Inc.
http://www.ati.com


NOTE: these options may vary depending on the type/version of your system
BIOS:

1. Video BIOS Shadow and Video BIOS Cacheable - DISABLED
2. C8000-CBFFFF Shadow and CC000-CFFFF - ENABLED
3. AGP Aperture size - 64 MB (128 MB if you have 512 MB of RAM or greater installed) 4. AGP Turbo - DISABLED 5. VGA Frame Buffer and Primary Frame Buffer - DISABLED 6. PnP OS installed - YES 7. Assign IRQ for VGA - ENABLED 8. Resource Control - AUTO 9. AGP Bus Mastering - ENABLED 10. VGA Palette Snooping - DISABLED 11. Video Shadowing - DISABLED 12. Disable any USWC or Write Combine options in the CMOS 13. Try forcing the External Cache to use the Write-Through method, not the Write-back method 14. Disable any manual configuration of PCI by setting these options to AUTO 15. Init Primary Display - AGP 16. System Bios Cacheable - ENABLED 17. Video BIOS Mode Cache - UC 18. AGP Fastwrite - DISABLED


Also:
Since I read all the thread, and 2 others that are suggested in here the most common solutions are:

1. Cards Rev 3.xx => No problems for most people, no need to do anything
2. Disable FastWrites => Control Panel > Display Properties > Settings> Advnaced > SmartGuard > Fast Writes
3. AGP speed to 4x => Control Panel > Display Properties > Settings> Advnaced > SmartGuard > Agp Speed, or you can do it through BIOS, but check here if it works.
4. Disable USB Legacy Support => Disable USB Legacy Supp in bios. This is only used while installing Win, or if you want support during boot for USB devices under DOS.
5. Change AGP Freq to something other than 1:1 => Your Bios propably has a setting for AGP speed. Either works with FSB (FSB 200 => 66.7 AGP, FSB 250 => 83.7) or can be locked to 66.7. Some bios give you asynchronous timings such as 66,67,68,69, etc. Change is to something other that 66.7-67. For example 68, 69 if your Radeon can work there.

Those are the 5 most common solutions. Some of them need to work togother. You should check eack one alone, and if you don't get a perfectly stable machine, try 2 of them. First of all use AGP Freq 68MHz because if this solves your problem you don't sacrifice anything (USB, FW, 8x).

__________________
Wizard!



End Quote.

 

[Ramses]

Thugsrook, no overclocking at the moment, dunno about the bios, I'm still experimenting, everything is pretty conservativly set at this point. And I've got the INF drivers and such.

Vailr, that's the exact error I had from the vid card yesterday, infinite loop. I'll try the workarounds and see. I've got to do something..

I don't know any way to turn other than Xeons if this dosent work out.. more money..

 

[KillerBob]

I have just realiced that the new BIOS (16) have fixed one of the more annoying issues I had; I can now leave my duff cardreader plugged into the USB2, without it taking a great chunk of my RAM bandwidth.

Also, the boot-time is reduced by at least 15%. The initial "hanging" post screen is reduced to a mere passing screen, which I usually don't see anyway, because that's when my monitor is trying to get a lock on sync.

 

[lodog00]

I haven't had time to read EVERYTHING that is in this thread, so I hope I'm not rehasing things....

but has anyone else had trouble getting above 255 fsb with the IC7-G w/ 1:1 ratio? My PC will not post above 255, and I'm not sure if this is because my memory sucks (Kingston HyperX PC4000) or maybe the Board just doesn't want to do it. I briefly read a thread in the ABIT forum that the board just doesn't want to go too far above 255, meaning that a BIOS update one of these days may let me go further. I know my CPU can go higher....it's comfortable at 255 on stock voltage, and I have been able to get to 265 using 1.65v (though I haven't tested thoroughly for stability...I can run Sandra Memory/CPU Benches though and run 3dmark).

Perhaps my memory just doesn't want to go that high? I did try pumping the voltage up all the way to max 2.8, but it doesn't help go beyond 255 fsb. I can't afford to go buy more memory right now, but when I get the cash, what do you guys recommend? I know for sure that the bottleneck on this goal is the memory or the board, NOT the CPU.

 

[kevman]

Originally posted by: Ramses

Originally posted by: ketchup79

Originally posted by: Ramses
I have a semi-board related question. Am I giving up much of the benifit of HT really if I go back to Win2k Pro? I keep haveing stupid problems with XP and this is just not cutting it. It's looking like either back to win2k or off to another board..
Thoughts?

Well, since Windows XP is the most stable OS Microshaft has ever put out, there is a good possibility that your problems stem from hardware. I can't comment on hyper-threading since I have a 2.4B, but I think you should go ahead and try Win2k and see if the problems persist. Either way, you should be able to tell whether or not the OS is the culprit.

Stupid random problems. Yesterday I came home to a 16 color display with an error saying xp had recovered from a serious problem and I should reboot. This was with the thing sitting completly idle all day. The day before it's media player 9 that has a very similier "serious problem and must close" when I try and play certain files that it should be fine with. Random reboots, errors in programs I've used for years that should not be causing problems. I'm not new to XP either, and I never had these problems before, I'd be happy with win2k if it will give my stability back. I'm an old time SMP/440BX/GX guy, I very much expect stability. I'm also not willing to give up my audigy 2 platinum EX or my ATI all in wonder 9700 Pro, though I know I'm pushing my luck running them together. Going to try this new bios stuff sometime soon. I'm running an Antec Sonata with 380watt PSU, a pair of WD 200gig's on the regular IDE, and a pair or RAID 0 Raptors for the OS and programs. And a gig of PC3200LL Corsair. I've sunk a Ton of money in this comp, mostly retail parts too, and I'll accept nothing less than it working properly, it already has the fast part down pat.

Oh, and the SOB manages to loose my external Motorola 56K serial modem now and then for no reason. That really bothers me, it's one of the most stable and copatable pieces of hardware I've ever owned, even in Linux!

Speaking of Linux, is there much/any support for this board there?

Here's a fews things I can think of right away....the 380W PSU + 4 HD's + 9700 pro + Audigy...maybe the computer needs more power?

Also when it reboots what is the error in event viewer? How are you load temps? hows the case cooling? are these problems manifesting themselves in from the very begining or only when you were overclocking?

I honestly think you've got a hardware issue or bios issue. I would try another OS to see if the same instability issues occur. ( i know, I know, it's a pain in the ass!)

BTW what catalyst drivers are you useing? I tried the lates ( 3.6??) but went back down to 3.4 and that help some of my issues.

 

[kevman]

need some help.


XP seems to randomly reboot...

I get these messages in the event viewer

Application popup: : Machine Check: Regs


any ideas?

 

[lodog00]

I had problems w/ XP randomly rebooting when I set the fsb too high. From what I see in your rigs, you SHOULD be OK, but it's possible your system isn't completely stable. Have you tried your P4 at lower clock speeds? What voltage are you using? What is your PSU?

Have you tested your CPU under full load for extended periods of time? How long?

When my fsb was too high, XP would either randomly reboot, or not boot at all and give me error messages about the registry or this and that. Once I slowed my machine down, everything was in order. Temperature can also make a difference...you sure your P4 isn't just running too hot?

 

[Ramses]

Picked up a zalmon hunk O copper and a 92mm fan to hang over it, and an Antec 430watt PSU, we'll see if THAT helps any.. \

grr...

And I got the infinite loop ATI error again when I reinabled video bios caching, hopefully leaving that off will fix that one.

 

[anomaly]

1.6 Bios is out

 

[Ramses]

Originally posted by: Ramses
Picked up a zalmon hunk O copper and a 92mm fan to hang over it, and an Antec 430watt PSU, we'll see if THAT helps any.. \

grr...

And I got the infinite loop ATI error again when I reinabled video bios caching, hopefully leaving that off will fix that one.

Twice now, has that damned heatsink pulled the CPU FROM the socket forcably due to it being bonded to it. Talk about a bad feeling.
First was the thermal pad which as usual melted and turned to glue, but even the regular thermal coupound I used last time gave the same result. Anoying..


Anyway, all is up and running with the new PSU and Zalman. Few of the voltages are slightly better, but not the CPU or DDR naturally.
Temps are, a little better. The PWM temp is much better, I guess from that 92mm fan hanging over the general area like it is. CPU is still hitting 55 or so loaded down with the side cover off. I give up on the temp deal, it's hotter than I like acording to the monitoring chip, but who knows.

 

[kevman]

Originally posted by: lodog00
I had problems w/ XP randomly rebooting when I set the fsb too high. From what I see in your rigs, you SHOULD be OK, but it's possible your system isn't completely stable. Have you tried your P4 at lower clock speeds? What voltage are you using? What is your PSU?

Have you tested your CPU under full load for extended periods of time? How long?

When my fsb was too high, XP would either randomly reboot, or not boot at all and give me error messages about the registry or this and that. Once I slowed my machine down, everything was in order. Temperature can also make a difference...you sure your P4 isn't just running too hot?

I have the follwing setup.
all default voltages

generic NIC
P4 2.4 w/ copper Intel retail HSF
Ati AIW 9700 pro
Antect true 480
one Maxtor 40 gig ata/100
two front intake fans one back exhauist one top exhaust and to shide blow holesi n the case (llian-li pc65)
onbiard sound

the temps are way better with the copper hsf topping off at about 57 ( 64 w/ retail and then I woudl get a CPU stopp messages in XP) under load. Prime was rock stable for 7 hours at 2.7 gghz but at anything above I haven't had much luck. I seem to get the random reboots. I am seriuosly conisdering Getting a different board to see if it's the CPU or the board....maybe the cpu is a OC dud....

 

[Ramses]

maybe the cpu is a OC dud....

My 2.4c is in the same boat it seems. I've run the voltage up to a reported 1.65 or so, and still no go above 248 buss. Which is a bitch because you need that magix 250 to run 5:4 mem timings and get your 200 buss. My 3200LL will do 230ish 1:1 with spd timings, but still.
Not that big a deal, but I really was hopeing for a 3gig out of it.

How high can I push the voltage with a regular heatsink/fan?

 

[kevman]

Originally posted by: Ramses

maybe the cpu is a OC dud....

My 2.4c is in the same boat it seems. I've run the voltage up to a reported 1.65 or so, and still no go above 248 buss. Which is a bitch because you need that magix 250 to run 5:4 mem timings and get your 200 buss. My 3200LL will do 230ish 1:1 with spd timings, but still.
Not that big a deal, but I really was hopeing for a 3gig out of it.

How high can I push the voltage with a regular heatsink/fan?

I'd keep it lower then <= 1.6 On a retail that's probably pushing it a tad more then it should be...


i hae hyper x 3500 (2x512) and I'm running 230 fsb with 5:4 ratio...

 

[MangoTBG]

I have a question for everyone. Am I missing something? I can't seem to find where you can change the multiplyer in the BIOS?"

I figured you couldn't until I saw this, just a few posts up "Intel P4 2.6C ---> 3.304 Ghz (254fsb)"

But I guess that could be from him having a 2.6 over my 2.4 which would mean that his multiplyer is "locked" higher than mine. I ask because at 255FSB, I'm at 3.06 and have a feeling I could easily handle 3.25 if I could up the multiplyer from 12 to 13 and brought the FSB down to 250.

 

[kevman]

Originally posted by: MangoTBG
I have a question for everyone. Am I missing something? I can't seem to find where you can change the multiplyer in the BIOS?"

I figured you couldn't until I saw this, just a few posts up "Intel P4 2.6C ---> 3.304 Ghz (254fsb)"

But I guess that could be from him having a 2.6 over my 2.4 which would mean that his multiplyer is "locked" higher than mine. I ask because at 255FSB, I'm at 3.06 and have a feeling I could easily handle 3.25 if I could up the multiplyer from 12 to 13 and brought the FSB down to 250.

the multipliers are different for differtent CPU's

The advantages of having the higher multiplier CPU (such as a 2.6 over a 2.4 ) are that you can get better speeds at lower FSB's

 

[MangoTBG]

Sorry but you aren't totally clear. Can I not change the multiplier? Is this something that you can only do with AMD chips, because I "grew up" on AMD chips. This is my first Pentium system.

What you said, really doesn't make much since...atleast to me.

You want to use the smallest multiplier as possable, as to get the highest FSB speed you can get. In the AMD world, it was the goal to get 200x10 rather than 166x12. But in my case, I just want to see if there is a way I can get my chip to 250x13.

 

[vailr]

Originally posted by: MangoTBG
Sorry but you aren't totally clear. Can I not change the multiplier? Is this something that you can only do with AMD chips, because I "grew up" on AMD chips. This is my first Pentium system.

What you said, really doesn't make much since...atleast to me.

You want to use the smallest multiplier as possable, as to get the highest FSB speed you can get. In the AMD world, it was the goal to get 200x10 rather than 166x12. But in my case, I just want to see if there is a way I can get my chip to 250x13.

All Intel CPU's are multiplier-locked. No possibility of changing, unlike the AMD Athlons. So the 2.4c Intel CPU is going to be locked at a 12x multiplier. Only the FSB, and CPU:memory speed ratio, can be adjusted. Not the multiplier.

 

[MangoTBG]

Thank you, that was the answer I was looking for! Thanks!

 

[kevman]

looks like I have seem to hit a wall with my CPU 2.4 @ 2.7


Is there anything else I could disable in the BIOS to get around this (( chage GAT from Auto to Disabled))? I find it hard to beleive that the 2.4c I have is a dud based on the success of so many others.

Keep in mind I am running at default voltage as many others are with this CPU. should I try a vcore boost?


Is it worht it to try to make this work or should I just buy a 2.6c?

K

 

[kevman]

event stranger thing I noticed is that after running some prime allong with pc mark to just stress the machine out the CPU fan fails!!!!!

Any idea why that might happen? thisi s a 3.0 Retail copper HSF....I have the zalman just waiting to get some time to put it in....