P4B266-C 1.6A -- Can't O/C @ 133MHz BIOS Setting

[EricZip]

Hi, guys

I really need some help getting my new hardware up to speed. Last week, I
ordered a P4B266-C MB and a P4 1.6A processor to replace my previous K7S5A
and Athlon XP 1700+ setup. Well, I got everything mounted in the case and
then booted up at the "default" settings to make sure everything was OK.
After that, I decided that it was time to "kick it up a notch," so I went
into the BIOS and selected the 133MHz setting. Saved the settings and
rebooted... no POST. Went back into the BIOS and bumped the VCORE settings
from the default 1.50V up until I hit 1.70V... and it still wouldn't POST. I
don't understand... everybody said these Northwood 1.6A chips were so easy
to overclock, but I seem to be having one helluva time getting my rig up to
speed.

What am I doing wrong? Please advise.

My sys vitals:

Antec SX1030 case
Asus P4B266-C
Intel P4 1.60A Northwood (Pack Date: 03/20/02)
Sparkle FSP300-60BTVS (300 Watt)
Reptron K-Byte 256MB-DDR PC2100 (CL 2.5 - I think?)

BTW, I connected the 20-pin and 4-pin 12V connectors from the Sparkle unit
to the MB. Should I have also connected a 4-pin power plug to the EZ Plug
connector?

Thanks.

 

[LarryJoe]

I am not familiar with your mobo, but check your AGP and PCI dividers. They should run at 66 and 33, respectively. I can lock mine in, but most mobo's values will change as you increase the fsb. Set the PCI divider to 4 and set the AGP to 2 when your fsb is at 133.

 

[LarryJoe]

<< BTW, I connected the 20-pin and 4-pin 12V connectors from the Sparkle unit >>



Yes, there are 3 connectors from the power supply that need to be plugged into the mobo.

 

[bargainshopper]

Beside the PC to PCI ratio, you may also want to check the PC to MEM ratio. I think it needs to be 1:1 instead of 3:4.

 

[christoph83]

Could be a probably with your memory as well. Go into the memory settings and put everything to its slowest speed... Cas 2.5 etc, Make sure you have turbo 1 mode selected. Also try using the jumper to up your VMEM voltage. Its in your manual but put the pin at 2.7v mode. Try these things first.

 

[EricZip]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and recommendations! OK, I have some good news!
After looking through some of the earlier posts here and elsewhere, I saw someone mention
that the P4B266 MB's USB might be a problematic running at the 133MHz setting. That got me
thinking... I have a MS USB keyboard and mouse and I wondered what would happen if I
unplugged my USB devices and tried to boot at the 133MHz setting? So that's what I did...
I changed the keyboard and mouse connections from USB to PS/2 and it finally made it through
POST without hanging! I am so happy to be running at 2133MHz now! But I'm wondering...
does anyone have any idea why the onboard USB does not seem to work well at the
133MHz setting?


Regards,
EZ

 

[DarkOrca]

because the USB1.0 cannot handle the FSB at such high speed.
(but USB2.0 can)

 

[EricZip]

OK, guys... check this out. I was not satisfied with the PS/2 keyboard and mouse
connections, so I decided to try plugging in just one USB device (my MS Internet
Pro KB) to see what would happen. Well, to my surprise... it started right up and
completed POST, then booted right into Windows. I couldn't believe it, so I decided
to up the ante by plugging in my MS Intellimouse Optical into one of the keyboard's USB
ports. I powered down and then rebooted again this time with the mouse plugged into
the keyboard... and once again it completed POST and booted flawlessly into Windows.

Life @ 2133MHz is sweet... I'm totally satisfied with this setup for now.

Thanks again to everybody for taking the time to share their suggestions and advice with me.


Regards,
EZ

 

[WarCon]

I am happy you found a solution. I have the setup and I can't use my USB Joystick and it kind of bums me out. You know whats funny is that the PCI/AGP bus is not overclocked at 133, so its not related to that bus. I have been hoping a bios filter (in future update) might fix it, but I really don't know and I am not holding my breath.

 

[Dre]

I've got a 1.6a o/c using 133mhz bus and my USB microsoft explorer 3.0 mouse works fine. Wierd that some people have problems while others don't.