Soyo K7VME Problem

[trexpesto]

Hey everyone,
"I got a K7vme as part of a barebones package and I am considering getting a mobile chip for overclocking on it.
Can you tell me if the BIOS supports adjusting the multiplier? I know it does the FSB, but I can't find any docs or google that tell about the multi. I even tried Soyo support, they haven't got back to me. I guess I could switch out the chip from my good box, but it is my only comp and it would be a waste of AS5 if it doesn't.. Thanks, hope you can help. "

Edit: So far 2 votes for "don't think so" :thumbsdown:

 

[mwshook]

I just ordered a K7VME motherboard, so I'm trying to anticipate whatever problems I might have.

I'm going to replace the mobo, cpu, and RAM in my fiancee's computer. I gave her my old Dell last year after her laptop got stolen. It is a PII 233Mhz with 64MB of RAM and a 2MB video card. She doesn't use it for anything intensive, mostly IE, Word, and Winamp on Win98. But about half of the CDs she makes with her USB CDRW fail (we think this is speed related) and Homestar Runner plays at about 3 FPS ;-)


Anyway, I've purchased a K7VME, a Speeze CPU fan, and 128MB of generic DDR. I'm going to use an old 1.2Ghz Athlon (thunderbird) that I have lying around. I'll be using the built-in audio and video. I know integrated video sucks, but it's got to be better than a 2MB PCI card circa 1997. I'm trying to keep all of this as cheap as possible. The combined cost of the upgrade (after MIR's and shipping) is only $61. I'll probably add more RAM at a later date.

My first concern is about power. The old Dell has a 200W PS. Some people in this thread have reccommended a 300W. But the only things it will be supplying are the processor, the motherboard, a 10gig HD, a 32x CDROM, and a floppy. There won't be any PCI cards at this time, and I can't think of any she'd want to add. She may want a 2nd hard drive or a DVD drive at some point. Would 200W be enough for this limited setup?

My second concern is heat. The midtower case only has one fan (in the back) and no room to put other fans. I may run the processor at a 100mhz FSB so it will only be 900mhz instead of 1200. I know that would suck, but 900 is still a nice upgrade from 233. But I would think the fact that the system doesn't have a video card would keep the heat down some. I may get one of those PCI-slot coolers if I have to.

My third concern is Win98. I've never replaced a mobo without reformmating. Will the plug-and-play recognize it fairly easily?

So, does anyone see any immediate problems with what I'm trying? Or do you think I will have to break down and buy a new case and power supply?

 

[Zuppa]

Originally posted by: mwshook
I just ordered a K7VME motherboard, so I'm trying to anticipate whatever problems I might have.

My first concern is about power. The old Dell has a 200W PS. Some people in this thread have reccommended a 300W. But the only things it will be supplying are the processor, the motherboard, a 10gig HD, a 32x CDROM, and a floppy. There won't be any PCI cards at this time, and I can't think of any she'd want to add. She may want a 2nd hard drive or a DVD drive at some point. Would 200W be enough for this limited setup?

My second concern is heat. The midtower case only has one fan (in the back) and no room to put other fans. I may run the processor at a 100mhz FSB so it will only be 900mhz instead of 1200. I know that would suck, but 900 is still a nice upgrade from 233. But I would think the fact that the system doesn't have a video card would keep the heat down some. I may get one of those PCI-slot coolers if I have to.

My third concern is Win98. I've never replaced a mobo without reformmating. Will the plug-and-play recognize it fairly easily?

So, does anyone see any immediate problems with what I'm trying? Or do you think I will have to break down and buy a new case and power supply?

#1 : I built one of these in an old ATX case I had lying around, and used a new Soyo 350W power supply that cost me $10. ( Soyo Estore ) I had zero problems bringing the board up, and it's been working well. OTOH, I've seen many posts here where people tried to "go cheap" and use an old power supply that wasn't up to the task, and had problems. Soyo recommends a minimum power supply wattage of 350 for this board. Is a power supply that large really needed?
Don't know, but the posts on this board suggest that you should be "close" to ensure stable operation.

#2 : The one that I built used a 2000+, and really runs a little hot, sometimes reaching the high 50C range. It's a retail CPU and heatsink, and I ended up using an additional fan blowing at it from the side
to pull a bit more heat from the CPU area. I'm in an area where room temp is often in the 90F area
in the summer, so my story may be somewhat unique. The AMD's run pretty hot, and it's hard to tell if you will have similar problems, but fans nearer the CPU are probably worthwhile if you need to address a hot CPU.

#3 : Win 98 has pretty fair hardware detection, and as long as you have the new drivers available when it asks for them, you should have no problem. May be quite a few reboots as it detects new stuff and installs drivers.


Z

 

[mwshook]

I got my mobo in, and I did end up having to get a new power supply and a new case. I needed a new power supply because it didn't have that 4-pin power connector to go into the motherboard. Without it, the CPU fan wouldn't spin. And I needed a new case because the Dell case's power button connectors didn't fit, and were't long enough to reach the motherboard anyway. On top of that, it didn't quite fit. I had to bend up a metal piece above the audio output, and the back panel didn't fit.

Getting it to work with Windows 98 was a bit of a hassle, but not too bad. It wanted to have drivers before it installed the new IDE stuff, so I couldn't use the CD-ROM yet. But I managed to find some drivers in the c:\windows\system folder. Then I could use the drivers from the CD.

 

[BigLar]

OK, sent the board, memory, and CPU out to an expert to fiddle with. Conclusion, mothernoard is DOA, CPU and memory are OK.

Now to the next round, SOYO tech service... Stay tuned.

 

[bartbrn]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
I think SOYO's quick setup guide, or the screen print on the board, for the FSB jumper setting is WRONG!

Can't remember which was correct, but I believe the board printing is. At least, one of them was wrong when I set up a K7VME a couple weeks ago. Setting the FSB to 166MHz actually resulted in 100MHz, so I compared the manual with the board printing and they were different.

The CPU fan must be no less than 3500RPM if FOC is enabled.

Yeah, I fell over this one, too, and am stuck until I get an answer, Though the pin settings for JP3 seem to be correct numerically, as pictured under the heading "CPU Front Side Bus Clock Jumper Setting," the images of JP3 are incorrect (rotated 90 degrees clockwise from what's actually printed on the board). Anybody know which is correct?
Whatever is correct, what should my FSB (JP3) be set to? My CPU is an Athlon XP2800+ (333FSB), but the choices for JP3 are 100, 133, and 166MHz. What's the correct setting? (First time I've come across this problem, sorry).

Thanks for any info. If you could reply to me by direct email, as well as here in the forum, I'd be most grateful:

bartbrn95@comcast.net

Thanks again

Bart Brown

 

[Brule]

Horrible motherboard all the way, I had to RMA mine back. Constant problems came with it, overheating CPU, not posting, etc. I suggest an RMA (if possible) and ebay it. Welcome to the club of k7vme victims, your official membership card is in the mail.

(luckily the RMA worked long enough for me to ebay mine, with full disclosure)

 

[bartbrn]

Not quite ready to give up on the old K7VME yet. However, I may or may not have created a new problem for myself:

In my struggle to get my Thermaltake CPU heatsink/fan unit carefully placed atop my Athlon XP2800+, while wrestling with those damned clips, I had to take the heatsink/fan off, disassemble the fan from the heatsink, re-orient the clip, reassemble the whole schlematzl, and then I discovered that I had displaced a tiny area of the thermal-transfer square pad attached to the bottom of the copper core of the heatsink where it mates to the CPU. It was a VERY small area, but in my anal-retentive way, I though belt-and-braces overkill would be the best insurance, so I filled in the area with a small dollop of typical RatShack silicone/aluminoid thermal-transfer paste.

I haven't fired it up, but now I'm thinking that I read somewhere of someone else buggering it up the same way, and they were admonished to thoroughly clean ALL the original thermal transfer naterial square applied to the mating area of the heatsink, cleaning the whole thing with alcohol, then apply a high-quality thermal transfer paste, the reasoning being that the material supplied in the neat little square patch from Thermaltake is not necessarily the same, nor necessarily compatible with, the usual old squeeze-tube silicone-based thermal paste known and loved by generations of electronics builders.

Because I'm one of those Murphy's Law True Believers, I'd like to hear some opinions on this subject. If I can fry this processor in nanoseconds without proper heat transfer, as has been stated in this forum and others, I'd MUCH rather not.

thanks again!

Bart Brown

 

[bartbrn]

Just as an aside, I've heard a couple people say what a POS the Soyo K7VME is, and all the POST, fan sensor/heat problems they've encountered. OTOH, AnandTech, Tom's, and Sharky Extreme have all had very good things to say about this board, and in their reviews, have not experienced the problems often wailed about in the fora.

I'm a PC novice, but I've been building, configuring, and maintaining, and training on Macintosh boxes and networks -- LARGE networks -- for 12 years, and was building audio equipment (and flight controls -- I'm a NASA-certified solderer) for years before that, Not pointing any fingers or trying to make toast, but my experience in the Mac world is most everyone confronting a problem (including -- even *especially*-- me) assumes they:

A.Know what they're doing

B. Know what they did.

C. Know the computer's screwed up.

But in all that time, I've discovered just ONE major endemic hardware malfunction: the famous (in the Mac world, anyway) Iomega Zip and Jaz "Click O' Death." And software problems have invariably been of the "unstable" (in other words, released before its time) OS and version incompatibilities types. Those constituted MAYBE 3% or 4% of problems. The other 96%-97% can most succinctly be described under the catch-all "RTFM" or "KUWSB" (Keep Up With Service Bulletins).

It's very different in the PC world, where standards are "more-or-less" adhered to, thousands of companies make critical pieces that have to work together seamlessly "more-or-less," all hampered by an OS that's STILL a 32-bit patch on a 16-bit kludge. If major office IT procurement officers weren't so massively inert and terrified of losing the Windows security blanket -- moth-eaten and rancid with baby puke though it most certainly is -- they would not for one more moment put up with Gates' sad, bad, ugly, and creakingly-antiquated OS. And don't EVEN get me started on Windows' security sieves! I LOVE it when well-meaning friends send me dire warnings of imminent global computer meltdown because some dweeb has lashed together another virus that has no trouble whatsoever sailing unmolested through Redmond's "State of the Art" frontline security. Get a Mac, already.

But that's just MY opinion!

Bart Brown

 

[Brule]

Um, I think you forgot the /rant at the end of that one. Being a linux junkie myself I can relate. Yes the PC world is much more fluid, and there lies the good and bad. For instance what's better, a reasonably unstable gaming rig with massive options, or an out of the box/ it will work, console?

As it lies the rule of "buyer beware" takes effect and people develop bias toward certain companies. Ask about hard drives sometime when you have a year or two on your hands...

I've come to the conclusion that the review sites didn't have the same long term experience as other K7VME users. I've developed quite a bias from the 2 I've dealt with, and by sharing my experiences maybe someone else can be saved the trouble. If you can get the board working, great! At times it looks to be a board with many pros, mostly price.

I would not mix thermal substances together, but I base that on absolutely nothing. It's rather cheap and easy to clean and reapply, so why risk it? Maybe someone else will have a better knowledge of that issue, I don't know of any reason why they can't be mixed. (maybe different weights that would seperate and form layers?)

Good luck, please let us know if/when everything works.

 

[EclipseGSX]

I just bought one of these out of good faith (meaning: good price) for my grandparents. Something tells me I'll get it working to the point they'll be able to use it for Internet/e-mail. If anyoe ever buys this combo actually expecting performance -- come on... it's a barebones deal for FREE after rebate! What do you want? A killer gamer?

 

[usfbullstud]

Hmm - I can't believe how everyone has the same problem - you may find this VERY INTERESTING.

I suggested my grandmother purchase this barebone kit and my aunt got one also. I assembled them both at the same time - the same way - all the same parts. Athlon XP 2600 retail box with fan and heatsink

My aunts works
Grandmas - does not get any video. I felt like an arse for suggesting the good deal. Had to rma the mobo that is not working. Kind of stupid to buy parts and then have to pay for shipping to mail them back for replacements. I've got an idea - test the damn thing before they ship them. I know someone mentioned earlier that in many cases it's something done wrong on the users side. I have to agree in many cases - but I believe that in the case of the Soyo K7VME Socket A Barebone Kit - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I must say though - the unit that is working, works great. Put a gig of ram in almost anything though and it helps. I just hate playing russian reulette when making suggestions to people on what parts to invest in.

 

[bartbrn]

Sorry -- didn't mean it to be a rant; I just find it hard to believe that the richest man in the world, and one of the richest companies in the world, would be satisified with cranking out new makeup every few years for the same old crippled pig. How many lost man-hours, how much money in lost data and productivity, does it take before Microsoft seriously addresses its security problems, which endanger not just individual users, but whole corporations, the internet, and, ultimately, the entire world economy? For all Gates' vaunted philanthropy, he hasn't done the world of computer commerce and connectivity any favors. The only reason Microsoft gets away with this incredible irresposibility is the momentum of the marketplace, whereby their snake-oil salesmen have established such a vast installed base of Windows products that it would be a financial and physical near-impossibility to switch over to something better. Why does Gates not appreciate his responsibility to actually FIX his own product?

End of semi-rant.

Now, as for this:

<< I've come to the conclusion that the review sites didn't have the same long term experience as other K7VME users. I've developed quite a bias from the 2 I've dealt with, and by sharing my experiences maybe someone else can be saved the trouble. If you can get the board working, great! At times it looks to be a board with many pros, mostly price.>>

In my admittedly limited experience, electronics tend to fail -- if they're gonna fail -- pretty quickly, Given that most of the ICs involved are proprietary, common-source, and universally-used, that pretty much leaves the almost-purely-mechanical mobo itself as the only component one could rightfully blame Soyo for, and since (a) Soyo has a good reputation otherwise, and (b) not much can go wrong with an unpopulated PCB unless someone's jammed sharp objects through the traces, I can't understand the multipliciy of problems associated with the K7VME ... EXCEPT for the fact that if you do a search of UseNet, you'll find almost the same comments, in the same relative numbers, about practically every mobo built by every manufacturer on the planet.

<< I would not mix thermal substances together, but I base that on absolutely nothing. It's rather cheap and easy to clean and reapply, so why risk it?>>

You're absolutley correct, of course -- I think it's that inborn male thing about hating to reverse direction to do something over.

<<Good luck, please let us know if/when everything works.[/quote]>>

Thanks, and thanks again for your help and comments.

Bart Brown

 

[jreeder]

I purchased the barebones Soyo kit for about $20 after rebate and worked through a couple of the "issues" that are in this thread. The main problem that I encountered while setting this board up had to do with the clock speed jumper (JP3). I installed a 2600+ Barton MOBILE processor which is 266MHz FSB. JP3 was installed by default across 3-4, making the speed 333MHz. The system booted and interestingly enough, the POST display reported the clock at 2500MHz. Very easy to misinterpret, especially if you are not familiar with AMD numbering schemes, at first I thought that I had received a 2500+ 333MHz processor in error. However, the system started behaving very erratically, exhibiting many of the same problems that others have reported, including HIGH CPU TEMPERATURE and lockups/reboots and finally no video at all when the CPU got real toasty. Once I got JP3 set properly to 133MHz (meaning no jumper at all) the system became stable and fortunately the CPU did not appear damaged. Regarding the orientation of the jumper the only number you can see is the '2' which, with the board vertically, slots to the left, is the top right pin. Turn the manual 90 degrees CCW and set the jumper accordingly. For the guy with the 2800+ you want to set the jumper to 166MHz per the manual. You cannot adjust the multiplier from the BIOS. If you want to overclock this board you have to play with the FSB speed. Handy feature of this board is the ability to run the memory at a different speed than the CPU. Currently my board is OC'd to approx 2250MHz and temps hover around 46C. Because of the proximity of the cpu socket to the PSU I felt it would be wise to cut an additional 4 inch vent hole in the top of the case (the barebones kit's case has a plastic cover and louver over the top which is handy, it hides the mess) and mount a 120mm fan blowing out to exhaust warm air. I also mounted a 80mm fan in the fan opening at the front/bottom blowing in but that probably wasn't absolutely necessary since the case has a million holes in it anyway. Also, make sure the heat sink/fan is up to the task, I had a bit of trouble finding a good cooler that fit within the confines of the case due to the location of the CPU socket. I also used Arctic Silver 5 compound and cleaned everything thoroughly before I mounted the heat sink. The system has been running very stable for about two weeks now.

Now to my question...has anyone managed to get the integrated audio on this motherboard working under Linux? I know the hardware is good, I installed XP to test it and it worked. Everything else is working (I was also looking for dedicated video drivers but that is not critical).

 

[Zuppa]

Originally posted by: jreeder

Now to my question...has anyone managed to get the integrated audio on this motherboard working under Linux? I know the hardware is good, I installed XP to test it and it worked. Everything else is working (I was also looking for dedicated video drivers but that is not critical).

I installed Xandros OCE using integrated audio and video and it's working fine.

 

[jreeder]

Thanks for the tip, never heard of it. I'll have to look into it. Incidentally, I have a Sun Java Desktop cd and booting from the cd the sound did work momentarily. I believe it is a configuration problem.

 

[vazquezgf]

jreeder, Did you have problems installing XP. I installed windows 98 and I did not have any problems. When I try to upgrade, I found problems (computer hangs) when the computer restarted. I was able to overcome by typing F7 and after that the computer did not reconize my hard disk.

Thanks

 

[JCsBaby]

I was just wondering if anyone figured out the problem with the motherboard not posting. This thing has been a pain! :-/

 

[beeny13]

just put everything together, using a
duron 1.6,
seagate 160 gb
ocz pc2700 512mb ram
microadvantage 8x dvd+-rw

posts, will go into bios, but after that it reboots with an error message about intel pxe rom check if cable is attached?

anyone know how to fix this?

 

[beeny13]

never mind I disabled the on board ethernet, but I'm having problems with the dvd, its tray will not come out.

oh well hopefully that and the pxe will solve themselves with an o/s

 

[beeny13]

now the usb controller driver is not working properly, i need to try to check for a newer version online

 

[Sharptack]

Just today received and installed the K7VME (w/350W ps, etc), but noticed the metal tape across
the AGP slot that says 1.5V video cards ONLY. Mine is ASUS 9600XT and nowhere on the mfg
website or in the documentation is the slot voltage mentioned. (The card worked fine in my
previous board K7VTA Pro which shot craps last week after 3 years.) Does anyone know what
cards would be 1.5V ? Thanks for your support.:wine:

 

[BigLar]

Someone check me on this one, but I think 1.5V is 4xAGP and 0.8V is 8xAGP. If I'm correct, what they're really saying is don't try to use an 8x card. I think that's pretty tough to do due to incompatible pin patterns.

Incidentally, the process of resolving my no-post problem continues, but with perhaps an end in sight. I RMA'ed the board back to Soyo and received an e-mail of a repair/replacement being sent to me. Here's hoping.

 

[bartbrn]

Originally posted by: Sharptack
Does anyone know what
cards would be 1.5V ? Thanks for your support.:wine:

Check this ATI page:

http://www.ati.com/support/faq/agpchart.html#Figure1

Bart Brown

 

[impudence]

In answer to the video card questions above any modern card will work. The only kind of card you cant use is a 3.3v card. I dont think there are any 3.3v cards being produced anymore. The most recent cards are .8v which is backwards compatible to 1.5v.