Unstable at 133fsb... (memory)

[aapold]

First off, this is my first post here, from reading this seems to be the right place....

Based on last month's Anandtech value gaming guide I picked up an MSI KT333 Ultra2 (non-raid) mobo and an XP 1800+.

The board by default came set at 100 fsb, and the system booted fine like that. I tried to set it to 133... and it made it most of the way to booting the OS before dying. After rebooting, it would power up for about 2 seconds then die, before POST. According to the DLED display it was dying during memory initialization. Resetting the cmos jumper was the only thing that got it back.

So I tried lower fsb speeds.... the highest I could get it was about 110 fsb.

After reading various things and a suggestion from the guy I got my cooler from at 3dcool, I set the memory setting from SPD to HCLK+33.

Doing this got my system to boot up at 133 fsb, and I can run stuff, but it seems unstable.... running 3dmark2001se, I get lower scores than I did at 100fsb. And it has locked up twice trying to run it. It has remained close to but not over 55c so I don't think it is heat... Also, just in general usage it seems to be going to the swap file a lot more than normal.

Based on what got me to FSB I think it is probably memory. I ignored advice and got a generic (pny) pc2700 instead of mushkin or corsair et al, and fear that this is the consequence...

My questions are, I guess, what exactly is signified by the memory setting... There is a HCLK+66 setting also, which direction is faster, and are these settings slowing the memory down?

Assuming I learn from this mistake and then go and get some decent memory, is it better to avoid mixing?

That, and if my assumptions are correct, just a cautionary note I guess. I was on a budget but I guess it would have been better to get the 1700+ and better memory. I'll have to wait a month or so before being able to afford another stick of 2700...

 

[dew042]

first off - try the other memory slots. i assume you have one stick of ram?

secondly: HCLK + XX is short for host clock. host clock is a fancy name for your Front Side Bus. Your CPU is supposed to run at a 133mhz FSB. But if you run the CPU at 100mhz them instead of the 1.53mhz the 1800+ is rated you are running at 11.5x100mhz or 1150mhz. And additionally if you are running your memory at HCLK + 33 it means you are running you memory at the FSB plus 33mhz, in your case 133mhz. pc2700 ram is designed to run at 166mhz or below. your mb is designed to run at 166mhz or 133mhz fsb. your cpu is designed to run at 133mhz fsb.

cpus and memory get higher performance when they run at the same speed.

thirdly reset your bios settings to defaults and try again. don't change anything that you don't understand.

neither of components you mention should have ANY probelm running at 133mhz. the probelm is not neccesarily your ram unless its DOA. the probelm lies elsewhere.

i tend to think drivers, bios settings, or a damaged piece of hardware....

fill in some of the gaps and perhaps i can point you in the right direction.

dew.

 

[Wind]

Ur mobo should hv a jumper to set default FSB of either 100 or 133 FSB. Look thru the manual & c if u can locate the jumper. I'm not sure bout ur mobo but most mobo will hv these jumper.

 

[dew042]

Originally posted by: Wind
Ur mobo should hv a jumper to set default FSB of either 100 or 133 FSB. Look thru the manual & c if u can locate the jumper. I'm not sure bout ur mobo but most mobo will hv these jumper.

he said he tried to set it to 133 already.

dew.

 

[Blain]

Are you running a HD that was loaded using a different MB/CPU combo?

 

[aapold]

The MSI KT3 Ultra is a jumperless board, and yes I tried 133.

Yes, the HD in question was previously used on an older motherboard... a supermicro model for a celeron 500.

As for more specs the video on the system is an ATI Radeon 64mb ViVo (which catalyst now calls a "Radeon 7200").

FWIW, I seem to have gotten it stable now. The Hclk+33 setting plus a bios and driver update seem to have resulted in a stable system. My 3dmark scores are only marginally higher than at 1150mhz but at least they are, and it isn't locking up or over heating.

Now, this whole 2700 "333mhz" memory thing... if I read this right then it is 166x2 (DDR) for 333, so with FSB of 133 the +33 means 166 or 333, okay, I got that. But when booting up the bios quickly flashes something about "266mhz memory".

I currently have the following memory settings, which were available in the BIOS once I took the "SPD" setting off and set it to something else (in my case HCLK+33):

SDRAM CAS# Latency 2.5
Row Precharge Time 3t
RAS pulse width 6t
RAS to CAS delay 3t
SDRAM Bank Interleave - disabled (I note the manual suggests disabling if 16mb is installed, so should this be set?)
SDRAM burst length 4qw
SDRAM 1T command - disabled
fast command - normal

Most of these settings according to the manual are for slower, more stable performance. Given that I seemed to have memory trouble in the first place, would it be best to leave these at that? Most of these were the defaults once I took it off of the "SPD" setting. Then again, the board defaulted to 100FSB, so that's not necessarily a good reason to keep them there.