TNT 2

[Guest]

Hi,
I have a question:
I recently bought a DigiCruiser mainboard with VIA Chipset, PC133 DIMMS, and
a P3 866-133 processor.
The video card is a RIVA TNT 2 B-32 Plus and the system freezes sometimes
when Windows starts or after a few hours of use.
According to the mainboard manual, the AGP bus runs at 88 Mhz when the main
bus runs at 133. I m not sure the TNT 2 supports that speed. (I can t change
that, other than putting the bus at 100 Mhz so AGP would run at 66 Mhz.)
Could that be a reason for system freezes?
Should I change the video card? Any suggestions?
I don t play games or 3D.
Thanks a lot for your help.
Best,

Javier Olaizola

 

[Take_Out]

Take off the side or cover of the PC. Check out how hot the video processor on the TNT2 is getting (the big chip). If it is getting too hot to touch, then aim a fan at it and see if it still freezes. There are methods for cooling any chips, just some are cost prohibitive. It may just need a bigger heatsink. Take-Out. Good Luck

 

[Guest]

Thanks,I placed a fan and it still freezes.
Should I put the AGP card at 66 Mhz.
As I said my mainboard would only let me do that by going down to 100 Mhz. I wish to run it at 133 (P3-866-133).
Should I get a new video card? Which one? Thanks again.

 

[Take_Out]

I'm not too familiar with that brand of board, and so assume it is not a overclocker's delight with easy clocking. Try using it at 100mhz fsb and see what happens, if it doesn't freeze then it could be a LOT of things, not just the video card.
I run my TNT2 Ultra [Xentor by Guillemot] at 82 mhz AGP speed with the fsb at 124 mhz. This is my own way, I do it cause first of all, my BE6 with 450 mhz PIII wouldn't do 133 mhz, and second of all, I can now run my generic PC133 RAM at CAS 2, which in my opinion, is worth losing the 42 mhz by running at 558 instead of 600. The response of the system is super.
Anyways, I run on, and what I mean to say is that you don't have to run 133 mhz fsb to get good preformance. But, if the motherboard won't do 124 or 122 or 118, then maybe you need a new motherboard. But, anyways, don't go buy a new video card, cause it most likely isn't the culprit, unless that brand has a history of not O/Cing AND you can pinpoint that as the problem area. You know that some motherboards won't use the 1/4 divisor for the PCI freq and as a result, may run the PCI at 43 mhz with the 1/3 divisor designed for 100 bus.
Hope this helps, and by the way, if you need a new video card, get a GeForce DDR or faster but make sure it is Nvidia chip based as a GeForce. I have always thought that Guillemot or Leadtek or ASUS or CLabs were pretty good.

Good Luck, Take-Out

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Take_Out on 02/27/01 05:04 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Take_Out]

I just thought of something, this is fishy, as the BX chipset is usually the one that has trouble with the AGP divider. I am not aware of a VIA that has that problem. Please check the info again. Take-Out

 

[Guest]

Hello again,
Thanks for the help again.
I m not really overcloking the mainboard, am I?
I m running it at 133, with generic Pc133 C2 ram, and a P3 866-133 processor.
I now put the FSB at 124 (x 6.5) and it works a bit better.
But the AGP bus runs at 84 Mhz.
The only way to run it at 66 Mhz would be using 100 as FSB.
But in that case I can t run the processor at over 650 Mhz (tried without luck)
Do good mainboards let you set the PCi and AGP buses independently thatn FSB and processor speed?
Good to know your TNT2 runs ok at 84 Mhz.
Cheers

javier

 

[Take_Out]

Some motherboards like the newer Via 694a allow fsb + or - 33 mhz type settings which in effect, allow different speeds for the FSB and memory. Try if you can, to run the FSB at 100mhz and share what happens. Don't worry about the CPU for now, we are trying to find out what the problem device is.
Anyone else jump in if they know about the motherboard and its characteristics. Take-Out

 

[Crashman]

Newer chipsets that were DESIGNED to run 133FSB will run your AGP at 66 with that bus speed. Older ones won't. The best newer motherboard you can get is the Asus CUSL2. It has the Intel 815E chipset. With that motherboard ALL your problems will be solved forever (or until you decide you want something newer than a PIII). In fact, you will even be able to overclock with it quite a ways without the same problem because you will be starting out at a lower APG bus speed.

Suicide is painless...........

 

[Take_Out]

Yeah, I've been checking out that CUSL2-C badboy and I'm running a BE6 Abit right now. I agree if he went for a new motherboard, that would be a great choice. I am presuming we're talking budget time, but that is an assumption. The new ASUS with DDR for Athlons just got in at some dealers also. It is also great. If a person went AMD, that is.
Take-Out.
PS to Diapason: What do you do with your computer, I noticed that you said you don't game or do 3d, and in that case, you may be OK with a ATI card like a Radeon, as they do very well in 2D and colors are great [but I personally don't think you need a new video card].
Perhaps your Harddrive is of a type that doesn't work well at higher PCI speeds like over 37 or so. If you can get SiSoftSandra <A HREF="http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/index.htm" target="_new">http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/index.htm</A>
use it to see your PCI speed and hardware types. It is a very valuble resource and the simple version is FREE. Good Luck.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Take_Out on 02/28/01 05:39 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Unolocogringo]

i tried searching for your motherboard and only came up with one page, someone else with the same problem as yours,but they stated that it had the BX chipset.If this is the case then your agp problem at 133 fsb can not be fixed it will run at 89mhz, so set it at 100frb for now for stability and run sisoft sandra and post the results of MAINBOARD INFO maybe then we can help