XP +2600 Stability Issues

[dmroeder]

I have a problem with my CPU running stabily at it's rated clock speed. AMD says that the FSB should be 166 and the multiplier should be 12.5. When set to that I get reboots when windows is booting up. I can get it to run all day long with a multiplier of 12, but it won't even boot at 12.5.

This has been happening with a different motherboard, ram, and power supply (I am building another machine so I tested the CPU out in the new machine).

I also tried different FSB/Multiplier combinations and it won't seem to go above 2GHz (should be 2.08 or something). Oh yeah, the voltage is supposed to be 1.625 and I tried it at 1.625 and at 1.65. The hottest that I have seen it get is 46C when playing games, but it normally sits at about 42C.

Any reply would be appreciated (even if it's to tell me to quit asking stupid questions)

Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB
K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB
1 gig Corsair PC3200
120 gig Maxtor SATA HD
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO
Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[Scout]

Try leaving the multiplier on "auto" and see of that defaults to a stable 12.5 multiplier. These chips are locked so if you try to set a specific multiplier it can cause problems.

If that works, see if you can tweak the FSB up some. You should be able to easily get somewhere around 2.2 GHz. on that chip.

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[Scout]

Oh, and one more thing to try... Pull one of your memory sticks out and see if it overclocks better. I know it sounds strange, but my nForce2 board refused to overclock till I pulled a stick of RAM. Once it was stable at speed, I added the other stick of RAM back in and it was fine. Donno if your MSI board is doing the same thing to you, but it's an easy experiment! (My board is an Abit)

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[endyen]

Do you have sysoft sandra? Can you tell me how much cache your chip has?
There were 3 flavours of xp2600. The first one ran, with a 133 bus with 256 l2 cache, the second had the 166 bus but the same cache, and the last one had 512 cache, and the 166 bus. It was a barton.

 

[dmroeder]

Sorry that it took me so long to reply (and thanks for the reply by the way), I got called into work (I am there now). I have tried it in auto and it's the same result (reboot). I will be home in an hour and a half and I will try removing the ram. I am almost positive that it's a 256 cache. I looked it up last week on AMD's site and I remember it being a 166FSB with 256 cache. I have the model number written down at home and I will look it up again to be sure. Could there be an issue depending on what the cache is?
Again thanks for the reply's

Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[dmroeder]

I almost forgot, no I don't have sysoft sandra, but I will look it up as soon as I get home if it will help me. I don't know what it is to be honest with you, but I will look it up. I am leaving here in about 20 minutes and it takes me an hour to get home. Sorry if me being out is a pain in the arse, but I gotta pay the bills

Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[endyen]

The difference, other than the cache, between a t-bred, and a barton xp2600+ is that the barton runs at 1.9 ghz, 11.5 times 166, while the t-bred runs at 12.5 times 166.
It is possible that you are trying to OC the chip. Just the same, I would be supprized if a barton could not handle that small an oc.

 

[dmroeder]

http://www.amd.com/gb-uk/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/K7_Electrical_Specification_Rev_ENG.pdf

There is a link that gives Athlon processor specs. Mine is AXDA2600KV3D. 2.08GHz. I have tried setting everything to what they say and it still reboots. Windows starts to load, but doesn't finish. I removed my heatsink the other day to put some better thermal compound on it (arctic silver) and reseated it. Which helped my temps by the way. I tried to remove 1 stick of ram to see if it helped and it still does the same thing. I can live with 2GHZ, but it bothers me that I can't get it to run at full speed

Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[dmroeder]

Absolutely. I don't see why it would be a heat problem. Right now it's running at 41ºC. When I play games (CS Source, HL2, FarCry) I haven't seen it go above 46ºC.

Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[Scout]

It's strange you can actually set the multiplier to 12 and have it work at a lower speed... now-a-days I thought the XP's were all locked outside of the mobile chips. You didn't do the bridge mods to unlock the chip did you?

Just outta curiosity, did you try some different multipliers to see if they work as well as 12X?

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[Scout]

Also, what speed are you running your memory at? Try locking it into a 1:1 ratio with the 333 FSB. That'll run it slower than it's rated but we're trying to eliminate other factors here so give it a shot...

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[Flinx]

You sure u don't have the XP2600 with the 133FSB?
<A HREF="http://fab51.com/cpu/guide/opn-xp-e.html" target="_new">http://fab51.com/cpu/guide/opn-xp-e.html</A>

The loving are the daring!

 

[dmroeder]

I have ran with my multiplier at different values. It works fine @ 12 and under. I have also raised and lowered my FSB and tried different mulitipiers. It seems to run @ anything 2GHz and below.

I have an option to set my memory to "by Speed", which runs it at 200MHz. I have also tried to set it to "5:6" and I have tried to run it at 1:1, but none have made a difference

And I am positive I have the 166FSB. I took the model number off the chip before I installed it and looked it up on AMD's website.

I don't know, maybe I'll just have to live with it. It just bugs me, that's all


Dustin

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[dmroeder]

I think I nailed it. I was messing around with my memory timings and I put them too aggressive, so I had to clear the CMOS. When I powered my machine back up, I went into the BIOS and checked the settings. I left everything at default and started windows (except for the FSB, I changed it to 166). The only thing that I noticed different that I haven't really messed with was the memory voltage. I don't recall ever changing it to be honest. This time it was at 2.7V, where before it was at 2.5V. Everything booted up fine and it is running ok so far.

I appreciate everyone taking their time to respond.

Dustin

"Ah f##k it Dude, lets go bowling"

XP +2600 333FSB / K7N2 Delta2-LSR MB / 1 gig Corsair PC3200 / 120 gig Maxtor SATA HD / ATI Radeon 9800 PRO / Thermaltake 480W PSU

 

[endyen]

Good news, glad to hear it.
Av-dimm of 2.5 is never enough. I always use 2.7. Some overclockers do a v-mod to get it over 3v.