Asus A7N8X-X and AMD Athlon XP 3200+

[DonC]

So you have an authentic XP3200+ 400FSB 11x multiplier.

Assuming the CPU is genuine (for sake of further analysis), there are a
number of other components that could cause you problems:

1) Undersized power supply -- very common problem with high-performance
CPUs;
2) Bad memory chips -- CPUZ will show you the SPD rating. MEMTEST86 can be
used to stress test them.
3) Defective motherboard;
4) Bad XP install -- yes it can happen. A clean install dramatically
improved the performance of my A7V880.
5) Conflict with MB and components. For example, a Radeon 9600 is often
reported to be a problem.
6) Inadequate thermal cooling. What temperature is your CPU running at?

I think you have to eliminate all these before you conclude that the CPU is
defective.

I'm sure others will contribute other possibilities and ideas to my list.

Best of luck

 

[Rob]

Also I'm not sure how accurate or how much help this will be, but I
downloaded CPUZ from www.cpuid.com and here is the output: (Keep in
mind that its currently underclocked to 1100+ in order for me to be
able to function without continuous and interrmittent reboots and

<snip>

Have you tried relaxing your BIOS memory settings at 200mhz and then
running Memtest86? Think they may just be a little to tight for 200mhz
but might work OK at 100mhz. I would try setting them for 7-3-3-2.5 to
start.
Rob

 

[Information Scavenger]

I guess the short answer is no. I am not quite sure how to "relax"
the settings. I do not have memtest86 so I have not stress tested the
RAM (but its brand new RAM because I thought that was the problem at
first so I'd hope that isn't it, although I know I shouldn't rule it
completely out). If you could direct me to the correct place I'll
give it a go. So far, every time I set it to 200mhz FSB I can't even
get into Windows without it powering off and then powering back up
immediately forces it to shut off and then the third power on it will
stay on, but its underclocked itself back to 100 which is the only
thing it seems to work good with.

 

[Information Scavenger]

I have a POWERMAGIC 600 watt power supply (I ordered it top of the
line about a year ago when I did my last upgrade) and I know 600 is a
bit larger than most (450 or 500 I've seen a lot of) so unless its
bad, I'd think it shouldn't be undersized. The only thing I have in
my system is a single 160 gig WD hard drive and a GeForce FX5700 256mb
video card and one IDE DVD Burner. Everything else is built onto the
MB, so it should be able to handle it. That rules out number 1.

I have 5 different memory chips I've tried (two different pairs of
identical 512mb chips (though one is 166 and the newest ones I just
got are 200) plus another 133 512mb chip. FWIW no matter which chips
I have in (taking into consideration not to overclock beyond what the
RAM is capable of handling) none of them run this CPU at anything
other than 1100+ so I am going to say that bad memory is probably not
the issue...that rules out number 2.

Now for number 3...defective MB, thats not something I'd hoped to
hear, but luckily (or unfortunately) I have another identical MB which
I just received about 2 weeks ago I was going to build my daughter a
computer with...I guess before I do that I could put my stuff on that
MB and see what happens.

I would like to rule out number 4...I wor extremely hard to keep my
copy of windows extremely efficient and like to think I take good care
of my OS. I don't install programs I don't need (heck, even if its
one I would like to try, I usually install it on another PC and once I
am satisfied with the results, I put it on mine...but this install I
am running with now is relatively brand new...the only thing thats
been added sine it was done is a newsreader, my IM chat programs, and
MS Office. Maybe a graphics program...it has worked flawlessly for
months (and still does, even with this hardware) if its
underclocked...

For number 5, refer to the above to see my additonal system
components...the only thing that isn't built onto my MB besides the HD
and RAM and CPU of course is the video card...and I have tried 3
different video cards all with the same results...so I'd like to
possibly rule that out.

How can I tell what the temp is on my CPU? My case has an LCD display
unit in the front which has the internal case temperature, but I'm
sure thats not the CPU temp. That temperature ranges from 74 to 79
degrees mostly...occasionally I have seen it reach 80 but if its ever
been above that, I just wasn't looking. The thermal compound I used
was the one that they sent with the CPU...I suppose its possible that
it could be inadequate and I do have some more I haven't
tried...didn't even think it was a culprit actually.




Sorry for the long post (mainly thinking out loud) but I will say that
the most likely case would hopefully be the motherboard. I'll try the
other one tomorrow and see what happens. I'd try it today but I've
about had it and know its going to take me about an hour or so to
fully swap them and get it up and running enough to see if its going
to work...and I don't want to sit here poking at it for an hour...I
may just play a couple of my highly neglected games at 1100mhz for now
and take tomorrow to work on the MB.

 

[DonC]

Your power supply certainly sounds much more than ample : )

As far as memory goes, definitely do your tests using only one stick at a
time. That's all you need and it reduces the possibilities of one stick
being bad.

Do a google search on memtest86 and you'll easily find a place to download
it. Follow the instructions to create a floppy. Boot from the floppy and
let memtest86 run as long as possible.

As far as Windows goes, I also keep my version as clean as possible.
However, when I installed my new A7V880 motherboard, I had to install the
accompanying drivers and drivers for my new Radeon 9200. Soon found out the
drivers that came with the MB were generally buggy -- version 1.0 -- so I
had to download and install new drivers. Ditto for the Radeon drivers. By
the time I got done, my OS was a mess. Took 3 minutes to boot. A clean
install of Win XP solved all my problems.

Download ASUS Probe from www.asus.com to monitor your CPU temperature. You
should always run a "motherboard monitor" with a new MB/CPU installation.
Just to make sure you don't fry your CPU and that your voltages are correct.
I used to use MotherboardMonitor 5 but it doesn't support the A7V880 : (
However it does support your board so look for it using google.

Supposedly "misery loves company." My similar battle has been trying to
get my DVD writer working on my XP SP2 machine. Worked well before I
installed SP2 so I concluded that had to be the problem. I thought I
confirmed that by installing it in a Win ME machine I keep for the
grandkids. It worked! Proof positive! Next step was to install it in my
wife's XP machine with SP1 installed. It sorta worked but then it also
occasionally failed. So maybe SP2 isn't the problem. This battle has spanned
several weeks. Today I received a new Optorite 12X DVD writer (from newegg
$60 shipped) and, like magic, it works flawlessly! Tons of more
capabilities like DVD+/-R, dual layer and HD-Burn (can burn 80% more onto a
CDR 1.26GB to 1.44GB). So now I have this old (8/22/04) 8X DVD writer to
ponder.

Best of luck

 

[Rob]

I guess the short answer is no. I am not quite sure how to "relax"
the settings. I do not have memtest86 so I have not stress tested the
RAM (but its brand new RAM because I thought that was the problem at
first so I'd hope that isn't it, although I know I shouldn't rule it
completely out). If you could direct me to the correct place I'll
give it a go. So far, every time I set it to 200mhz FSB I can't even
get into Windows without it powering off and then powering back up
immediately forces it to shut off and then the third power on it will
stay on, but its underclocked itself back to 100 which is the only
thing it seems to work good with.

After you've downloaded Memtest86 and installed it to a floppy, go into
the BIOS, to the same page where you set the FSB. Below there is a
setting for Memory Freq set it to 100%, then set Memory Timing to User
Defined. From there you should be able to set the next 4 settings to
7-3-3-2.5 respectively. You should have the FSB set to 200. Further
down the page is a setting for AGP Frequency, set it to 66mhz as auto
doesn't always work! Then run Memtest to check for stability. HTH!
Rob

 

[Information Scavenger]

I got Asus Probe and it says my CPU is running currently (with the
compound that came with my CPU) at 42c (107f) and the MB is running at
28c (82f).

I don't know if those are normal or not but the probe reports all as
normal.

I am going to look for the MOTHERBOARD MONITOR also and see if it
reports anything differently...and I'll let memtest86 do its thing and
see what happens...by the time I do that and play with my this other
MB I should be all set (hopefully) but will post one way or another.

I work in IT (hands on computer work for a couple years back) and
every time I run into a problem with my own PC's like this it
sometimes takes a while for me to figure it out - mainly because only
the extremely annoying cases pop up (which I should probably be
thankful for because after tackling something like this, I feel like I
can take on any other problem with more confidence that whatever it is
will most likely be conquered hehe...

 

[Information Scavenger]

Ok I'm not sure if its fixed yet or not, but I did exactly what you
said below and relaxed the memory settings and now for the first time
I am logged into Windows running at 3200+.

Prior to this, each and every attempt to go up to 3200+ has resulted
in a reboot before I would even get to the logon screen and then a few
power ups later it would reset the BIOS to defaults and then work OK
(just underclocked).

I'll keep you all posted still.

 

[DonC]

Your temperatures are good. 107f is lukewarm water; OK for activating yeast
(either beer or bread) so it can't hurt your CPU. Of course I assume you're
running the CPU at 1.1Ghz so these temperatures will rise when you get it
up to full 2.2GHz speed. The maximum die temperature is something like 85C
but I'd get antsy above 55C. Actually much above 45C gets my attention.
I'm currently at 41C with a 2.167GHz 3000+.

 

[Information Scavenger]

Well so far, as of my last post, I have been running for almost a week
solid (half of that was in a game stress testing my system) and I have
not had any strange or unexpected reboot. I believe the problem was
my video card. After I took my newest video card out and put my old
FX5200 back in, it seems to be working fine. I got an RMA and sent
the new one back for return but I am fairly confident that should take
care of it. Thanks for all the help guys and if something else
happens or that isn't the fix, I'll post another follow-up.

 

[DonC]

Sounds like you're home!

BTW, who sold you the video card?