MSI K7N2 Delta-L w/ XP2500 & PC2700 settings

[Chris]

I just upgraded to this combo & have a few questions. I'm not a total
newb, but close enough to count.
1) On booting up, the bios says that the DRAM clock is 333MHz, but
that the memory setting is single side. Should it be dual-side? If
so, where do I change this? I can't find anyplace in the bios.
2) The CPU FSB was defaulted to 100MHz. I changed this to 166MHz
since the XP2500 is a 333MHz FSB. It seems to run quicker. Did I do
the right thing?
3) I set the RAM voltage to auto & the bios selected 2.7v. Is this
O.K.?
4) Is there anything I should do to the CPU/RAM voltage settings? I
don't want to overclock, but I would like to get the most out of my
system. Presently it's set to h/w.
5) Can I use the S-board to get coaxial S/PDIF out to my receiver?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[kony]

I just upgraded to this combo & have a few questions. I'm not a total
newb, but close enough to count.
1) On booting up, the bios says that the DRAM clock is 333MHz, but
that the memory setting is single side. Should it be dual-side? If
so, where do I change this? I can't find anyplace in the bios.

I'm wondering if that refers to dual channel mode, which requires two
memory modules, each in the correct slot.

2) The CPU FSB was defaulted to 100MHz. I changed this to 166MHz
since the XP2500 is a 333MHz FSB. It seems to run quicker. Did I do
the right thing?

Yes, that's right.

3) I set the RAM voltage to auto & the bios selected 2.7v. Is this
O.K.?

That sounds fine. Voltage settings should be left on auto unless you have
specific need, knowedge about what and why you're changing it.

4) Is there anything I should do to the CPU/RAM voltage settings? I
don't want to overclock, but I would like to get the most out of my
system. Presently it's set to h/w.
5) Can I use the S-board to get coaxial S/PDIF out to my receiver?

So far as bios settings, they should be set to default. There might be
some tweaks here and there to gain very minimal performance increase, but
without overclocking (or underclocking, advanced power tuning, etc) there
should be no reason to touch the voltage settings.

The best thing to do at this point might be to visit MSI's website,
download and flash the latest bios, then afterwards, in the bios
configuration menu, load the setup defaults.

 

[Chris]

I'm wondering if that refers to dual channel mode, which requires two
memory modules, each in the correct slot.

Yes, I meant dual channel. So with one stick I guess it's fine?

Yes, that's right.


That sounds fine. Voltage settings should be left on auto unless you have
specific need, knowedge about what and why you're changing it.


So far as bios settings, they should be set to default. There might be
some tweaks here and there to gain very minimal performance increase, but
without overclocking (or underclocking, advanced power tuning, etc) there
should be no reason to touch the voltage settings.

The best thing to do at this point might be to visit MSI's website,
download and flash the latest bios, then afterwards, in the bios
configuration menu, load the setup defaults.

I already used MSI's live update to update the bios & drivers, but I
didn't know I had to load the defaults.

Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

[kony]

Yes, I meant dual channel. So with one stick I guess it's fine?
yes


I already used MSI's live update to update the bios & drivers, but I
didn't know I had to load the defaults.

Every now and then (too often in my opinion) there are bugs that can cause
a "liveupdate" type program to fail and result in unusable board... the
safest method is to use the traditional method of flashing from DOS.

You should load the defaults after any bios update, save/exit the bios,
confirming that it POSTs still, before making any changes (if any changes
are needed).