A7N8X-E, AMD2600+ won't run at 166FSB !

[Anthropy]

A7N8X-E, Bios 1013, AMD 2600+, 1gig DDR 400 (1x 500MB, 2 x 512MB),
80g HD, Geforce 440, WinXP Pro SP2.

Hi,
I can't get my setup to run at 166FSB. It runs great at 133 but it
should run at 166, shouldn't it? When set to 166 it constantly reboots
or if it makes it into Windows it reboots the moment an intensive
program is run.
The CPU is rated to run at 166 so is the RAM. At the moment of reboot
the CPU temperature is about 58c and the system at about 39c, hot but
not that hot. The PSU is 440 so ok for the machine.
The PC is currently set to 133 and the POST reads the CPU as 2000+.
I've tried running the PC with one, two, three sticks of RAM, no
difference.
I upgraded the BIOS last night to see if that would help and when the
PC rebooted the POST read 166 but it rebooted loading Windows.
I'm stuck, any help or suggestions would be greatly received.
Thanks

 

[KC Computers]

A7N8X-E, Bios 1013, AMD 2600+, 1gig DDR 400 (1x 500MB, 2 x 512MB),
80g HD, Geforce 440, WinXP Pro SP2.

Hi,
I can't get my setup to run at 166FSB. It runs great at 133 but it
should run at 166, shouldn't it? When set to 166 it constantly reboots
or if it makes it into Windows it reboots the moment an intensive
program is run.
The CPU is rated to run at 166 so is the RAM. At the moment of reboot
the CPU temperature is about 58c and the system at about 39c, hot but
not that hot. The PSU is 440 so ok for the machine.
The PC is currently set to 133 and the POST reads the CPU as 2000+.
I've tried running the PC with one, two, three sticks of RAM, no
difference. > I upgraded the BIOS last night to see if that would help and
when the
PC rebooted the POST read 166 but it rebooted loading Windows.
I'm stuck, any help or suggestions would be greatly received.

If the CPU temp is ~58C at reboot, then it can be getting too hot.
We are a dealer and have seen Athlon systems reboot, lockup, etc.
when the temp gets close to ~65C. Was everything working fine
before or did you just purchase?

Are you sure that your heatsink fan is installed properly?
Did you use your old paste? If so, did you apply it in
a very thin layer?

 

[Paul]

If the CPU temp is ~58C at reboot, then it can be getting too hot.
We are a dealer and have seen Athlon systems reboot, lockup, etc.
when the temp gets close to ~65C. Was everything working fine
before or did you just purchase?

Are you sure that your heatsink fan is installed properly?
Did you use your old paste? If so, did you apply it in
a very thin layer?

As Kevin says, check the heatsink. The contact area on the
heatsink is not centered for both possible orientations of
the heatsink. It is possible to rotate the heatsink, such
that the silicon die on the Athlon is only partially
covered. A piece of silicon die ends up with no heatsink over
it, and gets extremely hot. Even though the measured
temp might not look too bad, the processor is still under
extreme stress. The Athlon needs thermal paste or a thermal
pad, to ensure good thermal contact from CPU to heatsink.

You have FSB333 processor and DDR400 memory. I don't know what
the BIOS will use for defaults, but I recommend using
FSB333 (clock=166) like you were planning to do, and then
go to the memory speed setting, and set it to "100%". You might
think that the resulting DDR333 transfer rate will suck,
but at least see if the motherboard is stable that way. It
could turn out, that the DDR333 setting is faster than running
at DDR400 (120% setting). Running sync (FSB333/DDR333) can be
faster, as it is possible to remove some latches from the data
path while in sync, and the reduced latency that results, is
beneficial to the transfer rate.

Paul

 

[Rob Stow]

Not all of the XP 2600+ chips were made for a 166 MHz FSB - some
are pre-Barton and are intended for 133 MHz.

Most of the pre-Barton ones will work at 166 MHz FSB, but only if
you step down the multiplier.

 

[Anthropy]

Not all of the XP 2600+ chips were made for a 166 MHz FSB - some
are pre-Barton and are intended for 133 MHz.

Most of the pre-Barton ones will work at 166 MHz FSB, but only if
you step down the multiplier.

Thanks for the replies.
The MB is 3 weeks new. I have been running it at 133 after
unsuccessfully attempting 166. I thought the BIOS upgrade may help but
no joy.
I am using thermal paste and I'm pretty sure I got the CPU orientation
right but I will check.
I had heard of the 2 versions of the 2600+ but having bought the board
with the CPU pre- installed I had no way of checking which one I had,
that I know of. Someone suggested CPUid but that only reports the
settings in the BIOS. Is there some method to detect which version of
the 2600+ I have?
I did try and step down the multiplier to 12 and 11.5. i think it just
caused a reboot.
Thanks

 

[Paul]

Thanks for the replies.
The MB is 3 weeks new. I have been running it at 133 after
unsuccessfully attempting 166. I thought the BIOS upgrade may help but
no joy.
I am using thermal paste and I'm pretty sure I got the CPU orientation
right but I will check.
I had heard of the 2 versions of the 2600+ but having bought the board
with the CPU pre- installed I had no way of checking which one I had,
that I know of. Someone suggested CPUid but that only reports the
settings in the BIOS. Is there some method to detect which version of
the 2600+ I have?
I did try and step down the multiplier to 12 and 11.5. i think it just
caused a reboot.
Thanks

Using CPUZ, you should be able to get the Model number from
the processor. The model number, fortunately, is part of the
silicon die, while the rest of the parameters are controlled
by bridges, or can be overridden by the BIOS.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Model 10 is Barton and Model 8 is Thoroughbred.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040209212456/http://www.qdi.nl/support/CPUQDISocketA.htm

There are two Model 8 2600+ processors. The 133x16 is not too
common compared to the 166x11.5 one. Perhaps if the BIOS was
set to Auto, instead of forcing a multiplier, then use CPUZ,
you could read out the nominal multiplier.

If you remove the heatsink, you should be able to read the
OPN number and use one of the many OPN tables sprinkled
around the net, to read out what you've got.

Paul

 

[Ed]

Thanks for the replies.
The MB is 3 weeks new. I have been running it at 133 after
unsuccessfully attempting 166. I thought the BIOS upgrade may help but
no joy.
I am using thermal paste and I'm pretty sure I got the CPU orientation
right but I will check.
I had heard of the 2 versions of the 2600+ but having bought the board
with the CPU pre- installed I had no way of checking which one I had,
that I know of. Someone suggested CPUid but that only reports the
settings in the BIOS. Is there some method to detect which version of
the 2600+ I have?
I did try and step down the multiplier to 12 and 11.5. i think it just
caused a reboot.
Thanks

You have to have an unlocked CPU for that to work, AMD stopped making
those some time ago (week 38 2003), so unless you have an unlocked CPU
or have the mobile 2600+ (for notebooks) on that board changing the
multiplier isn't actually going to do anything.

There are 3 desktop 2600+'s...
Athlon 2600+ - 2133MHz (133x16.0) 256K L2
Athlon 2600+ - 2083MHz (166x12.5) 256K L2
Barton 2600+ - 1917Mhz (166x11.5) 512K L2

Ed