A7V8X-X BIOS and Memory Speed Question

[Ohaya]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone out there who has an A7V8X-X motherboard could
check and tell me if the BIOS on their machine includes "200" as a
selection for "Memory Speed"?

The A7V8X-X manual that I have indicates that it should have 200, 266,
333, and Auto, but on my system, it only shows 266, 333, and Auto as
possible selections.

I have BIOS version 1008, and am wondering if maybe older versions of
the BIOS included 200?

The reason that I'm asking is I have a Duron 850, which I think has a
FSB of 200, but I can't seem to get 200 as a selection.

System seems to run ok, but I've noticed it hanging on occasion, and am
trying to track this down (it wasn't my intention to overclock this ).

Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[spy102]

I have a Barton 2500 which runs at 333; the only options I have are
auto and 333. When in Auto in the BIos, the system hangs once per
day. At 333, the system is stable. My memory is PC400 .

Lou

 

[Ohaya]

Lou,

I think that your system, running with "333" in the Memory Speed setting
makes sense, as according to:

http://www.b0rken.org/k7family.html

the chip has a 333MHz FSB.

I've fooled with the multiplier and other setting, but still can't get
the "200" setting to appear as an option ...

 

[Mary]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone out there who has an A7V8X-X motherboard could
check and tell me if the BIOS on their machine includes "200" as a
selection for "Memory Speed"?

The A7V8X-X manual that I have indicates that it should have 200, 266,
333, and Auto, but on my system, it only shows 266, 333, and Auto as
possible selections.

I have BIOS version 1008, and am wondering if maybe older versions of
the BIOS included 200?

Memory frequency in my A7V8X-X BIOS is set at Auto, but 266,333 and 400 are
choices
I am using BIOS version 1008 as well.

But could you (or anyone) please tell me what choices are in the A7V8X-X
BIOS under AGP Capability? My BIOS shows Auto/1X/2X/4. But my present
problem is my video card will only run at 2X and should run at 4X, so it
would seem that either my motherboard or video card is not working at the
proper AGP transfer speed. But for my future reference, I am also wondering
if anyone here has an A7V8X-X board and an 8X video card, does the BIOS show
8X as a choice for AGP Capability?

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

Memory frequency in my A7V8X-X BIOS is set at Auto, but 266,333 and 400 are
choices
I am using BIOS version 1008 as well.

But could you (or anyone) please tell me what choices are in the A7V8X-X
BIOS under AGP Capability? My BIOS shows Auto/1X/2X/4. But my present
problem is my video card will only run at 2X and should run at 4X, so it
would seem that either my motherboard or video card is not working at the
proper AGP transfer speed. But for my future reference, I am also wondering
if anyone here has an A7V8X-X board and an 8X video card, does the BIOS show
8X as a choice for AGP Capability?

Mary

Mary,

Thanks.

My AGP setting shows 1x, 2x, 4x, and Auto. I don't have an AGP video
card.

So is the 200 setting a "myth"?

I found an older posting from someone named "Pief" where he/she
indicated that they had used this board with memory setting 200. Does
anyone know Pief?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Mary]

My AGP setting shows 1x, 2x, 4x, and Auto. I don't have an AGP video
card.

So is the 200 setting a "myth"?

Well, I am not an expert at Memory, but my understanding is that memory
frequency is the speed of the RAM. I got 333 speed RAM when I bought my
board. I just looked up my manual and you're right -there should be a choice
for 200 for Memory frequency. The manual doesn't reflect everything it
says. I just checked out some FAQ's on Asus site:

http://www.asus.it/support/faq/faqmodel.aspx?ModelName=A7V8X-X

There are a few questions and answers about memory speed, so might give you
some ideas. You can always send an email to Asus, but I don't know
personally how successful that is or how long you have to wait.

I found an older posting from someone named "Pief" where he/she
indicated that they had used this board with memory setting 200. Does
anyone know Pief?

You can do a search for Pief in google newsgroups. I tried to access google
to do a search for you, but haven't been able to access google today or
yesterday for some strange reason. I can get all other groups.

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

You can do a search for Pief in google newsgroups. I tried to access google
to do a search for you, but haven't been able to access google today or
yesterday for some strange reason. I can get all other groups.

Mary

Hi,

Yes, thanks. Looks like he hasn't been posting on this NG since about
December...

Jim

 

[Mary]

Hi,

Yes, thanks. Looks like he hasn't been posting on this NG since about
December...

Did you find any of his posts referring to your question about 200 memory
speed? I think it depends on the speed of your CPU as well.
I couldn't get google yesterday or today, then suddenly I could get it a
short time ago, and now, an hour later, I can't get it again. I have cable
modem and in my area there could be some problems with my ISP accessing
google - or could be too many people in my area of the city on the computer
this afternoon

Have you had a chance to check any of those FAQ's I gave you on Asus? I
found out a couple of things I was wondering about myself.

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

Did you find any of his posts referring to your question about 200 memory
speed? I think it depends on the speed of your CPU as well.
I couldn't get google yesterday or today, then suddenly I could get it a
short time ago, and now, an hour later, I can't get it again. I have cable
modem and in my area there could be some problems with my ISP accessing
google - or could be too many people in my area of the city on the computer
this afternoon

Have you had a chance to check any of those FAQ's I gave you on Asus? I
found out a couple of things I was wondering about myself.

Mary

Mary,

Thanks, and yes I did check, but didn't find anything specific or useful.
I'm almost giving up on this, and hope that her system will stay stable (so
far so good). Only thing left is some emails that I sent to Asus email this
weekend (no response at all yet)...

Jim

 

[Mary]

Mary,

Thanks, and yes I did check, but didn't find anything specific or useful.
I'm almost giving up on this, and hope that her system will stay stable (so
far so good). Only thing left is some emails that I sent to Asus email this
weekend (no response at all yet)...

Jim

Jim:

My memory frequency is set at Auto in the BIOS , which is usually OK. I
guess you did the same. If your system is stable is the main thing. Its
probably better to leave it till you find out more.
As to emails to Asus, most big companies take a while to answer. I thought
someone on one of the NG's (can't remember which one) said that Asus had a
problem with viruses and were not answering emails, or restricting them, or
whatever. But I would wait a while and see if they reply.
They have a phone number for tech.support at their US office for US/Canada,
but I read on their site you need some confirmation number before you phone.
I might phone them myself. I am in Toronto Canada and would be long
distance, but the phone rates here are pretty cheap these days as long as
you don't have to wait on the phone a long time.

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

Jim:

My memory frequency is set at Auto in the BIOS , which is usually OK. I
guess you did the same. If your system is stable is the main thing. Its
probably better to leave it till you find out more.
As to emails to Asus, most big companies take a while to answer. I thought
someone on one of the NG's (can't remember which one) said that Asus had a
problem with viruses and were not answering emails, or restricting them, or
whatever. But I would wait a while and see if they reply.
They have a phone number for tech.support at their US office for US/Canada,
but I read on their site you need some confirmation number before you phone.
I might phone them myself. I am in Toronto Canada and would be long
distance, but the phone rates here are pretty cheap these days as long as
you don't have to wait on the phone a long time.

Mary

Hi,

Well, I've gotten a case # from their website, and called them, but they
said they were too busy and would call back. That was this morning, and
still no call back . Still no email response either ...

The sad thing is that this seems like a relatively simple question!

Jim

 

[Creeping Stone]

You can do a search for Pief in google newsgroups... I tried to access google
to do a search for you, but haven't been able to access google today or
yesterday for some strange reason. I can get all other groups.

Mary

Yes, thanks. Looks like he hasn't been posting on this NG since about
December...

Jim

HeeHee~* Im pief, I changed nick when I found >
http://www.piefeet.com/

bizzare, I thought piefeet sounded
so stupid it wouldnt be repeated!

I did mention the name change in a couple of posts so it wouldnt seem
devious.
....bit sentimental of old piefeet now /*sniff

Oh your question:
....

I have BIOS version 1008, and am wondering if maybe older versions of
the BIOS included 200?

The reason that I'm asking is I have a Duron 850, which I think has a
FSB of 200, but I can't seem to get 200 as a selection.

System seems to run ok, but I've noticed it hanging on occasion, and am
trying to track this down (it wasn't my intention to overclock this ).

For setting memory speed - set the fsb first it counts 1mhz at a time,
it should count down below 133mhz.
Then the memory speed can be changed, but not by 1 mhz, it goes up or down
in jumps as its ratio to fsb is changed. as soon as fsb goes over 149Mhz
memory has to run in sync at 300ddr, but for the old duron it usualy might
run with 100fsb, memory at 166|333ddr - running mem faster than fsb should
reduce latency a little and perhaps help 'via vlink' PCI/usb transfers.

I flashed back to 1006 because it was getting odd stability problems, which
seem better now but Im not running the machine flat out on DC projects like
it did for a few months.

Its tranquil now after the Bios change - but did give a single unexplained
beep a couple of days ago ~maybe to do with the old NT Printdriver I tried
unsuccessfuly to Shoehorn into windows 2000
-it prints like a laser printer with NT and like a DotMatrix under 2000
grr!

Im leaning away from recommending this board since I may have overstressed
it Win2Ks parallel port has always been bad with it, and I dont like the
way it beeps and crashes now when i overclock it ];

'hope you have better luck avoiding the hangs with the duron 850 Jim ;]

 

[Mary]

Mary said:

Hi,

Well, I've gotten a case # from their website, and called them, but they
said they were too busy and would call back. That was this morning, and
still no call back . Still no email response either ...

The sad thing is that this seems like a relatively simple question!

Hi:

Annoying isn't it? But I guess they don't know its a simple question.
Hopefully they will call you tomorrow. Is it a long distance call for you,
or do they have a toll free 800 number.
I wonder if they always call people back.

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

You can do a search for Pief in google newsgroups... I tried to access google
to do a search for you, but haven't been able to access google today or
yesterday for some strange reason. I can get all other groups.

Mary

Yes, thanks. Looks like he hasn't been posting on this NG since about
December...

Jim

HeeHee~* Im pief, I changed nick when I found >
http://www.piefeet.com/

bizzare, I thought piefeet sounded
so stupid it wouldnt be repeated!

I did mention the name change in a couple of posts so it wouldnt seem
devious.
...bit sentimental of old piefeet now /*sniff

Oh your question:
...

I have BIOS version 1008, and am wondering if maybe older versions of
the BIOS included 200?

The reason that I'm asking is I have a Duron 850, which I think has a
FSB of 200, but I can't seem to get 200 as a selection.

System seems to run ok, but I've noticed it hanging on occasion, and am
trying to track this down (it wasn't my intention to overclock this ).

For setting memory speed - set the fsb first it counts 1mhz at a time,
it should count down below 133mhz.
Then the memory speed can be changed, but not by 1 mhz, it goes up or down
in jumps as its ratio to fsb is changed. as soon as fsb goes over 149Mhz
memory has to run in sync at 300ddr, but for the old duron it usualy might
run with 100fsb, memory at 166|333ddr - running mem faster than fsb should
reduce latency a little and perhaps help 'via vlink' PCI/usb transfers.

I flashed back to 1006 because it was getting odd stability problems, which
seem better now but Im not running the machine flat out on DC projects like
it did for a few months.

Its tranquil now after the Bios change - but did give a single unexplained
beep a couple of days ago ~maybe to do with the old NT Printdriver I tried
unsuccessfuly to Shoehorn into windows 2000
-it prints like a laser printer with NT and like a DotMatrix under 2000
grr!

Im leaning away from recommending this board since I may have overstressed
it Win2Ks parallel port has always been bad with it, and I dont like the
way it beeps and crashes now when i overclock it ];

'hope you have better luck avoiding the hangs with the duron 850 Jim ;]

Hi,

Hey, glad to see your here, by whatever name !

By "set the fsb first", I assume that you mean the Frequency that shows
up as two numbers, e.g., "100/33"?

I was fooling with that, since I'm waiting for Asus to get back to me,
but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the "Memory Speed" to be below
about 240, and even then, the Frequency was some weird combination, like
149/39 (I don't remember), and the machine completely froze when I tried
that, even when I lowered the Multiplier to make the Multiplier times
Frequency approx. 850.

Again, I was never able to get it to go even close to 200...

Jim

 

[Ohaya]

Mary said:


Hi:

Annoying isn't it? But I guess they don't know its a simple question.
Hopefully they will call you tomorrow. Is it a long distance call for you,
or do they have a toll free 800 number.
I wonder if they always call people back.

Mary

Hi,

Yes, very. This has been since morning, and I've called a couple of
times, and they keep telling me they'll call me back. Funny thing is
that everytime I call in, they post something to their website saying
"customer called", and in the last one they posted "customer called
again... please call him" .

And yes, it's a long distance call ....

 

[Ohaya]

You can do a search for Pief in google newsgroups... I tried to access google
to do a search for you, but haven't been able to access google today or
yesterday for some strange reason. I can get all other groups.

Mary
Yes, thanks. Looks like he hasn't been posting on this NG since about
December...

Jim

HeeHee~* Im pief, I changed nick when I found >
http://www.piefeet.com/

bizzare, I thought piefeet sounded
so stupid it wouldnt be repeated!

I did mention the name change in a couple of posts so it wouldnt seem
devious.
...bit sentimental of old piefeet now /*sniff

Oh your question:
...

I have BIOS version 1008, and am wondering if maybe older versions of
the BIOS included 200?

The reason that I'm asking is I have a Duron 850, which I think has a
FSB of 200, but I can't seem to get 200 as a selection.

System seems to run ok, but I've noticed it hanging on occasion, and am
trying to track this down (it wasn't my intention to overclock this ).

For setting memory speed - set the fsb first it counts 1mhz at a time,
it should count down below 133mhz.
Then the memory speed can be changed, but not by 1 mhz, it goes up or down
in jumps as its ratio to fsb is changed. as soon as fsb goes over 149Mhz
memory has to run in sync at 300ddr, but for the old duron it usualy might
run with 100fsb, memory at 166|333ddr - running mem faster than fsb should
reduce latency a little and perhaps help 'via vlink' PCI/usb transfers.

I flashed back to 1006 because it was getting odd stability problems, which
seem better now but Im not running the machine flat out on DC projects like
it did for a few months.

Its tranquil now after the Bios change - but did give a single unexplained
beep a couple of days ago ~maybe to do with the old NT Printdriver I tried
unsuccessfuly to Shoehorn into windows 2000
-it prints like a laser printer with NT and like a DotMatrix under 2000
grr!

Im leaning away from recommending this board since I may have overstressed
it Win2Ks parallel port has always been bad with it, and I dont like the
way it beeps and crashes now when i overclock it ];

'hope you have better luck avoiding the hangs with the duron 850 Jim ;]

Hi,

Hey, glad to see your here, by whatever name !

By "set the fsb first", I assume that you mean the Frequency that shows
up as two numbers, e.g., "100/33"?

I was fooling with that, since I'm waiting for Asus to get back to me,
but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the "Memory Speed" to be below
about 240, and even then, the Frequency was some weird combination, like
149/39 (I don't remember), and the machine completely froze when I tried
that, even when I lowered the Multiplier to make the Multiplier times
Frequency approx. 850.

Again, I was never able to get it to go even close to 200...

Jim

I forgot to ask: So, what, exactly, is the way that the "Memory Speed"
number is dependent on or calculated? What's the relationship of the
"Frequency", "Multiplier", and minimum "Memory Speed"?

Also, you don't happen to remember exactly what setting you used to get
Memory Speed down to 200, do you?

Jim

 

[Mary]

Hi,

Yes, very. This has been since morning, and I've called a couple of
times, and they keep telling me they'll call me back. Funny thing is
that everytime I call in, they post something to their website saying
"customer called", and in the last one they posted "customer called
again... please call him" .

I've been on their website lots of times but never saw anything like that.
Where does it say that on their web page about customer called?

And yes, it's a long distance call ....

I hope when you call them, you don't get some automated voice that goes on
and on and wastes your time and money and worse if its long distance, and
nothing to do with what you want and no chance to get out of it - drives you
crazy. I see that Pief turned up, so maybe he can help you .

Mary

 

[Ohaya]

I've been on their website lots of times but never saw anything like that.
Where does it say that on their web page about customer called?


I hope when you call them, you don't get some automated voice that goes on
and on and wastes your time and money and worse if its long distance, and
nothing to do with what you want and no chance to get out of it - drives you
crazy. I see that Pief turned up, so maybe he can help you .

Mary

Hi,

It's at http://helpdesk.asus.com. You have to login, then click on your
case #.

Still no call ...

 

[Creeping Stone]

Hey, glad to see your here, by whatever name !

By "set the fsb first", I assume that you mean the Frequency that shows
up as two numbers, e.g., "100/33"?

Yup 100 is fsb speed in Mhz - but it is DDR, or not cause its inside the
cpu so it could be anything, but it means 200 MegaMessages a second.
~Clock divisor shennanigans obfuscating the ratings.
I cant even remmember if the bios reports fsb as plain Mhz or DDR?
...looking at bios screen in acrobat.
yup its reported as Mhz so 100/33 means

100Mhz FSB (200ddr)
33Mhz - PCI/USB/SoundCard/IDE/ATA

When memory is run with in sync with fsb its 100Mhz too
but it's reported as 200*DDR*

The Boards chipset organises/'drives' the memory at its frequency
and feeds and serves the CPU through the FSB, which it can do
at a different frequency, since the chipset also has to simultaneously
schedule moments for AGP to access memory and the PCI.

For bursts or streaming tasks the CPU instructions could constantly be in
demand of memory access, the chipset has to juggle that demand with the
other systems which need access.

Perhaps Running memory faster than fsb could help this - the boost wouldnt
show in synthetic benchmarks but might well help PIC/APIC controlled access
during high CPU demand %}

I was fooling with that, since I'm waiting for Asus to get back to me,
but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the "Memory Speed" to be below
about 240, and even then, the Frequency was some weird combination, like
149/39 (I don't remember), and the machine completely froze when I tried
that, even when I lowered the Multiplier to make the Multiplier times
Frequency approx. 850.

The APIC [advanced programmable interupt control] is running everything
overclocked from 33 to 39 which is getting steep. Best not to overclock
that at all, keep it at 33 or less,unless you have low ambient temperature
inside the case and knock disk ata mode down.
and cross fingers.

Again, I was never able to get it to go even close to 200...

To get close to 200ddr (100Mhz) Memory speed, you need to get FSB down to
100 first. I cant imagine why the Bios wouldnt allow this setting to be
tested,

tho iirc the Duron 850 hasnt been officaly supported.

gl,

 

[Ohaya]

Hey, glad to see your here, by whatever name !

By "set the fsb first", I assume that you mean the Frequency that shows
up as two numbers, e.g., "100/33"?

Yup 100 is fsb speed in Mhz - but it is DDR, or not cause its inside the
cpu so it could be anything, but it means 200 MegaMessages a second.
~Clock divisor shennanigans obfuscating the ratings.
I cant even remmember if the bios reports fsb as plain Mhz or DDR?
..looking at bios screen in acrobat.
yup its reported as Mhz so 100/33 means

100Mhz FSB (200ddr)
33Mhz - PCI/USB/SoundCard/IDE/ATA

When memory is run with in sync with fsb its 100Mhz too
but it's reported as 200*DDR*

The Boards chipset organises/'drives' the memory at its frequency
and feeds and serves the CPU through the FSB, which it can do
at a different frequency, since the chipset also has to simultaneously
schedule moments for AGP to access memory and the PCI.

For bursts or streaming tasks the CPU instructions could constantly be in
demand of memory access, the chipset has to juggle that demand with the
other systems which need access.

Perhaps Running memory faster than fsb could help this - the boost wouldnt
show in synthetic benchmarks but might well help PIC/APIC controlled access
during high CPU demand %}

I was fooling with that, since I'm waiting for Asus to get back to me,
but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the "Memory Speed" to be below
about 240, and even then, the Frequency was some weird combination, like
149/39 (I don't remember), and the machine completely froze when I tried
that, even when I lowered the Multiplier to make the Multiplier times
Frequency approx. 850.

The APIC [advanced programmable interupt control] is running everything
overclocked from 33 to 39 which is getting steep. Best not to overclock
that at all, keep it at 33 or less,unless you have low ambient temperature
inside the case and knock disk ata mode down.
and cross fingers.

Again, I was never able to get it to go even close to 200...

To get close to 200ddr (100Mhz) Memory speed, you need to get FSB down to
100 first. I cant imagine why the Bios wouldnt allow this setting to be
tested,

tho iirc the Duron 850 hasnt been officaly supported.

gl,

Hi,

The lowest Frequency it'll go down to is "100/33" in the BIOS. Every
other choice that the BIOS offers is above that, e.g., 100/34,...,
101/33, etc.

I kind of think that your last question may be the key. I've been doing
a LOT (believe me) of digging this weekend on this board, and on a
couple of tables, it looks like the board shows down to Duron 1000.

BUT, even if that (that Duron 850 wasn't supported) were the case,
weren't the Duron 850 and 1000 both 100 MHz FSB chips? So I'm still
puzzled why the BIOS doesn't offer me "200" as a choice.


Anyway (and sorry for jumping around), if I'm reading the beginning part
of your post above correctly, you're explaining that the chipset acts as
a kind of speed translator between the FSB and the memory bus.

In my case the FSB is 100 (x2 = 200 MHz), while the memory, which is
PC2700/DDR333, should be able to run at up to 333 MHz, and the chipset
will somehow get them to work together?

So, am I ok with this current situation (Memory Speed 266 with PC2700
RAM) (Again, my main concern is system stability)?

FYI, it appears that I was under the mistaken impression that by having
the BIOS Memory Speed setting at 266, I was trying to force the CPU FSB
to run at 133 (x2 = 266 MHz), i.e., that I was overclocking the CPU FSB.

Jim