A7V333 Question - Rev. 1.02 MB and Max CPU Speed

[frodo_baggins]

Hello all

I presently have an A7V333 MB with AMD XP 2000 CPU. I've been quite
happy with the package but have been watching the price of faster
chips coming down.

Somewhat confused as to the use of higher speed processors; ASUS site
is somewhat confusing in this area, particularly as to Rev differences
in their boards.

My board is a Rev. 1.20 Does anyone know the differences between
this and the 2.0 that Asus indicates is needed to support anything
beyond the XP 2400 processor. Any chance of using the XP 2600 333 or
faster with this board?

Any inputs and recommenations would be appreciated.

 

[R.C.B.B]

I sorry to say that I don't have any recommendations, but I am glad to see
that I am not the only one confused by the Asus chart. I haven't been able
to determine whether the requirement for a particular CPU is BOTH the Rev
number AND the BIOS or if it is EITHER the Rev number OR the BIOS. I have a
Rev 1.02 A7V333 board and have flashed the BIOS to 1016, but am still not
sure if it will take the XP2700+ that I have had my eye on.

RC

 

[R.C.B.B]

Thanks, for the reply, Paul.

Their charts basically say that from rev 1.01 or 2.0 onward the CPU in the list
is supported. For many of the newer CPU's you need to make sure the BIOS is at
least the version listed or newer. As an example, an Athlon XP 2400+(Model 8)
is support on any board with rev. level 1.01 of higher but only as long as the
BIOS is ver 1012 or higher. Another example, an Athlon XP 2600+(333 MHz
FSB)(Model 10) is only supported with rev. levels 2.00 and higher and only with
BIOS version 1017 or higher.

So to answer Fred's question, "officially" his rev. 1.02 board will not support
the 2600+ Model 10 with it's 333 MHz FSB. However, there have been several
posters on this NG which indicated that they have successfully been able to run
with a 333 MHz FSB on their pre-rev.2.00 boards.

I would like to try it with the 2700+, but I was concerned about frying the
chip. It sounds like chip destruction isn't
an issue with the pre-rev. 2.00 boards, but operability may be if I am
reading you correctly.

LOL

Paul

(Some comments deleted)

 

[Paul]

-- snip --

I would like to try it with the 2700+, but I was concerned about frying the
chip. It sounds like chip destruction isn't
an issue with the pre-rev. 2.00 boards, but operability may be if I am
reading you correctly.

-- snip --

That pretty much sums it up.

If I recall what others have said on this NG, one issue with the early boards is
it is missing the 1/5 divider. This only comes into play with the 333MHz FSB to
divide the PCI bus speed down to 33MHz. Apparently with some of the early
boards there was only 1/4 divider so if you put in a 333MHz CPU, it would divide
the 166.67MHz down to 41.67MHz which is not in specs. The other issue was a
signal from the CPU is not sensed properly on the early boards which could lead
to a problem of automatic detection of FSB speed (I think that is what I
remember reading anyway).

If you can get your hands on one of the faster CPU's from a friend, you might
try and see if it works with your board. If it doesn't work, then you can save
your money.

I have contemplated upgrading my 1800+XP to something faster for this board, but
really have not seen a time where the CPU has not met my computing needs so I
have held off on that purchase. Maybe if the price of a 2600+ or 2700+ (Model
10) drops down around $50 for a retail box, I might consider trying it out, but
I am not holding my breath for that day to come.

Paul

 

[Paul]

Well, I decided to experiment. I installed the 2700+ in the Asus A7V333 rev
1.02, BIOS 1016. I think I got lucky because
it seems to be working. AIDA32 says I am running a 2700+ at 2167 MHz with
the FSB and memory at 333 MHz. I guess I will
just have to see how it holds up. Thanks, again, for your response.


--snip--

RC

What are the PCI and AGP bus speeds reported as?

Paul

 

[Paul]

I don't see those in AIDA32. What or where can I look to see, or is there
another utility to use to determine that? I did see AGP listed as 4X. FYI,
I am using a ATI Radeon AIW (original version).

I don't believe that AIDA shows that information. I would try the latest
SiSoftware's Sandra just to see what it says.

Paul

 

[biddo \(°J°\)]

"Paul"

I don't believe that AIDA shows that information. I would try the latest
SiSoftware's Sandra just to see what it says.

To mesure PCI I use SetFSB that show FSB/PCI
Bye Biddo (°J°)
Asus a7v333
fsb324 pci 32,4 with palomino 1700

 

[R.C.B.B]

I don't believe that AIDA shows that information. I would try the latest
SiSoftware's Sandra just to see what it says.

Paul

SiSoft Sandra says the AGP speed is 84 MHz and the Current Data Transfer
Rate is 4X84 = 336 MHz. It also says that the PCI is Ver 2.10 and that PCI
bus 0 is 42 MHz. The tips say that is too fast, but I thought I read that a
PCI Ver 2.10 could go to 66 MHz. I am really not sure exactly what to make
of those
numbers.

RC

 

[Paul]

-- snip --

SiSoft Sandra says the AGP speed is 84 MHz and the Current Data Transfer
Rate is 4X84 = 336 MHz. It also says that the PCI is Ver 2.10 and that PCI
bus 0 is 42 MHz. The tips say that is too fast, but I thought I read that a
PCI Ver 2.10 could go to 66 MHz. I am really not sure exactly what to make
of those
numbers.

RC

This is what I was wandering about. Others here have indicated that the earlier
boards don't have a 1/5 divider. If Sandra is correct, then your board only has
the 1/4 divider in it as well. Are you using the latest version of Sandra?
Some people have questioned whether or not it can detect a 1/5 divider or if it
is simply doing a divide-by-4 of the FSB.

The PCI standard does allow you to go to 66MHz but your board must be designed
for this. I don't believe I have seen too many workstation class motherboards
with this built in. This is mostly found in server style motherboards. The
66MHz slots are also usually 64 bit rather than 32 bit.

Paul

 

[R.C.B.B]

-- snip --

This is what I was wandering about. Others here have indicated that the earlier
boards don't have a 1/5 divider. If Sandra is correct, then your board only has
the 1/4 divider in it as well. Are you using the latest version of Sandra?
Some people have questioned whether or not it can detect a 1/5 divider or if it
is simply doing a divide-by-4 of the FSB.

The PCI standard does allow you to go to 66MHz but your board must be designed
for this. I don't believe I have seen too many workstation class motherboards
with this built in. This is mostly found in server style motherboards. The
66MHz slots are also usually 64 bit rather than 32 bit.

Paul

I have ver 2003.3.9.44 of Sandra. I checked for updates after downloading
and it said I had the latest. I just woke up to the fact that the BIOS
setup does
indicate a PCI clock of 33, but that is the only option. Whether that is
what is actually running or whether Sandra is correct is a good question.
The only
indication of problem I have noticed is that there appears to be an IRQ
conflict (not reported as such in XP) involving the USB ports. If I plug my
Intellimouse Explorer into any of the USB ports, I get intermittent loss and
reacquisition of the mouse. I did, however, have the same problem with the
XP2100+
that I did have in. I didn't have Sandra at the time, but AIDA indicated a
266 clock then so I would expect that the PCI clock should have been at 33.
Windows XP
is very stubborn about misidentifying the mouse and insists that it is
simply a PS/2 port mouse. I sometimes wonder if that may be related to the
problem. I have
followed the procedures in MS KB 321122 on the erratic pointer movement and
been able to get the mouse properly identified, but after a while it reverts
to
the PS/2 identification. All the buttons work as assigned.

RC

RC

 

[Paul]

-- snip --

I have ver 2003.3.9.44 of Sandra. I checked for updates after downloading
and it said I had the latest. I just woke up to the fact that the BIOS
setup does
indicate a PCI clock of 33, but that is the only option. Whether that is
what is actually running or whether Sandra is correct is a good question.
The only
indication of problem I have noticed is that there appears to be an IRQ
conflict (not reported as such in XP) involving the USB ports. If I plug my
Intellimouse Explorer into any of the USB ports, I get intermittent loss and
reacquisition of the mouse. I did, however, have the same problem with the
XP2100+
that I did have in. I didn't have Sandra at the time, but AIDA indicated a
266 clock then so I would expect that the PCI clock should have been at 33.
Windows XP
is very stubborn about misidentifying the mouse and insists that it is
simply a PS/2 port mouse. I sometimes wonder if that may be related to the
problem. I have
followed the procedures in MS KB 321122 on the erratic pointer movement and
been able to get the mouse properly identified, but after a while it reverts
to
the PS/2 identification. All the buttons work as assigned.

RC

RC

I have no problems with my IntelliMouse Optical plugged into the USB port of my
Natural Keyboard Pro.

XP has never lost comminications with it. My only annoying problem is the
Sidewinder Precision Pro (plugged into the onboard sound controller) does not
stay recognized whenever the USB 2.0 controller is enabled. If I disable it in
the Device Manager, then the joystick works wonderfully.

Paul

 

[R.C.B.B]

-- snip --

I have no problems with my IntelliMouse Optical plugged into the USB port of my
Natural Keyboard Pro.

XP has never lost comminications with it. My only annoying problem is the
Sidewinder Precision Pro (plugged into the onboard sound controller) does not
stay recognized whenever the USB 2.0 controller is enabled. If I disable it in
the Device Manager, then the joystick works wonderfully.

Paul

I have not tried my Intellimouse Explorer as USB since my recent attempt to
clean out the registry per KB 321122.
Part of that was to remove USB devices. I haven't reloaded the USB 2.0
driver that came with the MB. Perhaps I need to
try the mouse in the USB ports now that the USB 2.0 drivers are not loaded
(at least I didn't load them - may XP did). The last time
I loaded the 2.0 drivers from the CD , I seem to recall that there was an
unsigned driver message. After loading the 2.0 drivers,
I tried to update and no longer had the description of USB 2.0, rather
it said Enhanced. I am not sure if that is Microsoft speak for USB 2.0 or
not. The ports seemed to work, but I don't have
any USB 2.0 devices to test with. I don't do a lot of gaming and my
joystick is an ancient 2-button variety, but it is
plugged in to the Audigy joystick port and the MB sound and joystick ports
are not enabled. I suppose there are a number of
things that could give me problems. I have the ATI Radeo All-in-Wonder AGP
video card, an Audigy sound card with the external box,
an Adaptec 2940U2W SCSI card, and a Linksys LNE 100TX Ethernet card taking
up the AGP and PCI slots. I am using the
onboard Promise Raid controller in a RAID 1 configuration, I have a Sony
DRU-500AX DVD writer and Iomega Zip on the secondary
IDE controller and an IDE hard drive on the primary IDE controller. There
are 2 512 Meg sticks of PC2700 memory. I suspect that
somewhere buried in the mix are the seeds of a problem or so, but it would
be nice to eliminate them.

RC

 

[Paul]

-- snip --

I have not tried my Intellimouse Explorer as USB since my recent attempt to
clean out the registry per KB 321122.
Part of that was to remove USB devices. I haven't reloaded the USB 2.0
driver that came with the MB. Perhaps I need to
try the mouse in the USB ports now that the USB 2.0 drivers are not loaded
(at least I didn't load them - may XP did). The last time
I loaded the 2.0 drivers from the CD , I seem to recall that there was an
unsigned driver message. After loading the 2.0 drivers,
I tried to update and no longer had the description of USB 2.0, rather
it said Enhanced. I am not sure if that is Microsoft speak for USB 2.0 or
not. The ports seemed to work, but I don't have
any USB 2.0 devices to test with. I don't do a lot of gaming and my
joystick is an ancient 2-button variety, but it is
plugged in to the Audigy joystick port and the MB sound and joystick ports
are not enabled. I suppose there are a number of
things that could give me problems. I have the ATI Radeo All-in-Wonder AGP
video card, an Audigy sound card with the external box,
an Adaptec 2940U2W SCSI card, and a Linksys LNE 100TX Ethernet card taking
up the AGP and PCI slots. I am using the
onboard Promise Raid controller in a RAID 1 configuration, I have a Sony
DRU-500AX DVD writer and Iomega Zip on the secondary
IDE controller and an IDE hard drive on the primary IDE controller. There
are 2 512 Meg sticks of PC2700 memory. I suspect that
somewhere buried in the mix are the seeds of a problem or so, but it would
be nice to eliminate them.

RC

I would not load the USB2.0 drivers from the CD. They are out-dated.
"Enhanced" is the term used for USB2.0. Since you mention you are using the SB
Audigy, is it plugged into slot #4? This is the only slot that is not being
shard and SB cards like it this way.

Paul

 

[R.C.B.B]

-- snip --

I would not load the USB2.0 drivers from the CD. They are out-dated.
"Enhanced" is the term used for USB2.0. Since you mention you are using the SB
Audigy, is it plugged into slot #4? This is the only slot that is not being
shard and SB cards like it this way.

Paul

As it turns out, I do have the Audigy in PCI4. Last week, I decided to
replace my ribbon
cables with the round variety with an eye to providing a little more open
airflow path. While I had the case
open, I rearranged my PCI boards to put the SCSI in PCI2 and the Linksys
Ethernet card
in PCI5. I had previously had the SCSI in PCI3 and the Linksys in PCI2. I
haven't noticed much difference in
operation with that change, but my MB is running cooler by several degrees
Celsius, likely because of a less restricted airflow.
I was apparently fortunate to have put the Audigy in PCI4. I originally
chose that slot mainly to provide
some measure of separation between it and the video card. I had avoided PCI
five because the BIOS setup seemed to
suggest that PCI1 and PCI5 were shared and somewhere I think I read that
they were shared with the AGP slot,
but I was not aware that PCI 4 is the only slot that is not shared. I
appreciate having that information. It is about time to
switch the mouse back to USB and see what happens. I wonder if a more
recent mouse, either Microsoft or Logitech, might be
better supported by Windows XP. My wife's machine is a Dell 4550 with the
Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse which is
connected to both a PS/2 and a USB port. I have not noticed any connect -
disconnect problems with her set up. I suppose it
could be either (or both) hardware design or software drivers, but I am not
sure how to make that determination.

RC