I am trying to debug why my A7S333 does not start Windows XP at a
clock speed of 133. It will run at 100. It will also run at 100 with
a 3:4 CP/memory clock ratio, and the BIOS runs fine at 133.
Does the BIOS always boot at 100, then switch to the highter clock
rate when it boots the OS or will it boot at 133 and run? That's
probably not quite clear. My guess it that it will always boot at
some minimal speed, then switch clocks soon after. The real question
is when, when the OS boots or before it starts spitting out all the
normal BIOS info?
It should be doing that early in the BIOS POST.
To try to eliminate the clock switch as an issue, use
the jumper mode instead. Change JEN so the DSW can be
used, then set 133 that way. Using jumper mode, the clock
setting should be applied immediately at power up. Of
course, the board will still need to change the Vcore,
from the nominal value, to whatever value you programmed
in the BIOS. I don't see a manual DSW for setting the VID
code for Vcore.
In terms of power, when you are sitting in the BIOS, the
processor draws more power than it does while idling in
Windows, but less than the maximum power it would draw
doing Prime95 "torture test". You might visit the
hardware monitor page, to see what voltages are coming
from the PSU in this intermediate condition. That might
help identify whether the PSU is at fault.
The PSU will normally have a tolerance of 5%. Due to the
possibility of measurement error in the hardware monitor,
if the supply is on the low side by between 5% and 10%,
that could mean the PSU is too weak for the job.
Some power supplies weaken with age, and that could be the
problem.
If you are not making any success on the hardware side, go
back to debugging where Windows is crashing, if that is
possible. See if the crash location / routine is consistent
or random.
Before booting into Windows, try using memtest86 (memtest.org)
via a floppy, to test the memory (in this case, we are looking
for the slight increase in power draw, to topple the thing
in memtest, rather than when running Windows).
Does your processor have a proper AMD label on the lid ?
While it isn't likely, maybe the processor you've got
really isn't a 2200+ ?
HTH,
Paul
