p2b strange memory readout

  • Thread starter Thread starter eric
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eric

On one machine I have, I've got a p2b 1.10 running fine at 133 Mhz
with a PIII 1gig cpu. Two sticks of 128mb Cas2 crucial. Runs great.
When I load "system properties" the general tab always shows 1gig cpu
but the memory config is always different. sometimes it says 203mb,
sometimes 64mb; today it's showing 160mb.

cpu-z always shows 256mb.
Si-soft apparently reads from windows and lists 160gb: memory scores
are 998 and 571
pcmark mem score is 1574

winxp will create a hibernation file based upon what its sees, so if
it sees 64mb it will create a hiberfil.sys file of 64mb.

any thoughts?

is it the chipset overclocking?

eric
 
yep, the p2b was designed to run at 100mhz fsb. so because of the
overclocking you will get all kind of erratic behavior.
 
On one machine I have, I've got a p2b 1.10 running fine at 133 Mhz
with a PIII 1gig cpu. Two sticks of 128mb Cas2 crucial. Runs great.
When I load "system properties" the general tab always shows 1gig cpu
but the memory config is always different. sometimes it says 203mb,
sometimes 64mb; today it's showing 160mb.

cpu-z always shows 256mb.
Si-soft apparently reads from windows and lists 160gb: memory scores
are 998 and 571
pcmark mem score is 1574

winxp will create a hibernation file based upon what its sees, so if
it sees 64mb it will create a hiberfil.sys file of 64mb.

any thoughts?

is it the chipset overclocking?

eric
Click to expand...

That's odd, P2B series usually have no problem with two sticks at 133Mhz
- erratic memory detection normally only occurs with 4 sticks,
occasionally with 3.

Does the BIOS count 256MB during POST, or does it agree with Windows
system properties?

If the BIOS count is erratic, try hitting <del> to enter the BIOS and
immediately exit without saving. BIOS will count memory again and IME
always gets it right.

P2B
 
yep, the p2b was designed to run at 100mhz fsb. so because of the
overclocking you will get all kind of erratic behavior.
Click to expand...

And your assertion that this winxp outcome is explainable (caused by
overclocking) is based upon what evidence?

Gotta love replies like this one, considering that literally thousands of
people have overclocked 440BX motherboards, including vast numbers of
P2B's, and have not had any problems whatsoever (as long as there's a 1/4
PCI multiplier, PC133 memory is used and a video card that can handle the
AGP overclock).

I'd recommend running memtest86 to ensure the memory is stable. Might
also be worth a shot to ensure your 'OS' is virus free (but MICROS~1 is a
virus, ain't it?).

What does the BIOS report at boot? What does memtest86 report? Is the
memory PC133 (I see you say it's Cas2 crucial, but that doesn't tell
whether it's PC100 or PC133)?

--
We HAVE been at war with Iraq for 13 years now, bombing their
country on at least a weekly basis.
"U.S.-led sanctions have killed over a million Iraqi citizens,
according to UN studies" - James Jennings
3,000+ innocent Iraqi civilian casualties can't be "wrong"...
 
I have an original board that I bought new I have overclocked it but the
best I could get was 114
probably because I was using a 100 mhz memory and a p3 850 slot1 100mhz
chip. fyi I am still running the board with no problems at standard speed.
It is very simple the board is a 100 mhz board and running it at 133 is
overclocking it, that simple.
 
I started up this morning and I saw 160mb in the device manager
general page. Thing is , I'm using an ancient Nokia monitor that takes
a year and a day to warm up and place a picture on the screen, so by
the time the screen comes on-line, I'm already well into the windowsXP
boot logo.

Reboot into the bios which says extended memory of 261mb. Then reboot
and the post screen says 256mb and so does windows device manager by
this point.

it's nothing serious, just a question in my mind.

e.
 
BigJim said:
I have an original board that I bought new I have overclocked it but the
best I could get was 114
probably because I was using a 100 mhz memory and a p3 850 slot1 100mhz
chip. fyi I am still running the board with no problems at standard speed.
It is very simple the board is a 100 mhz board and running it at 133 is
overclocking it, that simple.
Click to expand...

P2B at 133Mhz is overclocked, no debate.

However, you went on to say "you will get all kind of erratic behavior"
but provided no data to support this assertion.

I have built over 100 systems based on P2B series boards running at
133Mhz FSB or higher, and can confidently state these boards are no less
stable at 133Mhz than 100Mhz. Obviously 133Mhz-capable ram and cpu are
required.
 
I started up this morning and I saw 160mb in the device manager
general page. Thing is , I'm using an ancient Nokia monitor that takes
a year and a day to warm up and place a picture on the screen, so by
the time the screen comes on-line, I'm already well into the windowsXP
boot logo.

Reboot into the bios which says extended memory of 261mb. Then reboot
and the post screen says 256mb and so does windows device manager by
this point.

it's nothing serious, just a question in my mind.
Click to expand...

I recommend you make a habit of hitting <del> after the POST beep, then
waiting for the monitor to warm up and display the BIOS setup screen.

That way Windows should always see the full 256MB, and the board won't
be updating ESCD on every boot - which will eventually cause problems
since ESCD memory is only rated for around 1000 write cycles.
 
I recommend you make a habit of hitting <del> after the POST beep, then
waiting for the monitor to warm up and display the BIOS setup screen.

That way Windows should always see the full 256MB, and the board won't
be updating ESCD on every boot - which will eventually cause problems
since ESCD memory is only rated for around 1000 write cycles.
Click to expand...

Tested it just now. Booted into the bios which showed 160mb of
extended memory. Left the bios "rebooted" and post page now showed
256mb of RAM.

Do you think it might be a problem wirth the RAM?

eric
 
well if the bios cant decide how much memory is in the board it WILL
attemp to bounce into the bios screens for you to comfirm the amount...
maybe that is what its trying to do in your case


change the ram and let us know
 
Tested it just now. Booted into the bios which showed 160mb of
extended memory. Left the bios "rebooted" and post page now showed
256mb of RAM.

Do you think it might be a problem wirth the RAM?
Click to expand...

Nope, erratic memory detection is normal behavior for P2B boards running
at 133Mhz FSB - although they usually don't do it with only 2 dimms
installed. IME the brand of memory makes no difference, but you could
try switching the dimms around to see if leaving a different slot empty
changes anything.

I don't know why the "BIOS trick" works (especially considering hitting
the reset button doesn't), but I'm very glad it does or I wouldn't be
able to run 1GB @ 133Mhz on my P2B-S/DS boards :-)

P2B
 
Nope, erratic memory detection is normal behavior for P2B boards running
at 133Mhz FSB - although they usually don't do it with only 2 dimms
installed. IME the brand of memory makes no difference, but you could
try switching the dimms around to see if leaving a different slot empty
changes anything.
Click to expand...

Ok, so here's the question. Sometimes it takes years for me to finally
figure out what my real question is:

When Windows reports 203mb of memory (or 64mb, or 160mb), does this
mean that only that much (recognized) memory is being actually
utilized of the actual 256mb installed? Or is it just aesthetics that
makes us want to have Windows show what we've installed?

eric
 
(e-mail address removed) - :
Ok, so here's the question. Sometimes it takes years for me to finally
figure out what my real question is:

When Windows reports 203mb of memory (or 64mb, or 160mb), does this
mean that only that much (recognized) memory is being actually
utilized of the actual 256mb installed? Or is it just aesthetics that
makes us want to have Windows show what we've installed?
Click to expand...

You said: "winxp will create a hibernation file based upon what its
sees, so if it sees 64mb it will create a hiberfil.sys file of 64mb".

The hibernation file is the image of the memory content, so I guess
WinXP uses only 64 mb in that case.

And if you intentionally change the size of the memory, by removing a
dimm for example, WinXP will refuse to resume from hibernation, it will
just load normally.
So, with the size of the memory used changing every time you load WinXP,
I guess hibernation isn't really usable ?
 
Yes, you have to make sure your RAM, CPU and don't forget your AGP video
card can handle the overclocking.

For example, my old Celeron 266 and current Celeron 633 can all be o/c at
100mhz FSB, yielding 400mhz and 950mhz respectively. However, I picked up an
used Celeron 433 that could only be o/c to 540 (87.5 FSB)
I've tried increasing voltage up to 2V and still no posting at 100FSB.

The P2B was an awesome board for it's time! RELATIVELY speaking, it's still
an impressive board. If you're lucky, you run a Celeron 1Ghz at 133FSB,
yielding you a 1.3Ghz machine from a 6 year old board (was released in '98)!
 
Ok, so here's the question. Sometimes it takes years for me to finally
figure out what my real question is:

When Windows reports 203mb of memory (or 64mb, or 160mb), does this
mean that only that much (recognized) memory is being actually
utilized of the actual 256mb installed? Or is it just aesthetics that
makes us want to have Windows show what we've installed?

eric
Click to expand...

Windows reports the amount of memory it believes it has available for
use, so it's not just an aesthetic issue.

P2B
 
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