"Driekes" said:
Hello,
My P4R800-V Deluxe is showing the 3.20E GHz (800MHz fsb 1Mb L2 cache)
Pentium 4 processor as an P4 2.8GHz in the bios. In Windows XP (Home SP2) it
shows a P4 3.2 on 2.8GHz. I updated the bios to the latest version but that
doesn't help.
System memory 512Mb Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
This is a problem with the BIOS and the "Platform Requirement Bit"
inside the processor. There are two Vcore specs for Prescott, an
89W one and a 115W one. The BIOS is supposed to have knowledge of
which Vcore circuit exists on its own motherboard. Some BIOS code
is required to communicate which power supply the motherboard possesses
to the processor. If the processor hears "the motherboard can handle
115W", the processor runs at normal speed (3.2GHz in this case).
If the BIOS remains mute on the subject, like an older board might
that had not been designed for 115W, the processor runs in "safe
mode" at a 14X multiplier. 14x200=2.8GHz. All Prescotts with a 115W
requirement will switch to 2.8GHz if not configured properly.
Here is a mention of "Platform Requirement Bit". It is also documented
in the Intel datasheet, but with insufficient details.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040810/intel_925_915-12.html
This was fixed on the P4C800-E board in a BIOS dated Mar 4 of
this year. There has been plenty of time to roll this into the
P4R800-V. See item 4 in this entry for P4C800-E:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/down..._id=15&l3_id=20&m_id=3&key_f_name=p4ced16.zip
You have two solutions. Complain to Asus Tech support, and
wait for the fix to be delivered. I'm willing to bet that a
lot of the BIOS changes in this BIOS, come from ATI. You may
have a long wait.
The other option, knowing the processor runs to 3.2GHz, is to
increase the CPU clock by 14%. If the CPU clock is 228MHz, the
processor will be running at 3.2GHz, but the RAM will be
running faster than it is suppose to. If the board has a ratio
setting for the memory, then try changing the "DDR400" to
"DDR333", and assuming these are ratio settings, the real
memory speed will be (333/400)*228*2 = DDR380, and within
the operating range of a PC3200 DIMM. You can run this way
until whoever upgrades the BIOS figures it out.
HTH,
Paul