help on fsb / volts

[h2z]

I got my new pc a week ago (AMD 2100+ AIHUB, corsair twinX 512LL, epox 8rda+, ati 9600pro). first time i tried to OC it ive done a fatal error which almost fried my mobo and cpu (raised the fsb straight from 133 to 200). at that point i wasnt able to do anything about it so i took it to a lab and got it fixed, the tech dude told me that i shud have raised the mem's volts cuz the comp wasnt able to use it (i wasnt able to get into the bios screen and even using the JCMOS jumper to clear the cmos didnt help). i asked the tech guy what he did and he told me that he used a diff mem bar which doesnt need higher voltage...he fixed it in matter of minutes and ive asked him to set the memory to work at 200mhz with dual rate enabled (fsb still @ 133). i got back home played it for few hours and decided to boost it little bit more so i raised the fsb by ONLY 2mhz (mem running at 150% x fsb so it gained 3) and now i get the same problem...debug led shows the code "01" and i know its a mem problem. what can i do about it w/o having to take it back to lab and pay for the repair....<BR><BR>I got one more request, since i dont have any experience with the corsair mem, i need someone to give a brief toturial of how to set up teh fsb/volts so i wont get the same problem over and over again.<BR>TIA, stefan.

[TranceJunkieXL]

Welcome to PCStats h2z!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR>Firstly, though both the EPoX 8RDA+ and Corsair memory are of high quality, there seems to be a compatibility issue when the 2 are paired. Apparently the EPoX does not like the aggressive timings Corsair has and will not initialize if that RAM is the first stick you try to boot with. I would suggest picking up some cheap, generic PC2100 (that tech guy was blowing hot air when he said he used a stick that didn't need higher voltage) to boot with when you first have this problem. I also understand that there is a new BIOS that will fix this memory latency issue. I would suggest flashing that motherboard as soon as possible. You might also want to lower your timings a little to see if that doesn't help stabilize running with the larger FSB.<BR>Also, have you cleared your CMOS and still cannot boot? I would worry about raising the CPU voltage before raising the memory voltage though. <BR>You could also pick up a second BIOS chip that you can boot with and then hot swap in the corrupted BIOS. Excaliberpc.com sells these kits with easy to read instructions on how this is done. That way you won't have to haul the rig back to the tech. I know what a pain that is. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR>P.S., there are others in this place who may have other great tips as well. Stick around.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">

[h2z]

Mem's timing was 3-3-3-9. when u said "You might also want to lower your timings" did u mean lowe as in mathematicaly lower ot lower as in make them slower? <BR><BR>PS. sorry for not knowing much, i just recently started to practice overclocking...i tried to do it twice on my new pc and i had to get it to tech twice :/

[h2z]

i went to epox's home site and found this about the new BIOS:<BR><BR><br><br><< <i>1) Set memory frequency by SPD before BPL. 2) Disable PS2 KB/MOUSE swap function. 3) Add Auto option for DIMM voltage adjusts. 4) Patch PS2 mouse crazy on the Win98SE resume. 5) Update ROMSIP for 3.0 OBPL. 6) Show "nForce2 Ultra 400 Support" at screen for C18D Motherboard. </i> >><br><br><BR><BR>does this mean that i wont have to manually adjust the mem's voltage?

[Ginsu543]

Lowering the mem timings (mathematically) makes the memory faster because those mem timings represent latency (time delay the ram takes before doing the next thing). If you take a look at my sig, you'll see that I have my 2 x 512 MB PC3200 DDR set at 5-3-3-2. That is the lowest I can set my ram at my current FSB speed of 200 MHz and still have a stable computer environment. The only way to find out is to change them and test for stability using Prime95. I did have to raise my ram voltage to 2.7 V as well as my cpu Vcore to 1.85 V.

[h2z]

i see...but what about my new bios question, can someone make it clear to me wether the new bios will allow me to enable the "auto voltage adjust" and i wont hafta adjust it manually?

[§hinoßi]

that 8RDA+ aggressive memory timing thing worked with all fast memory. I know, my stupid GEIL pc 3200's didnt work and I had to get cheep ram