Epox 8rd3a+ problems..

[phill9700]

i need some help please!!!
i have just recently bought this board and recieved it today.
the problems im having are ranging from stablity and lockups all over the place..
firstly the display on the screen is VERY blocky and liney all over ever screen. i dont think its my graphics card as i have just taken it from another board which was fine, but since its been in this one, its just looked very very very bad.
secondly, overclocking.. this is a C1 stepping board as i have checked with CPU-Z program.. oh and it wont do it very well at all
thirdly, running this board at 200 fsb with a multiplier higher than 9 gives me very bad lock ups and problems.. basically, it just dont want to know..

please can someone offer some advice about this please!?!?!?! i have updated the bios and the same problems are apparent. the temps are still through the roof and stablity isnt there at all.
i was told this board was good, can someone please help me out here!!? i have been having to many problems with boards recently and i dont want any more! please help!!

[airspirit]

First, calm down and we'll step through this

The temp probe should not ever be trusted on this board. What HSF are you using? This is going to be a very big portion of your overclock. Second, are you still using the gawdawful stock aluminum hood ornament on your northbridge? While the C1 stepping is better, it will STILL BE LIMITED if you use that piece of junk.

What I need to know in order to help you are the following (yes, this may be a pain):

1) Full stepping of your chip, such as:

AXDA2100DUT3C 9724884280420
JIUHB 0308VPMW

This will assist in determining what you are capable of. Not all chips are created equal. You will need to remove your HSF in order to check this.

2) What settings you are using in BIOS. The primary ones are as follows:

Multiplier, CPU Interface (Optimal/Aggressive), FSB Speed, Memory Timings, All Voltages, CPU Throttling (OFF!!!), AGP freq (66), Memory Speed (100%), and Spread Spectrum (OFF!!!).

3) What HSF are you using and what temps are being reported. What type of grease are you using?

4) What speed is your RAM rated for? If it is DDR400 rated at 2-2-2-6 (Corsair XMS LL) and you are running it in Dual DDR at 2-2-2-5, you may be capped at only 190-200 Mhz. You may need to increase your timings. Remember, while your RAM is guaranteed to run at its rated speed (and will be replaced if it can not), it is not guaranteed to run any faster, especially if you are using lower timings and running in Dual, which tends to lower your max stable FSB.

5) What is the max speed you can run stable? What is the fastest that particular chip has run (raw Mhz)? What is the fastest your RAM has run in Dual DDR (FSB & Timings)?

6) Why are you still using the stock NB cooler (if you are)? No, seriously ... I gained a massive amount of stability when I swapped mine.

7) Have you tried the processes I outlined in my article?

http://12.18.239.202/heatercores/primer.htm

This will teach you alot about what your parts are capable of.

8) Have you tried disabling some of the peripherals that you aren't using such as the on-board firewire or SATA? This sometimes adds a small amount of stability.

9) What type of PSU are you using? If you are using a weak azz 300W unit you are screwed. You need at LEAST an outstanding 350W unit and most times a good 400W unit to power an overclocked NF2/TBB setup. I'm running a 480W and a 500W on mine and I still get a few minor spikes here and there. This could be a massive factor in your stability.

10) Are you in an older house/apartment? Ghetto wiring can cause nasty things to happen with your power and can limit your OC.

When you can answer these, I can troubleshoot you. Until I have the full story, however, it is virtually impossible. I don't know why, but I have had the feeling over the course of these posts of yours that you're holding something back. If you are, please enlighten us on the whole story so we can do our best for you.

[phill9700]

Originally posted by airspirit

1) Full stepping of your chip, such as:

AXDA1700DLT3C 9501856280149
JIUHB 0313RPMW

in my older 8rda+ board, i had this cpu set to 190* 12.5 giving me just under 2.4ghz. im now STUCK with 200 x 10.5 giving me just 2.1ghz.. in my 8rda3+ board

2) What settings you are using in BIOS. The primary ones are as follows:

Multiplier 10.5 , CPU Interface - Aggressive, FSB Speed 200, Memory Timings cas 2 2-2-6 (used to work at the 190 * 12.5 at cas 2 2-2-6 but dont now.., All Voltages CPU 1.650V (dont make any difference when i up it and slightly change the multiplier either (ie by 0.5) still crashes, vdd 1.6v, vdimm 2.77v AGP 1.5V , CPU Throttling (75% - will turn off now... ), AGP freq (66 - thats what i have set to), Memory Speed (100%), and Spread Spectrum (OFF!!! - and that one is off also..)

3) What HSF are you using and what temps are being reported. What type of grease are you using?
im using the same heatsink and fan as i was on my 8rda+ board, im getting temps normally about 10C higher now than before.. im using a falcon rock cpu cooler, grease nothing special but its working as far as i know!

4) What speed is your RAM rated for?
my memory is corsair xms 3200LL memory for settings at cas 2 2-2-6 (im unsure of the voltage) im using dual ddr because im told its faster and more worth while...

5) What is the max speed you can run stable?
the cpu used to work at 190 x 12.5 now has problems working anything above 10 x 200 for some reason. i have tried lower fsb settings, ie 180 x 12 (which gives me the same speed as 10 x 200) and it just crashes out.

6) Why are you still using the stock NB cooler (if you are)? No, seriously ... I gained a massive amount of stability when I swapped mine.

its a different board with a better heatsink on it i believe.. i dont think its the standard nb heatsink...

7) Have you tried the processes I outlined in my article?

http://12.18.239.202/heatercores/primer.htm

yeah been there and done that.. but it was very usefull..

8) Have you tried disabling some of the peripherals that you aren't using such as the on-board firewire or SATA? This sometimes adds a small amount of stability.

i dont use sata but have firewire enabled.. everything else is just set to motherboard defaults.

9) What type of PSU are you using? If you are using a weak azz 300W unit you are screwed. You need at LEAST an outstanding 350W unit and most times a good 400W unit to power an overclocked NF2/TBB setup. I'm running a 480W and a 500W on mine and I still get a few minor spikes here and there. This could be a massive factor in your stability.

as i state in my sig, im using a Q-tec 550W psu.. ive not had power problems before with it.

10) Are you in an older house/apartment? Ghetto wiring can cause nasty things to happen with your power and can limit your OC.

i have been told the bungalow is less than 10 years old.. so wires shouldnt be a problem..

well im not so sure what else i can tell you. i have flashed the bios yesterday to the latest one on epox website 5 26 03 i think it was. nothing much has changed.
if theres anything else i can help you with or you need to know, please just ask.. im really not sure what else i can tell you.. although, am i meant to be using the 4 pin adaptor for the board as well as the big connector for the board? i have it installed, i think this is some reason as to why i have been prehaps having problems. oh and im using a xaser 2 case, which has the 5 fans working all the time.. i think this could be draining power for stability problems as well..

[phill9700]

well i have tried out two other xp1700 cpus and they have been very bad at getting the clock speeds i had before and also being stable enough to finish pcmark 2002..
i dont understand why but when i had tried all the cpus in both boards, the 8rda+ seemed to overclock better and be more reiable at the same speed..
i have no idea why this is..
today must be a hot day, as the 8rda+ (not the 8rda3+) is reading a idle temp of nearing 50C, about 47C at the moment. my case temp is only 22C..
oh and one majorly bad thing has happened..
my 9700 pro has taken a nose dive.. its giving me the same 'artifacts' on every machine that i use.. im gutted.. just going to find out when i bought it and whether or not i can get a replacement..

[airspirit]

I'm working on ideas. I'll be back with you some time this weekend.

[phill9700]

just to let you know, i have gone back to the prevous board as i have had enough of messing about with things today!!
i have the following setups now, so when i get some better memory for the other two, i might be able to see how much faster i can get them..
thanks so much for the help!

xp1700 + 512mbs (PC2100) + g3 ti200 on a epox 8rda+ with the a2 stepping and thats been CLOCKED DOWN since last time for some reason to 190 x 12 (for some reason, it dont work at 12.5 mulitpler like it used to do so a day or so ago... how annoying?) cas 2 3-3-6 (my machine)

xp1700 + 512mbs (PC2100) + g3 ti 200 on a epox 8rda3+ with the revision c1 stepping and its at the moment clocked to 1.86ghz using a 12.5 multiplier and whatever else fsb, i think it could be 148 or something.. memory settings are cas 2 3-3-6 (girl friends)

xp1700 + 512mbs (PC2100) + g2 GTS on a abit nf7s rev 2 revision c1 board. (did have a g2 ti 200 but that was used in my pc as my 9700 pro is not working 100%) cas 2 2-2-5 (her sons)

if you need any more information for ANY of the three systems, please feel free to just ask!!
thanks again for all the help!!!

[airspirit]

Here is my suspicion: you cooked your chip. Looking at your sig, it shows that your chip was run at 1.8V, and you are running an "L" series TBredB. I have personally watched these things die at lower voltages, and I suspect that you may be slowly frying your chip as well. I have lost one of these at as low as 1.65V. This could be the reason that each time you test it it won't do as much as previously. The only thing to do would be to swap in a different CPU to see if it is the RAM that is fuggering you up. If you can run the RAM at 200+ (try at like an 8 mult or something), then it is almost certainly your chip that is giving you issues. Your NB would be suspect if you were having FSB limitations, but since you are running at high FSB and your RAM doesn't seem to mind too much, I would suspect that you may have got a bum chip.

Be forewarned: I have lost three of these things now! Do not under any circumstances run them over 1.725V, and even that is pushing it. I have gone so far as to pick up a spare to sit around in case I lose another one due to stupidity. Try using that particular chip to do the FSB testing, and then you should have a better idea of what is holding you back.

[phill9700]

well my sig is farily old, but i havent lost any cpu's at all yet...
the other two setups i have got running now are using i believe default voltage.. 1.5 or they might be slightly higher, 1.55v, mine is now set to about 1.65v and is doing 190 x 12... it used to be set to 12.5 x 190, but for some stupid reason, it dont want to know anymore... but i had to set that to 1.725v which is what you said a limit would be at.. oh well, its only pocket change at the end of the day
well i have tried lower multiplers and higher fsb's, but i still get the same problems, it just dont work.. my board wont do 200fsb, either or the epoxs will, they just dont want to know.. (although i will try the newer model at some point today and i will post again and let you know)
well i have bought three of these things now and i still have three in fully working order, so i cant be doing to bad!
i will test the three boards with the cosair memory (just one dimm in each) and see where and what it can or cant do.. thanks for the help..

[airspirit]

Try raising the voltage on your VDIMM. That may help. If you still can't hit 200FSB then you know it is either your memory or your board. What you do to test is pull the memory out and test it on another board and see if you can do better. If not, it would indicate that your memory isn't up to snuff. Since you are running Corsair XMS (IIRC) you can return it for a no cost replacement. They guarantee their memory's performance and their customer service is without peer.

[phill9700]

not sure how to feel about all the testing that i had done today, 3 pages of A4 to say what can do what and what something cant do, its been a good learning curve i tell you!
settings for all the boards were, cpu vcore @ 1.6v, the vdimm was 2.77v (2.7v on the abit), agp was set to 1.5v and the vdd voltage on the newer epox and abit was set to 1.8v, which was standard. a stick of corsair was used from my dual channel set and then the following tests where done... ( i used pcmark 2002 and 3dmark 2001se for a quick and easy stablity test..)
heres what i found...

my epox 8rda+
worked at 8x133, 8x166, failed at 8x200 (with the corsair memory set to cas 2 2-2-6 at a 2.77V, even on the last test at 2.9vdimm it still didnt want to know)
the highest STABLE fsb i could get from the board is what i have it set to.. 190... and it was able to do this up to a 12 multiplier, used to get to 12.5 but dont want to know now! gutted

my girl friends epox 8rda3+
worked at 8x133, 8x166, 8x200, 8x205, 8x210, 8x215, 8x220 and went all the way to 8x222 with a little voltage kick up to 2.90V... (all at the same settings as my board..)
i would say 220 was the stablist without upping the voltage to much..

my girl friends sons abit nf7-s
worked at 8x133, 8x166, 8x200, 8x205, 8x210, 8x215, 8x220, 8x225 but anything higher even with the voltage up to 2.9V it just didnt want to know.. so again, i would have set it to 220 for stablity...

im happy to say i hit a good fsb on the newer epox and the abit boards, they couldnt clock well PAST using a 10x multiplier with a fsb setting at 200..
for example, my girl friends epox board was able to go to 222, but wouldnt boot into windows without crashing at 11.5 x 200.. it just didnt want to know. same thing was apparent with the abit nf7-s as well..
now what could this be? i have tested the speeds and so on, so what could be the next plan of action? because some of the cpus wont do past what they did do.. for example my 8rda+ would do 12.5x190 but now only does 12x190, why could that be?
i would have liked to hit 2.2ghz on all boards, but they just didnt want to know..
i tried various settings like 215x10.5, 206x11 (which worked with the cpu in the abit board with my FIRST epox 8rda+ board.. not now tho!!), 210x10.5..
now i have thought it would be the cpus 'fault' if you like, but its still very annoying.. voltages used on the above tests, was 1.7vcore and 2.9 vdimm..
but still, very good overclocks all round really.. cant argue with that, esp when they are only £45!! im not going to be using more than a 1.650v on my girl friends and her sons pc, but i will go to about 1.7vcore on my pc, if i can get a bit more speed, but if its only a little, im not going to worry about it and it will be clocked down..
what would be your sugguestions?
if you require anything further, please ask, im sorry if theres to much information there, but its been a long day with these things!!

[airspirit]

Okay, then! You know it is your chip holding your back. Try a different chip and see if you can get better results.

[phill9700]

well when i get some spare cash and they get some in where i buy them from i might just do that!! what would you recommend me to run the cpus at to get the best from then now then?

[airspirit]

On the "U" chips, just use common practices on them. On the "L" chips, don't go over 1.725V for any reason! That's about all I have to say about that ....

[phill9700]

on the 'u' chips? im running my epox 8rda+ at the moment at 190 x 12 @ 1.6v and the memory is at 2.63v set to cas 2 2-2-6 but for some reason windows 98 dont want to load up.. worked fine yesterday!! stupid computer!!
whats the limit on the 'u' chip? whats the best for overclocking tho? the u's or the l's????
thank you so much for helping me out here!! youve been great

[airspirit]

The "L" chips OC better than the "U" chips, but can not handle as much voltage. The "U" chips seem to be a little more reliable, longevity-wise.

[phill9700]

cool..!
thanks for all the help with this, its been great!
i only wish my pc was up to stratch with the overclocking!!
i was aiming for 12.5 x 200, but i think thats miles off for me..
im trying to run windows 98 for a certain few games, but for some reason, i cant test out the 'speed' through a couple benchmarks, it always keeps crashing, it just goes to the desktop rather than locking up the machine... have you any ideas? i have tried more voltage on cpu/memory and its not made any difference.. plus i cant get my geforce 2 gts card to work with 98, but it works fine with xp.. any ideas?