Poor memory performance with P4B533-E

[mlaine]

Hi!

I'm having trouble getting satisfactory memory performance with my setup:

Intel Pentium 4 2.26 GHz/533FSB, Asus P4B533-E (BIOS 1004), Intel stock cooler, 2x256 MB Kingmax DDR400 DIMM, Enermax EGP-465VE 431W, PNY Verto GF4 Ti4600, SB Audigy Platinum EX, Intel PRO/100 S NIC.

I'm using the "dipswitch 6 trick" to get 3:4 FSB/memory ratio on my mobo. However when I activate the 3:4 ratio (1:1 setting in BIOS) the system is really unstable even with default 133 MHz FSB (can't even boot to Windows XP). The memory is supposed to do 200 MHz @ CAS 2.5-3-3 so the memory speed of 177 MHz yielded by 133 MHz FSB should be no problem. I've tried to run memory at default voltage and up to 2.9V and relaxed CAS 2.5-3-3-7 settings but nothing seems to help.

The processor is now running at 160 FSB (2.720 GHz) with 1:1 ratio and CAS 2-3-3-5 (SPD setting). I'm quite satisified with this but would rather run the system with lower FSB and greater memory speed. Is the memory crap or is there something else that could be holding it back? I do not know any resellers here in Finland with Crucial/Corsair/Mushkin memory and the Kingmax was the only non-generic memory brand I found above PC-2100.

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[THUGSROOK]

missery loves company

looks like its a boards specific bug @ 133+fsb.
his scores are nowhere near mine on a regular P4B533 @ 133fsb 3:4.

we were thinking it was his XMS3200, but obviously not :disgust:

 

[Mikki]

Well look at that. That's damn odd. I wonder what the deal is with that? Don't matter too much cause I'll never run at 133fsb, but it's still curious. Thanks mlaine for confirming that, any other -E owners want to confirm?

 

[mlaine]

Well, it seems I'm not alone with memory problems. Hopefully this is fixable by BIOS update and is not hardware related. There's a 1007.12 beta BIOS at ftp.asuscom.de but I don't feel too comfortable flashing to beta...

 

[THUGSROOK]

please post here - at the bottom of this thread

 

[Mikki]

I used 1007e.006 bios for a while, didn't notice any problems. I have to update the 1004 bios in order to overclock my 1.6a higher than 2.4g.

 

[NanoMem]

Originally posted by: mlaine
Well, it seems I'm not alone with memory problems. Hopefully this is fixable by BIOS update and is not hardware related. There's a 1007.12 beta BIOS at ftp.asuscom.de but I don't feel too comfortable flashing to beta...

Hey Mlaine, just curious, can you tell us what the other 5 DSW1 settings are i.e. 1 through 5? I suspect your and other's board instability might have something to do with default settings for the other five dipswitches and their inherent AGP/PCI bus clocks. I know my question might sound dumb to you as you're not using "Jumper Mode" but what the heck; the whole thing about this 3:4 thing is nuts!!!

FYI, the guy who discovered the trick had his working for him on exactly the same board as yours with the most recent BIOS rev. However I do recall him stating something about having to tweak the AGP/PCI in the CMOS. Moving DSW1 settings around does have an impact on AGP/PCI clocks but only confirmed and documented by Asus under ?Jumper Mode? (make sure to scroll down to read the table).

Peace

 

[mlaine]

Thans for the info guys! I'm replying to the thread pointed by Thugsrook after I understand what exactly is going on and how it relates to my situation... (Nanomem: my dip switches from 1 to 5 are all off).