Underclocked cpu?

[ric1287]

so i have an older shuttle system (Socket A, nf2) with a 2500+ barton. I am trying to make it into my media center pc, but its ungodly slow. When it boots, it says its clocked at 1.1ghz, when it should be 1.83!!??

I have "overclocked" it, but the system just crashes. I don't know what else to do. any ideas?

 

[henryay]

That CPU could have the thing where it slows your CPU frequency to save power. I'm not sure if it was introduced when the Bartons were released. A nice re-format would help alot.

 

[Ruptga]

Yes, check for Cool n Quiet, that's what that throttling thing is called.

Turn the computer on and do something like encode an MP3, then check the frequency, it should be at 1.83G, if not then your problem is something else.

 

[SpeedEng66]

find out what is the fsb and ratio

It could be a few things
not the right fsb (jumper?)
cool and quiet
bios update

 

[Roguestar]

Reset or update the BIOS.

 

[Budman]

Your cpu has a ratio of 11x , looks like you're at a FSB of 100mhz, just go in your bios and set your fsb to the proper 166mhz for a 2500+ barton and you'll be back at normal speed.

 

[soccerballtux]

Damn people don't reply if you don't know what you're talking about. I'm referring to those that mentioned Cool 'n' Quiet as being a factor in this situation. Not to mention Cool/Quiet doesn't usually adjust the FSB speed.

Haven't been frequenting ATF recently but it seems to have been overrun with kids.

 

[GlobalHPSJoe]

Yeah, the DRAM setting was commonly set too low to 100mhz. Back when Socket A was very popular, we'd get at least 2 calls a week about it.

Originally posted by: Budman
Your cpu has a ratio of 11x , looks like you're at a FSB of 100mhz, just go in your bios and set your fsb to the proper 166mhz for a 2500+ barton and you'll be back at normal speed.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
Damn people don't reply if you don't know what you're talking about. I'm referring to those that mentioned Cool 'n' Quiet as being a factor in this situation. Not to mention Cool/Quiet doesn't usually adjust the FSB speed.

Haven't been frequenting ATF recently but it seems to have been overrun with kids.

Someone slept on the sofa last night.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
Damn people don't reply if you don't know what you're talking about. I'm referring to those that mentioned Cool 'n' Quiet as being a factor in this situation. Not to mention Cool/Quiet doesn't usually adjust the FSB speed.

Haven't been frequenting ATF recently but it seems to have been overrun with kids.

Someone slept on the sofa last night.

I was about to post the same rant, thankfully it was covered. Point stands.

And Budman has the correct answer.

Regarding the "crashes when 'overclocked' bit" - it shouldn't be crashing unless you set the FSB to 200. Check the RAM speeds - they should be in sync with the FSB at 166MHz(DDR333) and make sure the heatsink is seated firmly and not clogged with dust.

- M4H

 

[ric1287]

wow, didn't think i would get any responses Well i "upped" it to 166mhz, and the bios read it as a 2500+ durring POST. But the system then crashes or locks up as soon as windows boots. And the ram is set to match with the cpu (and i doubt it is a ram issue since im using my ddr500 from my gaming rig to test.)

As far as the bios, shuttle has probably the worst documentation on the actual model of my mobo. So i have no idea what bios to install. I used one that i think was the right one, it even had a "fixed barton support" in the changes log, but it still didn't fix the problem. BAH

edit** and i got my tv tuner to work, but with a hardware decoder (wintv 1600) the cpu is at 90+% while watching live tv.

The cooling system is also shoddy. Its the ICE system used by shuttle, so i was thinking of upgrading the HSF with a little case mod to cool it better.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: ric1287
As far as the bios, shuttle has probably the worst documentation on the actual model of my mobo.

There are only 2 major possibilities that I'm aware of. If you have an nForce2 chipset, you have the SN41G2 XPC (and the FN41 motherboard). If you have an nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset, you have the SN45G XPC (and the FN45 motherboard). All you had to do to get this information was search for your XPC's model number in the downloads area of Shuttle's site.

Do note that there are 3 revisions of the SN41G2 and 2 of the SN45G.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: ric1287
As far as the bios, shuttle has probably the worst documentation on the actual model of my mobo.

There are only 2 major possibilities that I'm aware of. If you have an nForce2 chipset, you have the SN41G2 XPC (and the FN41 motherboard). If you have an nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset, you have the SN45G XPC (and the FN45 motherboard). All you had to do to get this information was search for your XPC's model number in the downloads area of Shuttle's site.

Do note that there are 3 revisions of the SN41G2 and 2 of the SN45G.

i did that, and the three versions is whats poorly worded. My board says version 3, but the v3 bios updat is 512k, and mine takes 256k. So something isnt right with it.

edit* my board physicallly reads: "FN41V3.1/FN45V2.0"
with model "FN41SP" in cpuz, nforce2 IGP

 

[ric1287]

bump

 

[ric1287]

hahaha so apparently i messed up this build verrrryyy badly back in the day.

1)the copper shim over the cpu still had the blue protective plastic on it. For 3 years it ran with that covering it, and it was melted to the copper

2) there was a 1 inch thick wall of dust in the HSF

3) the thermal grease used was poor and there wasnt enough.

so now i am running MCE and IE7 at my 2500+ speeds, and only at 35 C.

Thanks for the help guys.