AK79D-1394/AMD XP 2500+ CPU ratio chances

[Hulsbergen]

My new PC doesn't exactly run like it should. Having little experience with tweaking the settings I thought I'd leave the random freezing issue to be resolved later and start with something that seemed easier: getting the CPU to run at it's actual speed.
The motherboards' manual contained a table, telling me that EV6 Bus Clock should be 266 MHz and CPU Ratio should be 15.5x. I managed to set the Bus Clock speed to 266 MHz by setting the FSB to 133MHz, but can't seem to change the CPU Ratio from 11.0x to 15.5x.

So my question is this: how do I change the CPU Ratio? This forum post tells me it can't be done within the BIOS, so does that mean I need to change some jumper settings somewhere? If so, how do I find out what to change and is it safe to do for an unexperienced computer tweaker.
Note that I just want it to run at normal, safe speeds.

I have the following computer:
AOpen AK79d-1394
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Model 8)
2x 512 MB PC2700
Western Digital 80 GB 7200 rpm 2 MB
Geforce 4 Ti4200 64 MB
Lite-On 48x24x48x
Toshiba DVD 16x48x

With the following relevant (and undoubtadly irrelavant) software:
Windows XP professional SP1
BIOS version 1.01
NForce 2.03
Detonator 44.03
DirectX 9.0a

I am aware that a newer version of the BIOS exists, but several negative experiences like this one make me hesistant to update. I doubt it'll fix this specific problem anyway.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated,

Rolf Hulsbergen

[edit]
Perhaps also useful, the BIOS frequency and voltage information. Green is adjustable.

CPU frequency detected 133 x 11.00 =  1,46 GHz
CPU Bus frequency      133 x 11.00 =  1.46 GHz
AGP Bus frequency      133 /  2.02 = 66.67 MHz
PCI Bus frequency      133 /  4.03 = 33.30 MHz
DRAM Bus frequency     133 x  auto = DDR333
FSB spread spectrum OFF
AGP spread spectrum OFF

CPU voltage default 1.650 V
CPU voltage setting 1.650 V
AGP voltage setting 1.53  V
DDR voltage setting 2.50  V

[/edit]

[Hulsbergen]

*tap* *tap*

This thing still on?

Well, let's assume it is.


The overwhelming lack of responses led me to believe there must be something wrong.
Did I post in the wrong forum?
Did no-one care to decipher my incohesive ramblings?
Is the problem so difficult no-one can answer it?
Did I piss people off with the style of the post?

Anyway, let's elaborate a bit:
Since the last post I've updated the bios to 1.03 and that sure made a difference. CPU ratio can now be changed, but only up to 12.5x rather then the 15.5x I'm aiming for. Also the stability issues I mentioned briefly in my former post now seem to be gone entirely
I've still got some uncertainties as to what I should set the CPU external bus clock to. I've currently got it set to 133, which seems to be the proper setting for my CPU. This means the CPU isn't running at it's full potential, since it's only at 1.66 GHz right now, not 2.06 GHz. It also means the RAM (DDR 333) is out of sync, right?

So can I safely up it to 166 to get to the proper speed (2.08 GHz) and get the RAM in sync (if it currently is out of sync) or should I leave it at the stock 133?
If I decide to leave it at 133, should I manually set my RAM to 266? And would there be any (safe) way of upping the ratio to 15.5x?

Thanks for your time,

Rolf Hulsbergen

Current frequency settings:

CPU frequency detected 133 x 11.00 =  1,46 GHz
CPU Bus frequency      133 x 12.50 =  1.66 GHz
AGP Bus frequency      133 /  2.02 = 66.67 MHz
PCI Bus frequency      133 /  4.03 = 33.30 MHz
DRAM Bus frequency     133 x  auto = DDR333
FSB spread spectrum OFF
AGP spread spectrum OFF

CPU voltage default 1.650 V
CPU voltage setting 1.650 V
AGP voltage setting 1.53  V
DDR voltage setting 2.50  V

[Bruneau]

First of all... the proper fsb setting is the highest attainable. Don't worry what it is says on the cpu. Worry about what it says on the RAM> PC2700 may hit 200fsb in some brands. Another thing needed for the higher fsb is the vdd. (chipset voltage). It needs to be over 1.6v.

It looks like your stuck w/ 12.5x so... start out about 12.5x 175. See if it boots w/ out any core voltage increase? Then begin moving it up about 5fsb mhz at a time slowing raising the core voltage for stablility.

I think there's a chip mod for higher multipliers.

[cyclist110]

The athlon xp 2500 multiplier is 11x. Your cpu fsb should be 166mhz. This will give you the 1.83ghz that the 2500 should run at. Don't try to multiply it by 15! unless you have water cooling etc.
Don't know your mb but mine allows fsb, clock x, mem speed etc. adjustments.

Good luck.

C.

Xp2500 barton (fsb 360, 11.5x)
Epox 8rda
2x256 Micron pc3200
Slk 7 heatsink
Radeon 9100 128ddr
Maxtor 20gig
Ibm 46gig

[Omardeth]

cyclist is correct the cpu ratio is 11 but the fsb is supose to be 166 for the correct setting on the cpu . if you want to overclock then what bruneau says is correct . but if you want to clock it to its default factory settings cyclist is correct .

[Bruneau]

I think it's quite obvious that he wants to OC.

[Hulsbergen]

Nope, I was trying to get it to run at the stock speed. Stability on the short and long run are more important to me then a speed increase, at least at this moment where my computer can handle everthing I run without trouble.

The mobo defaulted to 100x11, and it's manual stated I needed 133x15.5. Changing it to 166x11 as suggested by cyclist110 was the way to go (the CPU was finaly detected as a 2500 cpu), but with that setting the temperature after only 15 minutes of running at full load already went up to 52 C. That's bad, right?
Perhaps the fans aren't set-up right or there's some other cooling problem. I'll look into it later and leave it at 133x11 until then, which seems to generate acceptable temperatures.

Anyway, thanks all for helping me determine the right settings for my frequencies.

[Bruneau]

Those temps aren't bad at all.

[cyclist110]

Mine was running in the low 50s during normal ops and high 50s under load (CPU BurnIn), I just installed an SLK 7 heatsink with 80mm evercool fan, it now seems to be running around 43, 52 after 1 hour of BurnIn.
Just don't let it get above 65!

C.

[Bruneau]

Test it w/ Prime 95.

BTW, my 2100 runs 2340 actual mhz stable as a rock. The only time I've seen it get over 60C is gaming.