1. Introduction
My PC consists of mainboard ECS K7AMA, Duron 750, DDR SDRAM PC2100, TNT2 Vanta AGP2x, and Internal PCI modem.
ECS K7AMA has 2DDR + 2DIMM, 1 AMR, 1 AGP and 4 PCI slots.
2. Non-overclocking Mainboard
ECS K7AMA uses AliMagik1 chipset (A1647 + A1535D). ECS says A1645, but actually it is A1647. This mainboard is same as PC100 M817LMR. Or we may say that it is the same mainboard.
ECS K7AMA provides JP2A/B/C on the board for bus frequency selection. But, JP2B and C are locked from factory. So, only JP2A is selectable for 100 or 133 MHz system bus.
ECS K7AMA uses AMI BIOS. Unluckily, I lost the original BIOS when I first flashing my board without saving. Manual shows like the ECS intended to allow overclocking by adjusting bus frequency in the beginning, but actually everything are fixed by default. I could not adjust frequency or multiplier at all.
As I say, ECS K7AMA and PC100 M817LMR are the same. So, I uses M817LMR’s 010403s.rom downloaded from PCChips for my board. But, with 010403s.rom the BIOS allows changing multiplier while other following versions do not allow this. However, I unlocked L1 on my Duron but I could not change CPU speed by adjusting multiplier. This may depend on my unlocking method.
3. Using ECS K7AMA with AMD Duron 750 and DDR SDRAM PC2100 But Like PC1600
ECS K7AMA is non-overclocking mainboard. It allows only selecting 100 or 133 MHz by jumper when 100 or 133 MHz CPU is used. But, the ugliest design is when using 100 MHz CPU, RAM will also run at 100 MHz. This means SDRAM PC133 will work like PC100, and DDR SDRAM PC2100 will work like PC1600.
I really want to improve memory performance while use Duron because I think it is not reasonable to use PC2100 like PC1600.
4. Overclock by Iwill’s KA266 BIOS, Performance Improved But Cannot Use Modem
I searched the board using AliMagik1 chipset from Acer Lab’s website, and found Iwill’s KA266 and KA266-R, Transcend’s TS-ALR4, MSI’s MS6375 or K7T Pro, PCChips’s M817LMR, and some other. But, after trial flashing with all BIOSes I find out the best BIOS for overclocking my K7AMA. It is Iwill’s KA266, BIOS file version name ka0423a.bin.
I flashed it to my board with AMI82713.exe. I can overclock my Duron 750 by adjusting bus frequency to 110, 120 or even 126 MHz, and my Duron runs at 825, 900 and 945 MHz respectively. I run it at 900 MHz for a whole day, and it works very well. Not only CPU benchmark is improved, memory benchmark is also improved but still lower than bench mark given in SiSoft Sandra because memory frequency is at 120 MHz only.
But, when I tried to log on to the ISP via internal PCI modem it did not work. It could not find the modem. However, I will try with external modem later.
5. Return to K7AMA BIOS, But Overclocked Bus Frequency Still
When I failed to use the modem, I return the old BIOS to my board. I found that the last bus frequency (120 MHz) is still. This could be happen only if I flash and reboot the system without shutdown or unplug the PC. I proved this by repeat flashing with KA266’s ka0423a.bin and then M817LMR’s 010403s.rom many time.
I could not explain this occurrence because I am not a BIOS Engineer. But, I often use this procedure when I need to overclock my Duron.
6. Do You Have Solution?
If someone want to overclock K7AMA, they may try. But, I would like to ask if you have solution for these problems.
1. How can I use PCI modem with Iwill’s KA266 BIOS on this K7AMA mainboard?
2. How can I modify M817LMR BIOS 010403s.rom to allow bus frequency adjustment?
PattanaP
My PC consists of mainboard ECS K7AMA, Duron 750, DDR SDRAM PC2100, TNT2 Vanta AGP2x, and Internal PCI modem.
ECS K7AMA has 2DDR + 2DIMM, 1 AMR, 1 AGP and 4 PCI slots.
2. Non-overclocking Mainboard
ECS K7AMA uses AliMagik1 chipset (A1647 + A1535D). ECS says A1645, but actually it is A1647. This mainboard is same as PC100 M817LMR. Or we may say that it is the same mainboard.
ECS K7AMA provides JP2A/B/C on the board for bus frequency selection. But, JP2B and C are locked from factory. So, only JP2A is selectable for 100 or 133 MHz system bus.
ECS K7AMA uses AMI BIOS. Unluckily, I lost the original BIOS when I first flashing my board without saving. Manual shows like the ECS intended to allow overclocking by adjusting bus frequency in the beginning, but actually everything are fixed by default. I could not adjust frequency or multiplier at all.
As I say, ECS K7AMA and PC100 M817LMR are the same. So, I uses M817LMR’s 010403s.rom downloaded from PCChips for my board. But, with 010403s.rom the BIOS allows changing multiplier while other following versions do not allow this. However, I unlocked L1 on my Duron but I could not change CPU speed by adjusting multiplier. This may depend on my unlocking method.
3. Using ECS K7AMA with AMD Duron 750 and DDR SDRAM PC2100 But Like PC1600
ECS K7AMA is non-overclocking mainboard. It allows only selecting 100 or 133 MHz by jumper when 100 or 133 MHz CPU is used. But, the ugliest design is when using 100 MHz CPU, RAM will also run at 100 MHz. This means SDRAM PC133 will work like PC100, and DDR SDRAM PC2100 will work like PC1600.
I really want to improve memory performance while use Duron because I think it is not reasonable to use PC2100 like PC1600.
4. Overclock by Iwill’s KA266 BIOS, Performance Improved But Cannot Use Modem
I searched the board using AliMagik1 chipset from Acer Lab’s website, and found Iwill’s KA266 and KA266-R, Transcend’s TS-ALR4, MSI’s MS6375 or K7T Pro, PCChips’s M817LMR, and some other. But, after trial flashing with all BIOSes I find out the best BIOS for overclocking my K7AMA. It is Iwill’s KA266, BIOS file version name ka0423a.bin.
I flashed it to my board with AMI82713.exe. I can overclock my Duron 750 by adjusting bus frequency to 110, 120 or even 126 MHz, and my Duron runs at 825, 900 and 945 MHz respectively. I run it at 900 MHz for a whole day, and it works very well. Not only CPU benchmark is improved, memory benchmark is also improved but still lower than bench mark given in SiSoft Sandra because memory frequency is at 120 MHz only.
But, when I tried to log on to the ISP via internal PCI modem it did not work. It could not find the modem. However, I will try with external modem later.
5. Return to K7AMA BIOS, But Overclocked Bus Frequency Still
When I failed to use the modem, I return the old BIOS to my board. I found that the last bus frequency (120 MHz) is still. This could be happen only if I flash and reboot the system without shutdown or unplug the PC. I proved this by repeat flashing with KA266’s ka0423a.bin and then M817LMR’s 010403s.rom many time.
I could not explain this occurrence because I am not a BIOS Engineer. But, I often use this procedure when I need to overclock my Duron.
6. Do You Have Solution?
If someone want to overclock K7AMA, they may try. But, I would like to ask if you have solution for these problems.
1. How can I use PCI modem with Iwill’s KA266 BIOS on this K7AMA mainboard?
2. How can I modify M817LMR BIOS 010403s.rom to allow bus frequency adjustment?
PattanaP
.
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