AMD T-BIRD 1.2??

[Guest]

Hello,
I just purchased a motherboard kit - ECS K7S5A with an AMD T-BIRD 1.2GHz and a coolmaster heatsink/fan. When I boot up the motherboard, it says AMD 900MHz. I want to take the fan off to see the chip, but the company sent a flyer that says if the fan is removed from the cpu, it will break the heatsink seal and void the warranty. Is there any reason that it would report 900MHz for a 1.2? Or is it simply the wrong cpu?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Kelledin]

Your FSB is probably set for 100MHz--in which case the CPU multiplier will leave the CPU running at 900MHz. Put the same multiplier against a 133MHz FSB, and you should get 1.2GHz.

This will either be a soft setting in the BIOS, or a hard setting via DIP switches or jumpers on the motherboard.

Kelledin
[dave@discovery ~] kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[digital_trucker]

I have the same CPU. It's probably in the BIOS settings. If the BIOS is set at 100FSB/9xmultiplier, the POST screen will read Athlon 900Mhz. Try tweaking the FSB to 133, this will give you 1.2 Ghz (FSB x multiplier = chip speed). You might even be able to change your multiplier (if your BIOS supports it) to 10x. This will give you 1.333 Ghz. That's the speed I have mine running at with an MSI K7T266a Pro2-RU board and a stock HSF. Just be sure to check your temps!

btw, what RAM are you using?

Wabbit season! Duck season! AMD season! INTEL season!
Hmmmph--whatever...

 

[Guest]

Thanks! It was 100, switching to 133 in the bios did the trick. I'm using 2 128mb dimms now, but want to buy 2 256 DDR266s.

 

[Kelledin]

l33t! If you plan to upgrade your memory, now would be the best time to get it--DDR memory prices are rising and will probably not drop anytime soon.

I'd suggest Crucial for best value, Corsair for best quality.

Kelledin
[dave@discovery ~] kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[digital_trucker]

I don't have any experience with Corsair, but I give Crucial top marks! I ordered new memory this past monday morning, and had it in my hand through FedEx tuesday afternoon-with FREE shipping! The memory has performed flawlessly.

btw, are you thinking about overclocking? Like I said, I'm running that same processor at 133 with a 10x multiplier (giving me 1.333Ghz) and a stock HSF. My temp still stays at or below 50C under full load - perfectly stable.

Martin, Michigan (girlfriend's house)

 

[tlaughrey]

Corsair is awesome stuff ... I have some of the PC2400 CAS2 kind, and it's rock solid. I run it on my Shuttle AK-31 at the most aggressive settings without any trouble. I read that Shuttle uses aggressive memory timings on their boards and that a lot of memory has trouble with it, so I'm pretty happy with my Corsair.

<i>Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.</i>

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice (everyone), I will look into Crucial. I don't think I'm going to overclock.

 

[Guest]

You dont have the motherboard to overclock anyway... No mulitplier adjustments, just very limited fsb overclock if you use the special overclockers bios. I tried that one, but even with a 150 fsb, it seems to give me IDE controller errors. Other than that, Im glad to see im not the only that got a working ECS board. You see Mat ? It does work sometimes you know.. just need a bit of luck ;-)

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[Guest]

Yeah but the board working and the board being reliable are two different things entirely. I have NEVER so much trouble with a motherboard in my life, and just because it's cheap dosn't give it the right to be unreliable or a pain in backside to setup and so picky about parts it can cost it's own value again getting a decent enough PSU and ram to work with it.



Your nice new PC might be faster then my 286, but my 286 makes a better door stop

 

[Guest]

>I have NEVER so much trouble with a motherboard in my life

>it can cost it's own value again getting a decent enough
>PSU and ram to work with it.

Well.. it worked right away, without issues, with my low cost Apacer DDR. And a decent PSU is something you want anyway, regardless of the quality of the motherboard.

As for being "reliable".. in these few months, I have yet to see a BSOD. This board is at least as stable as my venerable BX.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[Matisaro]

I got 4 doa ecs boards and got layed off all in the same month, my luck must suck ;-).

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!