RAM to FSB ratio trouble

**NoSoup4You** · 11-02-2005, 12:28 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Check the MSI support forums. Perhaps there is a BIOs flash that takes care of this issue. The only reason it may not post is there maybe another piece of hardware that refuses to work at those speeds, although I can't think of what else it may effect that would cause the no-post.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-02-2005, 01:05 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

I searched around their forums, but all I found was mainly people saying "don't change your FSB : DRAM ratio from 1:1 because it'll slow your system down" which seems a little backwards to me. If you got enough of a speed boost out of the ram, it seems like it'd more than make up for the CPU and RAM clocks being out of sync.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-02-2005, 04:01 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

I've got some new info on this. It might be helpful, or at least interesting.

Ok, so I just attempted to use MSI Live Update to flash and update my BIOS through windows, in hopes that'd fix it. No problem. I then went in and set all my settings the way I like them. Still no problem. I try to put the FSB DRAM ratio to 5:6, and it won't post. So then I tried something new. After draining the cmos and everything, I go back into the BIOS and underclock my RAM at 6:5 in favor of the FSB. No problem. It worked just fine.

Then I underbussed the whole rig down to 100mhz, instead of 200mhz which is the standard. Everything ran and it would post. Then I set the RAM to 1:1 to underclock it at 100mhz true, 200mhz effective. Just fine Then I set it to 5:6 in favor of the DRAM. No post.

Now, the last part is interesting because when I set the DRAM to a 1:1 at 100mhz, it would underclock okay. But, when I set it to 6:5 in favor of the FSB, the RAM would still only be functioning at 120 true and 240 effective. Still way underclocked, and there shouldn't have been any reason for it to crash, as I've already underclocked it that far before. I tried it with all the other settings that favored the DRAM with only a 100mhz FSB. Crash.

It seems that setting the ratio in favor of the DRAM automatically crashes my system. It's not the speed, because I can overbus to nearly the same speeds with no problem. And it's not just the fact that the FSB and DRAM are out of sync, because I can underclock it with 6:5 and 5:4 just fine.

**imported_Wasp** · 11-05-2005, 12:12 AM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Using async settings on FSB / RAM will make performance worse. I have tested that myself. On 333FSB Athlon XP's running the memory at 333 will give better performance than using the memory async at 400.

The reason you can't boot with an async setting on your 3200+ is most likely because anything above 400Mhz on the memory isn't officially supported.. I'm shure that once you upgrade to an AMD 64 system you will get more out of your ram than you do atm. AMD 64 can be clocked downwards so you can reach crazy FSB speeds with the right motherboard.

**Flanker** · 11-05-2005, 12:24 AM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

I actually have this problem, but its with a 2:3 divider where I have my HTT at 270 and my RAM at 180. Thats exactly what I'm running right now, but I set these settings in windows. If I set them in my BIOS, I won't POST.

AXPs aeren't my area of expertise. If it was an A64, then I could probably help, but I don't know how the FSB of AXPs works.

Does the AGP/PCI Bus speed lock on your motherboard? If not, that MIGHT be the problem.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-05-2005, 12:42 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Yeah, the AGP locks just fine from what I can see. Like I said, though, while using dynamic overclocking (it changes while running a program) it seems to change my GPU core and VGA RAM without altering the 66MHZ agp bus. I'll have to test this out a little more to be sure, because it seems strange that it could do that without changing the agp bus.

@ Wasp: If it were only that anything over 400mhz was unsupported, I wouldn't have a problem. But as I said before, I UNDERclocked the whole system to 100mhz fsb. I then attempted the 5:6 which would have only given me an effective clock of 240mhz on the DRAM, and it still refused to post.

You really think that the extra 100 effective mhz I'd get from the OC would be negated by the async 5:6 though?

Edited new info: Yes, the AGP locks nicely. I just set it to 218mhz FSB (max that I can do with stability, otherwise it freezes on the OS load) and checked the numbers through Everest Home Edition. 398/324 = default. When using Dynamic Overbusing (it's not "overclocking" like they say, it just raises the bus) it seems to make my AGP Core and RAM rise and fall during use. I don't like this, or the data corruption that I seem to be inviting by constantly altering the FSB like that while in use, so I think I'll just use a standard overbus from now on.

**Flanker** · 11-05-2005, 01:40 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Originally posted by Neat_Hedgehog

It's not "overclocking" like they say, it just raises the bus.

It raises the clock speed of the Bus, the Processor, and the Memory; Overclocking.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-05-2005, 03:02 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Yes, that is true. I've just generally called that kind of thing overbusing, myself, because it doesn't change the CPU multiplier or anything to up the speeds. That might not make any sense, but it helps me to tell the difference between the two methods.

Ah, heck. Looks like I won't have time to worry about whether or not I can ramp my RAM up through the roof or not. Right now I'm just having a hard enough time keeping my system running. The CPU usage hits 100% on a dime (well, a rendering of a dime I suppose, to be techy about it) and locks everything. This can even happen as the OS just begins to load.

Tried running System Restore, but it won't run. Checked my temps, and they're all good. Ran a virus scan, they came back clean. Bumped my hardware all back down to factory defaults (gak). Geeze, I hope I haven't messed up my CPU by fiddling with the FSB today. I tried put it to 220 with a slight (and should be safe) voltage up, which was unstable, so I put it back to 218. Ran searches for all the common offenders that could do this, nothing.

When I tried to boot into safe mode it told me it failed to load because of missing/broken DLLs (didn't bother to tell me which ones, though, so that's really helpful) and wouldn't do it. Maybe when I made the CPU unstable it fubar'd my OS. Got it running scan disk now, though, so I might know a little more about it soon.

**imported_Wasp** · 11-05-2005, 07:24 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

MSI nforce2 boards can be very uncooperative when you overclock. I know that first hand as I have clocked many AMD XP boards. I think your main problem is that you have to go above 200Mhz FSB which stresses the chipset. I recommend that you try increasing memory timings and also the voltage of the NB chip if your BIOS will let you do that. Usually Corsair with 5-2-2 CL2 timings will work with those settings up until the speed at which you have encountered problems now. You could try 6-3-3 CL2 or 6-3-3 CL 2.5. You should be able to increase NB voltage to 1.6 or 1.7V.

In my experience using async settings will reduce performance and hurt your overclock. I used 3DMark01 SE to test the difference.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-05-2005, 08:06 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Yeah, in order to get up to 436 (218 real) I had to back off the 2-3-3-7 (I might go back to 6) as 2-2-2-5 gave out back at 210mhz. I can't find any place where I could raise the NB voltage. I guess this is what I get for buying a board back when I was a hardware n00b. :laugh:

Gah, and I just installed XP over my current install hoping to repair whatever was wrong with it. It still hits 100% CPU usage all the time. Maybe I've got a virus or something. With all the security I've got that's about the last thing I'd expect, though.

huh... weird. It's stopped doing it. I guess I fixed it. Now if I could just remember what the heck I did, because reinstalling XP didn't seem to fix it, but maybe it did. I dunno. This has to be one of the weirdest things I've had to go through with a computer.

**Flanker** · 11-05-2005, 09:57 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

Your CPU usage might go up because of a Windows Bug. Explorer.exe suddenly takes up 100% of your CPU usage, for no apparent reason. You need to go into the Task Manager and disable it and then make it run again.

Just a theory.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-05-2005, 10:24 PM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

No, I checked the task manager. Nothing was taking up any absurd ammount of resources. Not until I ran a program, anyway. Then whatever program was active would hit 100% and choke the system. I think it had something to do with XP being broken some how. System restore wouldn't work, and neither would safe mode. Now that I've installed over XP it works fine. Strange.

**imported_Wasp** · 11-06-2005, 01:43 AM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

On newer MSI boards some BIOS settings are hidden. It's a longshot but maybe it's the same with yours.. You need a key combo to make them visible. If not maybe you should try 7-3-3 CAS 2.5 to see if that gets you any higher. It's worth a try.

**Neat_Hedgehog** · 11-06-2005, 11:16 AM

Re: RAM to FSB ratio trouble

The only trouble with that is my CPU seems to hit the roof at 2.4ghz. I've bumped my CPU voltage up a bit which helped a little, but it didn't stop the problems altogether. I thought that maybe if I put the voltage up higher, it might fix it, but that'd be getting a little too high for me to be comfortable with it. I don't know why it should bother me, it's not like I have heat trouble. Runs at 42c even when OCed and under full load.

I'll look into finding the NB on my board again. Might be able to dig something up this time.

RAM to FSB ratio trouble

RAM to FSB ratio trouble

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