K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

[pentium]

I was poking around and I noted that there seems to be some underclocking going on inside my board.
When I do get the luck to get the system to POST and windows is running I can see that for some strange reason my athlon 3000+ is not running at it's rates 2ghz but at a slower 1.2ghz. Temp readings report the average temp to between 48 and 53 degrees celcius and that's with the case open, fresh heatsink paste and clean surfaces not to mention a good fan running at 1800 RPM.
clearing the CMOS does not return the lost speed and the board has no signs at all that it has beed modified. The board is compatible right up to the athlon 3200+ chips, what the hell is going on? Traces? PSU troubles(Thermaltake 450W)?

[shadow]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

Just wondering if this is the same CPU that you sold not too long ago.

Anyway there are several things you can check. The problem seems to be that the FSB is set too low. I have checked the web for the specifications and that CPU is supposed to be running at 166Mhz FSB and the multiplier is locked at 13.0 (This gives a actual speed of 2.16Ghz). With a FSB of 100Mhz, the speed would be around 1.3Ghz, something close to what you are experienceing. I presumed that it is a socket A CPU since the motherboard support goes upto the Athlon 3200 (The last of the Athlon XP's).

As you have already checked, clearing the bios can help. Some older motherboards (not always that old) have jumpers or DIP switches controlling the FSB. If this is set to not be automatic and is set at a lower value than required for that CPU, then the speed will be reduced. If it is playing up on the automatic setting, with the DIP switches you can forcefully set it on the correct FSB.

I have had such an issue when I first got my motherboard and a bios update fixed everything. That is another strong possibility.

Another thing that tends to play around with the FSB is memory, particularly the speed of the memory used. Maybe you can try using different RAM?

Hopefully this helps you out.

[pentium]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

Just wondering if this is the same CPU that you sold not too long ago.

Nope. I had two of them and I wanted to keep one for my system.
Come to think of it, I think the system is running at 133 mhz and the ram is 266. I'm going to replace the ram soon anyways (I only have two 128 mb DDR sticks...I really want one gig). This system is virtually jumperless and forget using different sticks of ram. These are the only DDR sticks I own. Everything is SDRAM or older.

[bgavin]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

I have this same board in my primary workstation, with a Sempron 2600 installed.

CPUZ shows CPU Core at 2.0 MHz, FSB at 200 but rated to 400, Memory bus at 200, two sticks of PC-3200 Crucial in place to utilize the dual memory controller. I have an Alpha PAL massive heatsink installed, the type with the assembled frame underneath the cam box. The HSF fan is an 80mm Panaflo 12U ultra speed, in Suck mode.

Motherboard Monitor shows 31C and 35C for temps (case, cpu).

[pentium]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

Why the hell am I 20 degrees hotter?

[pentium]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

DAMNIT!
I was doing work behind the case and I accidentally pulled the cord.
She's failing to POST AGAIN!
The hell with it. I'm going to have to find another replacement board!

[WNG]

Re: K7N2 Delta2 doing some strange things.

Thermaltake PSU....

Ummmm, maybe it's the psu. Thermaltake's psu's are known for all bling, no performance.
"Where's the beef?!?" comes to mind.


If your system is heavily loaded down, maybe it's the psu.

I had a Athlon XP-2100 Palomino, ECS VIA motherboard, and a Thermaltake Toughpower 350W.

It all benchtested fine and loaded XP on my desktop barebones.
But once assembled, it would BSOD constantly.
The Palomino pulled 75W!!
Pulling it and swapping in a T'bred made it more stable, but still crashed now and then.
I assumed the motherboard was poor quality and sold it as is.
The Palomino went into another Socket A board, and I swapped in the Toughpower 350W. It was the only psu I had with enough wattage.
It crashed, whereas it used to be very stable running a T'bird.
I sold off the Palomino too.
I never got a callback on either. They both run happily.
I am left with the POS PSU.
Since I got it, I noticed it runs quite hot. Fans spin at a max of 1700 rpms for low noise.
I am left to conclude the rating is bogus. I'm letting it run a 1.2 GHz Athlon now.
So far it's stable, as it was when powered by a 250W Powerman with bad caps.
:P
Imagine that, as good as a FSP psu with blown caps. No more Thermaltake anything for me.