Clock ratio on Phenom II BE CPU blocked

[digifred]

I'm not an expert and I agree with you but if Gigabyte gives such answers I doubt they will take the time to test this even if I'm willing to send my hardware.
About the memory part, I've looked long enough for the setting that allows for the memory divider. There is a DDRII memory controller but it affects only the northbridge speed as far as I can see.

[Lsdmeasap]

Well, am I right?   I mean, you can't adjust the CPU multi, and reboot to the BIOS and see it changed there can you?  If not, then see I'd have to be correct, windows version or OS type does not even apply to the issue at hand if you can't change the multi outside of windows in the BIOS only.

I just checked your manual, and I see the memory multiplier option!   It's here, you need to set timing mode to manual, then it looks like you can choose pre-determined memory speeds.

[digifred]

Maybe I wasn't clear before but I can change the multi, reboot and still see it's value I chose previously. I just can't get in Windows. Sorry if that was unclear.
I went back to the BIOS but could not find the Timing Mode option. All I have and I wrote them down in order: CPU frequency/ PCIE Clock/ CPU Clock Ratio/ Memory Controller and than a few other options to set the voltages. So this is strange.
Right now I'm going to reboot again and confirm I can change the cpu multi reboot to BIOS and check again.

[digifred]

I can confirm the BIOS stays at it's value.

I decided to install the latest drivers for the motherboard and I unplugged everything not essential like extra hdd, cdroms and sound card (even the floppy). I disabled in the BIOS what was not needed to run the computer. I still haven't been lucky. I can't imagine any reason this is not working the way it's supposed to.

[Lsdmeasap]

Ahh OK, thanks for the clarification!  Then yes, what they mentioned about Windows 7 might be the main issue then!   Try this with a test install of windows XP and see if you can get into windows then!

As for the BIOS memory settings, sorry I didn't think to mention, they might be hidden since this is an older board.   Please go to the BIOS and on the MAIN page of the BIOS press control + F1 and the screen will flash, then go into the MIT section and see if you then see the settings shown above.

[digifred]

I tried Ctrl + F1 in the main windows but all it does is bring the Help menu.
If I could access the memory control settings I might not even need the clock ratio option.

I have an old version of XP lying around. I can try installing it next to W7 and see if it boots. Just give me some time.

[Lsdmeasap]

You tried pressing control + f1 at the same time, on the main / first / front page of the BIOS?

Are you using BIOS FJI?  I just checked that BIOS and those settings aren't even be hidden, can you show me an image of your BIOS, thanks!

See, the BIOS does look different than what the older manual design shows, but you should have "Memory Controller Freq" option, with many avilable multipliers (Those values may be based per CPU though)



Maybe there is something wrong with the board?   You have done an extended clear CMOS before correct?  And loaded optimized defaults of course too right?

[digifred]

Yes I pressed them both at the main BIOS page.

I will take some pics of the Main BIOS and MIT Window for you.

I do have the Memory Controller Frequency but it doesn't affect the memory speed in Windows. Although the Northbridge speed seems to be affected.

I did clear the CMOS before and yes I have loaded the optimized settings.

Could this be OS related also?

[digifred]

I have some good news. Pressing the Ctrl + F1 did do something only it wasn't in the MIT section but in a different tab. I have now the advanced chipset feature available in which I can change the memory speed although not that many options to choose from.
Took also a bunch of pictures:

[digifred]

Some more:

[digifred]

Here are the new options available.

I think this will help me get started.

The CPU - HT NB speed is something I need to see what it affects.

I will leave the memory timings on auto as I think this is a bit out of my league.

[Lsdmeasap]

Ohh, nice to see you found that!   Sorry, I wasn't aware it would appear in a different section outside of the MIT page!

So, nice, you can now set your memory speed!   When you get time, test out the CPU multi option booting with XP instead of Vista/Win7 and see if that was the cause of that problem.

[digifred]

No problem.

I'll keep you updated on my oc results.

Again, thank you for all your efforts and time spent trying to figure this out with me. It's very nice.

[digifred]

I installed XP this morning and changed the mulitpler to x16 (native). Guess what, same problem again. XP gets to the loading screen and than everything is blank and I had to shut down the system through the PSU. So you were right, it's not OS related or at least not W7 related.

I've been pushing the cpu for the rest and I'm getting some errors in Prime95 mostly on blend tests. I did the research and I'll be experimenting with core voltages and fsb speed limit. My temps are good but volts seem to go high, around the 1.5+ barrier. I read the general limit for this cpu is around 1.55v. I'll see how it goes.

[Lsdmeasap]

You're welcome, I'm always happy to help when I can!

Cool to see you tested XP, I didn't think the OS would have much to do with it.   Although, since you say it changes and that change is reflected in the BIOS on reboot, are you sure it's not just crashing when you try to enter the OS due to instability?   Try lower than stock, maybe with a voltage bump, just to be sure this is not the issue.

Good luck on the tweaking, sorry I can't help with that as I have very little AMD knowledge