KT7A-Raid

Hello,

I have decided that if PC-133 memory does not make the board run correctly I
am going to replace it since I am guessing that I have exhausted all other
ideas.

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Skid" wrote in message
news:PnJyb.377437$HS4.3117411@attbi_s01...
Yes, you generally need PC133 to run at a 133 fsb.

You might try relaxing the memory timings, CAS 3, 8/10ns, interleave
disabled, fast r-w turnaround disabled, etc. Some PC100 will run at 133
with
those settings. There's a lot more at
http://www.sudhian.com/showfaqs.cfm?fid=2

If that doesn't work, you have two options. Replace the ram, or replace
the
cpu. Replacing the cpu is cheaper, and some people have had good luck
running Athlon XPs with the Tbred B core as high as 24x100mhz on a KT7A.

See http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.htm

"Marcus Hilderbrand" wrote in message
news:lkIyb.182454$Dw6.702121@attbi_s02...
Hello,

Consider this idea: when I set the FSB from 133 to 100 and ran my test
program the memory tested out and seems to test for the most part ok
that
would mean instead of running my computer at the max speed for the 1600
+
1.4 ghz I have to run it at 1050 Mhz this tells me that I need to be
running
PC-133 not PC-100 for the system to run correctly. In this case I would
lose 384 Mb of ram but save myself about $30 and not buy a new
motherboard
and DDR and continue to use this motherboard... but getting any errors
at
all indicates some problems still.

I am undecided as hwhat to do now

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Marcus Hilderbrand" wrote in message
news:XNvyb.263077$mZ5.1934323@attbi_s54...
Hello,

Brand new 300 watt power supply with no peripherals other then
keyboard
and
mouse...

The computer does not run fine with even one stick of ram installed...

I'm now thinking about getting a brand new motherboard although that
would
require getting new memory which means I would lose 384 MB of ram...

I don't know what else I could even begin to try to make this board
perform
as it should again.

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Dave Hau" wrote in
message
. com...
Maybe your power supply cannot support all three sticks? Check the
5V
rail
voltage in the bios menu. Do you have a lot of other peripherals?

Also, try with one stick at a time and see if each stick operates
fine
on
its own.

- Dave


"Marcus Hilderbrand" wrote in
message
news:zFpyb.263907$275.944326@attbi_s53...
Hello,

The chip has a heatsink and fan on it from the factory and it
seems
to
be
running fine.

Could it be that the motherboard is going bad?

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Jens C. Hansen [Odense]" "[usenet]±[greylion]=[dk]" wrote in
message
. ..
Marcus Hilderbrand wrote:

If none of the capacitors appear to be bad what else could be
causing
issues?

If you're sure the caps are ok, then you might have;

a) memory sticks that do not work well with each other
b) an overheated northbridge

I have only come across a single combination of memory sticks
that
gave
unexpected errors - a single-sided stick together with three
double-sided in a BX6-2.

Hello,

Thanks for the information I am thinking I should upgrade the board sell
this one for $80 with my 384 MB PC-100 memory... I was hoping that I could
still use it because it was a good board when I originally was using it in
my main computer... I suppose getting a cheap board would be alright
although I don't have the money for a cheap board at the moment since any
new board I would buy would need new memory.

If I can get about $80 out of this board I can get a new setup with 128
PC-2100 for $88

the problem I think that I am having I am mixing brands of memory and also I
am running PC-100 memory instead of PC-133 which might cause problems with
the 1600+ athlon XP I'm running in it. I don't have any PC-133 to test in
the board at the moment otherwise I would know if it was the memory speed
that was causing the problems... I am thinking that I should dump this KT133
board since the KT133 had problems and was not a great chipset.

I was just using this board because I had it lying around but I don't need a
board with raid I just need one that will run games and whatnot with the
chip I have.

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Jim" wrote in message
news:xVJyb.43670$m24.1864@fed1read02...
How are you checking memory, w/ Memtest-86, DocMemory (my favorites)? Be
sure your getting an *actual* I/O 3.3v min in PC Health, a lot of PSUs are
notorious for slightly undervolting, and your memory may simply be
sensitive
to this. Also, have you tried a little more I/O voltage too (I've run up
to
3.6v (Enermax 365) on the KT7A w/ Crucial PC133)? What brand of memory
you
using? Are you mixing brands?

Can't say much about whether keeping KT7A or upgrading makes sense, very
subjective. I recently upgraded my wife's PC (office apps, very light
gaming w/ FPS's, etc.) from KT7A-RAID 1.3 to Abit VI7, on the cheap. The
VI7 is only $70 (Newegg.com), and I had a P4 2.4B (533MHz) and cheap
K-Byte
PC2700 (2 x 256MB) lying around (on sale now @ OfficeMax.com for $40 ea),
all running sync (1:1) w/ CPU FSB=166). Since the P4 2.4C (800MHz) is
selling for the same price as 2.4B, the "C" is the right choice for new
purchase (or 2.6C even better). For just a few bucks, a nice budget
system.
The K-Byte PC2700 OC's for me quite nicely to PC3200, so that's possible
as
well for owners of P4 800Mhz. If I dump the KT7A on eBay for $20-30 (caps
are still good), and memory (Crucial 2 x 256, say $80 or better?), I can
recoup a lot of the costs. And if you want IDE RAID, pick up a Promise
Ultra100 TX2 on eBay for about $40. Just an idea, worked for me. Btw,
recapping the KT7A (if that's a problem) is a waste of time and $$$, so
unless you're skilled at the operation, it's cheaper to upgrade. If the
KT7A *is* OK as of now, dump it on eBay BEFORE it does come a problem!

JMTC

Jim


"netnews.comcast.net" wrote in message
news:8rWxb.345835$Tr4.1040859@attbi_s03...
Hello,

Are the KT7A-Raid motherboards notorious for their memory slots dying?

I am having memory issues with mine and I cannot seem to find a fix...
I'm
running 3 128 sticks of memory in it for a total of 384 MB SDRAM and the
test program reports lots of errors but on other motherboards the memory
tests out with the same program to have no errors.

Ideas?

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand

The KT7A uses a KT133A, and it's a decent chipset. I kept mine for 2.5 years
through three cpu upgrades, from a 1ghz Athlon Tbird to a 1.85 ghz Tbred.
Wes and others are running at 2 ghz plus.

It will run any current cpu and benchmarks pretty close to state-of-the art
in everything but memory bandwidth, where DDR turns in better scores. In
real world games and applications, a well-tuned KT7A is a competent board.

Your money, your choice. But on a tight budget I'd suggest swapping the
memory first. Mixed ram is hurting your stability, and 512 megs of PC133
would make a big difference. When finances permit, an overclocked XP 2100
Tbred B would give you a lot more speed for a relatively small investment.

I can see why you want to start fresh, but 128 megs of PC2100 is not going
to be emough memory for most uses and the performance difference with your
existing cpu will be negligible.

I'd suggest going cheap now and saving your money until you can afford to
splurge on a new cpu, motherboard and ram at once.

"Marcus Hilderbrand" wrote in message
news:ZOGzb.301185$275.1041120@attbi_s53...
Hello,

Thanks for the information I am thinking I should upgrade the board sell
this one for $80 with my 384 MB PC-100 memory... I was hoping that I could
still use it because it was a good board when I originally was using it in
my main computer... I suppose getting a cheap board would be alright
although I don't have the money for a cheap board at the moment since any
new board I would buy would need new memory.

If I can get about $80 out of this board I can get a new setup with 128
PC-2100 for $88

the problem I think that I am having I am mixing brands of memory and also
I
am running PC-100 memory instead of PC-133 which might cause problems with
the 1600+ athlon XP I'm running in it. I don't have any PC-133 to test in
the board at the moment otherwise I would know if it was the memory speed
that was causing the problems... I am thinking that I should dump this
KT133
board since the KT133 had problems and was not a great chipset.

I was just using this board because I had it lying around but I don't need
a
board with raid I just need one that will run games and whatnot with the
chip I have.

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand


"Jim" wrote in message
news:xVJyb.43670$m24.1864@fed1read02...
How are you checking memory, w/ Memtest-86, DocMemory (my favorites)?
Be
sure your getting an *actual* I/O 3.3v min in PC Health, a lot of PSUs
are
notorious for slightly undervolting, and your memory may simply be
sensitive
to this. Also, have you tried a little more I/O voltage too (I've run
up
to
3.6v (Enermax 365) on the KT7A w/ Crucial PC133)? What brand of memory
you
using? Are you mixing brands?

Can't say much about whether keeping KT7A or upgrading makes sense, very
subjective. I recently upgraded my wife's PC (office apps, very light
gaming w/ FPS's, etc.) from KT7A-RAID 1.3 to Abit VI7, on the cheap.
The
VI7 is only $70 (Newegg.com), and I had a P4 2.4B (533MHz) and cheap
K-Byte
PC2700 (2 x 256MB) lying around (on sale now @ OfficeMax.com for $40
ea),
all running sync (1:1) w/ CPU FSB=166). Since the P4 2.4C (800MHz) is
selling for the same price as 2.4B, the "C" is the right choice for new
purchase (or 2.6C even better). For just a few bucks, a nice budget
system.
The K-Byte PC2700 OC's for me quite nicely to PC3200, so that's possible
as
well for owners of P4 800Mhz. If I dump the KT7A on eBay for $20-30
(caps
are still good), and memory (Crucial 2 x 256, say $80 or better?), I can
recoup a lot of the costs. And if you want IDE RAID, pick up a Promise
Ultra100 TX2 on eBay for about $40. Just an idea, worked for me. Btw,
recapping the KT7A (if that's a problem) is a waste of time and $$$, so
unless you're skilled at the operation, it's cheaper to upgrade. If the
KT7A *is* OK as of now, dump it on eBay BEFORE it does come a problem!

JMTC

Jim


"netnews.comcast.net" wrote in message
news:8rWxb.345835$Tr4.1040859@attbi_s03...
Hello,

Are the KT7A-Raid motherboards notorious for their memory slots dying?

I am having memory issues with mine and I cannot seem to find a fix...
I'm
running 3 128 sticks of memory in it for a total of 384 MB SDRAM and
the
test program reports lots of errors but on other motherboards the
memory
tests out with the same program to have no errors.

Ideas?

Thanks

Marcus Hilderbrand