M Arino wrote:
Hi there,

Just thought I would like to share the results of some extensive web
surfing and thanks to all who give invaluable info here in the groups,
because you enable ignorants like me to build OCed computers :-)

OK, my set-up is :

Asus A7m8x-x
AMD Athlon XP 2200+
TwinMOS DDR PC3200 512 Mb (2.5 RAS CAS delay, whatever that is, don't
know if I got this right)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Volcano 7+
Plus a nice looking box, the "Cheapo" with transparent side pannel,
lateral fan, blue neon at the front, 400 W generic supply.

OK, the story is: I finally got time to buy the rest of the parts and
assemble. I knew exactly how it should be assembled, so that was
totally straightforward.
Then, I gave in the BIOS the 13 multiplier (default 13.5) and 166 FSB
(default 133). It was as planned from weeks in advance, no problem.

Then I check temperatu 27 Celsius in idle (my Athlon 1Ghz shoots up
to 40 Celsius).

Next step: I am smiling, I try 13.5 and FSB 166. No booting to
Windoze...(f**k)I get back in BIOS.

Then my mind goes into kamikaze mode and I try something stupid like
200 FSB with 11 multiplier. Then the BIOS refused to heed my
commands, I tried flashing and it refused to see the BIOS file in the
floppy, a nightmare for two hours. I got corrupted BIOS screens, like
screens that show half the options in a menu.

After some desperate tries to flash, the Mobo does somthing weird, and
the bootup test says something like "1350 Athlon XP , 200 Mhz FSB".
This time BIOS works correct and I set my computer back into the 2166
Mhz, or 2700+ rating. Then everything goes fine.

My take: the feature that Asus put to restore BIOS settings in case of
wrong OC parameters is badly implemented. Instead of solving the
problem it causes other altogether different (and very strange) ones.

That's because attempting to flash the BIOS while it's loaded up with
invalid CPU clock parameters is NOT a 'feature' for restoring bad overclock
settings. If the CPU won't run then it can't do a flash either because that
requires a working CPU.

You should NEVER attempt a flash unless the processor is 100% stable and
the surest way to do that is to use the stock settings.

Depending on the motherboard there are a number of 'restore default
parameters' mechanisms but one that always works is to clear CMOS. It
sounds like your Asus also implements the "X failed boot attempts" check to
reset parameters and would be why, after a while, it 'did something weird'
and defaulted to a 'safe' 13.5 at 200 MHz FSB.

I hope this helps someone... Cheers,


Miguel