nForce2 200FSB setting causes audio problems!

Hello,

I have the Abit NF7S 2.0 mobo, one of the first ones which came with new
northbridge with support for the 200MHz FSB. The CPU is XP2500, which I have
been running at 10.5x208. Computer has been very stable and Prime95 runs
hours without errors. The memory is in sync with FSB, and timings are set
maually at 5/2/2/2.

Everything has been working good, but there is one very annoying problem:
When I try to watch movie (DVD or other movie file from hard disk), the
sound will start to lag the picture and finally the sound gets very
distorted. To fix that I have to stop the movie and restart. It normally
takes about 10 minutes after starting the movie before that happen. If I set
my computer FSB back to 166 (default), everything works fine!

The sound distortion problem occurs sometimes during a game too, but quite
rarely.

To me it seem like the nForce south bridge (which contains the audio) does
not like if the north bridge FSB is set to 200MHz range. I recall that
nVidia released a new version of south bridge which support the 200MHz
operation. Can anyone confirm if that is true?

Also lately I can't boot my computer to Windows2000 if the FSB speed is set
to 200MHz... during bootup it gives some error that USBDRV (or something
like that...) could not be loaded. If I set the FSB to around 207MHz then
the Windows boots up fine! Go figure...

Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.

"KMS" wrote in message
news:6andb.603562$o%2.284027@sccrnsc02...

Hello,

I have the Abit NF7S 2.0 mobo, one of the first ones which came with new
northbridge with support for the 200MHz FSB. The CPU is XP2500, which I
have
been running at 10.5x208. Computer has been very stable and Prime95 runs
hours without errors. The memory is in sync with FSB, and timings are set
maually at 5/2/2/2.

Everything has been working good, but there is one very annoying problem:
When I try to watch movie (DVD or other movie file from hard disk), the
sound will start to lag the picture and finally the sound gets very
distorted. To fix that I have to stop the movie and restart. It normally
takes about 10 minutes after starting the movie before that happen. If I
set
my computer FSB back to 166 (default), everything works fine!

You may want to set your memory timings to something more reasonable, like
7-3-3-2.0 or 7-2-2-2.0.


The sound distortion problem occurs sometimes during a game too, but quite
rarely.

To me it seem like the nForce south bridge (which contains the audio) does
not like if the north bridge FSB is set to 200MHz range. I recall that
nVidia released a new version of south bridge which support the 200MHz
operation. Can anyone confirm if that is true?


The northbridge is the newer version (C1) that supports (officially) 200 MHz
FSB on the version 2.0 of the NF7-S. The southbridge has nothing to do with
the FSB speed, only the northbridge.


Also lately I can't boot my computer to Windows2000 if the FSB speed is
set
to 200MHz... during bootup it gives some error that USBDRV (or something
like that...) could not be loaded. If I set the FSB to around 207MHz then
the Windows boots up fine! Go figure...

Haven't heard of that before.

Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.

Do you have ACPI enabled and APIC disabled (PNP OS in the BIOS should be set
to NO). This has fixed audio problems for some.
I'm running a NF7-S with on-board sound and XP and have had no problems
(play DVD's and audio tracks with no problems).

"KMS" wrote
Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.


Hi,

I am using the NF7-S v2.0 (BIOS#14) with a Barton 2500+ @ 2.2GHz (10x220 -
1.75v)) with PC3500cas2 (8,3,3,2.0 - 2.8v) running WinXP-Pro XP1/DX9.0b. I
am using the nVidia drivers that came on the CD-ROM with this mobo (didn't
try v2.45 yet). I didn't notice any problems yet with running the FSB @
220MHz. The only voltages I changed are for the CPU(vCore) and
Memory(vDimm). I have full intentions of installing a heatsink on the
Southbridge as it does run very hot (even @ default mobo speeds) but apart
from adding to the case temp it hasn't caused a problem for me yet. . .

Did you try running your FSB @ 220Mhz yet?

Let us know how u get on. . .

Wayne ][

There are other things to consider when you run at 200mhz FSB also......

If I take the CPU out of my wife's machine (when she isn't looking) and
place it into my NF7-S revision 2 board here is what I find...
CPU = XP 2.4 running at 2000 MHz default.

When ran at 10x200 (2000mhz) the machine will fail memtest, Prime95 and
crash during 3D mark 2001. Regardless of voltage settings.
When ran at 9x200 (1800mhz) the machine will pass all the tests.
When ran at 12x180 (2160mhz) the machine will pass all the tests. Increased
Vcore to 1.75.

With running numerous other combinations I have concluded that the CPU
itself can have a great influence on running at and beyond 200mhz when the
multiplier and the 200mhz go beyond the actual rating of the CPU - in that
case 2000 MHz.

However using my XP 1800 (default speed 1530mhz)....
I can run at 10x220 = 2200 MHz. With an increased Vcore from 1.5v to 1.65v.
Prime95, 3Dmark 2001 and memtest all complete with zero problems and
everything runs great.
The VDD voltage has to up to 2.9 with using memory timings of 6.2.2.2
(defaults are 6.3.3.2)

That is ran with the same setup and other hardware.
The problem that I have is a limited number of CPU's to form a firm
conclusion but I do tend to think that the influence of running at 200mhz is
dependent on the CPU even when the resultant speed is well under the MHz of
the chip itself.
The Southbridge chip which gets hot does not get any hotter when the FSB is
increased as the speed of that chip stays constant.
I have read about sound distortion as well and found, for me, it has
occurred in one game called Command and Conquer Generals but only when
pushing my wife's CPU as described above. When ran with my own CPU it is
fine.

--
Regards

Morgan

"KMS" wrote in message
news:6andb.603562$o%2.284027@sccrnsc02...

Hello,

I have the Abit NF7S 2.0 mobo, one of the first ones which came with new
northbridge with support for the 200MHz FSB. The CPU is XP2500, which I
have
been running at 10.5x208. Computer has been very stable and Prime95 runs
hours without errors. The memory is in sync with FSB, and timings are set
maually at 5/2/2/2.

Everything has been working good, but there is one very annoying problem:
When I try to watch movie (DVD or other movie file from hard disk), the
sound will start to lag the picture and finally the sound gets very
distorted. To fix that I have to stop the movie and restart. It normally
takes about 10 minutes after starting the movie before that happen. If I
set
my computer FSB back to 166 (default), everything works fine!

The sound distortion problem occurs sometimes during a game too, but quite
rarely.

To me it seem like the nForce south bridge (which contains the audio) does
not like if the north bridge FSB is set to 200MHz range. I recall that
nVidia released a new version of south bridge which support the 200MHz
operation. Can anyone confirm if that is true?


The problem is heat build-up in the SB - it gets VERY hot.
Lap it (and the h/sink) down to 1200, apply a thin layer of goop and attach
the sink FIRMLY.
Solved the same problem I had - no more sync/skipping problems.



Also lately I can't boot my computer to Windows2000 if the FSB speed is
set
to 200MHz... during bootup it gives some error that USBDRV (or something
like that...) could not be loaded. If I set the FSB to around 207MHz then
the Windows boots up fine! Go figure...


Sounds very much like excessively tight memory timings - which usually
corrupts Windows.
If you have an image of your OS part.n, you can just restore it - recommend
Drive Image, if you haven't.



Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.

"Q" wrote in message
...

"KMS" wrote in message
news:6andb.603562$o%2.284027@sccrnsc02...

Hello,

I have the Abit NF7S 2.0 mobo, one of the first ones which came with new
northbridge with support for the 200MHz FSB. The CPU is XP2500, which I
have
been running at 10.5x208. Computer has been very stable and Prime95 runs
hours without errors. The memory is in sync with FSB, and timings are
set
maually at 5/2/2/2.

Everything has been working good, but there is one very annoying
problem:
When I try to watch movie (DVD or other movie file from hard disk), the
sound will start to lag the picture and finally the sound gets very
distorted. To fix that I have to stop the movie and restart. It normally
takes about 10 minutes after starting the movie before that happen. If I
set
my computer FSB back to 166 (default), everything works fine!

The sound distortion problem occurs sometimes during a game too, but
quite
rarely.

To me it seem like the nForce south bridge (which contains the audio)
does
not like if the north bridge FSB is set to 200MHz range. I recall that
nVidia released a new version of south bridge which support the 200MHz
operation. Can anyone confirm if that is true?


The problem is heat build-up in the SB - it gets VERY hot.
Lap it (and the h/sink) down to 1200, apply a thin layer of goop and
attach
the sink FIRMLY.
Solved the same problem I had - no more sync/skipping problems.

I tend to agree with this one. I played with the BIOS settings, and found
that when I increased the Chipset voltage to 1.7V the problem seem to gone
away. I need to make some more testing... but first impression looks good.
I'll consider to attach a heat sink to SB.


Also lately I can't boot my computer to Windows2000 if the FSB speed is
set
to 200MHz... during bootup it gives some error that USBDRV (or something
like that...) could not be loaded. If I set the FSB to around 208MHz
then
the Windows boots up fine! Go figure...


Sounds very much like excessively tight memory timings - which usually
corrupts Windows.
If you have an image of your OS part.n, you can just restore it -
recommend
Drive Image, if you haven't.

I do not think that this is the problem, because once I restore the FSB
speed back to either 166 or 208, windows boots fine. No need to fix anything
on the file system after failed boot at 200...

I have another theory behind this "208 works but 200 doesn't". If we
calculate how much higher the 166.66... FSB is from 133.33... the ratio is
1.25. If I multiply the 166.66 with this magic 1.25, I get 208! It seem like
the 208FSB is the next "natural" speed the chipset is designed to run
optimal?



Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.

"KMS" wrote in message
news:smDdb.451397$Oz4.258183@rwcrnsc54...

"Q" wrote in message
...

"KMS" wrote in message
news:6andb.603562$o%2.284027@sccrnsc02...

Hello,

I have the Abit NF7S 2.0 mobo, one of the first ones which came with
new
northbridge with support for the 200MHz FSB. The CPU is XP2500, which
I
have
been running at 10.5x208. Computer has been very stable and Prime95
runs
hours without errors. The memory is in sync with FSB, and timings are
set
maually at 5/2/2/2.

Everything has been working good, but there is one very annoying
problem:
When I try to watch movie (DVD or other movie file from hard disk),
the
sound will start to lag the picture and finally the sound gets very
distorted. To fix that I have to stop the movie and restart. It
normally
takes about 10 minutes after starting the movie before that happen. If
I
set
my computer FSB back to 166 (default), everything works fine!

The sound distortion problem occurs sometimes during a game too, but
quite
rarely.

To me it seem like the nForce south bridge (which contains the audio)
does
not like if the north bridge FSB is set to 200MHz range. I recall that
nVidia released a new version of south bridge which support the 200MHz
operation. Can anyone confirm if that is true?


The problem is heat build-up in the SB - it gets VERY hot.
Lap it (and the h/sink) down to 1200, apply a thin layer of goop and
attach
the sink FIRMLY.
Solved the same problem I had - no more sync/skipping problems.

I tend to agree with this one. I played with the BIOS settings, and found
that when I increased the Chipset voltage to 1.7V the problem seem to gone
away. I need to make some more testing... but first impression looks good.
I'll consider to attach a heat sink to SB.


Also lately I can't boot my computer to Windows2000 if the FSB speed
is
set
to 200MHz... during bootup it gives some error that USBDRV (or
something
like that...) could not be loaded. If I set the FSB to around 208MHz
then
the Windows boots up fine! Go figure...


Sounds very much like excessively tight memory timings - which usually
corrupts Windows.
If you have an image of your OS part.n, you can just restore it -
recommend
Drive Image, if you haven't.

I do not think that this is the problem, because once I restore the FSB
speed back to either 166 or 208, windows boots fine.


It may do - even though corrupted.
But it'll remain corrupted.



No need to fix anything
on the file system after failed boot at 200...

I have another theory behind this "208 works but 200 doesn't". If we
calculate how much higher the 166.66... FSB is from 133.33... the ratio is
1.25. If I multiply the 166.66 with this magic 1.25, I get 208! It seem
like
the 208FSB is the next "natural" speed the chipset is designed to run
optimal?



Does anyone else have/had problems like I just described?

I'm using the nVidia's latest 2.45 drivers for the mobo. I think that
I
tried the older drivers... but it didn't solve the problem.