Doubts regarding BIOS/Motherboard

[sakumar79]

Hi,
I have a ASUS A7V400MX-SE motherboard with Phoenix Award BIOS v6.00PG. The processor is AMD Sempron 2200+. Please confirm how this processor should be recognised in the BIOS.

Doubt No.1:
AMD Sempron has FSB 333MHz as per website. So, I have on Motherboard DSW setting for 166 MHz as per manual. Is this correct? Also, the manual (can be obtained from *dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/km400a/A7V400-MX SE/A7v4se02.zip ) on page 27 says, "The option to set the CPU core bus frequency multiple is available only on unlocked CPUs. If you are using a locked CPU, setting the switches does not have any effect. " Could someone tell me what this means and how I can differentiate between a locked CPU and an unlocked CPU (both when I purchase and also, the one that I currently have)

Doubt No.2:
In the BIOS, when I go to Advanced->CPU Configuration, I get the following four lines (all four are not editable):
CPU Type: AMD Athlon(tm) XP
CPU Speed: 900 MHz
Cache RAM: 256 K
Current FSB Freq: 100 MHz.
This has me confused on three counts. One, will not Sempron 2200+ have a greater core speed than 900 MHz? Two, should not the Current FSB Freq say 166 MHz instead of 100? Three, according to the manual , page 18, "This motherboard does not support AMD processors with less than 1 GHz core speed". If the processor does have CPU speed of 900 MHz, how is it running on this Motherboard?

Doubt No.3:
What is the difference between "Graphics Aperture Size" (for which I get choice from 4MB to 1GB) and "Onboard Video Memory" (for which I get choice of 16/32/64 MB). Apparently, O.V.M. is what amount of memory from RAM is assigned to graphics, as I have noticed from RAM availability in Windows. If so, what is G.A.S. for? Is it only when I use an AGP graphics card?

Thanks in advance,
Arun Kumar

 

[Kniwor]

Firstly, unlocked CPU means the one whose multiplier is not locked..

(I'm sorry got to go now, i'll answer ur questions later, sorry for starting this post)

 

[d]

doubt no. 1 has been clarified. doubt no. 2 - most AMD processors come with a throttling technology called AMD Cool n quiet that reduces the clock speed of the processor when there is less demand for power. there usually is an option in the bios to turn it off. if yours doesnt have it, maybe a newer bios might have it(mine does)

Graphics aperture size is the amount of system RAM reserved for use for graphics purposes if and when the RAM on your video card runs low. this is esp. for gfx card with low VRAM. increasing this value will not improve perfomance.

 

[sakumar79]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies...
Reg. Doubt No.1 - My doubt has not yet been fully clarified. I had also asked how to distinguish between unlocked and locked cpus (either by visual inspection or using some software). Also, is multiplier locking pertinent only to overclocking or does it affect regular usage also? I am guessing that multiplier locking will make it impossible for the cpu to operate at more than 166 MHz - Is that correct?

Reg Doubt No.2 - I will check if the setting is with Cool and Quiet turned on... However, will C&Q cause BIOS itself to show low speed? I dont think so, but I am not 100% sure... Besides, I check this in Windows also using ASUS Probe Utility and Everest Home Edition - they also say 900 MHz speed. So, I think something else may be the problem...

Reg Doubt No.3 - So, Graphics Aperture size is only used for agp graphics card and not applicable to onboard vga, right?

Thanks again,
Arun

 

[d]

I have an Athlon64 3200+ running on an Asus K8N. yes, cool n quiet causes the BIOS to misreport the processor speed, apart from in dxdiag and in game hardware checks like Ea games EAsy info n stuff like that...also, multiplier locking doesnt affect normal use - the CPU operates at a clock speed of 166 Mhz, and multiplies it by a factor to get the total operating frequency. So if you have a multiplier setting of like, 10, your cpu will run at 1660 Mhz or 1.6 Ghz.

Doubt 1 - If your BIOS doesnt show you the option to set the multipliers, then it is locked. You could bypass that by making jumper changes, but usually these are also locked on the mo-bo and it involves soldering or joining two contacts with a pencil line....i'd recommend u don't try it..

doubt 3 - yeah...i guess...because already onboard gfx uses system memory...more research has to be done

 

[sakumar79]

I have an Athlon64 3200+ running on an Asus K8N. yes, cool n quiet causes the BIOS to misreport the processor speed, apart from in dxdiag and in game hardware checks like Ea games EAsy info n stuff like that...also, multiplier locking doesnt affect normal use - the CPU operates at a clock speed of 166 Mhz, and multiplies it by a factor to get the total operating frequency. So if you have a multiplier setting of like, 10, your cpu will run at 1660 Mhz or 1.6 Ghz.

Two points - One is that the motherboard (ASUS A7V400-MX SE) does not support Cool N Quiet. I have checked the manual... Second is, if the CPU is locked, it will by default only work at its specified FSB right? That should mean the external frequency should show up as 166 instead of 100 right? Also, how do I find out the multiplier setting in my computer?

Finally, if someone could tell me how to post pics on the forum, i can post screen caps of AMDCPUInfo utility and from CBID utility. (CBID is actually calling my processor "AMD Athlon MP"

Thanks,
Arun