Hello fellow forum members,I just completed my problematic upgrade (temperature related woes) and it works pretty good now.I have several questions looking for your expertize, though.1. Based on my system specs (below) my BIOS system shows FSB to be at 166Mhz (My processor FSB is 333Mhz). Is this normal? (this is the highest setting it would go...2. My memory is 400Mhz rated (PC3200), but upon boot-up it only shows 200Mhz (sthg like: 'memory frequency 200Mhz').It would go to max 333Mhz setting but then I get 'system overspeed' warning.Important info is that apparently I am running the latest BIOS available specific to Higher speed processors.3. I still get a lot of nasty stutters within FS. I was hoping to get rid of that problem with my rather expensive upgrade, so I can see definate increase in frame rate but stutters remain.Thanks for your help.DomMy old system specs:AMD Athlon 1.2GhzASUS A7V133 200Mhz512MB SDRAMnVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 40.72)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro PedalsMy new system specs:AMD Athlon XP 2700+ASUS A7N8X Deluxe512MB DDRAM 400Mhz PC 3200nVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 41.03)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro Pedals http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

One more relevant information to make the picture clear.I have ran several sessions of 3D Mark benchmark and all resulted in the range of around 8100 points.Just in case you find it relevant.Thanks againDomMy old system specs:AMD Athlon 1.2GhzASUS A7V133 200Mhz512MB SDRAMnVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 40.72)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro PedalsMy new system specs:AMD Athlon XP 2700+ASUS A7N8X Deluxe512MB DDRAM 400Mhz PC 3200nVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 41.03)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro Pedals http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

Select Windows Device Manager and look to see what speed your processor is running. If it says 2700 then the processor speed has been set correctly. The RAM is capable of running at its rated speed, but that doesn't mean your system is going to run at that speed. Further you RAM buss speed may have a 2X multiplier 200x2=400. When you place is to 333 you get 333x2=666 (the devil's work :-wink2 )!For the stutters, press start, run, type dxdiag, OK. Let DirectX Diagnostic stabilize, select the sound tab, and lower your sound acceleration, go whole hog and place to no acceleration, try fs2002 and see if you still get the stutters. If not, raise the acceleration a notch at a time. You can also try lowering the sound quality within fs2002 to see if you can eliminate the stutters.One area to check on your MOBO is how many devices are using the same IRQ. My MOBO uses IRQ11 for NIC, on-board sound, and graphics adapter. I do see some stutters when ATC is chattering. I usually have both COMM radios tuned and listen to both.Hopefully, you have installed all the latest OS updates, controller chip, sound, graphics adapter, NIC, modems, etc. drivers.

The 3dmark score you post in your followup message doesn't seem too out of line, given your video card.But now to more important stuff."1. Based on my system specs (below) my BIOS system shows FSB to be at 166Mhz (My processor FSB is 333Mhz). Is this normal? (this is the highest setting it would go..."I'm quite sure the FSB will go higher with that motherboard. That's merely the default FSB for this processor. You need to look for some kind of "expert" or "user defined" option to the FSB. Do you have the manual for the motherboard? It should be in there.Your processor FSB is not 333Mhz. That's the memory speed. With your memory "sync'd" to your FSB, it is twice the speed of the FSB (hence "DDR" or "Double Data Rate")."2. My memory is 400Mhz rated (PC3200), but upon boot-up it only shows 200Mhz (sthg like: 'memory frequency 200Mhz').It would go to max 333Mhz setting but then I get 'system overspeed' warning.Important info is that apparently I am running the latest BIOS available specific to Higher speed processors."I'm completely rewriting this in edit mode. I'm looking at an article with some screen shots of your mobo's BIOS here:http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030210/barton-04.htmlBelow the bottom screenshot in smaller print is the following statement:"Important in overclocking: the front side bus should always work in 166 MHz, while the memory should run (asynchronously) at 200 MHz (DDR400). Although synchronous operation would have added speed, stable operation could not be achieved."So apparently what you are seeing with 200 Mhz is the memory speed; my BIOS would report this as 400 Mhz -- the DDR rate. As the quote notes, performance is enhanced when memory runs in sync with the FSB. With your FSB at 166 Mhz, and your memory running at 200 Mhz, they are not in sync. Despite the faster memory speed, performance is lost from latency. So you need to figure out how to sync the memory to the FSB. Looking further at the screenshot, I'm guessing that this is done through the option that reads "Memory frequency (100%)". You need to explore your options there. My BIOS handles this through FSB/DRAM ratios. Looks like yours may handle it through percentages. If so, at 166 FSB, you'll want to set your memory speed to 166/200 = 83% to sync your memory to your FSB. If you can increase your FSB -- and you may need to reduce your multiplier along the way to achieve the highest FSB possible -- you'll need to adjust this ratio accordingly. As said, my BIOS uses ratios, and I can set a single ratio, like 3:3, and it always syncs the memory and the FSB. I don't know exactly how your BIOS works. You'll have to figure it out.Meanwhile, I also note from looking at the BIOS screenshots that there are "System Performance" and "CPU Interface" options. Note that the "System Performance" in the screenshot says "User Defined." My BIOS requires this for any of my other changes -- like to the multiplier or FSB -- to take effect that this be set to "User Defined." If not, even though I make changes to other settings, I don't think they are used. You should also check out what that "CPU Interface" does. It shows "Aggressive." You may need to enable some "user defined" setting within that to have full control over all parameters.End of Edit."3. I still get a lot of nasty stutters within FS. I was hoping to get rid of that problem with my rather expensive upgrade, so I can see definate increase in frame rate but stutters remain."Well, you've got a good system there (except the vid card is now underpowered relative to the rest of the system), so it was not money wasted. Stutters indicate something else going on, like background processes. What flavor of Windows are you running?Hang in there.-Basil

>I'm quite sure the FSB will go higher with that motherboard. That's >merely the default FSB for this processor. You need to look for >some kind of "expert" or "user defined" option to the FSB. Do you >have the manual for the motherboard? It should be in there.Indeed, there is. I am just to scared to start playing with the multiplayers and voltages. I just hate the smell of burning PC parts.Seroiusly, I shall look into this further.>Very weird. That would seem to indicate an FSB of only 100 Mhz. >What do you mean "it would go to max 333Mhz setting?" Is this >something you were setting in the BIOS? Could you have set >something that caused the system to revert to a set of "safe >defaults"? See if you have an option in the BIOS to reset the >system defaults. I think you should be seeing 333 Mhz for the >memory when booting up.Actually, my system shows my processor to be at the right rating, which is 2700 (that's what I see at the startup). I set the memory frequency in the BIOS out of available options, reflected in percentage points, ie: 80%, 100%, Sync, 160%, 200% and so on. When I set the highest 200% setting, then at startup it poped out with a warning info that my system is running overspeed. Indeed, as W.Sieffert has indicated that is playing with Devil. Still, the info on memory frequency at startup might need to be treated as half of the actual speed.>Well, you've got a good system there (except the vid card is now >underpowered relative to the rest of the system), so it was not >money wasted. Stutters indicate something else going on, like >background processes. What flavor of Windows are you running?I have Windows XP professional installed. There are no processes running in the background, I even disabled many of non-vital services and placed it into high-performance flavour, if you will. I shall check for IRQ conflicts and see if there is a culprit.Thank you very much for your support guys. DomMy system specs:AMD Athlon 1.2GhzASUS A7V133 200Mhz512MB SDRAMnVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 40.72)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro Pedals http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

It is all clear now.At least I understand the mnemonics used and know which way to proceed from here.Thank youDomMy system specs:AMD Athlon 1.2GhzASUS A7V133 200Mhz512MB SDRAMnVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 40.72)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro Pedals http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

Right, we cross-posted.You want to set your memory timing to "Sync." This will optimize the memory performance. From there, you can play with the FSB and CPU multiplier. Their is probably not a LOT of headroom in that chip for overclocking (compared to lower AMD ratings), but there should be some, and you should be able to get the FSB up at least a bit.Your default is 13 x 166. If you want to try to up the FSB, first get a copy of Prime95 so you can test the stability of your changes. Each time you make a change, run Prime95's "Torture Test." I'd start by lowering the FSB to 12, and increasing the FSB to 180. This would give you approximately the same total Ghz, but speed up the performance of the memory subsystem. That proves stable with Prime95, try inching up the FSB 1 or 2 Mhz at a time. Initially, just run Prime95 for 5-10 minutes. You know for sure you have reached a wall when Prime95 fails within the first 5-10 minutes.If you reach a wall, try increasing your Vcore voltage. At default it will be 1.6 or 1.65. You can probably go to 1.8 safely.Keep me posted.-Basil

Amazing reply Basil.I shall try exactly that.Truly appreciate it.BestDomMy system specs:AMD Athlon 1.2GhzASUS A7V133 200Mhz512MB SDRAMnVidia GF3 Ti200 (running on 40.72)Sony Trinitron 19'CH Yoke USB + CH Pro Pedals http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg