asked on

1.3 gig Duron shows at 750 in bios

Hi all, I recently upgraded the chip in my PC from 800 to 1.3 gig (both Durons). The mobo is a Gigabyte 7ZXR, and checking the site it said the 1.3 duron was ok to go. The PC boots perfectly, Gigabytes easy-tune4 o'cing software claims the chip to be running at 1326.21 mhz, and running at 1.7 volts. The thing is the bios calls it a 750mhz Duron. Why is this? There seems to be no way of altering anything pertaining to the CPU in the bios. The bios is the latest version also, as are the Via 4in1 drivers. Oh, Sandra 2002 also says it is a 1.3 gig chip.

slink9

It is interesting that the BIOS thinks it is a slower chip yet it runs at the rated amount (You did the benchmark on Sandra, right?). I would say that if the chiop is actually running at 1.3 don't worry about it.
Are you sure the FSB and multipliers are correct? I had a problem with my system not running as expected. I had the FSB set at 100 instead of 133.

malfisher

ASKER

according to sandra, the clock multiplyer is set to 13x so, even at the 100fsb default for this board, it would still translate to 1300, yes? Sandra also lists the fsb speed as 2x 102mhz (204mhz data rate) It all seems very strange to me! I think there is a setting in the bios for 133 memory speed, I wonder if I set that to 133? I'll have a check right now.

malfisher

ASKER

I just double checked the bios settings, indeed the memory speed is set to 133. I have also looked at the manula before I even installed the new CPU, and there was no clue as to how to manually adjust settings, jumpers ect. It is all auto, and furthermore is able to accept CPU's up to 1.4 gig. Very curious.

slink9

In the BIOS you should be able to switch between the installed processors. Have you tried selecting the processor in the BIOS and hitting PAGEDN (or whatever the up/down buttons are in your BIOS)? I would still expect that if it sees the processor as 750 all of the utilities would report 750.

malfisher

ASKER

I havent seen anywhere actually in the bios setup screens that even maentions the CPU, other than the temperature it's running at, and the speed of the fan. So, I dont understand what you mean sorry.

malfisher

ASKER

I havent seen anywhere actually in the bios setup screens that even maentions the CPU, other than the temperature it's running at, and the speed of the fan. So, I dont understand what you mean sorry.

slink9

Interesting. No jumpers and no settings in the BIOS. How can that be? This article indicates there are DIP switches - http://www.amdmb.com/article-display.php?ArticleID=80&PageID=2

Kyle Schroeder

It is a BIOS issue, there is an update to properly display it:
http://www.giga-byte.com/support/viakt133.htm#link7zxr

Actually, I guess the update is for the 7zx only, not the R (RAID I'm assuming?). It looks like they never got around to updating the BIOS for your model. The list of previous updates:
http://www.giga-byte.com/support/viakt133_old.htm#link7zxr

doesn't specifically mention the Duron problem, but does add support for AthlonXP, which may correct it.

In any case, the CPU is running at the proper speed. If you're not having any other trouble, don't bother updating the BIOS. But if you really want to, download the files:
http://ftp.gigabyte.com.tw/support/temp/7zxr_f9.zip and
http://ftp.gigabyte.com.tw/support/temp/flash855.zip
You'll also need to see this page:
http://www.giga-byte.com/support/procedure1.htm
for details on how to flash your BIOS.

-dog*

slink9

Hey, don't bother. That's what I said.
It is still interesting, though, that the BIOS can report one CPU speed and run at another. Explain that one. I know it is easily explained if NT reports it improperly, but I thought the BIOS ran at whatever it thought to be installed.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

magarity

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

pjknibbs

slink9: That's easy to explain. All modern processors are multiplier locked (you can unlock Athlons and Durons, but it's an awkward process involving closing bridges on the processor packaging), so his 1.3GHz Duron will run at 13 times the motherboard FSB, regardless of what speed the BIOS is telling it to run at.

I think it's also a possibility that the codes for a 13x multiplier on a Duron are the same as the ones for 7.5x, since there's only a limited number of lines available to pass the multiplier information through and there never used to be a 13x setting.

malfisher

ASKER

Slink9, there is indeed a bank of switches just behind the agp slot SW1. But all I could see in the manual was that these could be used to alter the FSB to a maximum speed of 133mhz. It notes that the FSB of the KT133 is 100mhz. I had checked to see if this was so when installing the new chip, and it was. Seeing as how the duron is a 200 FSB 2x100, seems right.

malfisher

ASKER

Dogztar, I had flashed the bios to F9 latest version to see if it resolved the problem before posting the question, it didnt however.

malfisher

ASKER

Magarity, the F9 version was written (or at least released) Nov 2001, I dont know if the Duron existed then at 1.3, but the Tbird may well have done, since this chip is also supported to 1.4, it seems like the bios should be equipped to recognise it.

malfisher

ASKER

pjknibbs, that sounds a plausible explanation to me, I did wonder why it didnt show at 650 though, which is half of the actual rated speed. It would seem a little more logical to me. Really, it is clear to see the chip is running programmes like Unreal Tournament a lot quicker than the previous 800mhz did, but I am curious to know why it is not showing correctly in the bios!