new mobo problem

[madad2005]

Hiya again!

Got my entire system installed and it seems to be working fine. However, I am having a recurring problem with my BIOS on load-up. At the hardware initialising screen, the BIOS keeps on giving one or other of these two messages:

"New CPU detected.. press F1 for setup"

or

"CMOS out-of-date...press F1 for setup"

The first one happens the most and each time I go into the BIOS and save my settings. Doesnt help.

The second resets the clock in my PC (which is getting very annoying) each time it appears.

Any ideas what this may be and how I can prevent it from happening?

[alex666]

Several thoughts: despite this being a new build (?), I'd check the battery. I'd check the mobo manufacturer's instructions on how to reset your cmos, as it might be corrupted somehow and needs a reset. Finally, and perhaps most important, I'd check with the mobo manufacturer for a bios update. Are you perhaps using a very new cpu such as a venice-core amd64 that the mobo does not fully recognize? It sure sounds like that, and if true, you likely would require simply an updated bios. More details re. your system would be helpful. Good luck.

marty

[madad2005]

Hi,

my details are:

P4 3Ghz 133MHz FSB (x23) Socket 478
Asus P4P800S-X mobo (due for a bios update tonight)
[800Mhz FSB, s478, AGP 8x, SATA]
Other peripherals not important at the moment

I have plenty of cooling in the box and yes it is a new build (what battery are you meaning?). This was giving me problems even before I overclocked it. I know how to reset the CMOS timer on the mobo, but I just bought it brand new so I don't expect that to be a problem. I have also had problems with Windows recognising external USB drives when they are plugged in after the BIOS has run. Basically, if i want to use it, I have to ahve it plugged in from when i boot the comp up.

A side question, however: I was initially sold this CPU with the impression that it was a P4 3Ghz with 200 FSB. Do any such socket 478's exist? How would I find out? Could the motherboard be making a mistake in recognising it?

[pentachris]

(what battery are you meaning?).
This one (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showpost.php?p=150025&postcount=2)

[madad2005]

I'll try the BIOS update tonight. How would I know if it was the battery? Where could I get a replacement one? This motherboard is brand new, so I'd be hoping it wasn't that!

[david eaton]

A replacement coin cell should be available at any computer/camera/ electrical store, and supermarket.

Try that BEFORE trying to update the BIOS! It's cheaper, and less risky!

[Paleo Pete]

Try that BEFORE trying to update the BIOS! It's cheaper, and less risky!

Definitely. Updating BIOS should only be done if necessary to fix bugs or upgrade existing functionality. By the error messages I also think the battery is a better and safer bet.

[saphalline]

A side question, however: I was initially sold this CPU with the impression that it was a P4 3Ghz with 200 FSB. Do any such socket 478's exist? How would I find out? Could the motherboard be making a mistake in recognising it?No, the mobo is correct in reporting the CPU info. Return that CPU and get a new one. There are indeed Socket 478 P4's that use the 800 FSB (200 quad-pumped). In fact, there are many! Based on both the Northwood C core revision and the Prescott core revision. The Prescott's are cheaper right now, but if you can get your hands on a Northwood C it would be the better performer.

The version you have now is the vaunted 3.06 Northwood B, which is historical because it was the first P4 to have Hyper-Threading enabled! However, all the Northwood C's and Prescott's also have Hyper-Threading enabled and they use a faster FSB! Who sold you that old dinosaur P4 anyway??

[madad2005]

I bought a system off Ebay. The guy says he definitely sold me a P4 with 200Mhz FSB, but my system still says its FSB is 133Mhz. The problem with the mobo has been sorted. I did two things:

1) I updated the BIOS to version 1.009 (latest) and that stopped the CPU error messages.

2) I cleared the CMOS memory by moving the jumper caps. This stopped the CMOS settings error reappearing.

I have managed to overclock the processor to 3.404Ghz (148Mhz) FSB (+11.5 %) and it ran for 2 sets of 3 hours and 7 hours non-stop on prime 95 with no errors. I'd assume it would be ok, but i'm going to go for a 24hour test soon. The fact the overclocking worked without a problem has led me to believe i have been sold an old chip. I am currently asking for compensation off of the guy.

Thanks for the help guys. Yet again, you have dug me out of a huge hole!

[madad2005]

The guy says he will replace the chip. I wonder by how much my performance will improve...

[saphalline]

For future reference, it's easy to tell what FSB a CPU uses. A CPU running at 3.404GHz using a 148MHz FSB has a multiplier of 23 (3404 divided by 148 = 23). Well, if that were really a 3GHz CPU on a 200 FSB, then the multiplier would have to be 15 (3000 divided by 200 = 15). Since there's absolutely no way to change the multiplier on Intel CPU's anymore, you can safely deduce that you didn't get what you expected.

Working the other way, you already listed the multiplier at 23 and you expected the 200 FSB. So 23 times 200 = 4600 = 4.6GHz!! :eek: That's just a bit more than 3GHz, eh!? :p

It's good to hear that the guy is willing to own up to his mistake and pay you some money back. This is a case where clock speed comes secondary to performance, because a faster FSB would more than make up for a 66MHz drop in CPU speed!

[madad2005]

He's actually going to replace this chip with a new P4 3Ghz 200FSB, like I should of had in the first place. He says it won't make much difference, but I beg to differ. I thought the mobo might have recognised the chip properly. If I get this new chip, install it, and it still says its FSB is 133, could there be a problem with the mobo, or would I have just been swindled again :-p??

[saphalline]

Extra FSB speed won't make a difference!? I don't think this guy should be a system designer anytime soon!! What an idiot!!

The mobo gets the CPU info straight from the CPU. There's no way to tamper with this data because it is hard-coded into the CPU itself. If you install a CPU into a mobo and the BIOS is set to auto-detect the CPU, then what the mobo reports is exactly what the CPU is. In other words, if you install a new CPU and the mobo again reports 133 FSB and 23x multiplier, then yes you got swindled again.