G400 Max + Athlon

[TopCatFCD]

Anyone else have this prob.....

I have Athlon 550 and G400 Max (32 mb DH) and FIC SD11 Mobo.
When playin just about any game ,like Half life,Q3demo ,Expendable etc after a random amount of time I will be dumped back to desktop.I know the Q3 prob and have sorted it out ie washed out colours /desktop /renaming files etc,but it aint that.
I have read on here that my AGP port may not be getting enough power.How would I know if that is so?What would actually happen?I have updated the BIOS on Mobo to see if that would help but as i said it is random when this happens.The PSU is only 235 Watt but it is AMD approved.
I have also wondered if it could be a heat prob.I have a total of five fans inside the case,exhaust fan,two on big heatsink,one between G400 and Athlon,and the G400 fan itself so I would think I am ok there.

Any help would be greatfully accepted

System;
AMD Athlon 550
128 MB PC-100 SDRam
FIC SD11 Motherboard
Approved case
Approved PSU
Matrox Millenium G400 Max 32MB Dual Head
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Value
Samsung 32X CD
IBM 15.2 Gig UDMA 66 HD
IBM 6.4 Gig HD
FC1000 Sound System

[Freeland]

Hello

I will recommand a power supply there is 300W i use a 300w PSU and i havent any probs yet!

Tjeck the AGP TEXTURE size in the bios (i have mine at 32mb and use Athlon700 with g400max and gigabytes mobo)


Hope this helps

[DukeP]

Whats the brand name of that psu?

And do it have a temperature controlled fan?

Does it produce a lot of noise when running?

Sorry for all the questions, but I have been looking for a decent psu for some time now....

[kelin]

First off, I went thru 3 k7 mobos, 2 FICs and 1 Gigabyte...had the same problems...playing a game and then dumping back to desktop with a Huge Error msg.
Anyway, last Friday, I took the second FIC back and got the Asus K7M...what a difference...Not a single problem, so far...And I have been involved in 2-3 hour long UT marathons...
Also, I got a Sparkle Power 350Watt PS...its on the AMD (www.amd.com) approved Power supply list...
But, most importantly...I think that most of the mobo manufacturers rushed their mobos into production...and ended up with alot of bad ones out there...Also, with the FIC...important to make sure you have the 1.8 rev...instead of the 1.7...
Again, I was considering going back to Intel, until I got the K7M...really lik it...
Kelin
btw, I am using a MAX...

[This message has been edited by kelin (edited 25 November 1999).]

[IceStorm]

I'm using the MSI Athlon board. Works great (and its BIOS is flashable, unlike the K7M's). I have it mated to a non-approved power supply, but the power supply is 300 watts, and can put 165 watts to the two rails needed by the mainboard.

When installing the Matrox drivers, the TurboGL it installed was not the Athlon driver. Instead, it gave me the PIII driver. I replaced the driver with the Athlon TurboGL, and that worked fine - think the Athlon's TurboGL is named mgak7tgl.dll, I believe (not at my computer at the moment).

Just my $0.02

------------------
Primary System: Athlon 550, MSI 6167 mb w/BIOS 1.3, 3x128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM CAS2, G400 MAX in multi-monitor mode, Two Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u monitors, Intel Pro/100+ Management Adapter, SoundBlaster Live!, DeskTop Theater DTT2500 DIGITAL Speaker System (Sweeeeeet!), WDC WD20 5AA 20GB HD, WD AC310100 10GB HD, Toshiba SD-M1212 6x DVD-ROM, HP 8100i CD-RW, Epson Stylus Pro, OptiUPS PowerES 650, MS SideWinder Precision Pro USB joystick, Gravis Xterminator gamepad (no DX7 drivers yet), Logitech 3-button mouse, Mitsumi keyboard, Win98 SE, Belkin OmniCube 4-port KVM, 10/100 5-port Linksys Ethernet switch, Epson 1200u scanner, Epson Stylus Pro printer, Logitech QuickCam Pro with the little stand and the lense kit (cool).

Secondary System: PIII-450, Soyo 6BA+ IV, 1x128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM CAS2, Millennium G200 AGP, V2 SLI rig, Intel Pro/100+ Management Adapter, SoundBlaster 32, WD AC41800 18GB HD, Creative Dxr3 DVD decoder card, Hitachi GD-2500 6x DVD-ROM, Win98 SE

Tertiary System: PII-266, Asus P2B BIOS 1008, 1x128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM CAS2, Millennium II, 3Com 3C905, 3Com 3C509, ADSL Modem 640kbit down/90kbit up, Mylex BT-930 SCSI card, Seagate 2GB Hawk, Seagate 1GB Hawk, Quantum DLT 4000 tape drive, NEC 6x CD-ROM, Linux distro S.u.S.E. 6.1 (IP Masquerade works!)

Quaternary System: Ocean Rhino 9 motherboard w/Intel 430HX chipset, P200MMX, 4x64MB EDO Parity RAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C590, SoundBlaster 16 MCD, Fujitsu 3.5GB HD, WD 1.2GB HD, Haven't chosen an OS yet.

And a JetDirect EX print server that bootp's its address from the Tertiary System.

All specs subject to change.

-The pessimist says: "The glass is half empty."
The optimist says: "The glass is half full."
The engineer says: "I put half of my water
in a redundant glass."

[kelin]

Pardon Moi???
I have already flashed my BIOS twice, on my K7M...So, either I got some wierd variation of the K7M that flashes, or you are mistaken...
Also, with the ability to change my FSB speeds, I have been running my K7 650 @ 695 Mhz (107 Mhz FSB) and have not noticed any temp increases( yeah, its nice to be able to keep an eye on the CPU temps with my thermistor...can't do that on the MSI, can ya???)
hehheh
Kelin
pri sys: (98)
K7 650 on K7M
256 Megs Enhanced Memory Systems HSDRAM PC133
Adaptec 2940U2W
Quantum Atlas 10K
IBM Ultrastar UW
Aureal Vortex 2 Super quad
E Com NIC (for Cable)

Sec sys(NT, Linux, and 98)
P3 450 on Soyo BA6 +III
128 Megs CAS-2 PC100
2 UDMA HDs (1 /66 and 1 /33)
TNT
2 V2s
Creative Ensonic
3 Com NIC (for Cable)
Epson Printer
Epson Scanner


[This message has been edited by kelin (edited 25 November 1999).]

[Sharkbait]

I agree wit Kelin, the K7m is flashable, and I have flashed it also :-)

On the original question, I think the power supply or memory ar e the usual problems, but IceStorms note about the turboGL drivers sounds very interesting - check that out

Also athlon boards seem to be picky about memory.

cheers

[IceStorm]

You're right. It wasn't that they weren't flashable, it was that Greebe mentioned that many BIOSes were defective:
http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000686.html

I agree on the RAM thing, but for a different reason:

When I got my MSI and started loading it out for use, I tossed my DIMMs in without looking. Powering up the PC gave me some beeps. Huh?

Turns out that the MSI actually NEEDS a DIMM in the first DIMM slot (the two I used at the time were in the 2nd and 3rd DIMM slots).

Oh well.

[kelin]

Well, as I have said (probably to many members naseum) I have tried 2 of the FICs...with varying degress of success...
Also, on the RAM thing, I run that Enhanced Memory Systems HSDRAM PC133(can't even get anything under 256 megs of it anymore....at, something like 900$!!!) and had no probs getting the Asus to run it...I am planning to up to a 133 Mhz chipset mobo as soon as they arrive...but, for anyone having RAM probs with the Asus (or any of the other K7 mobos)..wouldn't hurt to just go ahead and get some quality Pc133...you will need it soon, anyway...
As far as returning the FICs, I had kind of the same prob...while the place I bought the K7 600/FIC combo(since took the FIC/600 back, got a 650 and went somewhere else for the K7M)would return it, even though I bought it as a combo/unit/whatever, they would only credit me towards the K7 650 with the price of the K7 600...for the FIC SD-11, they said they had to send me a check (haven't got it yet, btw)...but I would try maintain that the FIC is incompatable with your existing hardware...and you aren't going to get a whole new system just to make the SD-11 work!!!
Also, say that it reboots during Win 98 install...and keeps giving OpenGL errors while playing UT (demo or full)...Don't know how your particular vendor is, but I would just insist on either getting my dough back for the SD-11, exchange with money added for the K7M (or whichever mobo you want)...or just return the whole kit for a refund...hopefully you have not had it more than the 30 days or whatever their refund policy says...
Re: the DIMM Slots..In my P3 mobos (and P2's when I still had them) I ran my 2 sticks of HSDRAM PD133 (128 meggers) in the 2 outside slotz(slot 1 and 4)...the guys at Enhanced said it was best to space them apart as much as possible...probably for air circulation...(btw, he also said to put some thin heatsinks on the DIMMS...that it would really help in OC'ing)...anyway, in the Asus K7M manual, it said to ALWAYS put the DIMMS in adjacent slots...running my two 128 meg sticks in slots 1 and 2...don't remember reading anything re: putting first DIMM in slot 1...but its probably in there too...
Anyway, GOOD LUCK!!!
Kelin

[TopCatFCD]

I went thru loads of memory at local shop before finding one that worked on this FIC. Some didnt boot...no POST and others frooze in windows.Eventually got Goldstar to work. Personally I think it may be PSU.I dont get any probs with any 2d work or anything that dont involve heavy 3d work.Has anyone actually got a 235 watt PSU with Athlon/G400 and got it working?
One thing...in UK the shops will want to replace my Mobo(FIC) with like for like... if I return it for say a giga or asus what should I say to get them to replace FIC for Giga etc? Sorry to sound lame but the shops here are feckin fussy sometimes.

Icestorm...I gather that mgatglk7.dll is the right file?...should it be in windows/system then..or is there more to just stickin that file in there? ?

[This message has been edited by TopCatFCD (edited 26 November 1999).]

[TopCatFCD]

I have found a part solution to the original question...although it is feckin weird .
If before playing Half Life(CS) Q3 etc ,I reset my desktop back to 800x600 then all is well.Normally I have it at 1024x768.I havent had any lockups for a few days now and have only been dumped back to desktop once ,with Might and Magic VII.
I have got a strange prob now in that the first time i run HL it will freeze while loading (multiplayer) but after reboot it is ok,as long as I dont do anything else first.
I'm just waiting for some cash now...next week I hope....and I'm off to get myself a working Mobo ie NOT FIC!
Any suggestions which one?

Thanks

[Ed Braga]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...

First of all I think your assessments of the FIC board are totally unwarranted. I believe you may have had software or hardware config problems and this is not related to the FIC. I am running the FIC SD11 right now and have built many like this without any issues like you say. In fact the SD11 is one of the only Mobos out there that is not a straight reference board clone. Anyway I have tested the SD11 with the TNT2u which draws alot more voltage than a g400 does as well as generates quite a bit more heat without any issues whatsoever. Oh and by the way the K7M has the largest list of reported compatibility issues of any of the K7 Mobo's

Just my 2 cents...

Ed

[Greebe]

1. the SD-11 sucks! I've tested. 2. the K7M does have the largest list of incompatabilities of all Slot A MB's.

Kelin, Your super accurate thermistor isn't even coming in contact with the cpu! It's (blue with a white dot) mounted behind the cpu measuring nothing but the ambient temp, so there's no bragging there. Also your not increasing the cpu by that much so I wouldn't expect to see anymore than a 2-3 degrees increase.

Top, go for the MS-6167 mb. Still rated #1 for it's stability and compatability

------------------
Designer of the first Athlon mod. Currently marketing the "Eclipse" through AZZO Computers.
Anyone up for an Eclipse'd Athlon 850? Email me for more information

2800 mips, 1.092 gflops @ 800 mHz 1:3 latency
CPUmark99 70.7

[kelin]

First off...no one said ANYTHING about a "super AccuraTe Therm"...I realize you HATE the K7M for some reason...but, so far...I haven't had prob ONE wit Mines...
Also...All I meant re: the SD-11 was that I had a couple BAd ones...the first one was the first (1.7) rev...known (at least per the posts on the Enhanced Memory Systems site) to have BIG issues with HSDRAM PC133...the second SD-11 I had, rev 1.8 faired MUCH better...but I still had the prob of the random dump back to desktop with UT demo...with the K7M none of my present probs have happened ONCE!!! At least, even if some of ya's "HATE" my mobo, be happy 4 me that its working fine...I am running SCSI U2W, BTW...and haven't had any hardware comp probs with it (or if I have, they must be invisible!!!)...
So please...prior to puttin me down, be accurate re: my quotes!!!!
I am having the BEST TIME with this system!!! Getting 75+ FPS in UT with 10x7 at 16 and 62 at 32...I will TAKE IT!!!
RE: the thermistor... If you would go back and read my post (its obvious that you didn't read it, either that, or forgot what I said)..I wasn't saying that the temps were LOW...I said that the increases (the delta deg F) was NO DIFFERENT that when running at 100 Mhz FSB!!! Didn't say anything re: the accuracy of my thermistor reading...
BTW...is the Eclipse Mod available if you already have the K7??? And is it hardwired on the K7 or one of the kinds that "Plug" into the connector on the Top???
BTW...I have a hole in my thermal plate on the K7 and the white dot is actually contacting the chip...not resting on the side (blue epoxy part) measuring ambient...
Just rec'd my Global Cooler and got a duct made to fit the UNFITTABLE K7M!!!
You can mod the K7...I was able to fit a decent (or is that decadent) cooler...
Kelin