Ecs L7vta Motherboard

[Brave01Heart]

Hi

MODS: Please close this topic.

I have query or two with reference to the CPU temperature and I apologise now for the post being a bit long but it's a new toy and I am no expert when it comes to the m/b/processors hardware settings etc and I need to find out if my settings are correct and that I am getting the best from my system:

Ok, my motherboard (ECS L7VTA with latest BIOS version) 'apparently' supports hardware monitoring and this is shown under "PC Health Status" in the BIOS; I've only had the motherboard/AMD Athlon XP combination for around two weeks and the normal CPU working temperature for my particular processor appears to hover around 49C - 52C. What is the normal operating temperature for this processor?

Q: At what level of CPU temperature should I be concerned?

Q: Also, in the BIOS under "PC Health Status", there is an option for
"Shutdown Temperature" and the choices are:

60C / 140F, 65C / 149F and 70C / 158F

This is obviously for safety reasons so that your pc can be shutdown to prevent damage to it. What is the best shutdown temeperature to select from the above?

I have some other questions about this board and memory/USB which I hope some users can answer for me:

I have the ECS L7VTA motherboard PCB 1.0 and I have a few questions with reference to some of the settings, especially the CPU frequency jumper and USB support, which I hope will take the time to answer for me?

Ok, my motherboard has the latest BIOS version from Phoenix-AWARD and I have two 256MB DIMM's of 184 pin PC2700 333Mhz DDR DRAM. Jumpers JP3 and JP5 are set for 133Mhz and in the BIOS under "Advanced Chipset Features", the following figures are shown:

Current FSB Frequency: 133Mhz
Current DRAM Frequency: 133Mhz
DRAM Clock: 133Mhz
DRAM Timing: Auto by SPD

x DRAM CAS Latency: 2.5
x Bank Interleave: Disabled

and under "Frequency/Voltage Control", the CPU Clock is shown at "133Mhz" with two settings to choose from (133Mhz and 165Mhz) and you need to key in a "DEC" number. What is a DEC number?

I have used a utility called "PC Wiazrd 2003" and when I click on "Physical Memory", it shows under "Chipset Information":

Type: DDR-SDRAM PC2100
Frequency : 265 MHz

and under "Information EEPROM" it shows:

Information EEPROM (A0) :
Manufacturer : Unspecified
Type : DDR-SDRAM PC2700 (166 MHz)
Size : 256 Mb (1 rows, 4 banks)
Module : Unbuffered
Width : 64 bits
CAS Latency : CL2 @ 142 MHz, CL2.5 @ 166 MHz
RAS to CAS : 72 ns
RAS Precharge : 72 ns
Row Activate : 48 ns
Max. Burst Length : 8
Refresh : Reduced (.5x)7.8 µs, Self Refresh
Error Correction Capability : No
Voltage : SSTL 2.5

Information EEPROM (A1) :
Manufacturer : Unspecified
Part Number : M2U25664DS88B3G-6K
Serial Number :
Type : DDR-SDRAM PC2700 (166 MHz)
Size : 256 Mb (1 rows, 4 banks)
Module : Unbuffered
Width : 64 bits
CAS Latency : CL2 @ 142 MHz, CL2.5 @ 166 MHz
RAS to CAS : 72 ns
RAS Precharge : 72 ns
Row Activate : 48 ns
Max. Burst Length : 8
Refresh : Reduced (.5x)7.8 µs, Self Refresh
Error Correction Capability : No
Voltage : SSTL 2.5

Q: Why does it show my DDR SDRAM 333Mhz PC2700 with a frequency of 166Mhz instead of 333Mhz?

Q: My PC2700 333Mhz DDR RAM should be running at 333Mhz but why does it not shown this in the settings given above? Are these settings correct for my PC2700 333Mhz DDR RAM?

Q: The "Bank Interleave" option should be user adjustable, and when enabled, is supposed to increase memory speed but it is 'grayed' out. Why is this option 'grayed' out and why can't I change this to enabled?

Q: With reference to USB controllers/ports on my ECS L7VTA; my board should support USB 2.0 and has 4 (four) USB ports at the back of the computer and 2 (two) on the front of the computer case. In Device Manager under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers", it shows "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" and it also shows 3 x "VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controllers", (and also 4 x USB Root Hubs).

Also when I use a utility called "PC Wiazrd 2003" and choose "USB Bus", this utility shows 3 (three) VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controllers (all VIA chipsets) version 1.0, Speed 48Mhz, Interface UHCI; and underneath this, it shows:

VT6202 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller, version 2.0, Speed 48Hhz, Interface EHCI.

My questions with regard to the USB are; I thought that the speed of USB 2.0 was far greater that that of USB 1.1 but it shows the same speed of 48Mhz. Why?

Also, given that I have 6 USB ports and in Device Manager it shows 3
controllers for USB 1.1 and only one for USB 2.0, which ports are USB 2.0 compliant, the four at the back of the computer, or the 2 on the front case, or all 6 of them?

I would really appreciate your help with these questions so that I can
understand what is going on and if I need to make any changes.

Regards and thanks in advance

Brave01Heart

[BearCat]

Quote:

Q: At what level of CPU temperature should I be concerned?

A : That depends on your specific CPU, ie the XP 1900+ has a specified max die temp at +90C
If you are in the 50-60 you should be safe.

So you may set your shutdown temp to 70 ( but dont shoot me if it burn's )

Quote:

Q: Why does it show my DDR SDRAM 333Mhz PC2700 with a frequency of 166Mhz instead of 333Mhz?

A : DDR = 2xspeed, 333/2=166,5 Mhz "base" speed.

Quote:

Q: My PC2700 333Mhz DDR RAM should be running at 333Mhz but why does it not shown this in the settings given above? Are these settings correct for my PC2700 333Mhz DDR RAM?

A : You need to set your "base" speed for you RAM to 165 (*2=333) se above.

[Brave01Heart]

Hi BC

Nice to hear from you again and glad that your system is back to full working order.

With reference to my AMD processor temperatures and memory on the ECS L7VTA mobo, my processor is the AMD Athlon XP 2000+ so I'll set the shutdown temp to 70C / 158F and see how we go. It should be ok because they have that range in there but I promise not to shoot you if it burns.

I set the "base" speed for my RAM in Advanced Chipset Features/DRAM Clock/Drive Control and DRAM Clock by choosing "166Mhz" or "By SPD" and after reboot the "Current DRAM Frequency" under this setting is now shown as 166Mhz. And when I use PC Wizard 2003 and choose Physical Memory, instead of showing the type as Type: DDR-SDRAM PC2100 and Frequency: 265 MHz, it now shows Type: DDR-SDRAM PC2700 and Frequency: 332Mhz.

But under EEPROM Information it still shows Type : DDR-SDRAM PC2700 (166 MHz) but I guess, as you said, 166Mhz is the base speed of the DDR RAM, which is 2xspeed which is 333Mhz, so that will always say 166Mhz?

All the bus speeds are confusing to me because we have the FSB @ 133Mhz and the CPU Frequency @ 133Mhz. The CPU frequency was set by the retailer but I can change (by moving jumpers on JP3 & JP5)that to the last option which is 166Mhz but I don't know if that also changes the FSB to 166Mhz and I'm mot sure if my mobo/CPU/RAM supports that?

I've been asking lots of q's about my new board/processor/RAM because it's new and I need to find out things so I hope you guys don't mind?

Many thanks for your help BC.

Regards

Brave01Heart

[hamslammer]

Sounds like you have a nice new toy to play with Brave01Heart. I found a nice tech forum that has an excellent section for ECS boards and there are many very talented and knowledgeable people who can answer most any questions you might have about this particular brand of board. If you check it out, just scroll to near the lower half of the board to find the motherboard section:

http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

[Ollie]

Hi guy's

Can any of you help. I have the same MB and RAID controller but am having a few problems.

I attached my 160gb HDD to IDE3 and set it up in the RAID bios. But, I cannot format it.

What am I doing wrong?

Drive is set to cable select, and all drivers are installed. I can even see the drive under Windows XP's disk management utility.

Cheers

Ollie