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K7S5A-Pro CPU Multiplier options?

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First post, by Sedrosken

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Hi all,

I've recently put together a build revolving around an ECS K7S5A-Pro. I know ECS's reputation, but I actually quite like this board and it's been quite stable in my experience. I'm using mobile/embedded CPUs to benefit from the lower power draw, and I'd like to overclock my Geode NX1750. I can do this as-is by pushing the FSB, and it's stable all the way to 300 just from what I've tested (and I'm not saying it's not stable past that, just that I haven't tested yet).

Apparently Thoroughbred is multiplier-unlocked across the board, but both the latest stock BIOS and the modified ones I've found floating around (Honey X's and Cheepo's) don't seem to have any multiplier options... I've experimented with software tools like SetFSB and CrystalCPUID, and SetFSB works no questions asked (clockgen is an ICS9248EF), but CrystalCPUID's controls for voltage and multiplier both seem to not actually affect any changes. I can clock down to my heart's content, but I can't push any further than the stock multiplier.

Is there something I'm missing with the software tools? Is there another modded BIOS floating around that has those options? Failing that, it's an AMI BIOS, what would I need to do to edit those options in? I'm assuming I'd whack at it with AMIBCP, but I'm not sure what version to use.

Thanks for any insight you might have!

Shoushi: Dimension 9200, QX6700, 8GB D2-800CL5, K2200, SB0730, 1TB SSD, XP/7
Kara: K7S5A Pro, NX1750, 512MB DDR-286CL2, Ti4200, AU8830, 64GB SD2IDE, 98SE (Kex)
Cragstone: Alaris Cougar, 486BL2-66, 16MB, GD5428, CT2800, 16GB SD2IDE, 95CNOIE

Reply 1 of 3, by Repo Man11

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I remember when those were very popular motherboards. I found a link at Overclockers.com that details a mod done to achieve control of both multiplier and CPU voltage settings, but it's pretty involved. https://web.archive.org/web/20051111050643/ht … /k7s5amodp1.htm

After watching many YouTube videos about older computer hardware, YouTube began recommending videos about trains - are they trying to tell me something?

Reply 2 of 3, by Sedrosken

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Thanks for that, and yeah, it seems to be rather involved for just a bit of overclocking. If I had a spare I'd consider giving it a shot, but I'm not great at soldering as it is, so I'll pass. I figured out it's AMIBCP 7.5 that you need to look at the BIOS, and indeed there just isn't any options in the BIOS to enable. Unfortunate.

My testing of the FSB progressed a bit further but seems to top out around FSB150 -- granted, right now I have a mobile 2200+ in there, and the issue could be power or VCore related (I'm using a rather 5v hungry Ti4200) rather than the chipset itself. I'll have to kick the multiplier down and then see if I can hit FSB166 to determine if it's really the chipset's fault or not. Even if it is, considering 735 is rated for 133/266 at max, it's not a bad showing at all.

Shoushi: Dimension 9200, QX6700, 8GB D2-800CL5, K2200, SB0730, 1TB SSD, XP/7
Kara: K7S5A Pro, NX1750, 512MB DDR-286CL2, Ti4200, AU8830, 64GB SD2IDE, 98SE (Kex)
Cragstone: Alaris Cougar, 486BL2-66, 16MB, GD5428, CT2800, 16GB SD2IDE, 95CNOIE

Reply 3 of 3, by Repo Man11

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I have an Amptron LM930 P4 motherboard - it's the P4 equivalent of the K7S5A. It also has an AMI BIOS, and I tried AMIBCP to see if I could enable FSB/memory ratio of 133/166, but I had no luck. It has a setting for 100/166, so the memory bandwidth was actually slightly better with a 100 MHz FSB P4 than a 133 MHz FSB P4 (though overall performance is still slightly better with a 2.8 GHz 133 FSB P4 than with the 100 MHz FSB 2.8 ). Frustrating, but one of the things that made bargain motherboards a bargain was a stripped down BIOS that didn't have the performance options that higher end ones did.

After watching many YouTube videos about older computer hardware, YouTube began recommending videos about trains - are they trying to tell me something?

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