GXL750 wrote:

Yeah, the 820 wasn't able to handle a third slot very well hence the vast majority of motherboards with that chipset having two lots. Is that board any more stable if you only use a continuity RIMM in the third slot vs. a memory module?

No, it's still giving lots of errors while just doing stuff in windows, even with the CRIMM in slot 3. Perhaps it's something else that's causing this instability but my first attempt to fix this will be to change the motherboard with another VC820 that has only 2 slots.
One thing I like about the board is that Windows ME has all it's drivers build-in.
Btw, I have a P3-933 Slot 1 in it, perhaps that CPU is too much for the thing?
I know my board is one of the early ones, I'll check it's manufacturing date once I've removed it from it's case (because now I am curious 😜 )

Edit:I know it's not ME that's the cause of this instability because I'm running the exact same ME on 2 other rigs which are perfectly stable so far (used automated setup with the msbatch thingy)

Edit2:Without the CRIMM in the last slot (and 2 128MB modules in the first 2 slots) the board wouldn't even post. Took a while before I figured it out 🤣

I doubt the CPU is too much for the motherboard; maybe if the BIOS is really old. I used to have a motherboard with that chipset running a 1ghz Pentium III with no issues at all though it was a socket 370 version.

Yeah, Rambus is annoying like that; all slots have to be filled and the memory modules have to match as well.

With 512mb memory, that chipset works great with XP as well. Try a two slot board and see if it gives the same issues. I think you have a flakey board. After all, if it's three slots, it must be very early 820 and as we know, the 820 had plenty of initial problems at launch.

As much as I like the 820, I really think Intel should have just canned it and sold the 840 in it's place.

My VC820 has 2 slots, I can't remember if my P3C-LS (which is now dead) had 2 or 3 slots, but I think it also had only 2.

I figured it out. Apparently the VC820 with 3 slots is an engineering sample. It's got the word "secret" on both the north and south bridges. No wonder it was unstable 🤣!

I found out by doing a search for it's part number "AA 745013-301" which resulted in exactly one link: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330196
There someone mentioned the word "secret" on both north and southbridge. So I checked mine, and there they were.

It's production date is 3099, which is week 30 year 1999.

The second board is from 3700, week 37 year 2000, which is one year older.

Differences between the 2 boards are:
The old one has 3 RIMM slots, the new one has 2
The old one has a Crystal onboard sound chip, the new one has a Creative
The old one has onboard LAN and the new one doesn't
Some other slight differences like positions of fan connectors and such

Yay I got an engineering sample motherboard! 😁

Very cool!

7cjbill2 wrote:

Very cool!

Cool to have nailed to a wall, but from a practical standpoint this board won't run an OS stably.
Anyway, I didn't intend to hijack your thread mate 😉
I got a little carried away 😵