Question about relationship between Vcc 2.5V and Chipset Voltage

Hi there

I have a Athlon Barton 2500+ overclocked to 2090 Mhz (190*11). This morning when I booted her up the Athlon was recognised as 1100 Mhz (100*11). I spent ages looking for the answer then came across a relationship between chipset voltage, Vcc 2.5V and processor recognition on an Abit NF7-S V2.0.

Initially when I booted up and the processor was incorrectly recognised the Vcc 2.5V was up at 2.85V with a chipset voltage of 1.6V. Dropping the chipset voltage to 1.5V lowered the Vcc 2.5V to 2.6V and everything was OK again, 2090 Mhz no problem.

What I would like to know is if there is a relationship between Vcc 2.5V and processor recognition for Barton core athlons and if having to lower the northbridge voltage is cause for concern? As far as I can see there are no bulging caps so maybe the power supply is at fault? Any enlightmenment on this would be appreciated

Thanks
Sam

 

You are right about the detection scheme. This is frequently the case where a motherboard supports a broad spectrum of Chipset frequencies and power requirements. Sometimes a ' 'default setting' will occur to your settings, especially if the settings are close to a 'danger zone' of voltage and frequency settings. It's nothing to worry about, as it is a design attribute to help protect the hardware. In the old days, the detection/protection scheme was the over-clockers nose. We would shut down when we smelled the 'funny smell'.

 

Heh, thanks for that. Learn something new everyday.

 

You are welcome! It also happened to my rig, last summer. I think, as the weather warmed up, those winter-time settings that I was so proud of, were a bit optimistic for the dog days of July.

 

Too bad if you had a cold