[dgmtoronto]

Hi again....

3 weeks ago, I got a new A8S-X mainboard with an AMD Athlon X2 Duo Core 2GHz CPU. The system has great cooling and 2GB of RAM.

This is the most unstable system I've ever used in my life. Its keeps crashing, on every session I start....sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes a few hours but it always crashes.

When the system attempts to re-boot it gets stuck on the Asus spash screen but after a few hard boot re-tries I get an error message on screen that says

"Overclocking failed! please enter setup to re-configure your system. press F1 to run setup or F2 to load system default values and continue."

If I hit F2 the system boots again until it crashes again a few minutes later. This system is unusable as is.

I have NOT knowingly set the system/CPU to overclock. However in the BIOS, there is a manual and auto setting on overclocking. I the default value set which is 'auto'. This is what the manual recommends if the system fails to operate due to overclocking. It seems that there is a minimum overclock under the 'auto' setting of 5%, but there is no "zero %" option. I don't want or need to overclock this system - its mostly for work purposes. I want to have a stable system to work on not one that crashes 10 times a day when I'm in the middle of a task and doesn't even make it easy to reboot!

I have a friend who bought the same exact config as me on the same day from the same store and he's not having any of these problems.

If anyone can advise on a solution, I would truly appreciate the input!

Thanks,

MIP

[Alex Ethridge]

5% overclocking . . . Hmmm . . .

I would try a BIOS update. If that doesn't fix the mandatory overclocking problem, I recommend getting with the supplier of the board for a replacement.

Some suppliers have a policy against swapping a board after a BIOS flash so I would recommend you keep that to yourself when asking for a replacement.

[crjdriver]

Many high end boards come with a slight fsb overclock now; it is common and should not be the source of your problem.

Post exact specs on your system ie brand and type of ram, brand and wattage of pw supply, etc. If possible, post links to the parts.

[Alex Ethridge]

It seems presumptious to me that a so-called high-end board would disable running a processor at stock speed and leave the user no choice in that matter. I still think a board that does this is either defective or a bad design. In either case, I would not accept it in that condition.

[Nastrodamus]

Oh I had this happen initially when I got this mobo installed ....I have the same exact board. There is something that you need to turn off that I cannot remember off the top of my head. I will check the Asus site for the mobo manual and see if I can remember what it was I had to turn off. If not I will be home in about 30 minutes and will just look in the BIOS. Mine runs like a champ and I haven't had a glitch out of it since.


Ok so I think I have it, just so you can see it go here
http://support.asus.com/download/dow...us&model=A8S-X
then click on manuals to A8S-X User's Manual for English Edition (E2123) if you have the manual then go to the Advanced Menu 2.4 section in the manual and go to Jumperfree Configuration then you should see AI overclocking...I think mine may have been intially set to auto but then again I dont remember I think if you set it to standard you will be ok. I think setting it to manual brings up more things to tweak so I think standard is what you need. I am almost sure that's what I had to change. If it's set to standard initially then set it to auto. (ok I just re-read your post and it being set to auto, that almost confirms that I changed it to standard)

Let us know if this corrects the issue.

[crjdriver]

Originally Posted by Alex Ethridge

It seems presumptious to me that a so-called high-end board would disable running a processor at stock speed and leave the user no choice in that matter. I still think a board that does this is either defective or a bad design. In either case, I would not accept it in that condition.

Alex the slight overclock is something like running the fsb @202 instead of 200 or 269 instead of 266. This is done so the board maker can "claim" their P35 chipset board is faster than XXX's board. It is normal today and is NOT the source of the poster's problem.

[win2kpro]

I'm with you Alex. If Asus wants to overclock a board even slightly they should advertise it as such.

[Alex Ethridge]

crjdriver,

I agree it may not be the source of the problem and it may be a feature of this board. But, it's my personal opinion one should have control of whether this obverclocking is used or not used. Personally, I would not accept a board that overclocked, regardless of how little or how much, if I don't have the option to run it at stock speed.

Back to his problem: The overclocking may (or may not) be the cause of the problem; but, unless we find what it is, we cannot be certain what it isn't. Turning off overclocking may be just one thing we try among many before we actually find what it is. With overclocking having the well-earned reputation of introducing all sorts of instabilities into a system, turning that off should be an easy diagnostic step. (Whether the manufacturer of the board made it easy is another matter.)

[win2kpro]

This is interesting about the AI overclocking;

AI Overclocking
A unique option in BIOS that enables quick overclocking up to 30% (depends on CPU and RAM). It automatically detects and optimizes every relevant parameter to provide both performance and stability.

You have to assume that Asus at their discretion can overclock up to 30%.

http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...55&modelmenu=1

[crjdriver]

It is very simple to "turn off" just enter the bios and set fsb manually to whatever value you think is stock ie 200, 266, or whatever.

The "overclocking failed" msg is very common with asus boards. Often there is an update that addresses this issue. IMO the asus bios is somewhat flakey in this regard. It seems to occasionally set different parameters all by itself. I have an old asus board here that will do that once in a great while.

[dgmtoronto]

Originally Posted by crjdriver

Many high end boards come with a slight fsb overclock now; it is common and should not be the source of your problem.

Post exact specs on your system ie brand and type of ram, brand and wattage of pw supply, etc. If possible, post links to the parts.

Thanks for your reply...

My system specs are:

Asus A8S-X m-board
2GB Adata RAM DDR2 400MHz
JustPC 450w power supply (soon to be upgraded)
Video: GEforce 7300GT
Athelon X64 3800 Dual Core CPU - 2MHz

I just had the mainboard tested at the local computer store I buy from and they swapped the board with a new one, same model. But I'm having the same issues. So I'm currently testing my RAM. Currently I seem to be running stable with 1 DIMM installed. I think I'm going to get a stick of branded RAM, ultra or kingston or whatever you might suggest and test that for a few days, since maybe its the RAM that's off here....the store tech suggested that RAM would be the next thing to test after swapping the board.

[dgmtoronto]

Originally Posted by crjdriver

It is very simple to "turn off" just enter the bios and set fsb manually to whatever value you think is stock ie 200, 266, or whatever.

The "overclocking failed" msg is very common with asus boards. Often there is an update that addresses this issue. IMO the asus bios is somewhat flakey in this regard. It seems to occasionally set different parameters all by itself. I have an old asus board here that will do that once in a great while.

From within the BIOS on this mboard....there is no way to manually set the FSB. Its greyed out and no way to edit the default setting of FSB multiplier 10x.

[dgmtoronto]

Originally Posted by Alex Ethridge

5% overclocking . . . Hmmm . . .

I would try a BIOS update. If that doesn't fix the mandatory overclocking problem, I recommend getting with the supplier of the board for a replacement.

Some suppliers have a policy against swapping a board after a BIOS flash so I would recommend you keep that to yourself when asking for a replacement.

This board already has the most recent BIOS available....good suggestion though - thanks.

[crjdriver]

Originally Posted by dgmtoronto

From within the BIOS on this mboard....there is no way to manually set the FSB. Its greyed out and no way to edit the default setting of FSB multiplier 10x.

Yes you can. Page 2-14 of the downloaded manual tells you how to set the fsb. The multi is locked for all amd64 type chips except the fx line so you cannot set the multi however you CAN set the fsb.

[crjdriver]

BTW you would need to set AI to manual to set the fsb; it is explained in the manual.