Need help with K6-2!!!

[Stang]

I have an Asus sp97-v motherboard with an AMD K6-2 500MHz processor. The motherboard is only capable of running 66, 75, and 83MHz FSB. I have been running the processor at 400MHz (6x66MHz) with no problems. When I try to run it at 500MHz (6x83MHz w/ async jumper set) the computer is slow to respond and Sandra 2000 warns that the PCI Bus Speed is too high. It also gives the same warning when I have it set to 6x75MHz w/ async jumper set. Are there any settings in the CMOS that I need to change? Or is there something else I need to do for it to run good at 500MHz?
Other system info:
32MB EDO RAM (soon to be 64MB)
Voodoo 3 2000 PCI
Crystal Audio ISA sound card
230W AT power supply

Any information is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Stang

[Stang]

caddmannq,
It is an SIS 5598 chipset, and is flashed to the latest BIOS. I have not tried running it without the soundcard yet. Currently I have the RAM set to 60ns, and the I/O recovery time is set to 5 busclk for 16-bit and 8 busclk for 8-bit. What do you recommend increasing the 8-bit and 16-bit busclock to?
Thanks,
Stang

[werd]

save yourself alot of headaches. . .getyourself a new board that supports SDRAM. SDRAM AKA PC100, 133 so on runs at teh speed of the MoBo. EDO only runs at 33mhz.

basicaly there isnt much you can do, at 83mhz the PCI bus is running at 41.5mhz. way up from the normal 33 mhz due to the 1/2 divider. when you start runing 95-100, it becomes a 1/3 divider. and at those speeds the ASI bus speed is running at 27mhz. from the normal 25mhz.

you can see that you are pushing the components, but not past what they can handle.

while you are running the processor at 83x6. 498 or so. you are runnuing the processor within spec, however if you were able to hit 100mhz you would notice a huge performance gain. that is why I say get yourself a new MoBo. they are relatively cheap these days, no more than about $75 for a good one

[Peter M]

Forget Sandra's warning. The SP97-V, as long as you've enabled the async PCI jumper, has the PCI bus at 33 MHz with 83 MHz CPU bus (32 MHz at 75 MHz). Set the multiplier to 2.0x to get 6.0x from your K6-2, and there you go, 500 MHz.

You should back down on RAM access speed by one, EDO from x222 to x333 and FPM from x333 to x444 for 83 MHz bus. That'll still be faster than 450 MHz on 75 MHz bus, since the latter setting has slower CPU, slower L2 cache, and slower PCI.
Regards, Peter

[Stang]

Peter Missel,
I don't see and access speed setting. This is what is in my BIOS:
RAS Precharge Time: 3T
RAS to CAS Delay: 3T
CAS Precharge Time (EDO): 1T/2T
CAS Pulse Width (EDO): 1T
Refresh RAS Assertion: 7T
DRAM Read Leadoff Time: 5T
I'm not sure which each of these do, so if you could advise me of the settings I should use I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Stang

[Peter M]

Your RAM settings look OK.

In the meantime, there have been complaints from other people trying to use AMD K6-2/500 or faster on more recent ASUS boards P5A and P5S. They also report painstakingly slow system operation. Maybe ASUS has an issue to solve here.

Regards, Peter

[Stang]

I appreciate all the help from you fellas. I think most of the problems have been solved. I just installed a newer hard drive. I replaced a 2GB Maxtor with a 5.3GB Maxtor. The difference seems amazing. I don't think the older HD could handle the higher bus speed. When I enabled DMA on the 5.3GB HD it slowed the computer down to a crawl. So I disabled DMA. Half-Life runs flawless, but Midtown Madness, 3DMark99Max, and 3DMark2000 freeze after only a few seconds of running. I even turned the graphics way down on Midtown Madness, and still freezes. Any ideas? I'm hoping to get this computer up to par so my daughter can play her games on it and stay off my computer. It's not easy to convince an 8 year old girl that her computer is good enough!
Thanks again,
Stang

[BFlurie]

Might try lowering your multiplier to 5.5
(5.5 X 83 = 457 MHz). Also might try going back to "default" BIOS settings other than the asynchronous PCI bus & Peter's other suggestions.