Is the FSB reset on every boot?

[rdunbar]

My MSI Ultra 645 mobo resets the FSB to 100 MHz everytime it boots, no matter what I change it to in CMOS. MSI tells me that is natural but the posts I've seen indicate otherwise. Is this true? If so, are there any other boards which don't reset the FSB? Thanks for any info.

[Bovon]

It may depend whether or not your processor is locked or unlocked. Some motherboards will recognize if the cpu is locked, and if it is, the board defaults to 100 mhz fsb. If the cpu is unlocked, the board recognizes this and will now allow the 133 fsb settings.

[rdunbar]

The CPU is locked (P4 2.0 GHz Northwood) and the BIOS will not let me unlock it. Are there any boards which don't do this? (Asus perhaps?)

[Bovon]

I must remember in the future to ask the poster to list his/her system, and all of the peripherals before I attempt to answer.

In other words, if its got an Intel processor, I ain't got a clue.

[rdunbar]

Yes, Bovon, I think you are correct. However, MSI has informed the board is indeed defective. Thanks for the help.

[mohamed76]

hello all
this is mohamed from egypt

i have my motherboard asus tusl2-c and i use intel celeron cpu 1.2 giga
i overclocked my cpu to 1380 mhz and it is working well
i made this through switches not through the cmos setup coz when i did it through the cmos it resets the fsb when i reboot more than a time
does this mean that my mother board is not good or is defective?
knowing that i tried another board with the same model and it also did the same reset the fsb after rebooting
or does this mean that my cpu is locked?
how can i know that my processor is locked?

and if so ... how can i unlock it

please answer me with details if you have time to do so
thanks

[Jimstep]

mohamed76, You may want to start a new thread since your question is different from the thread starters original question. You wil increase your chances of getting an answer.

I would help you, but I'm not that knowledgeable with the Celerons...

[Buji]

Mohamed, Celerons are locked if you change the FSB in the BIOS, look for a setting called "Speed Error Hold" and disable it. I don't know if it applies to your board but on my jumperless board it does. Everytime I change the FSB and Speed Error Hold is enabled it resets the FSB back because the BIOS sees it as an error and wants to correct it.

[HRM]

The program CPUcool allows a setting that will reset FSB at startup (or shutdown). This would be a workaround if you can not RMA it.

[rdunbar]

Thanks, HRM, I will keep the program in mind. I am returning the MSI board (it is definitely defective) but have ordered an Asus to replace it.

Mohamed, the locked processor means the ratio between the FSB and the internal CPU clock is fixed and cannot be changed. The only way to change the internal clock is to change the FSB. I have not come across any method to unlock them but it surely would take a hardware fix (soldering pins together, etc). I will let you know if my Asus works the same way as yours but I suspect it will. MSI told me this was Intel's specifications so if they want to be Intel compliant (endorsed, etc) then they must do it this way.

[mohamed76]

thanks to every one here for his reply

my asus board is model : TUSL2-C
and it supports 1.2 GB pentium 3 as the manual say
but it has high freq speeds and can support till 1.6 GB as i see in the bios setup .

i still did not know how to unlock my processor

mr. buji : my board does not contain this option about speed error
but it has an option that says halt on all errors and it is enabled here
i will try to disable this option and it may work

im not an expert in this matter so excuse me for this and also im not so good at english
but there is a notice : i overclocked my processor through the switches and it is now: FSB 115 MHZ
rather than

FSB 100 MHZ

does this mean that my processor is unlocked coz the FSB changed by adjusting the switches and not throgh the bios setup?

if the processor is unlocked : how can i unlock it ?
i will try to find out if the matter belongs to my motherboard and to to my processor itself .

please do not be angry with me coz of my bad english

[Buji]

No your processor is not unlocked. It can't be unlocked. What you have done is raise the speed by 15% by raising the FSB. Your processor is a 1.2Ghz, now running at 1.38Ghz. Raise the FSB to 120 and you will now be running at 1.44Ghz. Halt on all errors means the computer won't boot if there is a hardware error such as a bad floppy or keyboard. Don't apologize for your English. It sure is better than my Arabic.

Try this site to see how high your Celeron will go, http://overclockers.cssftware.com/cpudb/index.cfm