Don't forget I've long been an advocate of this chipset. I have been hyping people up about it(or at least trying) for about 18 months now...


Dasa...500mhz @ 400mhz FSB has the same issues on this board as does most 975 boards. the 4:5 ratio does not work well.(don't bother, i know it's not a precise ratio, but it's almost exactly the same as straps on 975/965 boards, just far more precise).

With 4:5 it takes 20cycles for a sync between FSB and membus. VERY high. Lower is better.


But, when @ say 499mhz ram...this ratio is not attainable...how many cycles beofre a sync, do you think?


Ram is a passive part...it does not modify that data sent into it, unless unstable. Soo, yes your ram can do 500mhz, most ram can, but the chipset in not capable of getting the FSB and MEMBUS in sync, causing catastophic failure, bios corruption, data loss, and all sorts of other nasties.

This is part of the downfall of having un-synced busses. we must jsut do out best to ensure that we can get close to the same default ratios that 965 and 975 can attain...1:1, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4, 3:5, 4:5, etc...

This means 400fsb EXACTLY...and 500mhz ram EXACTLY...but you cannot select 500, cna you? 499 or 502 only...and this is what "kills" boards. It actually seems to corrupt settings in the bios, and this is what leads to C1, no boot issues.

After getting a C1 PLEASE LOAD OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS IN BIOS!!!!!!! Do NOT fail to do this! nealh was a victim of this problem...could have saved it...but he gave up. I totally understand why he did...this board can be pretty frustrating at times, however, I NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER.

That's why I now, @ 30, can sit at home everyday watching you guys on here and other forums...and the same perseverence can take you just as far.