EMachines/ Mobo Ram prob

[dreamliner77]

I'm doing some work for a buddy of mine.

He had an EMachines W4682
It has a P4 2.6 with 256 ram and onboard gfx.

I added an ATI AIW 9600. No Probs

Added 80 gig WD HDD. No Probs

Removed 256 stick of 2700 ram. Was running at 2100.
Put in 1024 of 2700. Still running at 2100.

There is no way in the BIOS to change ram/FSB settings.

Mobo is VG33 (I think it is an FIC)

BIOS IEX409H date 07/26/03 (Award)

Went to the FIC site and there is a BIOS update for this board. Think I'm safe in installing it? Or any other ways to change the FSB or whatever I need to do to get to 2700?

 

[LeeJend]

Somewhere there should be a setting for Memory Speed. The only option may be auto detect and CAS settings but it should be there. It's usually in the Advanced Options menu off the main screen. Try scrolling down on that screen. Sometimes the options cover more than one page and are invisible off the screen at the bottom. There is also a trick of holding down a function key right after you hit Del to enter bios. This enables an advanced Bios menu. My gigbyte did that. Unfortunately I don't remember the key. Tehre are posts in here somewhere.

Check the new RAM sticks in another machine to make sure it really reads as 2700. Sometimes they re-label them and auto detect sets to the real setting. If it reads as 2100 return it for refund (and report the company for fraud).

Whose chipset is on the MB? They may have an overclocking utility. Gigabyte-VIA and Nvidia have one that lets you set FSB, RAM clock etc from windows.

 

[dreamliner77]

I have no advanced settings...

I believe it is a FIC VG33. I think it's a custom BIOS for EMachines.

 

[LeeJend]

Bummer. Trying a different brand bios is always risky. You never know what machine specific hooks they put in to keep people from doing that.

Considering the amount of money you've invested in the upgrade already is there any chance of your buddy springing for another $50 for an ECS or PCchips MB?

Myself and 2 others use those MBs for resale systems and they are good and stable (probably more than the emachine). They keep their cost down by minimizing features not skimping on quality. Note my current config.

Or option B. Try the bios flash and if it kills the board have a budget MB option available.

 

[dreamliner77]

Yeah, I was trying to convince him to grab a new board.