I would agree with the point that the board is picky about RAM. As I've mentioned above I've had no problems even in the "Top Performance" setting with PNY DDR 333 RAM. Wen I tried a 256 MB Samsunf DDR 333 RAM my board wouldn't boot unless I changed the Bios setting to PC2100.

Is there a pattern here? Does only good RAM work? (what is good RAM?)

How about a survey of everyone's RAM type, BIOS version, BIOS settings and stability with this board. It would help me decide what kind of RAM to target for an upgrade. I checked the CAS latency by pressing Ctrl-F1 in the BIOS setup.

My RAM:

PNY DDR 333 256 MB (TigerDirect for $65)
FSB 133
BIOS level F9, DRAM timing auto, CAS latency = 2.5
Top Performance enabled
No stability issues at all

Samsung DDR 333 256 MB (Local for $79)
FSB 133
BIOS level F9, DRAM timing auto, CAS latency = ?
Top Performance enabled
Wouldn't boot unless I changed DRAM timing to lowest setting.

My ram

1x256 kingston333,1xseitec333
bios=F9
FSB=133
top performance enabled
Dram timing auto
Cas latency=2.5
No Stability issues

My ram

1x512 Kingston333
Bios =F9
FSB=133
dram timing auto
Cas latency=2.5
Top performance enabled
Kept rebooting before windows loaded

My ram

1x256Kingston 333
Bios=F9
Dram timimg auto
Cas latency=2
Top performance enabled
No stability issues.

With 266 ram i can put as much as i want on it with top performance enabled,but with 333 i've noticed that(on my board.7VAX) only 256 sticks work with top performance.I've tried 3x256 333 sticks to no avail.

Hopefully gigabyte will see these forums and do something about it.

I'm disturbed and disappointed that 256 Mb Kingston DDR333 RAM worked OK but you had problems with 512 Mb Kingston DDR333 RAM.

Doesn't sound like the problem is just good RAM vs."cheap" RAM.

I have tried Kingston,Seitec,Elixer and Nanya 1x512ddr 333ram and NONE of them worked with top performance enabled.2x256 kingston 333ram didn't work either.

I tried an MSI KT4ultra and it worked with 1x512 kingston333ram,but the 3dmark score was abit lower than my gigabyte board.I then formatted and did a clean install,but there were read errors with the 512 stick.It would only allow an install with "fail safe" settings,which dramatically reduced the 3dmark score.

I say that the top performance setting is only gauranteed to work with 266ram.I have not tried ddr400 ram.

I'm going to keep this board and wait for the next line of Gigabyte ones to come out.Hopefully they will address this problem,or they'll never see a dollar from my wallet.

Cheers.

.... hi to everyone.... !!!

... i can to confirm this great motherboard features...

i have Xp2400+ (266) @ 2600+ (333)

top performance enable

with cheap 512 mB OEM DDr pc2700 Nanya (256 Mb) and Winbond (256), one on first slot and second on latest slot.... cas 2 2 2 1t (incredible) (press Ctrl and F1 to go in hide menu of bios "advanced chipset setup" TO CHANGE THIS PARAMETERS)

all it works fine... too much fine.... STABILITY AT TOP ... and 15800 3dmark 2001 benchmark (i have radeon 9700 pro by Sapphire perfectly compatible)

Thanks Gigabyte !!!

Bollocks !

Well it's been over a month with no reply. I love it when people tell you things like it might be this and it might be that. Anybody whose worked on stuff like cars or computers can tell you that once you start guessing at what a problem might be your going to have alot of spare and expensive junk lying around. These problems should never have occurred for some people. Those that have rev. 2 are having better luck ; as long as it is not graphics intensive. Getting locked out of your own Bios after setting a password Is one of the better ones I read and experienced with this board. Even with the correct password you enter the bios but the features are locked. What A Joke. As I stated earlier I have better than the common knowledge with computers and have better things to do with my time than mess with a Half ass board trying to get it to work. Some people like that sort of stuff. I personnally am over that phase of my life and think that computers have advanced far enough not to have these sort of problems just to get them to work correctly. Tweaking is another matter. I paid $125 when the board came out and thought for that price they would have worked out the bugs. I now will be spending my time in research before I buy rather than research after I buy.

IT IS SO NICE OF MICROSOFT TO PUT THEIR SEAL OF APPROVAL ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS. MAYBE THE PROTOTYPE WAS MADE WITH BETTER MICROPROCESSORS. OR THE BLUEPRINT WAS PRETTY. OR THE ENVELOPE CONTAINED JUST ENOUGH WASHINGTONS TO MAKE IT ON THE COMPATIBILTY LIST. JUST REMEMBER ....FOR BEGINNERS.JUST BECAUSE A PART IS LISTED WITH MICROSOFT AS BEING COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP DOES NOT MEAN IT IS COMPATIBLE WITH EACH OTHER if you can get it to work at all.

I e-mailed Kingston about my memory problems with this board not working with 1x512 of 333 with top performance enabled and this is their reply

"We tested the memory with Top Performance disabled, due to the fact that with it enabled your actually exceeding the advertised rating of the
memory. We do not claim that the memory will perform when in the Top
Performance mode".

So there you have it.I assume that Gigabyte just load "fail safe" defaults,whack the memory in,see it working,and then go on to claim that you can put 3x512 of 333ddr in without any probelms.

So,it works,just don't try and get the most out of it.

False advertising for mine.

OK. Ding ding !! Round two.
Went to Fry's to return board, pretty painless, picked up another board, this one says Triton on the box, and does not have the Raid capability, or the smart card readers. The jumpers are also different. It's a Rev 1.2
So I feel like it bites that I dont have the extra featuires at the same cost, feel my wallet pain?
Had the tech POST it BEfore I left the store - Highly reccomended to do this peeps!
OK, so later I go home, will install XP, and some kinda benchmarking, and will let you know how I stand.
Will include memory details and all that.
If it flails, I must say I'm gonna ditch AMD for a P4 and an Intel board, something I don't want to happen.
Good lux.
N

I got the GA-7VAXP ver1.1. I really didnt have any problems at all with the board installed the XP2400 chip simple and SLK-400 copper heatsink ok, tornado fan. Only probs I have had is with my XFXG4-42008XAGP vid card. Its 128mb ddr card and keeps showing up in windows props as a 64 but in 3dmark2001se I test at 11000 so it kind working ok. But Right now i got the Xp2400+ (266) @ 2700+ (333). using cheap ddr333 512mb ram. I let sisoft sandra burn in run all night since I over clocked it. And the temp went up to about 114deg farenheit. Is that to hot? Well I actually like my board though looks pretty (BUT DARN THE FANS ARE LOUD)

114 farenheight is perfectly ok - I guess that's around 46c

My XP1700+ runs at 78c - 170 farenheight !

The danger level is over 80c (176F), although the cooler you can run the better. I need a new heat sink and some decent thermal paste.

Well I just overclocked it with the multiplier some more tonight. Its XP2400 running at XP2800 2.28ghz now. I been running Sandra Burn In Wizard and Hot as it will still get is about 38-39 Celcius or 118farenheit I did have to go into bios and set the voltage to +5percent (think what its at) I have playing some games and such But I cant really tell much difference from Stock XP2400 to overclocked at XP2800. I just wonder how far it will go before it BREAKS?

I've also overclocked my XP2400+ on this board.
Completely stable at 2.2Ghz with standard voltages

I get hardware resets when I go higher than 2.275Ghz using +7.5 voltage. I'm waiting on my new cooler as it does get a rather hot 65 degC full load.
It will run Sandra's burnin wizard, multimedia test (seems to cause the most stress) over night without a hicup.
If you have easy tune open on the desk top at the same time as Sandra you can see the +/- 7 degC variarition in die temperature between iterations.

I've now modded my board to give a 333MHz bus so am running at
12.5 x 175 2188 pro, AGP 70, PCI 35, DDR 350 (35degC idle, 50deg C load)

Once I have the new HSF I intend to run at 12.5x180 2250 pro, AGP 72, PCI 36, DDR 360 + 7.5% volts. This gives near the maxium processor clock I can attain while tweaking the system bus as high as possible. Anything above AGP 72 give problems even at lower processer clock.

I'll check back to see how far you can push yours !

What do you mean by I've also overclocked my XP2400+ on this board.
Completely stable at 2.2Ghz with standard voltages do you mean you didnt set more volts in bios?
I get hardware resets when I go higher than 2.275Ghz using +7.5 voltage. Does this mean I shouldnt use +7.5? I thought more you overclock you should need more volts at the cpu is that correct?
I've now modded my board to give a 333MHz bus so am running at
12.5 x 175 2188 pro, AGP 70, PCI 35, DDR 350 (35degC idle, 50deg C load)What do you mean modded to give a 333 bus? You set the small dips to 333? I am kind new to the overclocking stuff thanks

Dustin Palmer

You can normally overclock the CPU a bit without turning up the voltage. In my case it runs happily at 2200Mhz without any increase in voltage. If I go to 2213 then I just get crashes. I'm now running at 2183 so I have a little margin for error.

As soon as you up the voltage you up the heat the processer has to dissapate and it gets hotter. @ +7.5% I get nearly a 15 deg C or 30 deg F. That's a lot of heat.

By increasing the voltage the CPU can run faster, in my case 2275 @ +7.5% but as before it gets hotter and at +10% it would probably hit 70 + degrees C ... too hot for comfort though I may get 2300+ out of it.

Hardware resets or crashes happen if you run a processor at too high a frequency so it's more a question of speed than voltage causing the crash. It runs fine at +7.5 %, just lots hotter.

I have a newer Mobo which only has a single dip switch for the CPU clock speed. In my case I have to make the link with a wire to up the system bus. All they'd done was to ommit the switch, the function was there

Hope that answers your question, and if you're running at a higher voltage make sure you have a very good heatsink and fan properly installed.

Decto

Hi everyone. I noticed that it is extremely difficult to find gigabytes tech support number. I have it and here it is.

626-854-9338

Hope that this helps. It did for me. Good luck.

Ok thanks for the info. I finally just set my multiplier to 9X, the cpu volts is +.05. I have tried to go 9.5 on the multiplier but It wont boot up. I have tried +.10 volts to. I think I may have reached the limit. I havent tried upping the FSB yet either. My cpu sits at 34celcius(93.2farenheit) When I play games or run burn in wizird with Sisoft Sandra she gets up to 46cel 116farenheit. The cpu core volts show 1.80volts. I am ordering one them things u hook ur fans to so you can control how fast they spin. My cpu fan is horribly loud. Does anyone think that the 1.80corevolts will damage the cpu even though the temp is 46cel under load and no hickups?

I Read Ant Decto's Post about having a newer ver. of the MOBO, with a single switch. I recently took my Ver 1.1 back to Frys, and got a newer one, Rev. 1.2 -the differences were the switch ant mentions, and also the new board has no SATA, and no smart card reader headers. Also the multiplier section has 6 dips, instead of 5.
What I don't get is that both boards had the same part # GA-7VAXP -how do you tell what youre getting in the box?
My new board is a Triton, came in a black box. The one I hadda take back, had the headers, and all that, came in a green box.

New board works OK so far, I'm looking for a benchmarking proggy, looks like SANDRA is being used extensivly here. I wanna compare!
Descent3 sure as hell starts rather much more quickly than on my Athlon 700 SDRAM box!

Just an FYI, on the revision 1.2 board, there is still a header for smart card operation. It is the same header that an infrared port would hook up with. The settings on this header can be controlled in the BIOS as to its usage.