New Prescott

[cadaveca]

ypu need to do it in the driver, and the bios, or change the setting with smartgart not installed.

EDIT: do it without the driver installed.

[SteveI]

I'm losing it.. There is no fastwrites control in the bios that I could find. On the bright side, I couldn't remember what else to try, so I bumped the fsb 2mhz, and tested memory and CPU at 3.64ghz (242fsb) and it was good.

I still have to try NB/strap, but I'm not too thrilled about uninstalling the smartgart or gpu drivers. BTW, what the hell is smartgart for???

[mookydooky]

SmartGART makes sure a something works before the driver starts using it.

[cadaveca]

http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4219.html

3D applications may hang on some AGP 8X capable systems
The information in this article applies to the following system configurations:

• RADEON 9600 Series graphics card
• Certain motherboards supporting AGP 8X, including those based on Intel i865 or SIS655 chipsets

3D applications may hang under the following conditions:

• AGP Speed for the system is set to 8X
• RADEON 9600 Series graphics card and drivers are installed

This does NOT occur in all systems.

To work around this issue, set AGP transfer mode to AGP 4X. Steps are provided below:

1. Go to Display Properties > Settings > click Advanced button
2. Select the SMARTGART tab
3. Set the AGP Speed to 4X
4. Apply the settings change
5. Restart the system

INFO-BASE# 4219

KEYWORDS: RADEON for PC AGP 8X 3D APPLICATION HANG

here's what ATI says about smartgart:

How does SMARTGART™ work?
SMARTGART™ uses the display driver to automatically test system compatibility for the
AGP and PCI buses upon its initialization, and to dynamically setup the graphics
accelerator based on the test results.
Upon boot up, the driver first initializes the ASIC, sets up the screen resolution, and is then
able to issue graphics rendering commands and direct frame buffer access. At this point
the driver will perform a set of diagnostic tests that determines the system bus capability.
If a different setting is needed and a reboot is not required, the driver will setup the
graphics accelerator dynamically, allowing for immediate stable operation. If a different
setting is needed and a reboot is required, the driver will set the correct setting when the
system is restarted. The diagnostic tests will only be run on the system after the initial
install, or when the system configuration is changed.

[SteveI]

Thanks cadaveca, good read.
No dice tho...
I'm running the video card stock, fastwrites off.
4x AGP,
slowed memory timings to 3.0-4-4-8, disabled PAT, extra voltage.

At 240fsb, tons of artifacts. I have to slow it down to 230 to make them go away. The system is 100% 24/7 folding stable.

I suspect the mobo... Is there a program that will show me actual AGP speed... Not calc'd or assumed like sisoft? I think it is locked but still, nothing else I can try.

EDit: forgot to mention, Bootstrap by CPU, or something like that too.
cadaveca: btw, this is the card you sent me.... Did you have any issues like this as high fsb? I know it doesn't make sense, but I'm taking shots in the dark. Very strange...