"Unofficial" Biostar TForce 550 Thread

kirbyrj said:
How loose? 6-6-6?
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(in order on the bios timing page)
5 5 5 15 2 4 8 25 5 4 3 7.8

I'm back on the ddr400 divider, Vram is up to 2.1, and I'm currently memtesting at 325HTT, or 3096MHz cpu clock. Vcore is currently 1.45
 
Ruiner said:
(in order on the bios timing page)
5 5 5 15 2 4 8 25 5 4 3 7.8

I'm back on the ddr400 divider, Vram is up to 2.1, and I'm currently memtesting at 325HTT, or 3096MHz cpu clock. Vcore is currently 1.45
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Hmm...I was running 5-5-5-15...2T...(not sure about all the sub-timings there). I'll have to just try the 400 divider and see if I can get up over 270 or so. Are you on the February bios or the one from last november?
 
Update: So I've now got things running at 280x9.5 with the 533 divider. It seems like this mobo is just really quirky. I can go into the bios and increase the htt by 5, then save and reboot and everything is fine. Then I go back into the bios and enable the integrated memory test, save, reboot to memtest, pass memtest for awhile, but then when I hit esc and reboot, no post. It doesn't even beep or anything. It seems like if I just continue to increase the htt by small increments by rebooting and going directly into bios after post, it is somewhat okay. But as soon as I use the integrated memory test, it starts doing the no posting thing again. Another weird thing is that even when it doesn't post, I can some times get it to post by flipping the switch on my psu off and on and it'll boot with the previously saved setting. Other times it just won't post at all no matter what I do. I think I'm going to try daily htt increases and skip memtest since I've already tested my ram past 500mhz. I'll post back when I hit the no post problem again.
 
Ruiner said:
Feb. bios.
There is another one from May 07 I believe.
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If you're talking about the bios that is listed on the biostar page for the 550SE, even though it says uploaded 5-31-07, the bios is dated feb 2007. There may be unofficial versions lying around somewhere that are later, but officially, feb 2007 seems to be the latest.
 
birdie800 said:
If you're talking about the bios that is listed on the biostar page for the 550SE, even though it says uploaded 5-31-07, the bios is dated feb 2007. There may be unofficial versions lying around somewhere that are later, but officially, feb 2007 seems to be the latest.
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Thanks for the update. You saved me a flash.
 
birdie800 said:
If you're talking about the bios that is listed on the biostar page for the 550SE, even though it says uploaded 5-31-07, the bios is dated feb 2007. There may be unofficial versions lying around somewhere that are later, but officially, feb 2007 seems to be the latest.
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Same for the v. 1.3 rather than the SE version. Listed as 5/31/07. I'm still on the november bios, so I just have to find a way to flash the bios using Vista with no floppy :cool:
 
kirbyrj said:
Same for the v. 1.3 rather than the SE version. Listed as 5/31/07. I'm still on the november bios, so I just have to find a way to flash the bios using Vista with no floppy :cool:
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lol, I was playing around with my busted a7n8x and 2500+ barton yesterday, actually got it to boot. I was surprised, there was the option to boot the computer with USB everything! That was like 5 or 6 years ago... and these newer boards still don't have that. Sigh.
 
Citizen86 said:
lol, I was playing around with my busted a7n8x and 2500+ barton yesterday, actually got it to boot. I was surprised, there was the option to boot the computer with USB everything! That was like 5 or 6 years ago... and these newer boards still don't have that. Sigh.
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I might monkey around with it. The thing is the bios file just has a .bst file and I'm not sure what to do with it. Normally bios files are .bin or something like that. Is there an option to flash right from the bios?
 
kirbyrj said:
I might monkey around with it. The thing is the bios file just has a .bst file and I'm not sure what to do with it. Normally bios files are .bin or something like that. Is there an option to flash right from the bios?
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Yeah, the BIOS flasher recognizes it... but of course, only through the floppy drive. I tried putting it on a CD and nothing came up. No options to change where to read from. Oh well... you can flash from DOS using the AWDflasher... can you make a DOS boot CD? Meh, I don't know. If it's a work computer and it's not crashing you probably don't need a higher overclock... but it's just so tempting, right? :p
 
Citizen86 said:
Yeah, the BIOS flasher recognizes it... but of course, only through the floppy drive. I tried putting it on a CD and nothing came up. No options to change where to read from. Oh well... you can flash from DOS using the AWDflasher... can you make a DOS boot CD? Meh, I don't know. If it's a work computer and it's not crashing you probably don't need a higher overclock... but it's just so tempting, right? :p
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I might just nab a floppy from home and flash it that way. Probably worth checking out. I think the CPU and board should do 2.7-2.8Ghz easily ;).

Are the .bst files the right ones for biostar bioses?
 
kirbyrj said:
I might just nab a floppy from home and flash it that way. Probably worth checking out. I think the CPU and board should do 2.7-2.8Ghz easily ;).

Are the .bst files the right ones for biostar bioses?
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Yeah, I think it'll flash whatever, lol. I've seen .bst, .crx or something weird like that. Although I'm not sure that one worked great... but .bst is the norm for the Biostar bioses. .bst probably stands for Biostar. Stuck up bastards :p
 
one question how do you think this board will do with a windsor 65watt 3800x2.Also how far do you think i could get a oc out of it seeing as in i am noob to ocing.the ram is 6400 1.8 volt mushkin ram high performance or gaming memory is what it said
 
That processor should be fine... the board can usually do 300+FSB pretty easy, so it's most likely up to your processor to see how far it will go. Have fun ;)
 
thx i will consider that board and the new a2 and am2 board don't remember the name but i read the only 3 reviews and newegg and all were very positive.
 
Is this board known for reporting low voltage values? I'm looking at SpeedFan 4.32 and I'm seeing slight undervolts for almost every value. Vcore1 = 1.33v (s/b 1.35v), Vcore2 = 1.58v, 3.3v = 3.22v, 5v = 4.84v, and 12v = 11.90v. I've run both prime95 and memtest for several hours and have had no problems at all. However, when I'm running Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, for some reason my pc will restart after I play for like 30mins, sometimes an hour. It doesn't crash to the desktop, but rather just completely reboots. Then typically when a pc restarts improperly, windows is supposed to do the scandisk automatically before it starts, but everything boots up absolutely normally.

Any ideas on what might be happening here?

p.s. The vcore1 goes up to 1.39v under load and 5v goes to 4.81v. Everything else is stable.
 
Ok if i might use the old x2 or just buy the a new 3600x2 and oc it,but i am wondering what version of the board should i get just the regular 550 or the 550se.Also do you guys have trouble getting 4 sticks of ram in with a aftermarket cooler like i have read on reviews at newegg.I also would like to know how well this board works with vista
 
birdie800 said:
Is this board known for reporting low voltage values? I'm looking at SpeedFan 4.32 and I'm seeing slight undervolts for almost every value. Vcore1 = 1.33v (s/b 1.35v), Vcore2 = 1.58v, 3.3v = 3.22v, 5v = 4.84v, and 12v = 11.90v. I've run both prime95 and memtest for several hours and have had no problems at all. However, when I'm running Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, for some reason my pc will restart after I play for like 30mins, sometimes an hour. It doesn't crash to the desktop, but rather just completely reboots. Then typically when a pc restarts improperly, windows is supposed to do the scandisk automatically before it starts, but everything boots up absolutely normally.

Any ideas on what might be happening here?

p.s. The vcore1 goes up to 1.39v under load and 5v goes to 4.81v. Everything else is stable.
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I've been stable before as well and then have it crash in a game. I would most likely say it's a heat problem, although sometimes it can be prime stable but not game stable. Just have to tweak a little more until you're everything stable ;) Back off on the overclock a bit if you have to. Usually finding your max then putting it back about 10 or so HT is good.

As to the volts, I kind of noticed the same thing, but don't put too much trust in what's being reported, especially with regards to the 3.3+, 5+ and 12+ volts, unless they're wildly out of spec. But 4.8 is still within specs, and it's probably a bit closer anyways. Mine was reporting low for a couple months actually, and now suddenly my 12V has gone from regular 11.84 to 12.10 :rolleyes: and this is after I've added 2 hard drives and a cold cathode :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Diesel-man3000 said:
Ok if i might use the old x2 or just buy the a new 3600x2 and oc it,but i am wondering what version of the board should i get just the regular 550 or the 550se.Also do you guys have trouble getting 4 sticks of ram in with a aftermarket cooler like i have read on reviews at newegg.I also would like to know how well this board works with vista
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Do you have the option between the 550 and the 550se? When I ordered there was only one version. I dunno. About the ram, it really depends on what aftermarket cooler you get. You notice on the board that the ram sits to the right of the CPU socket. I have the Arctic Cooler Pro 64, so it sits right overtop of my 2 sticks of ram, which are placed closest to the CPU socket. I think the heatsink is actually blowing a little air overtop the ram, which is good for it. If you buy a larger heatsink than this though, or more specifically, one that sits lower, then you might have a problem.

See what heatsinks didn't work for those on newegg and take note of which ones NOT to buy ;)
 
Citizen86 said:
I've been stable before as well and then have it crash in a game. I would most likely say it's a heat problem, although sometimes it can be prime stable but not game stable. Just have to tweak a little more until you're everything stable ;) Back off on the overclock a bit if you have to. Usually finding your max then putting it back about 10 or so HT is good.

As to the volts, I kind of noticed the same thing, but don't put too much trust in what's being reported, especially with regards to the 3.3+, 5+ and 12+ volts, unless they're wildly out of spec. But 4.8 is still within specs, and it's probably a bit closer anyways. Mine was reporting low for a couple months actually, and now suddenly my 12V has gone from regular 11.84 to 12.10 :rolleyes: and this is after I've added 2 hard drives and a cold cathode :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Can you tell me what all your settings are as far as all the memory timings, voltages, speeds, and even temps if you've got them? It seems like we have a fairly similar setup, so maybe it will help me figure out what the problem is. I've got the same cooler as well, so I'd be interested to know what kind of temp readings you are getting. Do you have the auto shutoff at 70C option enabled in the BIOS? CnQ?
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I've had to clear the BIOS so many times it's not even funny. CnQ and anything like that is all disabled, my vcore is set to 1.325, RAM is 2.1V, and ram timings are all basically the same as at default timings, except for 2T because it can't do anything at 1T I've found. Also some of the sync's, whatever they are, are loosened a bit. But other than that, basically it's 5-5-5-15. I can run the RAM on the 667 divider up to 280 or 290 HT, which is more than 450Mhz I think on the RAM. 280+ for me is pushing it though. I'm not sure if it's the mobo or the CPU that flakes out after that.

Anyways, I've been modding my case recently, so I've had temps all over the place. The coolest I've had is idle ~32-35C, load around 50-55C, that's when I had a fan on the side of my case blowing right into the heatsink... now I don't have that and instead have black paint, 2 cold cathodes, and an acrylic window in my case... it's toasty right now. I have to make some time soon to dremel out a coupe holes for fans. It's idling ~45C!

This is all in a hot and humid area in the middle of summer.
 
I had a v. 1.3 of the board and it worked fine with Vista. No complaints.
 
This is an old thread, I know, but this may be a new solution to an old problem :) Certainly applicable to other boards too, I bet.

When I built this rig, I thought I had reached the CPU/board FSB limit when I began to encounter blue screens. Mostly at startup, but also during normal work or game ops. I backed off to a 'safe' level, but the blue screens (Win XP Pro, "IRL not less or equal") continued occassionally. Last week I replaced my old DVD-burner with a new one. So what?

The old one was an IDE drive, sharing the single IDE port with my primary (boot) hard drive. I replaced it (NEC) with a new SATA DVD drive (the new 20x Lite-On), and all the problems went away! I mean, completely! I just easily added another 10 Mhz to the FSB and am still looking for the top.

Quite a few newer boards offer only a single IDE port, not the primary/secondary we used to have. In my case at least, having an HDD and DVD on the same cable (the only option with this board) was the source of my problems. You may be surprised - there may be a lot more headroom in your setup than you originally thought. At least pull the IDE cable off your DVD drive and test it, for sure. This may have been the source of some of us seeing different FSB limits than others, which we wrote off to typical chip-to-chip variations.
 
So what OC are you at now? I find mine tops out around 270 or 280. Maybe 290, I haven't pushed it that far lately. I think I also have a bit of a heating issue.

But anyways, having a HDD and an Optical on the same IDE cable I think is generally a bad idea. Good call on taking that off ;)
 
Interesting. I was always running one IDE channel (DVD drive)...maybe that was my problem. I don't have the board anymore, but if i pick one up again, I'll be sure to check it out ;).
 
Can anyone explain to me what the 550se has that the 550 lacks? Thanks!
 
it would seem to me..the SE is the better board between the 2.

In this Particular instance..SE must stand for Second Edition. not Like most video cards..whereas SE is usually a crippled version of its parent.

anyways..the differences..Im just going by what the Biostar comparison chart says..but.

Tforce 550: Can only support 4gb ram.... 550se: 8gb ram
Tforce 550: only supports A64 and X2 Chips... 550se: Supports AMD Athlon 64 X2/64/FX/Sempron Processors
Tforce 550:uses Realtek ALC861 7.1 ....550se:Realtek ALC888 8+2-Channel HD Audio

But alas...you can see thos all for yourself at the biostar website...it allows you to compare boards there..
 
I don't suppose there's any chance this board will support new Kuma cores?
 
Will this board run the new 89W X2 6000+ cpu? The official support says only up to 5200+, but the 6000+ is similar in spec, so it should be okay, right? I was hoping to get a 6400+ cpu in this board, but I highly doubt the TF550SE would run a 125W cpu without melting something...
 
birdie800 said:
Will this board run the new 89W X2 6000+ cpu? The official support says only up to 5200+, but the 6000+ is similar in spec, so it should be okay, right? I was hoping to get a 6400+ cpu in this board, but I highly doubt the TF550SE would run a 125W cpu without melting something...
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Not sure what it would support unofficially. I'd definitely grab the latest bios you can find though.
 
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