Older motherboard question

[hacker_cracker]

Hi! I just came across an old Intel board that uses a PIII 933 with socket 378, I believe. I'm having diffuculty getting it to post. All I get is 3 short beeps, and nothing else. I have been using PC100 ram to try to get this board to work, but I'm wondering if maybe I need PC133 (the board came with no ram). Also, I noticed that the chipset has no heatsink, while even my older 440BX boards have them. It may have came off, or something. Could this be an issue, as well? I'll post back with the board's exact model #, but in the mean time, I could use some advice. -TIA

[104456]

If its an AMI bios then the 3 beeps indicate a ram problem i.e. either incorrect type,speed or simply just failed.The chipset may be fine without a heatsink its hard to say.
Post a pic of the board if you cannot find anything about the make or model as it may help.You might look round eBay and see if theres a similar board to get a refference.

[lgbpop]

Look between the PCI slots or around them, there should be some mention of the mobo model name/number. I've got several Socket 370 mobos with PIIIs and Celerons, ranging from 600 to 933 MHz and they all use HSFs. There's a CPU fan header on every 370 mobo I've seen and if there's not a fan connected to it the system won't boot. Depending on the mobo, you may have the FSB set on the board via jumpers that can be changed to allow use of PC100 RAM; but the BIOS usually has an option to set the CPU/memory FSB ratio. If yours is set to 4:3, you can use PC100--but you have to get the system started first. HSFs for Socket 370 CPUs are inexpensive. Check the socket base; opposite sides on most have 3 lugs each for attaching the HSF (cheaper boards only have one each). If someone pried the HSF off with too much gusto the center lugs may be damaged/broken off. In that case, make sure the HSF you get has 3-lug clips to make use of the remaining mounting lugs.

[hacker_cracker]

It's not the HSF that's missing, it's the northbridge chipset heatsink. As for the board itself, it says "Intel Desktop Board d815eea", and elsewhere on the board are the numbers "e139761". It has 5 pci slots, 1 agp, 3 dimm slots, as well as onboard video, audio, and ethernet. I've already tried resetting the cmos, and 3 different video cards (2 agp, and 1 pci).

[hacker_cracker]

I did a little research, and the board's specs says it can use either pc100 or 133. I'm thinking that this board may be set to use a 133mhz system bus. Any ideas on how to scale it down to 100mhz without having to buy pc133 ram?

[lgbpop]

Take a look here--it seems the board automatically sets the FSB based on the CPU and RAM installed on it.

(From: Intel FAQs, d815eea motherboard)
Are there specific requirements for using 133 MHz SDRAM memory?
Yes. All of the following conditions must be met for the memory to operate at 133 MHz speed:
*133 MHz system bus frequency processor must be used.
*All memory must be 133 MHz speed.
*All memory must have properly programmed Serial Presence Detect (SPD) data
*No more than four rows of 133 MHz SDRAM should be used. Four rows would be two double sided DIMMs, or one double sided DIMM and two single sided DIMMs.
If a 100 MHz system bus frequency processor is used then the memory will run at 100 MHz. If memory speeds of 100 and 133 MHz are mixed, then all memory will operate at 100 MHz. If more than four rows of memory is used then all memory will operate at 100 MHz

I have one PIII 933MHz CPU on hand at the moment, and it's a 133 FSB frequency (SL52Q). You may have to put a slower PIII or a Celeron on the board as well as the PC100 RAM to do the trick.

Sorry about the misunderstanding, I saw chipset and thought CPU. The chipset should have no problems at all without a heatsink. You can always add one for good measure, but the pics I saw of that board on eBay and a few other sites show it without one.

[hacker_cracker]

I don't have any other socket 370 cpu's at the moment, so I'll just try to get some pc-133 memory before I try anything else. Thanks for all the help!

[ProfessorU]

Try installing just one RAM module. If one or two are failing, they might be taking down the whole rig.