This has probably been discussed many times before, but i am new and haven't found anything like it with my limited search.
Just made a computer with parts bought from newegg. ATI R9800 SE, 80 GB hiatichi SATA HD, 420 PSU (with my raidmax case), a GA-7n400 pro 2 mobo (F18 version of the bios, which is the latest i beleive) and an AMD 2500+ barton. Now, on the POST screen, it shows the proc as running at 1100 MHz, which is way under (2500 should be at 1.83 GHz, right?). It also shows it running at 1.09 GHz in the system specs with windows XP. Every time i go into the BIOS to check the FSB, it is correctly set to 166. The multiplier settings on the mobo are set to auto, although i haven't tried changing it. I have a feeling though that the proc is locked anyway. So, the FSB appears to be correct, but the processor is still running 733MHz under reg. How am i supposed to fix it?

yep, figured it out myself. Turns out there was a single switch on the mobo i had to change from 100mhz fsb to auto. that helped it greatly. Now, if only i could get that softmod to work... eh