Yet Another 2048-6400C4 and P5N32E-SLI Issue

I just bought a P5N32E-SLI, Intel Pentium D 945, XFX 7900GT, and Thermaltake Toughpower 750W two weeks ago. First P5N32E-SLI bombed completely on me so my local reseller replaced it for me.

Second board I also got Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 since it is on the ASUS QVL for the board. I left the installed BIOS 0602 alone.

Been having a devil of a time - kind of.

I seem to be able to run stable with memory at 5-5-5-15 2T and 1.92V displayed in the BIOS monitor and ASUS Probe2. I also set tRC=22 and tWTR=15 and no other advanced timings based on other responses RamGuy has given to users on this forum. By stable I mean I've had an 8-hour run and a 12-hour run of Prime95-TT-Blend running at those settings. I confirmed the memory settings using memset and also saw:

tRC = 22

tRFC = 42

tWR = 5

tWTR = 15

tRRD = 3

RMS = 7.8us

Here are the rest of my voltages:

Voltages Set Value Reported Value

Vcore: 1.29375 1.26

Memory: 1.875 1.92

1.2V HT: 1.20 1.26

NB Core: 1.20 1.26

SB Core: AUTO 1.55

CPU VTT: AUTO 1.26

DDR2 Term: AUTO 0.96

+3.3: 3.26

+5.0: 5.03

+12.0 11.84

CPU temp is 38-41 at idle, and gets up to 50-51 or so when Prime95 is running.

Am I anywhere near close to really stable ? I don't like tweaking my computer all the time, just not my bag. I bought this board to replace the computer I use for household tasks, email, play America's Army and othe FPS, and set myself up for SLI in the near future, but don't want to have to baby it every day.

Are my memory timings and voltages making sense ?

Thanks for any help!

I know the memory is capable of 4-4-4-12 2T @ 2.1V.

Is it possible I need to go deeper into the overclock settings ? Right now my AI is set to Standard.

Do I need to get into playing with the bus frequencies to run this memory at 4-4-4-12 2T ?

Thanks for any help!

Go into the bios, Go to

First: "AI Tuning -> Select Manual"

Second: "Go to System Voltages, Set Voltage for Memory to 2.1v"

Third: Go to Overclocking, Select Memory Timing Schedule. Set timings to 4-4-4-12 and Auto for the rest.

Fourth: Go back a 2 screens to AI Tuning and go to FSB and Memory Config. Select Unlinked. Reboot Computer.

Fifth: Go back to "Ai Tuning -> FSB and Memory Config" and select memory speed of 800.

Sixth: Reboot computer and your memory speed is now 800. Easy as pi.

Once it is set it will be good forever.

Interesting Yoxxy. I feel like I've already tried everything EXCEPT the manual unlinking and setting of memory frequency.

If I understand WHY you are recommending this... is it because I may be inadvertently trying to drive the memory at a higher bus speed than it can reliably handle when I set for 4-4-4-12 2T without those steps ?

Second question... since the D945 has a bus speed of 800MHz can I really run memory at 800MHz reliably ? I've seen other posts on HoH that seem to imply that unless your CPU is running at 1066MHz or higher, memory is limited to 667MHz. Bear in mind I only have 2GB total, one set of TWIN2X2048-6400C4.

Thanks!

OK I tried Yoxxy's procedure for setting 800 MHz in memory, here is where I stand tonight:

CPU-Z: CPU: Intel D945, Core=3398HMz, Mult=17.0, Rated=800MHz

Memory: 4-4-4-22-2T, 1:2 Ratio, 400 MHz Frequency

SPD: 400 MHz, 4-4-4-12-22-2T for Slot 1 and Slot 2

MEMSET: 4-4-4-22-2T tRC=22, tRFC=42, tWR=5, tWTR=8, tRRD=3, RMS=7.8usec

And all of my BIOS Settings:

AI Tuning: Manual

SLI-Broadcast Aperture: Disabled

Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled

LinkBoost: Disabled

SLI-Ready Memory: Disabled

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked

x FSB - Memory Ratio: N/A

FSB (QDR), Mhz: 800

Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 800

MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800

Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800

Vcore Voltage: 1.26 (set in BIOS to 1.29375) - Reads 1.18 in Speedfan

Memory Voltage: 2.02 (set in BIOS to 1.975)

1.2v HT Voltage: 1.26 (set in BIOS to 1.20)

NB Core Voltage: 1.25 (set in BIOS to 1.20)

SB Core Voltage: 1.55 (set in BIOS to 1.50)

CPU VTT Voltage: 1.26 (set in BIOS to 1.20)

DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: auto

DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: auto

DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: auto

tCL (CAS Latency): 4

tRCD: 4

tRP: 4

tRAS: 12

Command Per Clock (CMD): 2 clock (2T)

Advance Memory Settings

tRRD: AUTO

tRC: 22 (per RamGuy@HoH and CPU-Z SPD tab reads 22)

tWR: AUTO

tWTR: AUTO

tREF: AUTO

tRD: AUTO

tRFC: AUTO

Async Latency: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled

PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

SATA Spread Spectrum: Disabled

LDT Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Internal Thermal Control: Enabled

Limit CPUID MaxVal: Disabled

Enhanced C1 (C1E): Disabled

Execute Disable Bit: Enabled

Virtualization Technology: Disabled

Enhanced Intel Speedstep Tech: Disabled

LDT Frequency: 5x

PCIEX16_1 Frequency (Mhz): 100

PCIEX16_2 Frequency (Mhz): 100

PCIEX16_3 Frequency (Mhz): 100

SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, Mhz: AUTO

+3.3V reads +3.26 in Probe 2 and Speedfan

+5.0V reads +5.03 in Probe 2 and Speedfan

+12.0 reads + 11.84 in Probe 2 and Speedfan

With this setup I scored 17560 in 3DMark03. When I had 5-5-5-22-2T before doing the unlinking I scored 17558 in 3DMark03. Interestingly this is NOT a significant difference. Any thoughts on why ?

With this configuration I get an occasional Probe2 warning due to a 1.2VHT drop to 0.0V !!! Should I worry about this ? Is there a BIOS voltage to bump to prevent this occasional complete drop ?

Any thoughts on my settings in general ?

I'd like to get to a decent performing stable baseline. Feel like I'm getting close now.

 

<snip>

I confirmed the memory settings using memset and also saw:

 

tRC = 22

tRFC = 42

tWR = 5

tWTR = 15

tRRD = 3

RMS = 7.8us

 

Hi there,

which tool is it that you got the above info from? I'm not familiar with it and tried Googling for "memset" and the only hits I could see as likely to be relevant pertained to an Intel chipset only tool which naturally wouldn't (didn't) work on my P5N32-E SLI with its 680i chipset...

A link would be really helpful :)

Many thanks,

Rik.

Hi Wikkus:

I heard about memset in a thread at xtremesystems.org: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114754&page=2. The right one is linked in a post dated 2-23-2007.

Here is the link to "FELIX" home page where he distributes memset - he is the originator: http://rv.page.cegetel.net.perso.cegetel.net/. Just right click and "Save" the item named "MemSet v:3.2/ 2000 / XP 32&64 /Vista 32"

BDD

Many thanks, BDD.

:-)

Thanks RamGuy. I had been using memtest86+ v1.70 for all of my testing. I ended up taking the TWIN2X2048-6400C4 kit back to my local shop. Asked them to swap it since it was not stable at 2.1V 4-4-4-22-2T and they did so. New memory is much more stable, albeit at a slightly lower voltage than should be. Whenever I raise memory voltage any higher I get errors in memtest86+.

All settings the same as I previously posted except these:

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Linked

x FSB - Memory Ratio: AUTO

FSB (QDR), Mhz: 800

Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 800

MEM (DDR), Mhz: N/A

Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800

Vcore Voltage: 1.28 (set in BIOS to 1.30) - Reads 1.18 in Speedfan

Memory Voltage: 2.02 (set in BIOS to 1.975)

1.2v HT Voltage: 1.26 (set in BIOS to 1.20)

NB Core Voltage: 1.30 (set in BIOS to 1.25)

SB Core Voltage: 1.55 (set in BIOS to 1.50)

CPU VTT Voltage: 1.26 (set in BIOS to 1.20)

DDR Term VT: 1.01 (derived from Memory Voltage)

I was able to run memtest86+ v1.70 through a whole single pass of 8 test with NO ERRORS. No more random generic error dialogs while loading windows. No more random inexplicable reboots while running windows.

I get 17591 in 3DMark03.

Attached is an overview using memset, cpu-z, everest, and probe2.