Orwellpet Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I have been talking to tech support on the phone about my issue, but the last few times I have tried to call I keep getting stuck in a loop in the automated menu system. Strange. Anyway... I have two CMX512-3200C2 modules: Stick one: Version 2.2, purchased in March 2003 Stick two: Version 3.1, Purchased in September 2004 Both were plugged into slots 1 and 3, respectively, on an Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo with an Asus ATI 9800XT video card and an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor, and the machine ran like a gazelle. Until... Three days ago, my computer shut down unexpectedly and would not turn back on (that is, the power would come on, but the screen remained blank and the computer would not post). I initially suspected the power supply, but using an alternate part did not solve the problem. I also tried a different video card, to no avail. On one of my many attempts to restart the machine, it started to boot up but the mobo halted the process and informed me that the "system failed memory check." After receiving this message, I started playing with the RAM modules. This is what I found: If the ver2.2 module is in slot one, the machine will almost never complete the post, and most of the time will not even begin the post. With the memory configured this way, I once managed to boot the machine into Microsoft's memory testing utility; before the test finished, the program crashed. Subsequent attempts to boot the machine into this diagnostic program with the memory in this configuration have failed. The presence or absence of the ver3.1 module in either of the remaining slots has no effect on this finding. If the ver3.1 module is in slot one, and the ver2.2 module is absent, the machine works perfectly. With the memory in this configuration, the machine passes the Microsoft memory testing utility. If the ver3.1 module is in slot one, and the ver2.2 module is present in either of the remaining slots, the machine behaves erratically. Sometimes it will boot normally; sometimes it will start but subsequently fail the post; sometimes it will not post at all; sometimes it will boot normally, but shut itself down at a later time. Sometimes it will turn on and immediately start beeping in a continuous loop. With the memory in this configuration, the machine crashes the Microsoft memory testing utility. These findings lead me to conclude that, since any configuration that includes the ver2.2 module produces some degreee of system instability, and since the exclusion of the ver2.2 module allows the system to work normally, the ver2.2 module must have failed. So I called tech support, and spoke with a representative on two separate occasions. The tech support representative I spoke to instructed me to change some of the BIOS settings. The first BIOS configuration caused the computer to warn me that the "System failed due to CPU overclocking." The second configuration had no effect on the above findings. Because of the problem with the automated menu system I described above, I have not been able to reach tech support on the phone. Even if changing BIOS settings will fix my problem, I do not find this to be an acceptable solution. The ver2.2 module worked perfectly for over 18 months with the BIOS in its default configuration; any change in this performance must, logically, be linked to a problem in the module and not in the BIOS. So... can I get an RMA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 What changes to the BIOS did you make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Setting Name, Default Setting, New Setting System Performance, Optimal, User Defined Memory Frequency, By SPD, 100% SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay, 1, 3 SDRAM RAS to Precharge Delay, 1, 3 SDRAM CAS Latency, 2.5T, 2.7T I believe that these are correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 That doesn't make sense at all. Never seen the first two at 1, and the 3rd is either 2, 2.5, or 3. really odd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Well, maybe it's not correct then. Those values are specified in the manual as the defaults, but then again, we all know how reliable Asus documentation is. I'll go back and tinker with it and get back with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 These are the correct default/new values (it hleps to check the BIOS instead of doing it from memory): Setting Name, Default Setting, New Setting System Performance, Optimal, User Defined Memory Frequency, By SPD, 100% SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay, 3, 3 SDRAM RAS to Precharge Delay, 3, 3 SDRAM CAS Latency, 3T, 2.5T DDR Reference Voltage, 2.6v, 2.8v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 5, 2004 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 5, 2004 Can you tell me the make and model of MB you have along with the CPU speed and it’s FSB as well? In addition, please tell me the bios settings you have set for both CPU and memory and any performance settings that you may have set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton, 333 MHz FSB Asus A7N8X Deluxe, PCB rev. 1.06, BIOS ver. 1006 Until a few days ago, all of my settings for CPU, memory, and performance were at their defaults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 5, 2004 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 5, 2004 Please try these after you load setup defaults: CPU Freq: 166 MHz Memory Frequency: 100% Dim Voltage to 2.7 Volts Resulting Frequency: 166MHz SDRAM CAS Latency: 2.5T SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 3T SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 6T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Well... I couldn't find the "Dim Voltage" or "SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP)" settings in the BIOS. I loaded the defaults and changed the remaining settings, but the problem persists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 8, 2004 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 8, 2004 Load Optimal/Optimized Default settings and then make the necessary changes. The DDR reference voltage should be at the bottom of the page under the Advanced Chipset Features on your A7N8X MB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 10, 2004 Author Share Posted November 10, 2004 That didn't work either; it got to the Windows load screen once, but immediately froze. I was able to boot it into memtest, but it froze that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 10, 2004 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 10, 2004 If the system is hard locking, that would suggest some other problem. Do you have the ability to test the memory in another system. And you are setting the memory Frequency to 100% correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 I don't have another system, and the memory frequency is set at 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellpet Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 And the other module, when alone on the MB, doesn't have any of these problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 11, 2004 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 11, 2004 Lets go ahead and get them both replaced. Please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part!” and we will be happy to replace them or it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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