hardasanut Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I have put together: >> VS1GBKIT400 corsair value select memory, set to 166mhz and (by SPD) >> ECS KT600-A motherboard, no voltage adjustment possible (stuck at 2.6V) (http://www.ecsusa.com/products/kt600-a.html) >> Athlon XP 2600+, set to listed 166mhz (bought from http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-507&depa=0) I couldn't find compatability reports for my Elitegroup (ECS) KT600-A mobo, and I tried using the compatability report request at http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/compatreport.aspx, but got a 550 server error, so I'm here. I have searched for references in the forum regarding my mobo, but nothing came up that completely satisfied my concerns. Anyway, I bought a VS1GBKIT400 (Value Select 512mb x2) for this board, but had lockups/crashes running the RAM at (by SPD) 200mhz. I did some late homework and found out that my board probably doesn't support them at 200mhz, but I would have been ok if running them at 166mhz had no detectable problems. I'm running the VS1GBKIT400 at 166mhz on the above mobo with an Athlon XP 2600+ Barton (AXDL2600DLV4D) at 166mhz (its listed frequency). The computer works without crashing/freezing as far as I know, however, running MemTest-86 v3.2, I have received test #7 errors (fortunately (?), the only errors): 1st run, 11 hours, 12 passes 6 #7 errors on pass 0 1 #7 error on pass 5 2nd run, 6 hours, 6 passes 8 #7 errors on pass 0 1 #7 error on pass 1 1 #7 error on pass 4 QUESTIONS: I haven't experienced any major errors preventing me from using the computer, but the errors in memtest gives me some worries. As far as unregistered/unbuffered, non-ECC memory totalling 1gb goes, what is the best memory (compatible, stable, no errors, runs at least 166mhz, at least at stock) I could have bought for my motherboard? Otherwise, if the VS1GBKIT400 is suitable, how can I get the whole mess to stop showing errors in memtest? Or should I just ignore those errors and accept the fact that it's the best I can get? Also, what could be the likeliest causes of the memtest errors? I realize that it may not completely be the RAM, but I've experienced enough problems trying this RAM at first and read up enough about other people's compatability problems to feel uncomfortable keeping this RAM in my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 FYI, I submitted that board for you, the form worked fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardasanut Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 FYI, I submitted that board for you, the form worked fine for me. I checked again at http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/Default.aspx ... Type of Search: Motherboard Manufacturer: ECS Model: _________ (no KT600-A listed) But, in the middle of writing this reply, I tried the request form again, and it worked, so I am guessing now that when you said "form", you meant the request form, not the compatability search. Thanks though, I misunderstood at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyKid Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 In your BIOS, what are all the memory settings you have configured? How warm is your CPU? Got a good cooler on it? How about your chipset? Have you tried the modules ONE AT A TIME with Memtest86+? PLUR CK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 11, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 11, 2005 Please make sure that you have the latest BIOS for your MB and load Setup/Optimized default settings, and try the following BIOS settings; VS1GBKIT400 or VS512MB400 CPU Freq: 166 MHz (333 FSB) System Performance: User Define Memory Frequency: 100% Resulting Frequency: 166 MHz (333 FSB) Memory Timing: User Define SDRAM CAS Latency: 2.5T SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 3T SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 8T DDR Reference Voltage: 2.7 Volts AGP Voltage: Default *unless you have ATI (9200 or 9600) or NVIDIA (5200 or 5700) then 1.6 Volts suggested!* All other settings are motherboards defaults Then please test them one at a time with http://www.memtest.org and let’s make sure it's not some other issue! I would run the test for at least 2-3 passes to be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardasanut Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 Ok, so I tested different setups after I made whatever bios settings I could make from ramguy's suggestions: VS1GBKIT400 or VS512MB400 >> i have the VS1GBKIT400 CPU Freq: 166 MHz (333 FSB) >> already set System Performance: User Define >> not sure where it would be in my bios Memory Frequency: 100% >> i don't think i have this in bios Resulting Frequency: 166 MHz (333 FSB) >> already set Memory Timing: User Define >> i changed it to this SDRAM CAS Latency: 2.5T >> i changed it to this SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T >> i changed it to this SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 3T >> i changed it to this SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 8T >> i changed it to this DDR Reference Voltage: 2.7 Volts >> i have no place to set this in bios or mobo (+2.5V item is listed as 2.57V) AGP Voltage: Default *unless you have ATI (9200 or 9600) or NVIDIA (5200 or 5700) then 1.6 Volts suggested!* >> i have an ati 9600xt, but i have no place to change this (unless it's on the ati card itself?) All other settings are motherboards defaults >> done dram other: dram burst: 4 (default) bank interleave: 2 bank dram command: 2T command write recovery: 3T bios health monitor: CPU Vcore: 1.47V +2.5V: 2.57V voltage battery 3.15V cpu (to memtest): athlon xp (0.13) 1909 mhz chipset (to memtest): via kt400(a)/600 fan: arctic cooling copper silent 2m (mobo detects at 2909 rpm); bios lists temp at about 35 degrees testing with memturbo with default settings: cached: 512M rsvdmem: 84k MemMap: e820-std cache: on ecc: off test: std For most of the test runs, I let memtest go through at least 3 passes, except for a couple where I just stopped after one pass after seeing a big jump in the number of errors after changing a stick position or bank combination. errors found in test results: (corsair in bank 0, 1) 8 #5 errors on pass 0 8 #5 errors on pass 2 (3 passes made) (corsair in bank 0, 1) (may be in switched positions from previous group) 842 #5 errors (5 passes made) (corsair in bank 1, 2) 62 #5 errors on pass 0 (1 pass made) (corsair in bank 0, 3) - freeze at post memory test (corsair A in bank 0) - freeze at post memory test (corsair A in bank 1) 388 #5 errors on pass 0 44 #2 errors on pass 0 169 #3 errors 908 #5 errors 25 #6 errors 642 #7 errors 31 #8 errors (4 passes made) (corsair A in bank 2) 46 #2 errors on pass 0 306 #3 errors on pass 0 1292 #4 errors on pass 0 741 #5 errors on pass 0 130 #5 errors on pass 1 218 #5 errors on pass 2 1686 #6 errors on pass 0 1030 #7 errors on pass 0 22 #8 errors on pass 0 (3 passes made) (corsair B in bank 0) - freeze at post memory test (corsair B in bank 1) 1314 #5 errors (16 passes made) (corsair B in bank 1) 114 #5 errors on pass 0 88 #5 errors on pass 1 100 #5 errors on pass 2 90 #5 errors on pass 3 (4 passes made) (corsair B in bank 2) 8 #5 errors on pass 0 4 #5 errors on pass 2 4 #5 errors on pass 3 (4 passes made) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only difference in the bios settings since my first post is that I left the bios dram settings at (by SPD) to get the results I posted in that first post, and in those results all I got were a few #7 errors (relative to what I've been getting after the manual settings I made). Then again, I don't know what settings (by SPD) actually sets the ram to. My Questions: 1. The most important question to me is still: how do I set up my ram to play nice with the rest of my system and give zero errors in, say, 3 passes of memtest? 2. #1 assumes it's possible to get zero errors in 3 passes of memtest (ignoring random chance). If it's not really practically possible to get zero errors, then what is a reasonable amount of errors that memtest should find for 3 or more passes? 3. Most of the errors I get are #5 and some #7 errors. What does this actually say about the memory? I mean, I guess I'd like to get an idea of how whatever is causing these errors will affect the rest of my system, and the risk of it doing so. I suppose if the risk is reasonably low depending on a certain number of errors averaged in a pass, I can just let this whole thing drop. 4. What does running the ram with dram set to (by SPD) actually set the dram timings to? I appreciate all relevant replies, and thanks so far for bearing with me this far. My computer actually runs with the corsairs, but after finding out about memtest and using it (but not enough to interpret the results very well), I'm pretty much just worried about the quality of my 0's and 1's coming through and whether or not it will corrupt data in my hd (and if yes, how often and how much). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 18, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 18, 2005 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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