bpierfy Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 I'll try to make this brief as possible... First the main system: MSI 865PE Neo2 FIS2R P4 3.0C (can't remember the core - if its important I'm sure I can figure it out) 2x512 VS512MB400 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128m 2x36.7 WD Raptors 10k 350W PS - Codegen Throughout all this testing I was using the FarCry Demo to test the stability because that was the original place I noticed the problem. My first test of the RAM was Microsoft's Memory Checker and it immediately showed errors in fact it froze every time. I thought this meant bad RAM but my stick of crucial that I had in another machine and never had a problem with also gave errors. I tried memtest86 on both sticks (in slot 1&2) and the first time got 31k errors. The second pass I got about 3k errors. I thought I had the problem nailed but just to make sure I put them in another machine that is stable. Again, I got errors so I knew the RAM was the problem - however I didn't know which one. Here is the weird part - I tested each one separately in a different machine and didn't get any errors. Then I put them back together and guess what - NO ERRORS. But wait...I put them back in the original machine and I can't reproduce the errors even with both in - but FarCry still freezes EVERY time. The last test I did was put my stick of 512 crucial in and play FarCry and there were no freezes. My intuition tells me its the RAM or a setting but I don't know for sure because memtest doesn't show anything anymore. Sorry for the length but I've spent days on this problem myself. At the very least if you could show me the correct memory settings for this setup I would be able to make sure it isn't the settings. And if that doesn't work I will need an RMA for the corsair sticks. Thank you for your help. bpierfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 14, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 14, 2005 Please make sure that you have the latest BIOS installed on your MB and set the following BIOS settings; VS1GBKIT400 or VS512MB400 DRAM Configuration : Max Memclock: Limit or 200 1T/2T Memory Timing : 1T CAS# latency (Tlc): 2.5 RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd): 3 Min RAS# active time (Tras): 8 Row precharge Time (Trp): 3 High Performance Mode: Manual Aggressive timing: DISABLED Dynamic Over clocking: DISABLED Spread Spectrum: Enabled HT Frequency: 5x Cool’n’Quiet: Enable Adjust CPU Rotation: Startup Adjust CPU FSB Frequency: 200 Adjust AGP Frequency: 66 Adjust CPU VID: 1.500v CPU Voltage: By CPU VID Memory Voltage: 2.75 AGP Voltage: 1.50V *1.6V if you have 9200 or 9600 ATI or 5200 or 5700 Nvidia card. All other settings should be left to MB default settings. 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...
bpierfy Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 Thank you for your quick reply. While I was waiting for your reply I tried each stick separately in the original computer (the 3.0c P4). While both passed the RAM test, I was able to beat the whole FarCry demo (over an hour I think) with one stick but the other stick couldn't get past the beach (like the first 10 minutes). This would seem to say that the one stick is bad but I can't be sure because neither shows errors anymore in memtest. I changed what settings I could but some setting aren't available in my bios and there are others that seem relevant but you didn't mention them. After changing the settings I could, I put both stick in running dual channel and ran 3 passes of memtest - no errors - but FarCry froze shortly into the game. I am really not sure what to do at this point. Could memtest not be working right? Thanks for your help. bpierfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 14, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 14, 2005 If memtest86 found no problems or errors on the memory, then I will suggest you to look at other hardware/peripherals installed on your system. I do not think the problem is coming from the memory modules! Please tell me the BIOS settings that you have on your BIOS and what is it set too, also please tell me the PSU that you have, Video Card, and is there any additional PCI card installed on the system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpierfy Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 I got it to freeze during FarCry with almost any combination of ram at this point. What I don't get is why I originally got those errors with memtest? If I wouldn't have gotten those I would never have suspected the RAM. I guess at this point the only thing to do is make sure the setting are correct and start messing with other components until it works - hopefully it isn't the MB. The extra specs you requested (the last time I got it to freeze I even unplugged the cd/cdburner drives): 350W Codegen PS ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128m There are no other pci cards installed. At this point its MB, CPU, PS, Floppy, RAM, HDx2 (RAID0), Vid Card. Hard drives were just replaced and pass the manufacturer's tests. I will try with different vid cards and CPU and see what happens. Here are the settings for this bios that can be changed. DRAM Timing Settings... CAS# Latency RAS# Precharge RAS# to CAS# Delay Precharge Delay Burst Length AGP Aperture Size Under Frequency/Voltage Control... Dynamic OverClocking (Private, Sargeant, Captain, Colonel, General, Disabled) Performance Mode (Slow, Fast, Turbo, Ultra-Turbo) CPU Ratio Selection (Locked) DRAM Frequency (Auto, 400-500 Mhz) Spread Spectrun (Enabled, Disabled) Adjust CPU Bus Clock (200-500 Mhz) DDR Clock - Greyed Out Adjust AGP/PCI Clock (66.66/33.33, 72.72/36.36, 80.00/40.00) CPU VCore Adjust (Yes, No) CPU VCore (Too many to list) DDR Power Voltage (Too many to list) AGP Power Voltage (Too many to list) Once the settings are right I'll assume it is not the RAM for now, but we'll see what happens. Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 17, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 17, 2005 Here are the settings for this bios that can be changed. DRAM Timing Settings... CAS# Latency RAS# Precharge RAS# to CAS# Delay Precharge Delay Burst Length AGP Aperture Size Under Frequency/Voltage Control... Dynamic OverClocking (Private, Sargeant, Captain, Colonel, General, Disabled) Performance Mode (Slow, Fast, Turbo, Ultra-Turbo) CPU Ratio Selection (Locked) DRAM Frequency (Auto, 400-500 Mhz) Spread Spectrun (Enabled, Disabled) Adjust CPU Bus Clock (200-500 Mhz) DDR Clock - Greyed Out Adjust AGP/PCI Clock (66.66/33.33, 72.72/36.36, 80.00/40.00) CPU VCore Adjust (Yes, No) CPU VCore (Too many to list) DDR Power Voltage (Too many to list) AGP Power Voltage (Too many to list) Please set the settings accordingly: DRAM Timing Settings... CAS# Latency: 2.5 RAS# Precharge: 3 RAS# to CAS# Delay: 3 Precharge Delay: 8 Burst Length: 8 AGP Aperture Size: Default Under Frequency/Voltage Control... Dynamic OverClocking: Disabled Performance Mode: Fast CPU Ratio Selection (Locked) DRAM Frequency: 400 Spread Spectrun: Enabled Adjust CPU Bus Clock: 200 DDR Clock - Greyed Out Adjust AGP/PCI Clock: 66.66/33.33 CPU VCore Adjust: No CPU VCore: Default DDR Power Voltage: 2.75 AGP Power Voltage: 1.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpierfy Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 I fixed the problem! What really upsets me though is that it was what I had originally expected - the power supply. Of course before I tried that I did that ram test and got errors (which evidently were friek errors, or caused by the ps) which led me down the wrong path. I just wanted to thank you for all your help - corsair will definitely stay on my list of excellent RAM brands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 25, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 25, 2005 Well thanks for the compliment, and yes the PSU can cause memory errors if its not stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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