Vermyndax Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 I have an ABIT AV8 motherboard with an AMD64 3500+ CPU. I have a twin set of Corsair chips... 3200XMS 2 x 512mb When I first got this system put together, I had plenty of random BSOD problems. I checked into some forums (this one I think, come to think of it) and it was suggested to try running the RAM at 2.8v. I did so. It ran fairly stable with occasional BSOD's in games and whatnot for quite a while. But a month or so ago, it's been a real headache. The main problem is I cannot PROVE that the RAM is faulty and convince myself that is the problem. For a while, I'd be trucking along and all of sudden, I would notice that some shortcuts in the start menu would have the "empty window" icon that indicated the .exe file was missing. I'd go look or run the program and sure enough, the file was missing. Random DLL's would suddenly turn up missing as well. Windows reported *no* errors on the hard disk in the event log. Running a chkdsk had no problems either. Then it really, really went bad last night. I came out of Battlefield 2 and had to end-task the game like I usually do (because for some reason, it likes to hang out there after I quit). I did and end task and WHAM, BSOD. The system comes back up and the crash analysis claims that it was a RAM problem (as it often has). Then I notice... uh oh... some more files were missing from my hard disk. Then I notice something REALLY bad. The system appears to have dropped some drivers completely for my tv tuner. I try to reload them and they completely refuse to reload - claiming the driver software doesn't match my hardware. No matter what I do, even with a have disk, the drivers won't load. Okie, so my tv tuner is fried I guess... right? So I pull it. Tonight I reload Windows... and on the second or third boot after loading some device drivers, suddenly ntoskrnl.exe is missing... and I get to reformat again. The really, really annoying part of this is that the RAM passes all memtests that I throw at it. I tried running it for about six hours today... no memory errors. (And the system crashed with the missing ntoskrnl.exe after the marathon memory test). I've run disk utilities against my hard drive and there are no problems with the hard drive... no bad sectors, no nothing. I'm *very* stumped, and that's unusual for me. I'm starting to think the RAM isn't necessarily bad, but it's not playing well with the AV8 motherboard. It's the XMS3200 2 x 512mb set... DDR 400. I have it running on 2-2-2-5 (with auto selected in BIOS) at 2.8v. The random crashes, the sudden frying of my tv tuner, and the files that turn up missing on the hard disk are a bad mix. Does this RAM just not play well with this motherboard? According to the compatibility results it does. Please... any ideas or help you can offer I'll be more than willing to listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 3, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 3, 2006 Please set the Dim Voltage to 2.7X volts (+.2 Volts W/Giga-Byte) and then set the timings manually to the tested settings for the specific module you have, XMS2700C2 Cass 2-3-3-6 for example or if you have Value Select "BY SPD" and then test the module/'s one at a time with www.memtest.org! If you still get errors, please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part!” and we will be happy to replace them or it! However, if you get errors with both modules that would suggest some other problem and I would test them in another system or MB to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermyndax Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 Now, bizarre things are happening in Windows setup like it says the files on the floppy disk are corrupted (and that happens often) when I try to load the SATA drivers. I have put the memory back at 2.70v (can't set it to 2.75v in the BIOS, only .x0) and set the timings as shown: http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/phot...cbrbcrpofvujtm Sorry for the poor quality, that's what you get for using a cellphone camera. So far, reloading Windows seems to have gone well. (Loaded x64). If the symptoms return, I suppose I'll RMA the chips. They are, btw, CMX512-3200XLPT chips in dual-channel configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 3, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 3, 2006 I would try 2.8 Volts and test them with http://www.memtest.org. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermyndax Posted January 4, 2006 Author Share Posted January 4, 2006 I had tried 2.8v and was running on it before the big BSOD this past weekend. Using memtest, the memory chips pass... but during OS operation, all kinds of havoc breaks loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 4, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 4, 2006 Can you test the modules in another system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermyndax Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Unfortunately, no I cannot - this is the only DDR-based system I have at my disposal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 6, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 6, 2006 Please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part! Or *New* Tech Support Express” and we will be happy to replace them or it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermyndax Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 I think that's where I thought this was goin ;) Thanks for your help and ideas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 6, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 6, 2006 No problem, but I would maybe try and ask a friend to help you test the modules in another system if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJF Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 odd you've got so many missing and corupt files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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