roostermilk Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I have had this rig for about 5.5 months. I built it myself, and it was not my first build. I first noticed I was having problems the day I installed Windows XP. It took several tries to get it installed because of BSODs during the installation process. After tweaking memory settings in bios and updating it I was able to make it through the installation. The problems got more annoying from there. Everything seemed to be ok, except I would get a random BSOD. This problem was fixed by tweaking more memory settings. I ran memtest for hours and days trying to find the right combination of settings that would work, but I kept getting one or two errors after 100s of tests. Really annoying. About a week ago, frustrated from trying to play game after game only to CTD or randomly restart I decided I was going to fix the problem. The situation has reverted back to how it started and is even worse. All programs from winamp to firefox to battlefield 2, to halflife will crash with errors and sometimes without. The computer will also randomly restart. The event viewer usually points to mrxsmb.sys as the source of the error, but I have no knowledge of this file so it doesn't help me any. It has to do with drivers which leads me to believe it isn't ram related although I am sure it is. I need help because I frankly would like to be able to stabily use my computer and finally get to play games for more than 30 seconds at a time. I am extremely frustrated and could use any advice. PU(s) Number of CPUs 1 Name AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Code Name Venice Specification AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ Family / Model / Stepping F F 0 Extended Family / Model F 2F Brand ID 4 Package Socket 939 Core Stepping DH-E3 Technology 90 nm Supported Instructions Sets MMX, Extended MMX, 3DNow!, Extended 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, x86-64 CPU Clock Speed 2202.9 MHz Clock multiplier x 11.0 HTT Bus Frequency 200.3 MHz L1 Data Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size L1 Instruction Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size L2 Cache 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size L2 Speed 2202.9 MHz (Full) L2 Location On Chip L2 Data Prefetch Logic yes L2 Bus Width 128 bits Mainboard and chipset Motherboard manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Motherboard model A8V Deluxe, Rev 1.xx BIOS vendor American Megatrends Inc. BIOS revision 1017.002 BIOS release date 11/14/2005 Chipset VIA K8T800 Pro rev. 00 Southbridge VIA VT8237 rev. 00 Sensor chip Winbond W83627THF Graphic Interface AGP AGP Status enabled, rev. 3.0 AGP Data Transfer Rate 8x AGP Max Rate 8x AGP Side Band Addressing supported, enabled AGP Aperture Size 128 MBytes Memory DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM DRAM Size 1024 MBytes DRAM Frequency 200.3 MHz FSB:DRAM CPU/11 CAS# Latency 2.0 clocks RAS# to CAS# 2 clocks RAS# Precharge 2 clocks Cycle Time (TRAS) 5 clocks Bank Cycle Time (TRC) 11 clocks DRAM Idle Timer 16 clocks # of memory modules 2 Module 0 Corsair DDR-SDRAM PC3200 - 512 MBytes Module 1 Corsair DDR-SDRAM PC3200 - 512 MBytes Software Windows version Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (Build 2600) DirectX version 9.0c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 *bump* I was thinking that i just am not setting the timings right.... someone said 2-3-3-6 worked for AMD and not 2.5-3-3-6.... i guess i'll try that today hmm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunairaiol Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Sadly I'm seeing too much this kind of post in these forums, regarding a8v deluxe. I don't know what is the problem with this board, but it excels in instability. And, although many workarounds have been tested, most of them seems to fail. I've been reading here and there the costumers trying to blame the processor, the memory and the PSU. But I'm convinced that the problem is the mb. My last week was hell, at the begining the system would reboot randomly, and sometimes I could work in heavy programs or even benchmark the memories with no problem, but sometimes I was just checking the mail and "boom", system rebooted. Then, I began to blame my two Corsair CMX512-3200C2. Prime95 torture test was halting with less than 1 minute, because of Hardware Defect (or something similar). I then tested each corsair module in slot b1 of motherboard, and guess what, one worked perfectly, the other crashed the test. Hah, simple then, module is defective. But both of them, (or better each one isolated) worked perfectly in other machines I tested. Then I updated the bios (from 1013 to 1014), and the system became stable, tryed playing games or using Photoshop with heavy textures (my work), and "boom" colapse, the system closes the programs, but its a good thing, at least its not rebooting the machine. Then I updated the bios again (from 1014 to 1017) and the system became more stable, I could use the programs for 10 or 15min before crashing. I started doing some research in these forums and saw Ram Guy saying something (related to A8v Deluxe) about seting the 2t command (or something like that) to "enable". Is working perfectly now (8hs working on Photoshop), and Prime95 now passes 20min of torture testing (didnt have the time to test it further), that is a good thing, since, before this troubleshooting I coud barely pass 1min of testing. Anyway, I tell to all guys out there using A8V deluxe to, first: update the bios (don't know if this actually worked), and second: setting the 2t command thing to "enable", I think is the last line in the memory configuration screen (down below). It's a terribly instable motherboard, and I think Asus should release some good bios very soon or it will be doomed forever. I would like to ask what is that 2t command (that Ram Guy mentioned), and what could we (A8V deluxe) to solve our problems, like what latency is recommended and voltage as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 memory timings / voltage don't change between boards. CAS Latency (tCL): 2 RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3 Row Precharge (tRP): 3 Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 6 Memory Voltage: 2.75 Volts All other settings to defaults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunairaiol Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Thanks for the reply, I have another question about the voltage tho. The Bios in A8V dosn't let me set the voltages to 2.75, should I set it to 2.7 or 2.8? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 yeah i know how to set 2T. 2-3-3-6 is what i have now at 2T i think the auto sets it to 2.7? i'll check. what about bank interleaving and hardware memory hole? Sadly I'm seeing too much this kind of post in these forums, regarding a8v deluxe. I don't know what is the problem with this board, but it excels in instability. And, although many workarounds have been tested, most of them seems to fail. I've been reading here and there the costumers trying to blame the processor, the memory and the PSU. But I'm convinced that the problem is the mb. My last week was hell, at the begining the system would reboot randomly, and sometimes I could work in heavy programs or even benchmark the memories with no problem, but sometimes I was just checking the mail and "boom", system rebooted. Then, I began to blame my two Corsair CMX512-3200C2. Prime95 torture test was halting with less than 1 minute, because of Hardware Defect (or something similar). I then tested each corsair module in slot b1 of motherboard, and guess what, one worked perfectly, the other crashed the test. Hah, simple then, module is defective. But both of them, (or better each one isolated) worked perfectly in other machines I tested. Then I updated the bios (from 1013 to 1014), and the system became stable, tryed playing games or using Photoshop with heavy textures (my work), and "boom" colapse, the system closes the programs, but its a good thing, at least its not rebooting the machine. Then I updated the bios again (from 1014 to 1017) and the system became more stable, I could use the programs for 10 or 15min before crashing. I started doing some research in these forums and saw Ram Guy saying something (related to A8v Deluxe) about seting the 2t command (or something like that) to "enable". Is working perfectly now (8hs working on Photoshop), and Prime95 now passes 20min of torture testing (didnt have the time to test it further), that is a good thing, since, before this troubleshooting I coud barely pass 1min of testing. Anyway, I tell to all guys out there using A8V deluxe to, first: update the bios (don't know if this actually worked), and second: setting the 2t command thing to "enable", I think is the last line in the memory configuration screen (down below). It's a terribly instable motherboard, and I think Asus should release some good bios very soon or it will be doomed forever. I would like to ask what is that 2t command (that Ram Guy mentioned), and what could we (A8V deluxe) to solve our problems, like what latency is recommended and voltage as well. sorry forgot to add this. Sound extremely similar to my problem! Does it not seriously tick you off when it just randomly crashes? Sheesh. What a lame mobo... I just recently flashed to 1017(yesterday) lets pray. thanks for your input (and everyone else) [edit] and what about burst length? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 21, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 21, 2006 You can go to http://www.rojakpot.com for more help with the bios settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 Ok, thanks. I havn't been to rojak yet, but i ran prime95 for a couple hours without an error... halflife2 now crashes after a few minutes (which is an all time record!) progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Try 2.7, then 2.8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney_oak Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 Motherboard model A8V Deluxe, Rev 1.xx Hello, I'm researching a bit to buy a good Athlon64 board for my RAM (same as yours except for the platinum heatsinks: TWINX1024-3200C2PT), I was looking forward to getting this board, and this thread scared me a bit at first. However I noticed your board is from Revision 1, which indeed aren't very good. But apparently Revision 2 boards fix this issue as some people got it working with our RAM. This site specifically awards "A8v Deluxe Revision 2" so you're right, it's very likely that Rev 1 board giving you guys the headache: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=19 This other site also gives it a good award: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=6&id=1487&pg=16 Anyway, I might be wrong, considering I never owned these boards yet, I'm just researching as much as I can before buying it. So if you know better feel free to correct me! tunairaiol can you confirm your problematic A8V Deluxe is of Revision 1 too? Also A8V Deluxe Revision 2 owners if your C2 ram works great please let us know, I really like this board and I'm about to get it (if I can find a rev2) but I want to make sure it will run rock solid like the other posters! One more thing: I read somewhere in this forum that the A8V Deluxe is supposed to work with CAS 2.0 in C2 models (as are all Athlon 64), can someone officially confirm this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 I do not reccomend 1.x. I am still unstable.. although not as much as before. :evil: I noticed the other day I crashed with a video card error... but not with normal video card symptoms... the system restarted... When I have ever had video card problems in the past it would shut down the monitor or have problems on screen then it would shut off followed by a restart. Very weird. I wonder if I have something else set wrong that is throwing everything off. A mystery indeed. tunairaiol if you might could list what you have your bios set to on everything that would be helpful. Maybe we could locate another problem that isnt memory related... If you have time :cool: thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 27, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 27, 2006 I would set the Cammand Rat to 2T if its not already set at 2T. And set the memory voltage at 2.8 Volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 i'll bump it to 2.8, but its already at 2T any reason i would need to reinstall the os and apps along with memory adjustments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 27, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 27, 2006 If the system is stable and you are not getting any strange errors I would not worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roostermilk Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 well the thing is i dont get errors. I just crash. :mad: well... i get Fatal System Error System Had to Restart -- Report Errors after the restart sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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