RMA: Corsair 2x CMX512MB PC3200XL DDR PC400MHz

[ParaDogs]

Hi there,

 

I have encountered some difficulties with my memory sticks and here is my post, to which I can later referr to, if no solution can be found here.

 

Stats:

Mainboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe (Dual Channel support)

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000 MHz

Sound: onboard

Graphic: Ati X850 XT 256 MB AGP

Harddisk: 2x SATA WD360GD Raptor in a RAID

RAM: Corsair 2x CMX512MB PC3200XL DDR PC400MHz

(currently used: Corsair 2x CMX512MB PC2700 DDR PC333MHz)

 

I do not overclock my CPU or the RAM in my system. The graphic card however is ocasionally overclocked for some games.

 

The avarege temperature of the CPU is around 55°C and the Mainboard lies around 28°C.

 

The Story:

In November 2004 I purchased the (at that time) new RAM sticks which I have described in the title from a german internet shop.

At that time I had my "ATI Radeon 9500 Pro" graphics card in my system which was softmoded to a Radeon 9700 Pro.

 

I always encountered random system reboots or system freezes when playing games like Half Life 2 / CS Source or later Battlefield 2. It was different each time; sometimes it would run fine for hours and sometimes only for a very short while.

But since my graphic card was overclocked I always thought that this had to be the reason and it never came to my mind, that it could be the RAM, because I have had no problems with my former RAM stick, which were also from Corsair.

Only when I updated my graphic card and still had the same problems I checked my whole system. I downloaded Memtest and checked the RAM and it produced around 300 errors after the first 2 rounds.

First I didn't even know if 300 is high or in a range which is acceptable, but after some research in forums I found out that it was way too high.

 

I also checked each memory stick for itself and tried out different memory slots, but the results were always the same. Each test produced many errors.

 

I had no problems when using Windows and it's applications. I guess it's because they never used up all the 1024 MB of RAM, games however take as much as they can get.

When I looked at the addresses, which had produced the errors in Memtest, most of them were above 1000 MB or in the late 900s. I assume that the errors were at the end of the modules.

 

I then put back my old memory sticks in and didn't experience any crashes / reboots during those games anymore, but of course the whole system is much slower now.

 

I tried to contact that internet shop to ask for replacement, but that shop doesn't exist anymore and the current owner doesn't want to feel responsible for it.

 

If there is any solution or if you need further more information, then post it here and I'll answer them.

 

 

Best regards,

ParaDogs.

[RAM GUY]

Can you tell me the bios settings you have set for both CPU and memory and any performance settings that you may have set?

[ParaDogs]

My current RAM which is

Corsair 2x CMX512MB PC2700 DDR PC333MHz

runs "By SPD" at settings:

 

Frequenzy: 166MHz

 

7 - Active Precharge Delay

3 - RAS to CAS

3 - RAS

3 - CAS

 

 

The RAM which has the errors and is the newer one was set manually.

It's the Corsair 2x CMX512MB PC3200XL DDR PC400MHz

and it ran at:

 

Frequenzy: 200MHz

 

5 - Active Precharge Delay

2 - RAS to CAS

2 - RAS

2 - CAS (it was 2 or 2,5, I'm not so sure at this one now)

 

However, the settings 2.2.2.5 was the settings the RAM was specified with. I was expecting that it runs without problems at it's specified settings.

 

For testing it, I also switched to "Optimal Settings" in my Asus BIOS, which resulted in higher CL timings, but it also produced errors in Memtest.

 

The CPU runs at 200MHz FSB with a multiplicator of 10.5

[Wired]

Is it an actual 200 Mhz FSB CPU, or a 166 Mhz FSB CPU overclocked?

 

Also, try 2.75 volts for the memory (warrantied up to, but not over, 2.90 volts)

 

Also, AthlonXP systems sometimes can't run the RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD) lower than 3, so you may want to try 2-3-2-5.

[ParaDogs]

Thanks for the advise, I'll try the new settings this weekend.

 

Is it an actual 200 Mhz FSB CPU, or a 166 Mhz FSB CPU overclocked?

Yes it is an 200MHz CPU.

As I wrote I didn't do any overclocking of my CPU, FSB or the RAM. It was just the GCard occasionally.

 

I'll post the results as soon as I am done with it.

[ParaDogs]

I checked the RAM with your settings and I can't tell you how surprised and glad I was with the result :biggrin:

 

Absolutely NO ERRORS!

 

I didn't expect such a clean run, I'm very impressed and do appriciate your help a lot.

 

I set voltage to 2.8 (my Asus BIOS only allows 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8) and I set RAS-to-CAS to 3 instead of 2 like before.

 

Memtest didn't show one single error after two runs. When I switched RAS-to-CAS back to 2, the errors occured again.

 

Seems as if that was the problem, but I decided to let the voltage at 2.8 if you don't advise me otherwise.

 

 

Best thanks for your help.

Keep up the good work :):

[RAM GUY]

I would leave it at 2.8 Volts, and I have seen where some XP systems will just not run with the Ras to Cas set to "2", but I would test the modules one at a time to be sure one is not failing.

[ParaDogs]

Well, I can test each module for its own too, but I thought if both run without an error in Dual Channel Mode, that each one of them must be OK.

 

Is this wrong?

[Wired]

I think he meant test one at a time @ 2-2-2-5.