Nforce2 Epox 8RDA3+ Pro Woes

[charlestek]

I have a Nforce2 Epox 8RDA3+ Pro Motherboard which has the nvidia 400mhz chipset. Am using the last bios from Epox dated 2/2006. I've been unable to run my Athlon Xp 3000+ (200mhz fsb (yes this is the rare model that is 200mhz, not 166)) at 200mhz

(166 mhz tops). I've had the board 11 months having bought it from Epox as an open box special last summer. I was using an Athlon Xp 2600 at 333 fsb prior to this week when I purchased the 3000+ from ebay from what I believe to be a reliable seller.

 

Am using a matched pair of Corsair XMS (TWINX2048-3200C2PT) 400mhz 2x1Gig sticks purchased from Newegg last spring. Tried memtest 1.70 today in dual channel mode got many errors on test 5 and test 8.

 

Called Corsair today. Tech rep said test 5 and test 8 were more likely motherboard issues than bad memory. I said I don't think so, but he said, I can rma them if I want, but they will take 5 days from receipt to test the memory in a discrete memory tester, then if bad, replace them.

 

He said two sticks rarely go bad together, so I should try each individually.

I thought, well individually is not the same type of load as dual channel, but decided to try. Right now I have one stick only in the machine that so far has errors on test 5, test 6 and test 8.

 

Funny, I had no test 6 errrors at all in dual channel mode.

 

The single channel timings are different: 2-3-3-8 vs 3-3-3-8 for dual channel.

 

Can anyone comment on suspicions whether the memory might be truly bad via memtests results thus far or how this particular motherboard might cause false readings.

 

I've put in a ticket to Epox who are "investigating the issue" for the past week.

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

[Wired]

Test each stick in the same slot with these settings:

 

Source: Corsair XMS Qualification and Testing Information

 

CAS Latency (tCL): 2.5

RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3

Row Precharge (tRP): 3

Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 6

 

Memory Voltage: 2.7-2.8 Volts (Warrantied up to, but not over, 2.90 volts)

All other settings to defaults.

 

Source: Corsair XMS Qualification and Testing Information

[charlestek]

Wired, I will shutdown shortly and try. Though big question is which slot.

 

I was testing the individual stick I mentioned in Bank 0 (where only one dimm is connected to controller vs Bank 1 where dimm 2 and dimm3 are connected) yesterday, so I will test both there shortly. Since I already used the timing settings you mentioned by modifying memtest's parameters dynamically and had test failures, I will set the dimm voltage to 2.77v, instead of auto.

 

Should I have Memory Auto Precharge Disabled? (Tried both before)

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

[RAM GUY]

For two modules that match they should be in slots 2-3 skipping the first slot closest to the CPU.

[charlestek]

Thank you,

Corsair person of the day, a.k.a. "Ram Guy", I was using the two purple slots Epox recommends for dual channel, indeed one of the purple slots is closest to the processor. I did however try using both sticks with one in the other slot of bank one (still dual channel mode) and the computer would not boot at 200mhz fsb (Win Xp Sp2, Win 2003 Sp2 Server, Win 2000 server triple boot machine).

 

I wish Epox would give me some feedback. I think they are asking someone in Taiwan if they have a better bios.....

[charlestek]

With the raised dimm voltage to 2.77v (Unsure what Epox "Auto" dimm voltage was setting the chips to), and Wired's timing settings above, each stick passes Memtest 1.70 in the slot for Bank 0.

 

So it appears that Epox's auto voltage setting was the problem. Am now going to put both sticks in for dual channel operation. Have posted case to Corsair asking for conservative timing settings for DUAL channel operation.

 

Also still am unsure about whether Memory Auto Precharge should be enabled or disabled.

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

[RAM GUY]

Just load setup defaults and then set these settings:

 

System Performance: User Define

Memory Frequency: 100%

Dim Voltage to 2.7 Volts

Resulting Frequency: will be matched to CPU Freq.

Memory Timings: Manual/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): 6T