Kelloggs Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I have followed RAM Guy's instructions to a T (read through numerous posts with similar setups). That is to say I've used his recommended BIOS settings and have tested each DIMM independently in both memory slots and they both pass with Memtest86. The memory works well when not in windows however when i boot into windows, I get a BSOD. The blue-screening doesn't happen straight away but normally after approximately 20 minutes (but can also be up to 2-3 hours after boot). I initially thought the issue was heat related so I started using the supplied fan (not used as it affected airflow in my thermaltake tsunami case (too close to TRU120E cooler and fan). This brought no improvements at all. I also have a set of ******** PC2-6400 (4*1Gb) which do not result in BSODs no matter how long i keep the machine running. The crazy thing is that when I boot into windows with the dominators I can run Orthos Prime or even Prime 95 to test and stress the CPU and the RAM. They both perform fine and I can often leave it running for about hours. After I have shutdown the stress testing programs, I continue to use the PC as normal (e.g. open up a browser) and blam, BSOD. Often with the dreaded ‘irql not less or equal’ message along a myriad of others. The fact that the bluescreens occur only when I’m using the dominators makes me think they are faulty however they pass all tests (memtest orthos etc). So please please help me. I know I can't even RMA them in the UK because SCAN UK (who I purchased them from) will test them with memtest on receipt and send them back to me if they pass. Please please please help!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 If you don't OC your CPU, do you still get BSODs with the TWIN pack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Thanks for getting back so quickly Yes I do still get the BSODs if the cpu isn't overclocked. I have tried leaving all the CPU settings on auto and only setting the memory voltage to 2.1 and adjusting the northbrisge voltage to 1.36-1.38. I have also tried cpu voltage configurations that i know work at the stock speed (I.e. the voltage reported by cpu-z when all is on auto and working fine). I have recently been running the cpu at stock speed and I probably won't be overclocking till I have this RAM issue sorted. I'm at my wits end I'm afraid, here I have these seemingnly perfect DIMMS (as proven by Memtest and the intel memory testing utility as well as orthos and Prime95) and they just wont work with my rig. Could it be another one of my components playing up? My mobo maybe or my cpu? Having just got married and moved house my budget to replace parts is limited but if necessary I could pick up an intermediary cpu (E5200 perhaps) or mobo to use for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Btw Wired, Nice rig mate!!! Thats almost exactly what I've been saving up to upgrade to (will i ever get there), well with the exception of teh gfx cards and the raptor drives (ati for me and raptors later - if i can afford it). Whats the performance like on the i7s? was the switch from skt 775 worth it? Apologies for the newb questions but with the RAM issues I'm having I'm seriouly considering making the move now (damn those bills - they may have to be paid late)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted August 21, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted August 21, 2009 Please make sure that you have the latest Bios version and then load setup/optimized defaults and set the Dim Voltage to 2.1 volts and set the tested settings set manually and then test the modules one at a time with http://www.memtest.org to be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Well my last system was an Athlon 64 that I built 4 and a half years ago, so I have no idea how it compares to the older Intel stuff. With the Core i7 8xx and the Core i5 stuff coming out there will be a wider variety of stuff to look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 @ RAM GUY Thanks for the advice. I had already tested with memtest (latest version V2.11. But i did as you said and I tested the modules with the stest settings (1066 MHz 2.1 Volts 5-5-5-15 ) for many hours each (minimum of four hours in each slot on the mobo) and no errors were found. I have now just finished installing Vista (32-Bit) and I'm about to switch to the Dominators and see if this makes any difference. Strange thing to do I know but I'm wondering if XP is doing something specific to cause the BSODs. @Wired Apologies for the late reply! Testing RAM and so on. Thanks for the info. Will wait and look out for the 8 series Core i7. I hope i dint get too tempted before then. I was testing the DIMMS last night and didnt want to interrupt the tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck4456 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 What are you using for NB Voltage? Even with a mild overclock like you are using, it will take a couple of bumps up with that to keep it all stable. Also set the tRFC to 52 or 53 - IIRC I'm using 53 with my 8500 C5DFs - I'm on an old ABIT system right now that has someone else's modules inside, so I'd have to go in the house and check. Why not list the settings that you are using in your AI Tweaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 @ RAM Guy and WIRED The Dominators have been running very well on Vista 32-Bit (wierd right?) for over 24 hours now and no BSODs (touch wood). In fact I'm now posting this on the Dominators @ 1066MHz therfore I'm beginning to suspect my XP installation was corrupt somehow and was causing the BSODs. I havent tried the xp yet though, but i will shortly. Something that has just some to mind is that I converted my xp installation to AHCI a few months ago to to enable me to dual boot XP and a certain other OS that i run. Could that be the cause of the BSODs? @ chuck4456 Here are my AI Tweaker settings, both the test and my normal 3.0 GHz OC settings. Setting Test Settings Ai Overclock Auto CPU RATIO Settings Auto FSB Frequency Auto PCIE Frequency Auto DRAM Frequency DDR2-1066MHz DRAM Clock Skew on on A1 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on A2 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on B1 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on B2 Auto DRAM Timing Control Manual CAS# Latency 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# Precharge 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# Activate 15 Dram Clocks to Precharge RAS to RAS Delay Auto Row Refresh Cycle Time 55 Dram Clocks Write Rceovery Time Auto Read to Precharge Time Auto 2nd Info All Auto 3rd Info All Auto DRAM Static Read Control Auto All other options All Auto CPU Voltage Auto CPU GTL Voltage Ref 0/2 Auto CPU GTL Voltage Ref 1/3 Auto CPU PLL Voltage Auto FSB Termination Voltage Auto DRAM Voltage 2.10 NB Voltage 1.36 NB GTL Reference Auto SB Voltage Auto PCIE Sata Voltage Auto Loadline Calibration Auto CPU Spread Spectrum Auto PCIE Stat Pread Spectrum Auto CPU Clock Skew Auto NB Clock Skew Auto CPU Margin Enhancement Optimised Setting 3.0 GHZ OC Settings Ai Overclock Manual CPU RATIO Settings 9 FSB Frequency 333 PCIE Frequency Auto DRAM Frequency DDR2-1066MHz DRAM Clock Skew on on A1 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on A2 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on B1 Auto DRAM Clock Skew on on B2 Auto DRAM Timing Control Manual CAS# Latency 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# Precharge 5 Dram Clocks DRAM RAS# Activate 15 Dram Clocks to Precharge RAS to RAS Delay Auto Row Refresh Cycle Time 55 Dram Clocks Write Rceovery Time Auto Read to Precharge Time Auto 2nd Info All Auto 3rd Info All Auto DRAM Static Read Control Enabled All other options All Auto CPU Voltage 1.3125 CPU GTL Voltage Ref 0/2 Auto CPU GTL Voltage Ref 1/3 Auto CPU PLL Voltage Auto FSB Termination Voltage Auto DRAM Voltage 2.10 NB Voltage 1.36 NB GTL Reference Auto SB Voltage Auto PCIE Sata Voltage Auto Loadline Calibration Enabled CPU Spread Spectrum Disabled PCIE Stat Pread Spectrum Disabled CPU Clock Skew Auto NB Clock Skew Auto CPU Margin Enhancement Performance Mode BTW there isnt a setting for tRFC - I assumed its the Row Refresh Cycle Time, which i set to 55 (it goes up in multiples of five so cant set 52). I used to have a 3.4 OC but since getting these sticks i havent had a chance to push my cpu much because of the BSODs. The CPU has a Vid of 1.280 (taken at idle from CPU-Z) however I'm pushing 1.36V as i thought the instability may have been due to Vdroop initially so i wanted to take that out of the equation. I would be very happy to try any settings you could recommend, so please recommend away 9including optimum oc settings :biggrin:!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Hey guys. Here with an update I got these working for a while with Vista 32 bit and all was well. I noticed that i could even boot into xp and it all would work well. After extensive testing (memtest, orthos, prime 95 superPI etc) i was just about ready to declare the issue fixed when blam - BSOD. After the BSOD i could not get the machine to post at all, my monitor would not activate. I had to restore bios defaults (clear Cmos) in order to get it working again. I remained at the test settings since my last post (see post #9). I was finally able to boot back into Vista however XP would blue screen immediatley after the splash screen with the scrolling bar. Vista again worked well for about a day and then I started noticing errors in the system event viewer. The majority of the errors related to my gfx card and they were as follows: Source: ati2mtag category: CV Error message: "CV can't load required graphics object" Some of the other errors were attributed to "DCOM" I'm at work at the moment and dont have all the info to hand (will post later today). Using my "other" RAM, the errors dont occur at all and the system does not freeze. I had earlier used Tech Support Express and recently received an email asking me to begin the RMA process. I'm worried about doing this as I live in London, England - will i have to send the RAM to the U.S? As the DIMMs do not fail on Memtest, will there be a point to RMA'ing them if the errors wont be found? The last thing i want to do is waste everybody's time RMA'ing the DIMMs and having the same issue with the replacements. I have bought another set of DIMMs today (another brand rated at 1066MHz) I will attempt to use them to determine if the problem is due to running at 1066Mhz (which my other memory can not do so have not tested). Will follow up today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted September 4, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 4, 2009 What you have reported the symptom runs for a day or so with out problems then when it does get an ERROR it may not even post. Would suggest something may be failing on the MB or maybe a PSU Issue, however, I would suspect the MB before anything else from what you have posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelloggs Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 @ RAM GUY I thought so too, but with no other mobo to try I havent been able to tell for sure. I did however buy a set of PC2-8500 DDR2 DIMMS (another well known brand) and have been running those at 1066MHz since my last post and all is well. There have been no issues whatsoever and some of the errors i was getting used to seeing in the systems event viewer are gone (DCOM issues etc - still cannot get rid of the dreaded ati2mtag error). I have switched between the two sets of PC2-8500 and the set of PC2-6400 several times, allowing each to run for a t least 1 hour and with the Dominators in there have been BSODs and with the other two sets of memory, none at all. I did however notice that both sets of the non-corsair ram run @ 1.8v and not 2.1, could that be important? Its set me off thinking that maybe my mobo was undervolting the RAM but i certainly dont want to overvolt them and do any permanent damage to them so have not checked. Thanks for all your advice, it has and still is very much appreciated. I have followed the RMA instructions that have been sent out to me and will be RMA'ing these dimms. The only question i have now is do i send the fan in with the RAM or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted September 10, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 10, 2009 No reason to replace the fan if its not broken just do the modules and leave the "F" out of the part number. Let's get them replaced, please use the On Line RMA Request Form and we will be happy to replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvvelzen Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Hello, background: Over the last few months I'm slowly replacing my old system with the following: 1x Asus P5Q Deluxe 1x Q9550 2x TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF 2x X25-M 80G Atm i'm still running with a 8800gt waiting for some 5870 stock. On my old system I had win7-64 running without a glitch. Since I installed it on the hardware above it's nothing but trouble whenever I start some game or anything else using up a bunch of memory i'm getting a BSOD as well with the nice IRQL message. I've tried to run some memtest 4.0 from the bootable CD as mentioned befor in this post with everything in BIOS on AUTO. It found quite some errors. Afterwards I tried it with 5-5-5-15 + 2.1V and it still gave a lot of errors. Could anyone please suggest what to do? Dennis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvvelzen Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Fyi i just did another test with all on auto. 114000 and some errors. Currently on 15% on my old system with 0 errors still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted September 29, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 29, 2009 I do not understand what you mean by old system, what is the make and model of MB you are using and what is its configuration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvvelzen Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Old system: Abit in9 32x max wifi + e6850 New system: Asus P5Q Deluxe + q9550 Old mem: 2x Corsair TWIN2X 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB CL4 (4Gb total) New mem: 2x TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF ( 8Gb total ) Following happened in memtest 4.00 Old mem + Old system = ok New mem + Old system = ok Old mem + New system = ok New mem + New system = full of errors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted September 29, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 29, 2009 With 4 modules I would suggest setting the memory frequency at DDR667 and set the memory Voltage to 2.1 Volts and set the NB/MCH/SPP Voltage to +.2 Volts as well and test the system with http://www.memtest.org. In addition, with some MB's (Mostly ASUS) you have to disable legacy USB in the bios when running any memory test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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