sycr0n Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Hey all. I just built this system about a week and a half ago, but for the life of me i can't get memtest to run cleanly without errors on my system. I'm using optimized defaults and the memory is on auto-detect at 2-3-2-5@2.7v I've tried upping the voltage up to 2.9v, but ended up getting more errors on test #8 than i did at 2.7v Test #8 seems to bring out the worst in the memory as i haven't had it run past 2 successfull passes without error. On a side note, when i initially installed my OS, i had to only use 1 stick of ram, otherwise i would just get BSOD's everytime. I'd just like to get this thing running stable and make sure i don't have defective memory. Thanks for your help in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted March 23, 2005 Corsair Employee Share Posted March 23, 2005 Please make sure you have the latest BIOS installed for your MB (download the Beta version) and load optimized defaults settings, and try the following BIOS settings; TwinX512 or Twinx1024-3200XL Genie BIOS/DRAM Configuration DRAM Frequency Set: 2:1 or 400MHz or 200 (if option are 133/166/200) Command per Clock: Enabled SDRAM CAS Latency: 2T SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 2T SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 2T SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 5T And leave the rest at AUTO setting Genie BIOS FSB BUS Frequency: 200 LDT/FSB Frequency ratio: 5X LDT Bus Transfer Width: 16 16 CPU/FSB Frequency ratio: Auto PCI Ex: 100 K8 cool N’ quiet: Disable CPU VID Start Up Value: 1.55 CPU VID Control: 1.55 CPU VID Special Control: Auto Chipset Voltage Control: 1.6 DRAM Voltage Control: 2.8 All other settings are motherboards defaults Then please test them one at a time with http://www.memtest.org and let’s make sure it's not some other issue! I would run the test for at least 2-3 passes to be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 Ok, I ran the tests on each stick by itself at the settings you said. One 512MB stick performed 4 passes on memtest without errors and the other stick performed 5 passes on memtest with 1 error (ran an extra one because of the error.) Either way the results were much better, but here's the problem: I thought i'd throw both sticks of ram in to see if they worked on those settings also, and after the first pass of memtest, it brought up 13,000 errors. Also, my temperatures jumped up to 52C on the chipset, 55C on PWM and 48C on the CPU and the fans were screaming like a wind tunnel. So i'm feeling like i've hit a dead end. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted March 23, 2005 Corsair Employee Share Posted March 23, 2005 Let's try replacing the your module's. But, I would try testing them in another system if you can. Please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part!” and we will be happy to replace them or it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 Well, here's an update: I went ahead and ran prime95 overnight to test my system stability. I let it run for about 7 hours overnight, then in the morning i checked it and it was still going fine. I come back 4 hours later and i moved the mouse to turn on the monitor (have it on power savings) and the system just reboots automatically. So it starts rebooting and it makes it into the login screen at windows and once I login, it brings up my wallpaper then shows a bluescreen for a split-second and restarts. It did this 3 or 4 times until i went into bios and loaded optimized defaults again and changed the dram voltage to 2.7. I checked the temperatures right after the first reboot happened and they were normal at around 44C. Do you have any other suggestions before i send the ram in for replacement? I just bought these a couple weeks ago so I can send them back to the manufacturer, but I'd be without a working computer :laughing: I do have the latest bios, but should i perhaps try reflashing it again? I just find it weird for the memory to go nearly error free by itself then into dual channel mode where it blows up with 13000 errors. Thanks alot for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted March 23, 2005 Corsair Employee Share Posted March 23, 2005 Lets try replacing them and see how it goes! Please follow the directions under "I think I have a bad module" under this forum or if you have trouble, Please send us a email with a copy of the form or all of your info name address and phone# and the Module part# and copy the link to this post and email it to Rma@corsairmemory.com. If after 1 day or 24 hours excluding weekends you do not get the rma please email the same to warranty@corsairmemory.com and we will help to resolve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Sounds like you've tested them in dual channel together, but what about single channel together? I'd personally lean more towards the memory controller (on the CPU) having a problem, which could also explain the higher temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted March 23, 2005 Corsair Employee Share Posted March 23, 2005 That's a great point Wired! Can you test them in another system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 the memory controller is on the CPU or the motherboard? Also, how exactly would that affect my temperatures? I ran the tests in dual channel with both sticks in and not single channel. I'll have to give that a try. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with an AMD64 bit system that i could really test my ram on at the moment. I'm away at college now and it would kinda suck to have to send stuff back, so i'm trying to make sure I have all areas covered and I know it's defective. My cpu is running at 34C atm, which isn't really that high, it's just my PWM area that i can't seem to get below 40C. Do you think i should reflash to the latest bios just to make sure everything was updated? EDIT: At home, I have my old system which was an AMD XP2600+ with an ASUS a7n8x mobo that i'm 99% sure is dual-channel. Would that be sufficient for testing even though it doesn't have the juice of the AMD64? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 On Athlon64 systems the memory controller is part of the CPU. On AthlonXP systems the memory controller is in the chipset. I'd test it in single first on your board, then in the older system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 hmm.. for some reason I couldn't get my system to boot the memory in single channel mode. I set the ram in dimm1+2 and it wouldn't boot up, also tried the pair in dimm3+4 with no luck. With the ram in dimm1+3 or 2+4 it was in dual channel, but for some reason I just can't get it to bootup with both running in single channel. Am I doing something wrong here? edit: also is there any specific way I could check to see if the memory controller on the cpu is bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted March 24, 2005 Corsair Employee Share Posted March 24, 2005 If you install 2 double sided modules in single channel you would need to set the memory frequency to DDR333 with this platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 ok thanks, i'll have to give that a shot after i get back from work. By running the modules in single channel, I'll be testing the memory controller to see if it has trouble with dual channel? I'm guessing the best way is to test them in another system, but even though that system will be only running the chips at 266fsb, will that really be testing the integrity of the ram since it will be quite a performance decrease? It's an AMD XP2600+ but i can't remember if that's 266fsb or 333 fsb. hehe I really appreciate the help you guys have given me. I'm just trying to understand exactly what i'm testing for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 By running the modules in single channel, I'll be testing the memory controller to see if it has trouble with dual channel? Correctamundo. I'm guessing the best way is to test them in another system, but even though that system will be only running the chips at 266fsb, will that really be testing the integrity of the ram since it will be quite a performance decrease? It's an AMD XP2600+ but i can't remember if that's 266fsb or 333 fsb. hehe XP 2600+ has a 333 Mhz FSB. If the memory truly is bad, it'll still fail at a lower FSB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 26, 2005 Author Share Posted March 26, 2005 Ok, I've been thoroughly running memtest for the past 36 hours to see if I could shed anymore light on the situation. I ran 4 tests: 2 tests for each module by itself 1 test with both modules running in single channel 1 test with both modules running in dual channel Each test consisted of 8 hours running the normal default test selection and then an additional 4 hours of running test 8 loops. Posted screenshots of each test are below. Test results: Module 1 Module 2 Both Modules - Single Channel Both Modules - Dual Channel As you can see module 1 had absolutely no errors like the first time I had tested it alone before. Module 2, however, had 4 errors durring the default test selection, but no errors from the test 8 loop. I was surprised that no errors happened at all with both modules running in single channel since module 2 generated a few errors by itself. I didn't let the dual-channel test run the full 12 hour length because it didn't even make it through one pass without spitting out errors as usual. I'm still planning on testing the memory regardless on another system next weekend, but this seems to be looking more and more like a faulty memory controller. What do you all think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 It's odd that Module 2 got errors at all considering it passed in single channel mode, but it could be a fluke. Testing the memory on another system should tie it all up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 27, 2005 Author Share Posted March 27, 2005 are there any other tests i should consider running on this system to figure out the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Testing in another system is really the only choice at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted March 27, 2005 Author Share Posted March 27, 2005 in all likelyhood, could the motherboard have anything to do with these problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Possibly. Testing one stick in each slot would solve that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy1ear Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Thought I might horn in on this post as I am having the same problems with the same mb and memory and an amd 53fx. I have not tried anything but dual channel. My symtoms are the same. I have found I can run stable with one stick in the dual channel slot. I'll keep watching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy1ear Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Thought I would paste a link I was following at DFI. http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8377 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted April 1, 2005 Author Share Posted April 1, 2005 Well guys, I just got in my replacement 3200XL modules and popped em in and once again I got errors within a few minutes. I'm testing the new pair one at a time again just to cover all areas, but this is pretty frustrating. Apparently i'm not the only one having trouble running dual-channel mode on this ram with the DFI NF4 Ultra-D, so I dont' believe the integrity of the ram is the issue. I also don't feel the need to send back my cpu unless there is fairly certain evidence that it is defective. My overall experience with this ram has been less than satisfactory to say the least, especially since this was recommended off corsair's website for my motherboard. Something needs to be done about these issues because the XMS3200XL isn't performing anything like it's hyped up to be, nor is it stable. What other options do I have to consider now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 Re-doing the tests will help. One stick at a time in the orange slot farthest from the CPU (as per DFI), then single channel with 2 sticks, then 2 in dual channel. In DC, are you in slots 1 and 3 (which per their manual needs to be @ 2T), or slots 2 and 4 (which can be set to 1T)? BTW, which version of memtest were you using again? I think that board has memtest built into the BIOS (not 100% sure), try the latest version of memtest86+ from a boot disk if you're not already doing it. Don't try voltages above 2.9 like you mentioned in the following link, as that voids the memory warranty. BTW: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7919 It doesn't seem to be a compatibility issue since there are people reporting this combo works together fine, although you already know that since you posted in that thread :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sycr0n Posted April 1, 2005 Author Share Posted April 1, 2005 I'm using the orange slots (2 + 4) for my testing at 1T 2-2-2-5@2.8v I already tested the new set and got errors right off the start. I'm using the built in memtest v1.51 I believe. I'm downloading the latest memtest version now like you recommended. Also, how many passes of memtest do you think is sufficient? I've had one module of memory going for 2.5 hours and has passed 10 times without errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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