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TWIN2X2048-6400C4 + Asus P5N-E SLI


jimmysmith

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I've been having difficulties with having my system run stable with my Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 memory. I've manually adjusted the bios memory timings to factory specs and I can currently boot into Windows and run stable from 30min up to an hour or two however I regularly get BSOD's. The error message is always the same, "bad_pool_header, Stop: 0x0000000019". Please advise if I should make any other adjustments or if additional information is needed.

 

 

Bios Settings:

SLI-Ready Memory=Disabled (Unable to load O/S with any other setting)

Memory Voltage=2.085V

tCL=4

tRCD=4

tRP=4

tRAS=12

CMD=2

All other memory settings @ auto

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Since my initial post above, I've tried moving my memory sticks into the black slots and the system became even less stable than before.

 

I've since returned the memory sticks back into the yellow slots and have adjusted some of the advanced memory timings. With my current settings, my system has been stable now for approximately 4 days with no more BSODs. I hope this information will help some others with similar components. I will update this thread should I experience any changes.

 

Current settings are noted below...

 

Bios Settings:

SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Voltage = 2.085

tCL = 4

tRCD = 4

tRP = 4

tRAS = 12

CMD = 2

Advanced Memory Timings

tRC = 22

tWTR = 15

All other settings = auto

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  • 4 weeks later...
I have almost the same config as Jimmy and I experienced the same problems with windows crashing (freezing up) also had memtest86+ report mad errors . The timings Jimmy listed in the follow-up post completely corrected my problems. Thanks Jimmy!
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the same MB and RAM Described and went into panic when the wonderful BSOD appeared. This I was not expecting...

 

I used the "JimmySmith" settings, and all is well so far.

 

Thank you "JimmySmith", and if anyone finds any tweaks to this configuration, please post.

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Ok, I have the same problem everybody here, but using the advice of the jimmysmith friend I have solved the issue... for now...

 

I'll explain myself: I double boot XP Pro and Vista Ultimate, the Vista bootloader has a "Memory Test" included and there is no way I pass it using any memory configuration (always gives an error, BUT memtest 1.36+ pass the test runnig a whole night. What doews this mean? I don't know... I'll post if in few days there comes instability in my box.

 

BTW I'm using the latest Asus Bios, Version 602

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Thanks Jimmy Smith,

 

Same mobo, almost same RAM (3Gig), same problem, now seems to be fixed, memtest+ 1.70 not displaying any errors at the moment, memory speed down at bit, (3351MB/s), shame.

 

Claggy.

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  • 2 months later...

Wow, I'm glad to know that all of the time that I spent trying to find the best timings for me, could also help so many others.

 

Just a little update, I've recently upgraded to the Bios 0608 and have had no problems with the same memory timings.

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  • 3 months later...

Also can someone explain to me the difference between setting TRC at 22 and at 24? Whats the best for the P5N-E SLI?

 

Also a thanks to jimmysmith for his settings, has made my PC so much more stable. (We have identical specs for main components! xD)

 

However it doesn't stop the freezing. Sometimes when I leave my PC on overnight it will be frozen in the morning. It sometimes freezes during video playback, and keeps freezing when I am trying to rip an audio CD. There seems to be a severe issue between the 6400C4s and the P5N-E SLI boards (these are my second pair of 6400C4s since my last pair were faulty, they had memtest errors and always froze, but since my new pair have the same problem maybe its a bigger issue).

 

I've just updated my nforce drivers and also updated to the latest version of the bios, now just waiting to see if theres any difference whatsoever.

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To get a stable OC on nForce boards, you really should disable the following as they can cause a system to freeze due to the voltages not reacting fast enough under load switching.........:bigeyes:

 

CPU Thermal Control

C1E Enhance Halt State

Intel Speedstep

 

You should also disable the following as well you max stability (if your system Bios has all these settings)

 

CPU Spread Spectrum

HT Spread Spectrum

PCIe Spread Spectrum(SPP)

PCIe Spread Spectrum(MCP)

SATA Spread Spectrum

 

You should also manually set your CPU voltage manually so you are sure to get the lowest and most stable OC possible.

 

Your starting CPU voltage should be the CPU VID as listed in programs like CoreTemp and go up from there.

 

At a 1333 FSB you should only need a small bump in CPU voltage and maybe only 1.3-1.35 on the NB at most.

 

You might also want to read the OC'ing guide put out by Nvidia, based on the 680i chip set, but all the 600 series chipset OC basicly the same. The major difference being, the lower grade chipset bios have less/lower OC'ing features.

 

http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/45121/nforce_680i_sli_overclocking.pdf

 

Following this guide and a few basic common OC stressing programs, I've taken my cheap old MSI P6N SLI and E4300 from a megar 1.8 GHz all the way up to a sweet little OC of 3.7 GHz.

 

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9794/e430037ghzpi1.jpg

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Also can someone explain to me the difference between setting TRC at 22 and at 24? Whats the best for the P5N-E SLI?

 

The bank cycle time tRAS specifies the number of clock cycles needed after a bank active command before a precharge can occur. Basically, this means that after a page has been opened, it needs to stay open a minimum amount of time before it can be closed again. tRC specifies the minimum cycle time until the same bank can be reactivated. Since a precharge has a latency of 2 or 3 cycles, tRC is the sum of tRAS and the RAS precharge time tRP. You can test the settings with Memtest all the way from 16 and up to find your best stable tRC. You sweet spot could well be different than another P5N-E SLi. So tweak away :P

 

However it doesn't stop the freezing. Sometimes when I leave my PC on overnight it will be frozen in the morning. It sometimes freezes during video playback, and keeps freezing when I am trying to rip an audio CD. There seems to be a severe issue between the 6400C4s and the P5N-E SLI boards (these are my second pair of 6400C4s since my last pair were faulty, they had memtest errors and always froze, but since my new pair have the same problem maybe its a bigger issue).

 

Have you checked your System Event Viewer? To open Event Viewer, click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Event Viewer. Look at both the "Application" and "System" folders. The application is software reports and the system is the hardware issue reports.

 

Look for the red errors. Right click on the folder and choose to clear all events for both Application and System. Then the next freeze you have, reboot, enter the Event Viewer and paste the event here. Paste some of the System events here before clearing them as well. Double click on the event and copy the issue.

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No event viewer is showing pretty standard stuff. All the errors that are in there are for other things that I am aware of for the most part.

Most importantly though, there are no entries for the times when the PC has frozen indicating that its the same kind of freeze as having default automatic timing settings for the RAM.

 

Things do seem to be getting worse though. Now I can't even watch a film without it firstly stuttering and then it just freezes my whole PC after anything between a few minutes to 20 minutes (vlc.. and also JUST when watching a film...also the film is stored on an external HD linked via USB.)

 

I am concerned that this issue will eventually lead me to choose to buy a different set of Memory sticks to go with the motherboard.

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I am concerned that this issue will eventually lead me to choose to buy a different set of Memory sticks to go with the motherboard.

 

Remove any overclock. Set your DRAM to 800Mhz and timings to 4-4-4-12 with 2.1v on the DRAM.

 

Run Memtest on both sticks in dual channel. If you get errors, run memtest on the stick singly.

 

Results?

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Remove any overclock. Set your DRAM to 800Mhz and timings to 4-4-4-12 with 2.1v on the DRAM.

Already have these settings since im using jimmysmith's bios tweaks.

 

Run Memtest on both sticks in dual channel. If you get errors, run memtest on the stick singly.

If I don't get errors with both sticks would it still be a good idea to test each individually?

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If I don't get errors with both sticks would it still be a good idea to test each individually?

 

Normally if you have errors in Dual Channel, then the next step is to isolate the issue by testing both sticks individually. If both sticks produce errors then it is likely that the problem is not the DRAM. If one stick produces errors and the other stick (in the same slot) does not produce errors, then you have an erred stick.

 

You can, if you like, test both sticks singly, but if you are finding system issues and Memtest shows no errors on the Dual Channel configuration, then you would do better to begin to isolate the other possibilities to find where the errors are related.

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I haven't tested my current pair of memory yet. But like I said so far its only frozen on 3 types of occasions:

 

1. Overnight when I've left my PC running while downloading. (this kind of freezing occurs every now and then, not every night)

 

2. Ripping an audio CD. (occasionally actually it unfroze briefly)

 

3. Watching a video file (on one occasion it also unfroze after a few seconds)

 

There was once when it froze when funnily enough I was browsing this forum, but that was after numerous reboots when frozen earlier.

 

I have yet to experience one while gaming so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just another guy registering to say THANK YOU JIMMYSMITH. You made me day, this advice worked perfectly for me.

 

I originally built this PC to be my dream rig, able to do everything I've ever wanted and do it easily. I built it from scratch, choosing every component. Finally, after putting it together and installing Vista Ultimate, I install Bioshock and... PC locks up.

 

Reset.

 

PC locks up after 10-15 minutes on desktop.

 

Reset. etc etc, PC keeps locking up.

 

After some tinkering and fooling around, I find out I've got memory errors. So I pop out one stick in the second yellow slot and try again. Voila, PC works! So I assume it's a bad stick and RMA it to Corsair. of course, this was in September, and I left for 7 weeks to India before my part came back.

 

So I finally get back to Canada and try out my replacement part. Pop it in, boot up... BSOD after about 30 seconds on desktop.

 

At this point, I'm ready to scream. Corsair sent me a bad part?!?!

 

Before I freaked out though, I decide to do some more testing. I take out the stick I know is GOOD, and try the replacement stick only...

 

Lo and behold, the system runs fine. So I'm thinking "what the fook?" At this point, I'm panicking, thinking the A2 memory slot on my mobo is bad and I'll have to RMA the entire motherboard. First I decide to do some googling though and come across this thread.

 

BAM! You've got the same RAM, same motherboard, same CPU as me. So I try your solution.. IT WORKS! Happy day, happy day! I almost shrieked with joy. Everything runs absolutely amazing now - games load in seconds, I get no stuttering, and even my hard drive is quieter now. It's like I got a brand new PC, and all I did was get my RAM working properly.

 

Thanks for reading my story, and I hope karma gives you something for your efforts jimmysmith. You're the best!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I too have spent hours trying to get the timings right.......until I read this thread I had no joy.

 

So far the following settings appear to have solved the dreaded blue screens.

 

Bios Settings:

SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Voltage = 2.085

tCL = 4

tRCD = 4

tRP = 4

tRAS = 12

CMD = 2

Advanced Memory Timings

All settings = auto

 

Thanks to all who've posted options. :D:

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