Random Lockups

[imported_free]

ok - I've built a new machine and get random lockups in windows (also appears to be running slower than it should). For some reason when i pull all but one stick of memory the PC runs fine. The odd thing is it doesnt appear to matter which stick of memory I use. I've tried all of them seperately with good results. When I use more than one the PC will lock.

All my bios settings are set to default. Has anyone used this memory with this motherboard sucessfully? Also, should I be changing memory timings in the bios (which i know nothing about)? I believe they're 3-3-8-3 at the moment.

Anyone have suggestions?

thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Welcome to the Forums Is your mobo running the latest BIOS? The 90nm processors have required BIOS updates on several popular motherboards.

Looking up your board at MSI's BIOS-update finder, I also see that the version 1.3 BIOS fixes a problem with the 90nm CPUs and Cool 'n Quiet. Maybe your CPU is stuck in low-speed mode? You can find out easily with CPU-Z, a handy free utility.

Also, you may need to simply go into the mobo's BIOS and manually set your memory to its proper speed. I think the mobo reverts to a lower speed with four slots filled, although you might not notice a drop from DDR400 to DDR333 right away.

Hope that helps

 

[imported_free]

thanks for the reponse - i've actually had the 1.3 bios on there already and the guys at MSI were kind enough to give me 1.4 (which hasnt been posted on the site yet). Needless to say, the bios updates didnt fix the problem. I dont have the Cool 'n Quiet turned on in the bios so I wouldnt imagine that being the problem.

Would you happen to know the propper speed settings for 2GB (4x512) of this Crucial PC-3200 DDR400 memory?

thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Oh, and my other usual advice is to bump the memory voltage a little bit. 2.7 volts is worth a shot if you're having random lockups or BSODs. Good to see you have a burly PSU, that's one of the usual unknown variables when people have a cheap/generic 400W unit instead of a good one.

 

[mechBgon]

Would you happen to know the propper speed settings for 2GB (4x512) of this Crucial PC-3200 DDR400 memory?

I have the manual for the K8N Neo2 Platinium and I'm looking at page 3-23 now...

Besides the boost to the memory voltage, for that much RAM, I would try forcing 2T on the 1T/2T Memory Timing line for stability, and disable Dynamic Overclocking and Spread Spectrum. The memory should run at 200MHz which is DDR400, and the question is whether "SPD" timings accomplish that or not (CPU-Z should be able to shed light on that).

I gotta go :moon: but hopefully that helps a bit. Post back what happens!

 

[imported_free]

thanks for all the info. nothing appears to be working. I've already swapped out the motherboard and CPU for new ones thinking one of those were bad but i still get the same behavior.

 

[imported_free]

mechBgon - FYI: after speaking with MSI tech support i've learned there is a problem with the mainboard bios not running properly when using 4 sticks of 512 Crucial PC3200...two sticks works fine. There is also a typo in the manual regarding where to install memory when using only two sticks. The manual says to fill the green slots first (1 and 3) but you're supposed to fill slots 1 and 2 first. Anyway - now i'm using 1 out of my 2gbs of memory. Seems to be running ok but for my specs it still seems a little sluggish (slow boot time and slow app execution).

thanks

 

[mechBgon]

Thanks for sharing that info, I'm saving it in a text file in case I come across another person in the same situation. But that seems very strange that MSI would mis-identify the slots. Does CPU-Z show that you've got dual-channel operational, on the Memory tab, with slots 1 & 2?

 

[imported_free]

mechBgon - it does show 'Dual' in the Channels # box on the memory tab. however, i thought it read 'single' (or something else) when i had all four sticks in.

 

[mechBgon]

Very interesting. And a heck of a typo on MSI's part!

 

[Malak]

That's kind of lame they put 4 slots on there but using all 4 doesn't really work properly. What a waste of a gig of RAM! Of course, you could always hand that out as a christmas present.

 

[imported_free]

no kidding - i was thinking i'd give them to the fisrt two people that replied to my post but it turns out MSI is working on a fix ;-)

one more question - i'm really unclear on how the memory voltages and timing settings work. are there any 'how to' documents around for my viewing pleasure?

 

[imported_free]

oh - i just noticed this handy dump button on the last CPU-Z tab. do these settings look correct for my memory?

Memory SPD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #1

General
Memory type DDR-SDRAM
Manufacturer (ID) Micron Technology (2CFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number 8VDDT6464AG-40BCB
Serial number 1A52B290
Manufacturing date Week 07/Year 04

Attributes
Number of banks 1
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 133 166 200
CAS# 2.0 2.5 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay 2 3 3
RAS# Precharge 2 3 3
TRAS# 6 7 8


DIMM #2

General
Memory type DDR-SDRAM
Manufacturer (ID) Micron Technology (2CFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number 8VDDT6464AG-40BCB
Serial number 1A52B222
Manufacturing date Week 07/Year 04

Attributes
Number of banks 1
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 133 166 200
CAS# 2.0 2.5 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay 2 3 3
RAS# Precharge 2 3 3
TRAS# 6 7 8

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: free
oh - i just noticed this handy dump button on the last CPU-Z tab. do these settings look correct for my memory?

Memory SPD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #1

General
Memory type DDR-SDRAM
Manufacturer (ID) Micron Technology (2CFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number 8VDDT6464AG-40BCB
Serial number 1A52B290
Manufacturing date Week 07/Year 04

Attributes
Number of banks 1
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 133 166 200
CAS# 2.0 2.5 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay 2 3 3
RAS# Precharge 2 3 3
TRAS# 6 7 8


DIMM #2

General
Memory type DDR-SDRAM
Manufacturer (ID) Micron Technology (2CFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number 8VDDT6464AG-40BCB
Serial number 1A52B222
Manufacturing date Week 07/Year 04

Attributes
Number of banks 1
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 133 166 200
CAS# 2.0 2.5 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay 2 3 3
RAS# Precharge 2 3 3
TRAS# 6 7 8

That info is sort of a specsheet of what the modules are designed to run at, rather than what they actually are running at, so they are just sort of self-relevant.