a8n-sli overclock hd corruption

[sal69]

hi,

i use:
a64 3200+
a8n-sli
corsair 2-2-2-5-1t ram
2 * maxtor 10 sata drives
1* maxtor p-ata drive
gt6600

ok thats the mobo. Now i turn HT multi to 3 ram to ddr333, activate pci-lock and raise fsb to 240.
when i try to boot windows it kills the partition instantly. i get to see the desktop flashing once and from then on windows wont boot again. thats not much of a problem true-image and 2 mins later its all back.
but i cannot overclock anything becouse it kills my partition every time. (tried this many times).
i heard that the ide gets overclocked so this can happen. but winxp is on s-ata.
i cannot find the reason maybe someone can help me out here

sal

 

[Interitus]

are you using SATA ports 1 & 2? I'm pretty sure that these won't stay locked so try using 3 & 4 on the NV controller.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

What are your vcore and vdimm settings? The board tends to set vdimm too low at default, it should be 2.75-2.80 for that corsair. And you may have to up the vcore for a 400mhz OC depending on how lucky you got with the CPU

What bios are you using, 1002 is bad for OC. I have heard 1005.05 fixed the Maxtor Diamond max problems.

 

[Jeff7181]

Definately sounds like the SATA controller isn't locked.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Definately sounds like the SATA controller isn't locked.

This isn't the problem, I've been working with people with this board for a couple of months and the locks work. Haven't seen one case where they don't.

You can check to verify that the PCI and PCI-e buses are locked, by using Clockgen NF4.

Also have you tried any other settings besides 240. Thats a large OC to start with, you should try raising HTT in small increments.

I would recommend reading Zebos sticky at the top of this section "quick and dirty oc guide" in there he explains how to isolate the variables that limit your overclock. This is a good first step, and really necessary to determine you best overclock.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Interitus
are you using SATA ports 1 & 2? I'm pretty sure that these won't stay locked so try using 3 & 4 on the NV controller.

I'm absolutely sure your wrong
Good advive for a NF3 Neo 2, not for an NF4 A8N

Everybodys pat answer "The locks don't work!"

I know you guys are trying to help! But if you don't have personal experience with the board in question guessing doesn't really help

 

[sal69]

i got that cpu running @ 2.55 ghz stable so 240*10 should be easy.

i can boot knopix off cd no problems
memtest86 run's through without any errors too
but when it comes to hd argl ...

i use sata 3+4 first i used 1+2 but i switched and i can tell there is no difference.
i will try unplugging the ide disk next.

this is not the first time i overclock this mobo.

i had it runnig @ 240*10 and 280*9 stable but after 2 days windows denied booting.

thx 4 the help
sal

 

[2thAche]

you sure one of your drives isn't going bad?

 

[sal69]

yes i am sure, if i dont overclock nothing happens, if i do it instantly kills the winxp partition on booting =)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

A couple of things to check

1. The chipset fan, I've already seen several posts about these dying. This could explain a sudden loss in OC ability.

2. Test the HHT limit as shown in Zebo's guide by lowering CPU multi and HTT mult and using a low divider like DDR200 for your ram. Make these OC changes in bios not windows. If using this method you still can't raise the HTT above 200 then the issue is Motherboard/Chipset related.

3. Try resetting the RTC(CMOS) jumper. I know this sounds crazy, but the lost ability to OC can be symptomatic of a corrupt bios. And this board is reknowned for corrupting bios and HDD when it crashes especially with the earlier bios and or the Windows based OC utilities like AI booster and Clockgen and nTune. If resetting the jumper doesn't work try reflashing the bios.

 

[sal69]

hi,

1) i dont use the stock sollution i use a zalman ZM-NB47J (http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/view.asp?idx=71&code=0214) with a 4x4fan on the side, so this should provide far better cooling than the original fan/cooler. i know the mb-temp wont show it but i can touch the zalman and its hand-warm.

2)i will try that an report the results.

3) i flashed the bios to version 1004 just before i tried (acually the new bios made me try =) . is 1004 a good choice 4 overclocking ? or should i use the beta bios ?

thx sal

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The only thing I noticed about 1004. Is that I started getting boot errors that I never got before "chassis fan warning" (I have mine plugged into a fan controller not mobo), and ocassionally "system failed due to overclocking" and it forces you to go through bios, but if you just exit without making changes it boots right up. I disabled the messages in bios by setting "Halt on no errors" and I haven't had any problems since.

 

[cyto]

Sal,
what are you doing to correct the HD corruption after your system crashes? Something about true-image and it's back in 2 minutes?

Nevermind, I found True Image 8 on the internet.