ASUS K8V Deluxe problem...solved.

[JulesMaximus]

I've been having a heck of a time getting my new hardware to work (see sig for specs) but now thanks to some suggestions and much searching online for answers I finally have a stable system.

I lowered the clock on my PC3200 memory to 333MHz and that worked. No more BSODs, no more random reboots. I have most everything loaded up and running. It seems that this board is very picky on memory and clock speed settings though. I would suggest to anyone having similar problems with this board to try lowering the clock on your memory (I posted this in motherboards under ASUS K8V also).

Thanks to everyone here (especially mechbgon) for your tips/suggestions.

 

[microAmp]

Only problem with that is the memory is running at 166 MHz and not the full potential of 200 MHz. Did you try bumping up the voltage on the DIMMs or go with more relaxed timings at 200 MHz?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nope, haven't tried upping the voltage. Any suggestions? Still, at least I could get Windows loaded and running stable. I will try bumping up the voltage next.

 

[mechBgon]

Glad to have been some help I'm getting the same board and a 3000+, and have the same RAM, so I'm interested in hearing all about it. What voltage does the board default the memory to? The manual doesn't say, but I'd guess it defaults to "Auto" and I'd further guess that "Auto" means 2.6 volts. The Corsair is good for 2.8 volts under their warranty and I've always run mine at 2.7V on my nForce2 board (and that's just at DDR333 speed to match my 2500+), so I would definitely pick 2.7 for starters. Let us know what happens...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Glad to have been some help I'm getting the same board and a 3000+, and have the same RAM, so I'm interested in hearing all about it. What voltage does the board default the memory to? The manual doesn't say, but I'd guess it defaults to "Auto" and I'd further guess that "Auto" means 2.6 volts. The Corsair is good for 2.8 volts under their warranty and I've always run mine at 2.7V on my nForce2 board (and that's just at DDR333 speed to match my 2500+), so I would definitely pick 2.7 for starters. Let us know what happens...

I had everything set to auto. I also tried setting the clock on the memory manually to 400MHz but that didn't work either. I could not get Windows to load without the BSOD at that speed. I will try changing the clock speed to 400 and bump the voltage to 2.7. I've heard 2.8 is also good for some memory and results in a stable system with this board. I'm hesitant to try it though since everything is working perfectly now. Ah screw it, I'll do it tonight. It's not going to hurt anything and if it doesn't work I'll just go back to 333MHz. Everything else under memory is set to auto.

 

[JulesMaximus]

One more thing. The ASUS manual lists DIMM slots 1 and 2 or slots 1 and 3 for 2 512MB DDR400. I originally had it set up in slots 1 and 2 but changed to 1 and 3 before starting this so maybe that had something to do with it also? Not sure on that one though.

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
One more thing. The ASUS manual lists DIMM slots 1 and 2 or slots 1 and 3 for 2 512MB DDR400. I originally had it set up in slots 1 and 2 but changed to 1 and 3 before starting this so maybe that had something to do with it also? Not sure on that one though.

Yeah, I initally put my RAM into the Slot 1 & 3 and didn't bother to test around to see if what would happen if I put in in 1 & 2. That "could" be part of the problem, I'm still looking at AMDMB forums to help you. Doing it right now in fact

 

[microAmp]

Something else to consider here taken from Mushin's site.

A very trivial explanation is that the controller expects that the memory is as fast as it itself but we don't have memory yet running at a 2 GHz and beyond clock rate. What it comes down to is that, depending on the BIOS tuning (by the manufacturer), the read command is issued a bit too early and violates the tRCD. The workaround is to add one additional cycle to the actual memory latency, that is, a 2:2:2-rated DIMM will run stable at 2:3:2; a 2:3:2 rated module will, most likely, need to be set to 2:4:2 in order to run stable (where the latencies are CAS:tRCD:tRP). Bottom line is that when shopping for memory for the Athlon64, it is highly advisable and in most cases mandatory to only consider memory with a tRCD of 2 or, to make it simple, memory that is rated at 2:2:2 a the designated speed. Alternatively, registered DIMMs can be used as well without problems, even though they are slightly more expensive and will give lower performance.