Asus K8V problem/question *FIXED*

[CurtisEbear]

Basically I had this problem about 4 months ago or something like that when i first got this board, and it seems to be back for some reason. First things first, system: Asus K8V (non deluxe), AMD Athlon 64 3000+, Radeon 9800 pro, 2x512 Mushkin pc3200 DDR, WD 120 gb hdd, samsung 40 gb hdd.

Problem: With both DIMMs installed, the system is extremely unstable and randomly reboots about every 10-15 minutes. Yes, i've read the motherboard manual and I know there are specific memory configurations. The result is the same no matter what the configuration, whether it be the recommended one or any other. Somehow this problem got fixed by using a non recommended configuration about 4 months ago, and has worked fine up until the other day. Then the same problem started again.

As long as there's only 1 DIMM installed everything works fine. Doesn't matter which DIMM it is. As soon as both are in, the problem starts.

So basically right now I've got a useless stick of 512.

The RAM I have right now is not on Asus' qualified vendor list, so I was thinking about getting 2x512 kingston that is on said list. The question is, will this help? Or is the problem simply that this motherboard has issues with 2x512?

512 is nothing to scoff at i guess but since i had to take one DIMM out it seems like i'm working in slow motion here....any ideas?

btw yes i've checked the K8V thread and so far didnt see anything (lot to read though)

EDIT: forgot to mention, everything running stock speeds, pretty much all BIOS settings at default, and power supply is 420 watt Thermaltake Silent Purepower.

NEXT EDIT: problem solved. The mushkin tech support guy was right, it was a problem with the elixer chips on the RAM. RMA'd it and after a short shipping screw up by mushkin, I got new RAM and no problems anymore.

 

[Bad Dude]

There might be a possibility that one of your RAM sticks might be bad. Have you try the other RAM stick by itself? Have you done any MemTest?

 

[CurtisEbear]

I've used both of them by themselves and as far as i can tell they both work fine. What sort of Memtest would I do? Is there a program I would use...not sure to what you are referring. thanks for the reply.

 

[CurtisEbear]

bump?

 

[JetBlack69]

google memtest86, you can get it to make a bootable floppy or CD and it will test your memory.

 

[CurtisEbear]

ok, ran memtest86...1st DIMM i got about 38000 erros and the second DIMM i got about 1700 errors. From the mushkin support forums I gather I should be getting zero errors on this test, yes? Someone suggested upping my ddr voltage to 2.8, which i tried on the second DIMM, and i then got only about 350 errors. Either way, I shouldn't be getting any, right? Will I need to RMA this most likely?

 

[JetBlack69]

You should not be getting any errors. However, I find it unlikely that both memory chips are defective. Since the memory is not on the recommended list, you might want to return the RAM and get some that is on the list.

Or you could have a bad board. Did you try the memory in different slots and running memtest?

 

[mechBgon]

Are your memory timings set to Auto? If not, try that and see what happens with it.

 

[CurtisEbear]

the timings are set to auto, yes. I tried each DIMM in each slot as jetblack suggested. Got different results. In slot 1 both DIMMs have tons of errors. In slot 2, both DIMMs give zero errors. In slot 3 one DIMM had one error and the other had zero. However, tried both DIMMs in at the same time, one in slot 2 and one in slot 3 (which forces to RAM to run at DDR200), and I get 20 errors.

I emailed Mushkin tech support and the guy said they have had a lot of problems with RAM with Elixer chips (which mine has) and A64 boards. He said I may need to RMA and get RAM with newer chips. I'll see what happens.