Frustrated - Need help setting up Athlon 64 +3800 system

[XBoxLPU]

It is either the crappy MSI board or your PSU


FastWrites has nothing do with it, the AMD CPU has nothing do with it.

 

[Subhuman25]

I haven't had any problems running my Corsair XMS-3200XL on my MSI Neo2 either in Auto or manual mode using Corsair spec timings & voltage.
So I'm suspecting either your PSU or even your HD maybe?
What are your PSU spec's?Rail voltages?
Is your video card on a seperate rail or seperate molex at least if your PSU doesn't have dual 12V rails?

 

[Subhuman25]

Originally posted by: XBoxLPU
It is either the crappy MSI board or your PSU


FastWrites has nothing do with it, the AMD CPU has nothing do with it.

Oh yes it does.FW will cause problems on the Neo2 + 6800GT.It's documented in quite a few threads and on many forums.

 

[Grit]

Fast writes off in BIOS.

I had the same type of problem with an Abit motherboard too, so I'm guessing it's not the MSI board (why does AnandTech say MSI's are good when the forums say they're bad?).

Also, when it BSODs during the memory test, I can't read the screen b/c it reboots (can't find a way to stop it), but the top line says something like "Your system has been shut down to prevent damage", or some such thing.

I think I'll try beefing up the PSU and see what happens.

 

[Subhuman25]

Is your 'puter shutting down due to critical temp's maybe?Do you have aftermarket HSF's installed?If so are they seated correctly?Thermal paste?

 

[Subhuman25]

Is this your PSU http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-488&depa=0 ?
If so,it seems to be more than adequate by spec's and also a good quality brand,but no PFC.
Can you answer my prior questions please?

 

[Grit]

I've looked all over (Enermax's website too) to find my PSU, and I can't. It must be SIMILAR (it's about 2 years old) to the one you linked. The model # was a 465 and it was a 'whisper' series, meaning you can control the exhaust fan on the back via a rheostat, and the casing is blue.

I can't imagine the system is shutting down due to critical temps, and the CPU benchmarks in Sandra do not cause the system to crash, just the memory benchmarks. The CPU/heatsink are the retail/box AMD versions, and it was seated only once using the factory thermal compound (no sliding, etc).

When I shut down windows last time, it BSOD'ed again... and did so again when it recycled to boot up. the second boot attempt got me straight into windows.

 

[DrCool]

I don't know how many times this has to be said, but obviously it hasn't sunk in yet..

ITS THE MEMORY!!

For whatever reason, the memory modules your trying to use, are not COMPATIBLE with the motherboard..

go to Crucial http://www.crucial.com , put in your motherboard, and buy the memory that is GUARANTEED to work with your board. Simple as that, case closed!

It doesn't matter if it worked in your previous motherboard, it's not compatible with this one. Even though others are saying they haven't had problems with Corsair, your modules are not IDENTICAL to theirs..

 

[Grit]

What is the HT setting in BIOS? It's set to x5, and if I try to change it, BIOS freezes and req a hard restart.

 

[OMGoddess]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned this, but is it possible that ONE of your RAM sticks is defective? Try it just stick on in ther and use it for a couple of days normally. Then the other. Make sure you use them by themselves.

 

[Nocturnal]

Sounds like a ram stick is bad. I'd try using only one stick to install Windows and if it errors, try the other. If the problem persists it may be a media and or cd-rom issue.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: Subhuman25

Originally posted by: XBoxLPU
It is either the crappy MSI board or your PSU


FastWrites has nothing do with it, the AMD CPU has nothing do with it.

Oh yes it does.FW will cause problems on the Neo2 + 6800GT.It's documented in quite a few threads and on many forums.

Like I said, MSI sucks

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: Grit

I had the same type of problem with an Abit motherboard too, so I'm guessing it's not the MSI board (why does AnandTech say MSI's are good when the forums say they're bad?).

Reviewing a board ( aka testing it for maybe a day at most ) is far different then actually owning one

 

[element]

Sounds like 1 stick of RAM or more is bad and/or incompatible. Could also be the mobo's capacitors are not doing their job, look closely particularly at the caps right next to the ram slots. Also check the caps near the voltage regulators.

Have you tried just watching the temps and voltages for any changes prior to shutdown? Does it have the problem even if you're just sitting at the bios screen long enough?

 

[Grit]

This may have done it.

I switched the RAM from the top two slots to the bottom two slots. Yeah, I did RTFM, a few times. The problem was I MISREAD the part where it says the RAM slots are numbered from BOTTEM to TOP... I read it as TOP to BOTTOM.... So, I'm feeling about as stupid as possible.

On top of all this... I was still chasing hardware errors. My old Corsair XMS3200-C2PT RAM runs FINE at 2-3-3-10, T1, and it's only rated for 2.5, so I figure I'm doing quite well. Survived endless SANDRA burn-in tests w/15 web browser windows open and some background tasks running, which had previously caused system crashes. No errors now whatsoever. In contrast, the XMS3200-XL (rated at 2-2-2-5) still crashes.

I'm not spectacular at understanding the memory timings, but my understanding is that the important numbers are the CAS (3, 2.5, or 2) and the T (1T or 2T) timings (for AMD systems)? So, is it safe to assume that, for a primarily gaming/web-surfing rig, I would notice very little, if any, difference by upgrading the RAM speed (I'm running 1GB, and wish to stay at that size)?

Thanks again for all the help from everyone here... without all of the feedback/input, I'da given up long ago.

 

[LouPoir]

Originally posted by: michaelpatrick33
This doesn't sound like an cpu problem to me. It sounds like a driver (chipset) problem or straight up memory problem. Try installing with only one dimm and sees if corruption occurs. Don't worry about performance yet. Also I think you can get a memtest tool that runs off a startup disk or something I am not sure.

I agree- not a processor problem . Sounds like a memory problem.

IMHO

Lou