GeForce 3 incompatible with DDR RAM or something

[metroplex]

On my Abit KX7-333, I have two sticks of Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM (256MB ea)

I tried moving them from slot to slot to see if it'd have a different effect, but so far - the more i move it, the worse it gets.

The problem is this:

during each first startup (doesn't matter if the system is warm or not - as long as the power was cut off and if you start the computer) it will either boot into Windows XP Pro SP-1 properly, or give you a BSOD.

Once you get into XP and play a game like America's Army: Ops or try to run Prime95, the former will cause a BSOD crash, the latter will indicate you have a hardware problem.

REBOOT and now all is well.

Usually the BSOD message refers to the Nvidia driver or such.

Now wtf is going on? Why would I need to reboot the system each time I start up the computer?

Its definitely not temperature related becuase I just started up my system 3 or 4 times in a row just to test it out and its easily reproduceable which leads me to believe something else is admist.

I ran memtest86 and it didn't find any problems. Please help

Again:
mobo: Abit KX7-333
CPU: Athlon XP 2100+
Video: Leadtek GeForce 3 standard
OS: Windows XP Pro SP-1
Sound card: Creative Labs Live 5.1 X-gamer

 

[metroplex]

UPDATE:

So far on one test, I pulled one of the DDRs and kept only 256MB in there.

I ran America's Army and no BSOD.

BTW prior to the BSOD the terrain mesh would start tearing like crazy, I'd also see green spots on white snow covered grounds, and then BAM - BSOD.

What does this sound like:
GeForce 3 that doesn't like two sticks of DDR.

I just got these RAM sticks RMA'd by Crucial.

Does this mean the GF3 is bad or???

 

[metroplex]

Update 2: I noticed my AGP Aperture was set to 128MB - the GF3 is only 64MB.

Setting it to 64MB solved a lot of the problems, but does anyone know if setting an AGP aperture larger than what you have would cause negative results/sideffects?

 

[Zap]

Could be a number of things causing this. Aperture size may have to do with it, but the only thing I recall seeing is if it is set too low (back in the days of the Shuttle AK31A and GF3). Try these things...

Reset the CMOS via jumper. Then, make sure you back off on the settings in BIOS - not much performance loss anyways. For instance, turn off Fast Writes. Drop the AGP X by one notch. Raise the aperture size by a notch. Drop your RAM timings by a notch, make sure it is set to 2T instead of 1T and at least CAS 2.5.

Make sure you install the motherboard drivers, ie the Via 4in1 Hyperion driver set. Update to newest video drivers after uninstalling old drivers.

 

[metroplex]

Zap: Everything was already set to super-stock settings, meaning RAM, CPU, etc... are not "tweaked" or overclocked for performance. I'm using the latest Hyperion Drivers and not the LATEST Detonator drivers but very new drivers.

So far so good - w/ the Aperture at 64MB I no longer have to reboot to eliminate the texture tearing and Prime95 errors. Weird though. I'm keeping my eye on this condition but I'm still trying to figure out why the aperture would have such a huge impact on this.

I remember w/ my older Abit boards I could set the Aperture to a much larger # w/o any problems.

 

[kylebisme]

sounds like the powersupply is not up to snuff.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
sounds like the powersupply is not up to snuff.

Likely.

 

[metroplex]

I have a 550W power supply, how much more power does this AMD need?

 

[yhelothar]

maybe one stick of ram is bad? did you swap the ram?

 

[metroplex]

yeah I had Crucial RMA both sticks of RAM.

I ran memtest86 and it didn't report anything

 

[metroplex]

For some reason its still doing it - when you first boot up in the morning (when the system is cold) and start playing America's Army, or any 3D game, or run Prime95, you'll get (respectively), terrain tearing w/ eventual BSOD or sometimes the tearing comes later and you get the BSOD, or you get a hardware error.

When you reboot and try again, everything is normal.

Does it still sound like a power supply issue?

 

[rogue1979]

As a last resort I would try a reinstall of Windows XP. Or use a driver cleaner program and install the latest 44.03 again at the least. Make sure it isn't a software problem first.

 

[Rubberbband]

It's a long shot but try disabling Fast Writes and AGP Read Synchro in the Bios (should be in Chipset Features). Just out of curiosity are you running a SB Live 5.1 (and if so what drivers?).

 

[metroplex]

I reinstalled XP Pro previously, I'd say this OS install was maybe at most 2 months old?

I ran the 44.03 drivers and now the Omega 44.03 drivers. No change.

I'll disable FW and AGP Read synchro and see what happens

Yes I am running a SB Live 5.1 w/ the latest Creative drivers (7/02)

 

[onza]

do you have a cpu you can test it w/?

i had some issues and it was cpu....

 

[metroplex]

The system was working fine w/ this same CPU/mobo setup for awhile until I found the RAM was shot (wouldn't POST w/ the 2 sticks, one was FUBAR'd, the other was OK. I RMA'd both) and re-installed the OS.

Now I started to notice this weird occurence.

 

[nick1985]

throw it onto your driveway and run it over. that will make you feel better, trust me

 

[yhelothar]

could be your mobo.. maybe the agp controller was damaged? check your northbridge cooling..

 

[metroplex]

The northbridge cooling is a factory Abit heatsink + fan. I don't think its busted tho.

 

[metroplex]

ttt

I found my NIC PCI latency to be 80, while the AGP vid card was at 248 and the sound card at 32.

Could this be a significant problem?

 

[prometheusxls]

Originally posted by: metroplex
ttt

I found my NIC PCI latency to be 80, while the AGP vid card was at 248 and the sound card at 32.

Could this be a significant problem?

Take the computer apart and sell it on ebay. Then buy a new one. Problem solved.