HELP! Where do I start with this mess!

[J22]

OK, I finished putting my new system together. Now the fun starts. I have the following;

Abit NF7-S v2.0
XP 2600+ Mobile
2x512 OCZ PC 3500 Performance Series
80 Gig WD SATA HD
Gainward GF4 Ti4200

After strugling with the SATA drivers, I finally got windows xp installed. I started updating bios, drivers, adding software etc. I was running at about 185 FSB 10x multi. Everthing seemed ok. Voltages all default (1.575 cpu, 2.6 ram). I finally started to speed everything up. I tried increasing the FSB to 200. No dice. Either immediate reboots or it would get just into windows and BSOD. I tried running the memory at 4:3. Same thing. I tried slowing the FSB down and increasing the multi to 13. Nada. Temps are fine at 35 C. One thing I wanted to try is to disable Dual Channel ram, but I couldn't figure out where.

Any suggestions?

Anyone want a good deal on a slightly used PC?

 

[mrSHEiK124]

well, i'll take the ram and chip off your hands for some good money, lol
the great people here just helped me with my overclocking dillemma with my A7N8X-E, and some that were helping, mentioned something about not running anywhere near 200 FSB stable, they can help you more than i can, in order to enable single channel if its the same on all nForce2 boards, stick the ram in slots 1&2, doing so allowed me to achieve 222 RAM with these Kingston HyperX 3700 256 MB sticks, haven't tried harder, and i am still only at 2.6 VDimm, isn't that good luck for ya eh ?

 

[Super56K]

From what I've read it seems like your just jumping to the high performance settings. You should try to work your way up on the fsb instead of going for 200 right away. That is a pretty high multi to just try also. Maybe you could try setting it at 11x200 at around 1.7-1.75 vcore? Just to see if it can handle 200fsb. Maybe up the voltage on your ram a bit too? Just out of curiosity, is the lever lock for your CPU plastic or metal? I think I remember reading someone having trouble with 200fsb on their nf7-s board and it had a plastic arm on it.

 

[myocardia]

If you're wanting ~2.4ghz, set your multi to 12x and your fsb to 200 mhz, while running your vcore at either 1.75v or 1.775v. Of course, 11.5x210fsb would be more productive, still with a vcore of at least 1.75v.

 

[J22]

I found out how to disable dual channel by putting the memory in slots 1 and 2. Still no go. My last attempt was at 166x12. BSOD. BTW the CPU lever is plastic. I was under the impression that the mobiles didnt need additional voltage until they get to very high speeds.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: J22
I found out how to disable dual channel by putting the memory in slots 1 and 2. Still no go. My last attempt was at 166x12. BSOD. BTW the CPU lever is plastic. I was under the impression that the mobiles didnt need additional voltage until they get to very high speeds.

Well, you were wrong.

 

[J22]

I increased the voltage to 1.7 and was able to boot at 12x166. Tried 12x185 - BSOD. Tried 11x185 - BSOD. Increased voltage to 1.75. Tried 185x10 - BSOD.

 

[magratton]

try booting into Memtest86 on a floppy instead. That way you won't hose your windows installation. who knows, a hosed windows may be the culprit, not your oc'd processor.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: J22
I increased the voltage to 1.7 and was able to boot at 12x166. Tried 12x185 - BSOD. Tried 11x185 - BSOD. Increased voltage to 1.75. Tried 185x10 - BSOD.

Once you get yourself a power supply that can handle your processor, you'll be able to boot at quite a bit higher than 12x185.

 

[J22]

I have a brand spankin' new Antec 350W PS. I'm running memtest86 as we speak. I'm starting to think maybe windows is corrupted.

 

[myocardia]

Windows may be corrupted, but an Antec SL350 isn't enough power to max out an XP-M 2600. Also, I would update your bios, even if you already have the newest one. A corrupted bios can give you exactly the type of problems you are describing.

 

[Jeff7181]

I often wonder why anybody would even try a FSB of 185... what makes you think that would work? There's not a single Athlon XP with a 185 Mhz FSB... there's not a single RAM module in existance designed to run at 185 Mhz... so why would you try it? (sigh)

Anyway... this is yet another reason I don't like to upgrade my entire PC at once. Your motherboard could be at fault, your RAM could be at fault, your CPU could be at fault, your power supply could be at fault. But you won't know because you haven't tested any of them independantly of eachother.

Try following this and see if that helps you out at all. I've written down the steps I take when overclocking a new processor for others to use as a sort of guide or reference when overclocking their own processor. This guide assumes your motherboard, RAM, and power supply are all in perfect operating condition... which you can't be sure of at this point, so you'll have to run some other tests such as memtest86 to ensure your RAM isn't a problem. Then you'll have to do load tests like running Prime 95 along with 3DMark or something like that to stress as many componants at once as possible, which will expose problems with the power supply.

 

[J22]

Well, 166 was working (at one point anyway) 200 was not, so I went somewhere inbetween. Memory should work at or anywhere below its rated speed.

I ran memtest86 at 166 with no errors. Only once, but I was starting to feel slightly better. I increased the fsb to 200 and ran memtest again. Over 1000 errors in the first 2 tests. Not so good. So I ran each stick individually. Both have serious issues to say the least. You would hope that PC3500 "Performance Series" would at least be able to run at PC3200. Looks like a BIG!!! thumbs down for OCZ!

Would bad memory corrupt my Windows install?

BTW, it looks like my asking price for the OCZ is dropping fast.lol

Edit - I went back and loosened up the timings to 3-5-5-11 and it was not much better. RMA time.

 

[myocardia]

Has anyone ever told you that running more than one stick of ram almost always requires give your ram more voltage (called vdimm in the bios)? See if using both sticks will pass Memtest while giving them 2.8v vdimm.

 

[J22]

If I was overclocking I might try it, but I find it hard to believe that I should have to increase voltage to run a single stick below its rated speed (200 vs 215) and below its rated latency (3.0 vs. 2.5) without having memtest lock up after getting 1000's of errors. Not acceptable in my book.

I'm kicking myself in the arse for not getting the Mushkin PC3500 Level One Dual Pack when it was on sale for $215 now that it is ~$295.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: J22
If I was overclocking I might try it, but I find it hard to believe that I should have to increase voltage to run a single stick below its rated speed (200 vs 215) and below its rated latency (3.0 vs. 2.5) without having memtest lock up after getting 1000's of errors. Not acceptable in my book.

I'm kicking myself in the arse for not getting the Mushkin PC3500 Level One Dual Pack when it was on sale for $215 now that it is ~$295.

Mushkin requires more voltage than OCZ does. If you want to run more than one stick, even below rated speed, it almost always requires more than "stock" voltage.

 

[J22]

Tried 2.7v and 2.8v with just one stick @ 200 mhz. No go.

I hope newegg doesnt try and charge me a 15% restocking fee for this crap.

 

[myocardia]

If you call them on their 800#, and order other ram at the same time, they won't.

 

[magratton]

Yes, try do an RMA Replacement for the RAM. And I would not at this point blame OCZ. To be honest you do not know if you caused the damage. I have in the past while changing parts thought I was being cautious and zapped something. Replace it and then see if the new chips work for you. If batch #2 doesn't work, then start flaming. Just make sure you handle them carefully, discharge static (touch something metal, steel!, constantly!) and spend more time touching the sides than anywhere else. Never if possible touch the gold leads. Remember this happens. It is the one of the biggest drawbacks to the whole DIY thing. A very small drawback at that.

FYI: On the ram needs more vdimm front, the Mushkin PC3500 Level II (2x256) ram that I have seem to be running more stable in dual channel mode at 210 FSB w/2.6v than if I give it more juice. That is on my Abit NF7-S v2.0 board with the plastic handle. So, while I believe the "rule of thumb is more voltage to ram when overclocking" is true, just keep in mind that there are also exceptions out there. One of the first things I did was bump the vdimm and, forgetting I did that, my system was not stable past 200FSB no matter what I did.

 

[Wigwam]

before you rma your ram may i suggest a few other things cos i had similar wierdness with my ram which i posted about here a while aog:

i could run 166 dual channel in slots 1/3 no memtest errors
200 = 100s of memtest errors
so i took each dimm out and planned to test each in slot 1; luckily i mistook slot 3 for 1 so tested each in slot 3 = no errors in slot 3
then tried slot 2 = no errors in slot 2
finally slot 1 = 100s of errors; tried 166 again = no errors,

i didnt bother seeing what mhz between 166 and 200 caused slot 1 errors so i now run dual channel slot2/3.

apparantly this isnt at unheard of problem and something to do with the dual channel controller.
Asus UK agreed that is the retailer could reproduce the error it was worth an rma but i am unlikely to use all 3 slots i just left it be.

i note all the advice from wiser ppl that me about upping vdimm etc but frabkly i feel that pc3200 or above am should run at its rated speed [200mhz] at default voltages - after all that is what it is marketted to do.

on another point, maybe your prblems all step from a dodgy dimm slot but i 2600+ should easily run at 12x166 [which is essentially 2400+ speed] at even stock vcore. my 2100+ does it without breaking a sweat but is antsy any higher thna this [with stock vcore i mean]

hope this helps

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: J22
If I was overclocking I might try it, but I find it hard to believe that I should have to increase voltage to run a single stick below its rated speed (200 vs 215) and below its rated latency (3.0 vs. 2.5) without having memtest lock up after getting 1000's of errors. Not acceptable in my book.

I'm kicking myself in the arse for not getting the Mushkin PC3500 Level One Dual Pack when it was on sale for $215 now that it is ~$295.

Mushkin requires more voltage than OCZ does. If you want to run more than one stick, even below rated speed, it almost always requires more than "stock" voltage.

Not true... mine runs on 2.60 volts... 2.7 is unstable, 2.8 is unstable, and 2.9 is very unstable.