Help with A7N8X Deluxe mobo

[Rike]

Old memory: stable at 166mhz, while running T-bred at 200Mhz X 11.5.

New memory: When I run either of the new sticks by itself a 200Mhz, the system is stable when running at 2-3-2-5. When I run both sticks, single or dual channel, the system becomes unstable. Changing timings seem to have no effect on stability when I run both of the new sticks. Standard clock or even underclocking, still unstable. :|

System specs:
A7N8X Deluxe revision 1.xx (1007 Bios)
AXP 2100+ unlocked T-bred
SP-97 Heatsink 92mm fan w/ Arctic Sliver 5
Old memory 2x256 Mb PC2700 Kingston 2.5cas (single sided)
New Memory 2x512Mb PC3200 Patriot CL2-3-2-5 (double sided)
WD 80G 8MB PATA
4200Ti 64MB 8xAGP (needs to go!)
Samsung RW Combo Drive
XP Pro
Antec 480W TrueBlue

Does anyone know how to find the xx in the revision #? This is part of my problem. I know I have a revision 1.xx board but the newest BIOS (1008) for revision 1 is for 1.4 & 1.6 only. Not 1.3! So I don?t want to flash if it?s a 1.3 board, but I don?t know where to look.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mechBgon]

Look at the board and it says ASUS A7N8X in white letters between the PCI slots. Right after that, in weentsy lil' letters, is REV 1.??.

Did you kick the memory voltage up on your new RAM? If not, raise it to 2.7 volts and see if that stabilizes it. Memtest86 would make a good stress-tester if you have enough time for it to run at least one loop.

 

[Viper96720]

Revision would be stamped somewhere on the board. If the bios has command rate setting for the memory try 2T

 

[Budman]

your problem is probably the fact that you have 2 diferent types of chips,mixing single sided & double sided is probably the source of the problem.


Have you tried using slots 1 & 3 ?

 

[PCHPlayer]

Have you done any benchmarks to see how the async overclock is working?
Agree with Budman on the memory issue.

 

[meltdown75]

Just use your 2 512 sticks in slots 1 & 3. That's the recommended configuration for your mobo... If I were you I'd either sell the other 256 sticks or use them in a lesser machine.

edit: not that it is guaranteed to fix your problem but its a start!

 

[Rike]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away from this one mech.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Look at the board and it says ASUS A7N8X in white letters between the PCI slots. Right after that, in weentsy lil' letters, is REV 1.??.

Did you kick the memory voltage up on your new RAM? If not, raise it to 2.7 volts and see if that stabilizes it. Memtest86 would make a good stress-tester if you have enough time for it to run at least one loop.

I'll look at the rev# as soon as I get home (at work right now :frown: ).

And yes, I'm afraid I did try 2.7 on the memory (forgot to say that). No dice, still unstable.

I already have memtest86 on a bootable floppy, but I've never used it before. How long should a run take? Should I do each stick individually or together?

Originally posted by: Viper96720
If the bios has command rate setting for the memory try 2T

Already at 2T. Doesn?t seem to make a differnce.

Originally posted by: Budman
your problem is probably the fact that you have 2 diferent types of chips,mixing single sided & double sided is probably the source of the problem.

Have you tried using slots 1 & 3 ?

I?m not mixing types. This is a full replacement. I?m only running the PC3200 with it?s partner.

Yes, I?m running in 1 & 3. I can also go dual in 2 & 3. I?ve even tried forcing single channel w/ 2 DIMMs by going 1 & 2. If I have my 2 PC3200 in I?m unstable. Dang it.

 

[Viper96720]

Is it unstable at stock speed your 2100?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i HATED that motherboard. no matter what i couldn't get my Geil ram stable in that POS at stock speeds. try running your ram at 190 or 195, just a hair below 200,i'm almost positive it will work perfectly.

the ram that asus hated runs great in my DFI at 500mhz, the asus couldn't even handle the 400 it was advertised to do.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
Is it unstable at stock speed your 2100?

Yup. And the only thing I've changed so far is the RAM. I'm thinking it might be the BIOS update. This is fairly new RAM and the Asus update for 1008 says:
1. Add boot option to select boot from SCSI or SATA.
2. Update FSB400 romsip table.

I'm hoping that #2 has something to do with my problem and will solve it.

I just flashed to the 1008 BIOS so I?m going to try the second stick in dual channel now. Wish me luck! *crosses fingers*

(mech and Viper96720 thanks for the advise on the revision number. I?m rev 1.04. It?s amazing what you can learn when you know where to look! ?Read your board n00b!? )

 

[Rike]

Ok, I'm running with both sticks of PC3200 at 200 and I can post this. I couldn't even launch a program before my BIOS update. I'm hoping that this is it. I'm running a stock on the CPU for now just to be sure. I'm going to run Prime95 torture test for a few hours while I?m out. I?ll post back with results around 10 PST.

 

[Rike]

Ok, so I'm not OK. I'm starting to think I have a mobo issue that may not be solveable. (?)

I can run the memory at 200Mhz OR I can run the FSB at 200Mhz, but if I do both, everything goes to hell in a hand basket as soon as i try to do anything. Really strange. Or maybe not. I just don't know.

Time to run memtest I guess. How long does a run take and what will I see while it runs? Will my speed settings change the results?

A little help please.

 

[mechBgon]

Well, the 1.xx PCB was not the best for 200MHz FSB operation... most companies didn't even support 200MHz FSB on their first-gen nForce2 boards, as I recall. Maybe this is your excuse to upgrade! Got lemon, make lemonade...

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Well, the 1.xx PCB was not the best for 200MHz FSB operation... most companies didn't even support 200MHz FSB on their first-gen nForce2 boards, as I recall. Maybe this is your excuse to upgrade! Got lemon, make lemonade...

Oh yeah, I'm looking to upgrade. 939 here I come, but not just yet. I need to hold on another month or so.

In the mean time, I've dropped down to 166 on the FSB and taking advantage of the fact that I have an unlocked processor, ramping up the multiplier .5 at a time. I'm up to 12.5 and still fine. If I can get stable at x14, I'll be very happy.

Thanks to those who posted and maybe those who read learned something they didn't know be fore or at least got a good laugh.

BTW, mech the 1008 BIOS added boot from SCSI support. Maybe I'll convert. Thanks again!