Last cry for help... Asus A8N SLI Deluxe. Help before I give up for good...

Vedder323

Member
Nov 1, 2004
136
0
0
Alright gang, this is it, the last cry for help before I rma a 2nd board. I will start by giving specific info so you might be able to help me out.

Asus A8N SLI deluxe bios 1002
AMD 64 939 winchester
Mushkin 222 special 2x512 dual DDR
BFG 6800GT oc-out for RMA, using PNY 6600GT for now
PC power and cooling 510 deluxe (non-SLI version)
Western digital 74g raptor
SB Audigy 2ZS

Bios specifics-

-CPU and memory both are set on AUTO. I have not made any adjustments to voltage, timigs, HT, or FSB.
-On board sound is disabled
-Serial RAID is disabled. My HD is plugged into SATA 4 (black connection)
-NV lan is disabled. My lan is using the gigabit ethernet.
-serial and parellel ports disabled
-floppy drive disabled

Driver specifics-

Nvidia chipset drivers being used are here http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=926
-NOTE I did not install the Nvidia IDE driver this time around.

Graphics driver-
66.93-offical release from Nvidia.com

OS specifics-

Windows XP pro/SP2
-all critical updates installed
-system restore/automatic updates disabled

-symptoms/problems...

While the sound card is plugged into any of the pci slots, I will deal with a number of stability problems. One issue I have had is a bizzare series of beeps while pressing buttons on my desktop or while surfing. This will usually happen within a couple of minutes of a boot. If I continue to use the comp while this is happening, the machine will either freeze or reboot. If the machine freezes while this issue is happening, I am still able to use my mouse but cannot click on any items. They are frozen.

Another random problem is a sudden reboot. There are times when upon the reboot, Windows will start up chkdsk and scan the hard drive. When this happens, it will find 2-3 pages or files it will delete or try and fix.

As of this morning, I booted the machine to check stability, within 1 minute, the machine froze completely. I rebooted and got into windows. Within 2 minutes, BSOD. Reboot again... Machine posts but windows will not load. I get a system32 file missing and nothing works past that.

Every problem has seemed to be random but I have noticed one thing that raises an eyebrow... the problems seem to happen the most when the machine has been turned off overnight or when I come home from work upon first boot or 2nd boot. It appears that if I do a few reboots here or there, the machine is ok (atleast I think.)

Please keep in mind this is my 2nd board and im having similar/same problems as the first. When these symptoms started I did the following.

1. reseat all and every item in the machine.
2. clear cmos and readjust all items in bios, including changing voltage and timings on ram.
3. ran memtest for 13 hours with no errors.
4. ran wd utility on HD to check for bad sectors and past quick and extended tests with no issues or errors.
5. format the HD 2-3 times to make sure there were no virus or corrupt files in windows.
6. tried every bios available for the motherbaord including beta bios.
7. tried every and all available drivers for chipset with AND without Nvidia IDE drivers installed.
8. cried myself to sleep and drank plenty of beer.

What do I do guys? What would you do?

Buy a new psu?
buy a new cpu?
buy new ram?
RMA the board again?

Thanks for all and any support!

-Vedder


 

BigGreenMat

Member
Jan 12, 2005
27
0
0
Get rid of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS currently a lot of people are having trouble with board stability with it plugged in.
 

hwan

Member
Oct 13, 2004
147
0
76
Not sure if this'll help but have you tried the latest audigy driver from Creative Labs? I'm using the same card in the middle PCI slot and haven't had any issue with it. What I'm running is

A8N SLI
3200+
1G ballistix
6800GT
Audigy 2ZS
2 IDE HDs
380 truepower PS

I'm using the nvidia chipset driver that came on the CD though.
 

bap4201

Senior member
Oct 13, 2004
265
0
0
I have the audigy zs and have no problems w/ it. I have read other situations on various boards about a "cold boot issue" w/ winchester core cpus. I know I read about this problem w/ the msi neo 2. I wonder if that has anything to do w/ this since you say it happens when left overnight etc.
 

DerKaiser

Senior member
Feb 12, 2002
460
0
0
Are the symptoms identical for the two motherboards you have had? If so, it argues against it being the motherboard. That would realistically leave the CPU, RAM, power supply, and sound card. Are the symptoms completely gone with the sound card removed? If not, it's probably not the sound card. It would be unlikely that you got two bad sticks of RAM, so you can try each stick individually and see if the problems still happen. To test the power supply, you might see if you can pick up an Antec from a Best Buy near you. You can always return it for a full refund if that's not the problem. The CPU is probably the toughest thing to test since most people don't have a spare Athlon64 laying around. See if you can find a local computer shop that can test it for you.

I have a fairly similar setup as you except I have a Seagate hard drive, Antec True330 power supply and Crucial PC4400 RAM.
 

Vedder323

Member
Nov 1, 2004
136
0
0
I am using all the latest drivers for the sound card. I will buy a new sound card and try that.

thanks
 

GuitarDaddy

Lifer
Nov 9, 2004
11,465
1
0
Sounds like a power issue to me. I see you are using a PC P&C they are really good, but sometimes even the great makers let a dud slip through. I would test the stability of the rails with a multi-meter while under load. What is the amp rating on the 12v rail for that PS? Is it a dual rail PS?
 

Vedder323

Member
Nov 1, 2004
136
0
0
it is not a dual rail and I think the amp is 26? Not positive on that. Should I buy a new psu just to try it? What would you suggest?

keep in mind it ran a NF3 rig fully loaded with no hick ups.

PS... im only using a 6600gt in the rig now, power shouldnt be a problem here.
 

JMag

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2004
1,193
0
0
Originally posted by: Vedder323
it is not a dual rail and I think the amp is 26? Not positive on that. Should I buy a new psu just to try it? What would you suggest?

keep in mind it ran a NF3 rig fully loaded with no hick ups.

PS... im only using a 6600gt in the rig now, power shouldnt be a problem here.

Are you getting any random "turn offs" if so, it is DEFINATELY power related.

Have you tried another PSU?
I went through similar problems and kept telling myself that there is NO WAY it could be the PSU cause it is a PC Power and Cooling, and it works fine on my p4 rig ( I just retested it last night). But when I swap in any other PSU in my a8n-sli rig it works fine. I am pretty sure it is because mine is an EPS12v (which should have two 12v rails, if your PSU has the 8pin 12v connector then yours would also be this way)

Also, if you are getting BSOD's try some lax timings just to be on the safe side. I use 2-3-2-9 alot and I can get up to 230mhz with that setting, but sometimes when I start playing with VDIMM and Timings I make my machine unstable. It looks to me that you are running some TCCD DIMMS right? Well according to madshrimps, they tested your memory and found that it likes 2.75v, try that out.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?acti...tpage=1115&articID=277

And actually the a8n-sli overvolts the dimms a tad, and I am assuming madshrimps is basing their voltage number form the BIOS, which means that it will be slightly different for you.

For instance: If I set my VDIMM to 3.0v in the BIOS I actually get 3.18v (tested with a multimeter)

So If you wanted 2.75 TRUE voltage I would probably test it at 2.6 or 2.7

If you have a multimeter use the following link to determine where to check.

http://www.vr-zone.com.sg/?i=1624&s=1

Also, why are you using the marvel LAN vs the Nvidia LAN? I saw that the marvell lan is slightly faster, but if you want to be absolutely certain, I would disable this as well just to make sure it isn't the prob.

One more question, is this a new CPU or has it also been working fine in that nf3 board?

 

JMag

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2004
1,193
0
0
Another basic suggestion

I would Use CPU-Z to make sure everything is within spec. Also, you can monitor core voltage fluctuaitons with this program. IF you see any wild behavior in the core voltage, that should be a warning sign.

Also, I would take your memory setting from auto to ddr400 just to make certain you are running 1:1
 

Vedder323

Member
Nov 1, 2004
136
0
0
alright guys... came home and my new ram and video card is here!

installed both, removed the Audigy and doing a fresh format now!

ill let you all know!
 

Vedder323

Member
Nov 1, 2004
136
0
0
No... I have the card installed. I do however get crazy beeps and noises/freezes out of my speakers if I overclock around 230/240. Does anyone knpow if the 1002 bios has a pci working pci lock???
 

flexy

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
8,464
155
106
i didnt know the asus can do over 220 HTT ?! :) I have a reason NOT the get the Asus.... if you shoot for 240 and higher i would definitly get another board.