Memory Incompatibility Problem - This Doesn't Seem Right

[Swanny]

Hello all,

I got in on the AMD deal with the Athlon 64 3200+, Asus K8V Deluxe SE, and a couple other goodies. I'm trying to install it today, but I can't get Windows to install. I keep getting "Setup cannot copy file: RANDOM", where RANDOM is a random filename.

The rig is listed here. All other components are known working from my previous rig. Temps seem to be fine. I've updated to the latest BIOS.

I really need some suggestions here!

EDIT: I found a MS KB article here. It seems to suggest memory as the problem, but my memory was just working in my old rig this morning.

EDIT 2: Just tried to run Memtest from a bootable CD. The screen flashes for a fraction of a second and then the computer reboots. It does this with both or either one of my memory modules in. I'm not sure if this is because Memtest (this is an older version) doesn't support my chipset or because something has happened to my memory. Opinions?

EDIT 3: I just put in some known working memory from another rig. The system started up and said checksums were bad, so I went into the BIOS and changed setting as I wanted to. On reboot it said something about the BIOS being bad and went into this auto-recovery thing where it gets the BIOS off of the CD-ROM that came with the mobo. It seems almost to be looping that recovery thing now. I can't get it to boot anything.

EDIT 4: Please scroll down to see my rant post.


Thanks,
Swan

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

The AMD 64's and their motherboards can be very picky about memory. I would go to their website and see if your memory is on the compatability list

 

[CraigRT]

memory.
was having the same problem on a new p4 board I was setting up.. i merely swapped the stick of RAM out for another, and voila... works fine!

 

[Swanny]

My memory is not on the list. The only Corsair memory on the list is:
CMX256A-4000 XMS4000V1.1

Mine is: CMX512-3200LLPT XMS3205V1.1

This memory is PC3200. That should still work, right?

 

[Swanny]

I'm going to try it now with a little extra DDR voltage and running manually at the lowest memory speed possible.

 

[Swanny]

Ok, it's working now (so far). Win XP is installed and I'm installing drivers and stuff.

What I did was to limit the memory to DDR 200 and raise the voltage to 2.6V.

My question is: Is there any chance that this memory will start working later (with a BIOS update or something).

Also, the DDR 200 speed, is that running at the PC3200 spec or the PC1600 spec?




Thanks,
Swan

 

[otispunkmeyer]

DDR 200? that is not PC3200

PC2100 = DDR266
PC2700 = DDR333
PC3200 = DDR400

unless u mean frequency is set to 200Mhz in the bios which would be correct, the ram speed is actually 200Mhz but it is effectively 400Mhz due to the Double Data Rate of DDR.

DDR200 lie you are sayin is slower than PC2100!!!!

but on boot up jus check on the first screen that comes up and jus check where memory size is checked if it says the speed is 400Mhz u ok

 

[Swanny]

Ok, Windows is installed and working fine on that DDR200 setting. Of course, that's cutting my memory bandwidth in half. I'm going to contact Asus tomorrow. Is there any chance that a BIOS update or something would make my existing RAM work? It's very high quality stuff, so I'm a little peeved that it doesn't.

 

[n7]

This may sound weird, but i had trouble with my memory as well, & after switching my 2x512 sticks to slot 2 & 3 instead of 1 & 2, eveything's worked great

 

[Swanny]

Are these Athlon 64 memory controllers really this picky? My RAM is Corsair XMS Low Latency Series. They don't make anything better than that. And yet the memory seems to be incompatible. This seems like somewhat of a joke to me. Is it really possible that my memory isn't good enough to work, or are the hardware vendors just getting lazy?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Swanny
Ok, it's working now (so far). Win XP is installed and I'm installing drivers and stuff.

What I did was to limit the memory to DDR 200 and raise the voltage to 2.6V.

My question is: Is there any chance that this memory will start working later (with a BIOS update or something).

Also, the DDR 200 speed, is that running at the PC3200 spec or the PC1600 spec?




Thanks,
Swan

I don't think there's any problem with the memory. 2.6+ volts is what most DDR400 modules are made to run on, and not just Corsair either... in fact, Micron's specsheets for DDR400 chiplets specs 2.6V as the design voltage. I run my Corsair XMS 3200C2 at 2.6V on my K8V Deluxe. Check Newegg's Corsair PC3200 listing and you'll see some of their modules have target voltages of 2.75V, in fact :Q

On an Asus K8V SE Deluxe, DDR200 means PC3200 speed.

 

[mindless1]

Corsair XMS is good, but it's somewhat self-defeating since the SPD is also programmed for tighter timings, so ironically enough a cheap memory with slow timings can sometimes work in a given system, better. That is, until user manually sets timings, though I don't know about your particular board.

Did you manage to get memtest86 running and it tested stable for MANY hours? If not, your XP install may be corrupt, it's a major PITA when you finally DO get the memory problem resolved only to be experiencing file corruption errors instead.

There is certainly a good chance of a bios update addressing memory compatibility, though it is not a guarantee it'll apply to your specific situation (modules). I wouldn't settle for DDR200 though, did you try intermediate values and were forced to drop bus down that low? To clarify, you are only running memory bus underclocked, not entire system, or is the setting even async'd? If CPU is also underclocked there's potential for other issues like overheating (even though it looks fine, ASus' temp reports can be wildly off in early revsions of bios) or insufficient power supply, though we can only assume since you make no mention, that these don't apply.

 

[Swanny]

Ok, I've updated to the latest BIOS with mixed results (I tried it once before, too). I set everything to auto. It booted onto the welcome sceen, I put in my password, it showed the desktop, played the startup sound, and promptly crashed. I was happy that it got into Windows at all on its own. The bad news is that it won't boot into Windows at all now, even on the DDR200 setting.

 

[mindless1]

BIOS update can sometimes require clean (or repair) install of XP, but I dont' know if that's the present issue or is only a contributing factor to ongoing memory instability. Did you clear CMOS and load setup defaults, then choose slower memory timings? SOmetimes the slowest isn't always the most stable. For example, I've seen boxes where 3,4,4,9 was more stable than 3,4,4,10.

 

[Viper96720]

Up your ras to cas delay to 3(trcd) and tras to 10-11.
Think that memory auto is 2-2-2-6 but A64 might not work with the trcd at 2.
So 2-3-2-10 or 2-3-3-10 should work better