MemTest passes overnite test, Prime95 fails in seconds

[ShaggyBrown]

Hello,
I just built the following system:
Abit NF7-S (flashed to newest BIOS) with newest chipset drivers available on ABit's site.
AMD XP 2500 (333 FSB)
TwinX Mattched Pair 256(512Total) 333MHz Low Latency
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (with new 3.5 catalyst Drivers)
Antec True-power 430 Watt Power Supply
I also added 2 hard drives and a cd and DVD drive from my old system.

I put this all in my old case. I'm not overclocking, BIOS settings are at default.

Battlefield 1942, the whole reason for this upgrade, looks great but dumps me back to desktop after playing for a while. I immediately check the hardware monitor, but nothing seems out of the ordinary, temperatures are in the mid 40's, voltage is about the same as before I started the game.
After doing research here, I downloaded and installed Prime 95. Prime95 failed in the first test with a rounding error. I ran it on my second computer to get a comparison and it ran for 10 hours before I stopped it.

Last night I installed Memtest86, using the c-1-2-2-3-0 setup. Memtest86 ran overnight for about 7 hours with no failures.

What should be my next step? I'm considering the following:
Removing a stick of RAM and running Prime95, reinstalling chip, removing the second chip and repeat.
Removing Radeon and replacing it with my old Geforce 3.

What other stress programs can I run that might isolate the casue of my errors? Is it possible that I have two problems, and that the Battlefield 1942 failure and Prime 95 failure are seperate issues?

Thanks for any advice.

ShaggyBrown

 

[Shooters]

Edit:

Oops sorry, I didn't read the post correctly.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: Shooters
Sounds like your CPU is overclocked too high; failing Prime95 within a few seconds is not a good sign. This could also be what's causing your BF 1942 problems. How high did you have it and at what core voltage? Try backing down your CPU (or increasing the vcore if it's not already too high) and retest with BF 1942 and Prime95.

"I put this all in my old case. I'm not overclocking, BIOS settings are at default."

 

[EdipisReks]

i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

 

[Sunner]

using the c-1-2-2-3-0 setup

Since I don't remember the Memtest86 config keys, is that the sequence to change to "All tests"?

 

[Mitzi]

They are certainly high quality componments so I wouldn't expect a problem other than hardware failure, my first road of investigation would be the RAM...

 

[ShaggyBrown]

Originally posted by: Sunner

using the c-1-2-2-3-0 setup

Since I don't remember the Memtest86 config keys, is that the sequence to change to "All tests"?

Yes, I believe so. I think it does something to include the CPU cahce as well, not positive about that. That setting is the setting that several posters on the forums reccomended.

I'm considering, before taking out the memory modules, to relax the memory timings in BIOS. From what I understand, BIOS recognizes this memory and applies very aggressive settings as default values.

ShaggyBrown

 

[ShaggyBrown]

Originally posted by: EdipisReks
i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

I'm not very familiar with it myself, but I would expect it to at least complete one test. It's simply doing arithmetic isn't it? (Though I guess all CPU functions boil down to arithmetic).

ShaggyBrown

 

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by: ShaggyBrown

Originally posted by: EdipisReks
i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

I'm not very familiar with it myself, but I would expect it to at least complete one test. It's simply doing arithmetic isn't it? (Though I guess all CPU functions boil down to arithmetic).

ShaggyBrown

well, it is supposed to be very intensive. i, however, just find it to be very inconsistant.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: ShaggyBrown

Originally posted by: Sunner

using the c-1-2-2-3-0 setup

Since I don't remember the Memtest86 config keys, is that the sequence to change to "All tests"?

Yes, I believe so. I think it does something to include the CPU cahce as well, not positive about that. That setting is the setting that several posters on the forums reccomended.

I'm considering, before taking out the memory modules, to relax the memory timings in BIOS. From what I understand, BIOS recognizes this memory and applies very aggressive settings as default values.

ShaggyBrown

Well, make sure it is if you're unsure.

I had a bad stick of memory a while back, it could run the default tests overnight, over and over, without any problems, but when I changed to "All tests" it gave me a couple of thousand errors during the first run.

Have you tried any other 3D apps?
Let it run 3DMark overnight, play some Q3, etc?

 

[sharkeeper]

i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

Should be the other way around! I don't have any problems running it on any of the machines (where permitted of course!) here.

I wouldn't trust a machine that could *not* run P95!

Run memory with recommended timings! Tweaking is ok as long as it doesn't impinge the physical margin of safety of the hardware...

-DAK-

 

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam

i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

Should be the other way around! I don't have any problems running it on any of the machines (where permitted of course!) here.

I wouldn't trust a machine that could *not* run P95!

-DAK-

that is how i used to be. however, i'm not sure anymore. for instance, my current machine ran prime95 for 8 days while i was visiting my parents. that was last week. i just tried it, and it errored out on the first test. something is wrong there, i think.

 

[ShaggyBrown]

Ok, I just changed the Memory setting in BIOS from their default values of 5 -2-2-2.0 (all the default settings were this speed, "Optimal", "aggressive" etc) to 7-3-3-3.0. I don't know what these numbers mean exactly, but I'm now sucessfully running Prime95. Just completed Test 10 in fact. Too bad, I'll be unable to test BF 1942 until this evening.

Leaving BF1942 aside for the moment, what won't the RAM function correctly at default settings? Does the fact that it is working now, at the slower setting mean that RAM is the issue or could it still be something else?

I've also read that this ABit board undervolts. Does that mean I need to increase the voltage on one of the BIOS settings?

The bottom line is that I paid extra money to get this Corsair TwinX matched memory. It is unacceptable to me that it won't run correctly at the default BIOS settings. Am I being unreasonable here?

At this point, I don't see a need to test individual sticks of RAM. The memory is supposed to come as a matched pair, so I'll be returning both. Thank goodness I purchased my parts from a friendly neighborhood Locally owned computer store. I paid a bit extra, but I know I won't have any downtime, waiting from RMA's etc. I also want to be certain that this is my only problem, before I send back perfectly good parts, so please continue to post any additional ideas or comments, and thanks to the folks who have replied so far. This thread could be useful to the next guy who has similar problems.

Thanks,
ShaggyBrown
EDIT: I stopped Prime95 at test 1022 so I could restart Memtest before heading to work.

 

[ShaggyBrown]

[q
Well, make sure it is if you're unsure.

I had a bad stick of memory a while back, it could run the default tests overnight, over and over, without any problems, but when I changed to "All tests" it gave me a couple of thousand errors during the first run.

Have you tried any other 3D apps?
Let it run 3DMark overnight, play some Q3, etc?[/quote]

I''l double check on the all tests issue. Before I leave for work, I'll set the RAM back to the default settings of 5-2-2-2.0 and re-run Memtest86. I'll doublecheck that I'm running all tests.

I ran Sysoft Sandra Standard yesterday while at work. It detected no problems.

I haen't had time to run any other 3D games. I'll try 3D Mark next. Is it a free app?


Thanks,
ShaggyBrown

 

[Shimmishim]

okay

go into memtest and do..

c-2-3-1-2-0 spacebar

it will test the cache on your cpu (notthat that will matter too much considering you're not overclocking)...


hmm. that is interesting....

yeah, i think you may have a bad stick of ram....

i know that wc3 dumped on me whenever i used timings that were too aggressive...

 

[ShaggyBrown]

I posted my situation on Corsair's web site forums. The Moderator there told me to RMA the memory. I bought it locally, so I'll be able to get it replaced tonight. I'll retest and post the results.

ShaggyBrown

 

[Lyfer]

Originally posted by: EdipisReks
i don't trust Prime95 anymore, myself.

 

[SexyK]

See what happens at latencies of 2-2-2-6, sometimes I find that to be much more stable than 2-2-2-5. Otherwise, I'd consider bumping the VDIMM voltage a bit, that should even out the performance of your memory and there's almost no risk involved. DDR333 @ 2-2-2-5 is very very demanding, and even my Mushkin High-Perf Black PC3200 won't pull it's SPD of 400-2-2-2-6 100% stable without a little voltage bump.

Err.. edited for stupid reading comprehension problem.

 

[ShaggyBrown]

Success! I went back to my Friendly Neighborhood Computer store and replaced the Ram. After I installed it, again leaving the BIOS set to the default settings of 5 -2 -2 -2.0 I was able to run Prime95 sucessfully. I've also been able to play BF 1942 for about an hour and no problems yet.

To summarize, in case someone else with this problem finds this thread:

Corsair TwinX matched pair PC2700 Low latency 333 MHZ 2X256 was bad.
Prime95 failed the first test in less then a minute. Battle Field 1942 crashed to desktop after 5 - 10 minutes of play. Memtest86 never failed. Sandra never failed. Replacing the RAM with another matched pair solved the problem.

Thanks to everyone for all your help.

ShaggyBrown