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New System not everything I hoped. . .

Z

Zathras66

Member
P4-2.6 GHz, 800 fsb, retail with included fan/heatsink
Asus p4c800 motherboard
<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2>C
2x Corsair CMX256A-3200LLPT 256MB DDR400 XMS3200 32Mx64 184 DIM (installed in the blue RAM slots)
Maxtor 120 gig hd (8-meg buffer, 3-yr warranty model)
Soundblaster Live digital 5.1
Radeon 7000
350 watt PS that came with my X-Dreamer case

Installing WinXP was a nightmare. Multiple STOP errors, each one different than the last. Never did get it installed. I grabbed my old Win98 2nd edition and it installed with a lot less trouble. I installed the drivers that came with the Asus, and I flashed the latest BIOS from the Asus website. Next, I installed Partition Magic 5, because I wanted to make at least ONE more partition, rather than have a 120 gig C: drive. No go. It tries to partition, but it drops to DOS and errors out at the same % done every time.

I have the RAM set to auto-configure in BIOS. Might the RAM be configured incorrectly? My nephew loaned me a testing program he uses at a local computer shop (but doesn't have time now to help me troubleshoot). I ran the test. The CPU worked fine, btu the ram failed the "jump" test, though it passed many other tests. I ran the test for two hours, and it had two errors.

All components are new, except for the CD-Rom, which I pulled from the system I'm typing this msg on. I was using a new DVD-rom, but pulled it and put the CD-ROM in there in case the DVD-Rom wasn't so good.

This is my first new computer since 1999. I bought what I thought were good quality components to avoid this sort of thing. I know the PS isn't the greatest, but I'm only running a few items, I figured it's good enough for these few items.

-John</FONT>

PS-sorry about the weird HTML code in the RAM description, it was a cut and paste, and I can't seem to edit it out.
 
this is a tough one and i know i probably wont offer any consolation, sounds like you did everything right , retail proc and all. i would first double check everything(which you probably already have) and then try a smaller hard drive one you know works, and if you are failing ram tests double check that they are in DIMM 1 and they are seater all the way hope you get it to work
 
I just looked, the PS is a turbolink.

Re: the ram issue. I'll try to re-seat the RAM, but I think they're seated already. . .

I don't have a lot of parts laying around. . .I have an 8-gig 2nd HD on this machine that I could probably clean off to install in the new machine. . .but I'm really suspicious of the RAM. Of all the components, I had the greatest difficulty selecting appropriate RAM, and I've heard the 875 chipsets were pretty picky. I wonder if the Corsair I picked out is apropriate for this use. . .

Thanks for the ideas so far.
-John
 
You need to go into the BIOS and relax your memory timings. Manually set the RAM timings to 2.5-3-3-8 and set the memory voltage to 2.7 volts, and get yourself a top-quality power supply such as an Antec TruePower 330 or higher, and I bet those problems will vanish 😀

Welcome to the Forums Zathras66, and if you're not sure how to get at those memory timings to adjust them, just say so and I'll help you out. In fact, I may already have gone through this one with someone else, and if I did then I'll post the instructions below. They're sort of a chore to type up 😛
 
Hey, sure enough, I did do this already 😀 right here

To wit:

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Thanks for the additional info there. Bear with me, since I don't actually have a P4C800 Deluxe... I downloaded a copy of the manual and that's what I'm referring to with the following instructions. If the page numbers don't match up with your printed copy of the manual, then I apologize in advance :Q

  • When the system powers on, begin tapping the Delete key on the keyboard in order to get into the motherboard's BIOS. The BIOS screen should come up with menus that you can navigate using your arrow keys and the Enter key.
  • Go into the Advanced menu, and then into the JumperFree Configuration sub-menu there. This is shown in the manual in section 4.4, page 4-14.
  • Set AI Overclock Tuner to Manual by selecting it, hitting Enter, using the arrow keys to select Manual, then Enter again. Now there's an additional list of items you can configure manually 😎
  • On that list, set DRAM Frequency to 400, since your memory is DDR400 aka PC3200
  • Set the DDR Reference Voltage to 2.75. This is a little more than stock, and may help stabilize things.
  • Now press Esc key to get back out of the Jumperfree Configuration sub-menu, so you have the Advanced menu again (shown on page 4-14).
  • Go into the Chipset sub-menu. In the Chipset sub-menu, which is shown on page 4-18 of the manual, you can adjust your memory timings.
  • See the following timings: DRAM CAS Latency, DRAM RAS Precharge, DRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay, and DRAM Precharge Delay (page 4-19 of the manual). Set those to 2.5, 3, 3, and 8. While you're in there, set the AGP Aperture to 128.
  • One other thing you might want to do: go into the Power > Hardware Monitor menu and disable Q-Fan for now. The manual shows that on page 4-30.
Your power supply is a name-brand one, so that's a good thing. If it were me, I'd be going for more like a name-brand 400W unit or so, but I'd take your Enlight 320W over a cheesy el-cheapo 500W generic one any day. 😀 Your 4-pin auxiliary power cable is plugged into the mobo, right?

Hang in there and try this stuff to see what happens. If that doesn't fix it, post again and there are some diagnostic programs you can try, such as Memtest86, to see what gives.
Click to expand...

 
Also make sure to turn off HT in BIOS since it's not supported in Win98. Run a ScanDisk on your HD to see if you have any errors. Just to make sure also, you did plug in the extra PS cable for the P4, which seems the common mistake for people upgrading from P3 to the new systems? The PSU is the highest probabilty of being the problem, but to be sure I'd turn off performance enhancement as it's rather touch-and-go if you can get that to work. I believe BIOS defaults to it on.
 
Ack!. Now my bios is currupted. . .I had to re-flash, and now it tells me the overclocking failed. The only thing I did was to edge teh RAM voltage up to 2.55 volts, and to set the RAM at 400. I'll play around a bit more after work, up the voltage to what was suggested here, etc.

Thanks,
-John
 
Originally posted by: Zathras66
Ack!. Now my bios is currupted. . .I had to re-flash, and now it tells me the overclocking failed. The only thing I did was to edge teh RAM voltage up to 2.55 volts, and to set the RAM at 400. I'll play around a bit more after work, up the voltage to what was suggested here, etc.

Thanks,
-John
Click to expand...

I agree with the 2.7V. More importantly, when you set your memory to 400MHz, what was your FSB. Start at 200 to get a baseline. I read on ABX that running HT on Win98 will give a lot of errors, you really need to leave it off. I've seen where way overclocking the RAM will give a corrupt BIOS error on the P4P800, I'd assume it's the same on the P4C800. I had the message once when I flashed 1.007, but for some reason it just went away. I guess I'm just dumb lucky like that :/ .

EDIT: What's the amperage on the +12V rail on that thing anyway? If it's 12A, it's probably inadequate from what I've been reading. It's written on the side of the PSU.

 
Ok, I'm back home from work, and I can play with the problem awhile. .
I upped the RAM voltage to 2.65, set it to 2.5 3 3 8, and will play with it from there. SEEMS more stable. . .

Don't really understand why I have to up the voltage to the ram if I'm not overclocking. . .I would've thought the board would come set for the proper voltage for the proper ram. Maybe that's why I can't fix it by myself! If 2.65 volts doesn't achieve stability, I'll up it to 2.75.

It may be a week or 3 before I can swing another PS. I dropped a load on this computer, and I got hit with a large unexpected expense 🙁

And yeah, the Turbolink is 12 amps on the 12v 🙁

Hyperthreading is disabled. Thanx.

DRAM frequency is 400 MHz, the CPU external frequency is 200 MHz. I guess that's the FSB.

Is there a good web-page that tells a bit more about setting up ram and/or new motherboards? I appreciate the help here, but if there is good info elsewhere, maybe I can learn a bit on my own.

Many thanks! I spent a miserable weekend trying to get the new system working. Hopefully I've turned the corner on this problem.
-John
 
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