Question for nForce 2 + Dual Channel Users

[Gerbil333]

Which two slots are the most stable/reliable for you? Slots 1 & 3 or slots 2 & 3? I can't decide.

My two sticks of Kingston 256mb HyperX PC3000 ran at 2-2-2-6 for several weeks in slots 1 & 3, but I got about three BSOD's over that period of time. I set the timings to SPD (2-3-3-6), and I haven't seen anymore BSOD's since then...but it's only been a couple weeks or so.

I know a guy who recently got an Abit NF7-S 2.0 paired with Corsair 1gb XMS3200LL TWINX memory (two 512mb sticks) in slots 1 and 3. Running stock, he the computer was VERY unstable. He couldn't even get 3DMark 2001 to run for more than 1 minute! After much failed troubleshooting, he moved one stick from slot 1 to slot 2...all problems gone. Now he's got his FSB OC'ed at something like 204mhz and it's perfectly stable! He's scoring ~18,500 in 3DMark!

However, I thought I'd heard that slots 1 & 3 are usually more reliable. Is he just an odd ball?

 

[BG4533]

Have you tried running Memtest86 to test your memorys stability? Have you upped the voltage from stock at all?

 

[Gerbil333]

I can't up the voltage on this board :| MSI is retarded...I shouldn't have bought it.

SPD timings are stable. I'm not really worried about it. I just want to know if slots 1 & 3 or slots 2 & 3 are more stable.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I've used 1&3 on all 4 of the NF2 boards I've built so far and no issues. MSI is at the bottom of my list of board makers and I'd quite honestly buy anything but given a choice, their Graphics cards are sweet though

 

[Gerbil333]

Yea...that's why I bought it. I have two MSI video cards, both of which have been great. I should have bought the A7N8X or NF7-S.

I ran memtest86 when I had my single stick of Corsair 256mb XMS2700C2 at 2-2-2-6, but only for one pass. No errors. However, about 10 minutes after I had been into Windows, I got a BSOD. I lowered the timings to 2-3-3-6 and saw no more problems. This mobo should die. That RAM is running at 2-2-2-6 just fine in my Abit KR7A-RAID this moment.

 

[BG4533]

One full test of memtest might not be enough. I would try running all of tests by using command C-2-3-1-2-0-space bar and letting it run through a couple tests. Are you OCing your processor? Maybe it needs more voltage? Will your processor make it through a few hours of Prime95?

edit-Bios upgrades might be a good idea if they are available as well. Are you sure that Kingston is compatible with your board?

 

[Gerbil333]

MY SYSTEM IS STABLE, GUYS! You're ignoring my question. It may not be stable at aggressive timings, but at SPD timings it is. That's no big deal!

Nothing is OC'ed. All stock. I often run stability tests. I leave the computer in 3DMark 2001, Tribes 2, or some other game/3D app overnight when I want to test it. Seems alright.

 

[Megatomic]

Gerbil, I run 2 x 512MB HyperX PC2700 in DCDDR on my Epox 8RDA+. I have used slots 1 and 3 since the get-go with perfect stability. My BIOS settings?

Syncyh. at 100%
166MHz FSB
Timings: 5-2-2 2.0
Vdimm at 2.63V

For a while I thought about abandoning my system for an Intel system but the more I use this computer the more I love it. I so can't wait for the new nForce UDA drivers to come out, things are gonna get exciting then. :heart: I think I'm going to put this in the **Official Epox 8RDA+ Thread**.

 

[NesuD]

If that is the original version of the K7N2-L then bios ver 3.4 will allow you to change the vdimm setting. If it is a Delta I think 5.1 will allow voltage changes for the vdimm. I know what you are going through with that board. I have one as well but gave up on it after bios 3.4 came out. That bios fixed a lot of the annoying memory issues with it but then added a radeon compatibility issue so I replaced the board with Solteks SL-75FRN2-RL board. I always experienced better results using slots 1 and 3 with the K7N2-L. I had numerous issues with Kingston Ram in that board. The 3.4 bios seemed to fix a lot of the ram problems as well as allow changing the vdimm settings but as i said it added some new problems. What bios version are you using on it right now? If you don't have 3.4 on it try it. That might help as long as you aren't using a radeon vid card.

 

[Gerbil333]

It's the original K7N2-L with BIOS 3.2. I'd rather just sell it and buy a different board than mess with all that. It's the worst board I've ever had.

I did a stability test overnight again. I ran HotCPU for 10 hours. No errors

 

[PliotronX]

I got slightly better scores with 2 & 3 occupied than 1 & 3, but both were significantly better than 1 & 2 which everyone already knows is single channel (tested running mem async at 333MHz and FSB at 207MHz ratio 5:4 to eliminate the FSB as the bottleneck).