XP2500->XP3200 Failing Prime95 after 1 minute

[asianguy80]

So i recently upgraded my RAM and finally got to oc to 3200 speeds but i can't seem to get past Prime95 here are my specs:

AMD XP2500+ (unlocked) (currently 3200+ speeds with 1.7 VCore)
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 2 Bios 1007
2x512 Mushkin PC3500 Level 2 (2-2-2-6 @ 2.8v @ 200mhz, nothing too crazy going for stability right now)
BBA 9700 AIW Pro
WD400JB
Maxtor 120gb 8mb
16x Lite on dvd
52x lite on cdrw
Raidmax 350w psu

I tried running prime at 1.7v and it gives me fatal error @ around 1 min. when i started with stock volts it would fail almost immediately. Does anyone have any suggestions? Oh yea I also can't run the RAM at 2-2-2-11 It tells me in post "memory test failed" I know that i shouldn't rely on Prime95 to check for stability but as of now that's the only thing i can use to tell. I have a Tru430 lying around but i'm too lazy to replace the raidmax with it. i'll probably do that this weekend.
One last questions my 12v rail shows like 12.88 average is that too high or low or wahtever? thanks for any help

 

[CarpeDiem99]

increase your cpu voltage more try 1.8 see if its stable

 

[Duvie]

First off...I know mushkin may claim 2-2-2-6 but in dual channel mode or dual sticks that sometimes cannot happen...Thisis far to aggressive out of the gate IMO...try cas 2,3,3,8...

Secondly the general rule of thumb is +/- 5%...therefroe don't go below 11.4 or above 12.6..You are out of spec so try the other PSU and see if the board is reading it incorrectly...by the way what are you monitoring this voltages from??? However the key to the AMDs are the 5v rail...How does that look???

Third...there is no guarantee that 2500+ will do 3200+...i am starting to see more and more not make it, though I think there has been a rush on them since they are preceived to be easy pickings to get those speeds. If you fail prime95 in one minute that is pretty flaky....MY GUESS IS IT WILL TAKE 1.75V-1.8V TO GET IT STABLE IF AT ALL....


A few tips when ocing..

1) keep the ram at conservtaive below spec levels.

2)try not to hook up every none essential item...1 HDD, 1 CD-Rom, etc.....

 

[CaiNaM]

in general, the higher the overclock, the looser your ram timings should be...

how are you overclocking? what are your cpu and memory multipliers?

 

[myocardia]

See what happens when you change your ram timings to either 2.5-3-3-6, or 2-3-3-6. Also, you could just check it overnight at 200fsb and the timings you have it set at now, with Memtest86. Link to Memtest86 download page.

 

[asianguy80]

Originally posted by: Duvie
First off...I know mushkin may claim 2-2-2-6 but in dual channel mode or dual sticks that sometimes cannot happen...Thisis far to aggressive out of the gate IMO...try cas 2,3,3,8...

Secondly the general rule of thumb is +/- 5%...therefroe don't go below 11.4 or above 12.6..You are out of spec so try the other PSU and see if the board is reading it incorrectly...by the way what are you monitoring this voltages from??? However the key to the AMDs are the 5v rail...How does that look???

Third...there is no guarantee that 2500+ will do 3200+...i am starting to see more and more not make it, though I think there has been a rush on them since they are preceived to be easy pickings to get those speeds. If you fail prime95 in one minute that is pretty flaky....MY GUESS IS IT WILL TAKE 1.75V-1.8V TO GET IT STABLE IF AT ALL....


A few tips when ocing..

1) keep the ram at conservtaive below spec levels.

2)try not to hook up every none essential item...1 HDD, 1 CD-Rom, etc.....

argh i lost the post i'm editing now. i was watching the +12v rail from the bios for about 2-3 minutes and it showed a pretty consistent 12.7 reading then i used MBM5 and my Asus Probe pretty much same readings after watching it for 2-3 minutes each. I wasn't really paying much attention to the 5v rail. when u say below spec u mean not at the rated speeds but at lower then rated?

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
in general, the higher the overclock, the looser your ram timings should be...

how are you overclocking? what are your cpu and memory multipliers?

i am running 200x11 and memory at 1:1 ratio

 

[Duvie]

Basically what we are telling you is...I know the specs on the mushkin are 2-2-2-6, but unless they are sold in a dual chanel kit claiming cas 2 you can pretty much assume that is for one stick period...each additional stick will generally cause the timings to be looser and mor vdimm to be used....

Another thing I have seen plenty of is it is often tough to get 2-2-2 versus 2-3-3....

Definitely take a look at the 5v rail at idle but then load it with sandra and watch it for a few minutes...


Memtest would be a nice application to run right now to see if the ram timings are the culprit....You will want to run test 5,6, and 8 for several passes...As flaky as you say prime is if it is the ram it will have errors rather quickly (within the first 10 passes)...

 

[NesuD]

Why are you running the vdimm voltage at 2.8 volts. That ram should easily be able to run at 200mhz speed at 2.6 volts. My 2500+ can hit 3200+ speeds on a lower core voltage if My Corsair XMS PC3200 ram voltage is set at 2.6volts vs 2.7 volts. Also my 2500+ needed 1.725 volts to be prime 95 stable at 3200+ speeds with the ram voltage set to 2.6volts. If i upped the ram to 2.7 I had to give the cpu 1.75 volts to be prime95 stable. try 2-3-3-8 timings as well.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: asianguy80

i am running 200x11 and memory at 1:1 ratio

set your memory to 3:4 (133mhz)

 

[asianguy80]

Originally posted by: Duvie
Basically what we are telling you is...I know the specs on the mushkin are 2-2-2-6, but unless they are sold in a dual chanel kit claiming cas 2 you can pretty much assume that is for one stick period...each additional stick will generally cause the timings to be looser and mor vdimm to be used....

Another thing I have seen plenty of is it is often tough to get 2-2-2 versus 2-3-3....

Definitely take a look at the 5v rail at idle but then load it with sandra and watch it for a few minutes...


Memtest would be a nice application to run right now to see if the ram timings are the culprit....You will want to run test 5,6, and 8 for several passes...As flaky as you say prime is if it is the ram it will have errors rather quickly (within the first 10 passes)...

Yea i got the dual channel kit. i'm gonna try out the looser timings tomorrow when i get home. I'll also have to check up on the 5v rail and recheck the 12v rail if its the psu being a little flaky i'm gonna switch it out asap.

Originally posted by: NesuD
Why are you running the vdimm voltage at 2.8 volts. That ram should easily be able to run at 200mhz speed at 2.6 volts. My 2500+ can hit 3200+ speeds on a lower core voltage if My Corsair XMS PC3200 ram voltage is set at 2.6volts vs 2.7 volts. Also my 2500+ needed 1.725 volts to be prime 95 stable at 3200+ speeds with the ram voltage set to 2.6volts. If i upped the ram to 2.7 I had to give the cpu 1.75 volts to be prime95 stable. try 2-3-3-8 timings as well.

Oh, see I didn't know that. i read somewhere that the level 2's crave the juice...maybe i was mistaken...i'll try 2.6vdimm and lower the vcore back to stock and see what happens.

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
set your memory to 3:4 (133mhz)

I thought that nForce / AMD don't do well with dividers?

 

[cowdog]

Double-post-O-rama. The sequel is better, I think.

 

[cowdog]

NForce2 boards seem to like 2-3-3-11 timings (or thereabouts). Some even find those timings run faster than more aggressive timings. Also you will probably need to run vcore at 1.75 -1.80 volts. Since you are at 1.70, I would start bumping up and see what happens: 1.725, 1.75, 1.775, 1.80. Also, I would stay with 1:1. Finally, you might try different memory banks. Maybe run 1 stick at first. Then run 2 in slots 1 and 3. Or try 1 and 2.

There may be some bios settings that can help you too. I haven't used the Asus board, but on both Epox and Abit nForce2 mobos I found that there were a few settings that helped me o/c.

Good luck.

 

[hytek369]

can a bad PSU be the culprit?

 

[adams828]

Originally posted by: cowdog
Also you will probably need to run vcore at 1.75 -1.80 volts. Since you are at 1.70, I would start bumping up and see what happens: 1.725, 1.75, 1.775, 1.80. Also, I would stay with 1:1.

Good luck.

i'd agree with this. i had similar issues, raising vcore solved the prime95 failures

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: asianguy80

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
set your memory to 3:4 (133mhz)

I thought that nForce / AMD don't do well with dividers?

they do fine.. but my bad, some reason it didnt click you were using pc3200, therefore i thought you were overclocking your memory (heh, pc2100 set that way in my wifes barton oc'd to 3200+). since you're not tho, i am not sure why you are raising your memory voltage?

at any rate, did you loosen the mem timings or raise the core voltage yet? if so, what were the results?

 

[Shimmishim]

loosen memory timings and see if prime passes...

kind of stinks you can't even run the lvl 2 at 2-2-2-11

i am capable of running these ocz's (not mine anymore) @ 250 mhz 1:1 with 2-2-2-6 timings with 3.5 vdimm volts (a little extreme i know)

 

[adams828]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim

i am capable of running these ocz's (not mine anymore) @ 250 mhz 1:1 with 2-2-2-6 timings with 3.5 vdimm volts (a little extreme i know)

3.5? yowsa!

 

[asianguy80]

Well i'm still not at home yet i've been at school and still am for the remainder of the day until this evening. (PST)

1) I've decided to start over and install my Antec True430 and see how the rails are on that.
2) I'm going to set back timings and voltages to default then move my way up/down.
3) I'll test out the different dimm banks for mem. i'll try out 2&3 see how that goes. then i'll install memtest86 run the 5,6,8 tests (i think, ill refer back to the post)

Last but not least 3.5v?! OMG that's crazy hehe.
My board maxes out at (i think) VCore 1.875(?) and VDimm is 2.8v.

Last thing: I read the sticky (i think) on temp reading programs like MBM5 and such. I think i'll stick with MBM5 to monitor rails and such. I know for a fact that the Fan readings from MBM5 are 2x what they really are because it says my H1A panaflo is running at 5k+ RPM when the bios reads it at 2500 RPM lol go figure. I'll also probably keep probe open for reference.

 

[asianguy80]

Ok finally i'm at home. i tried loosening the timings to 2-3-3-6 and it ran Prime for about 7 minutes then failed. I downloaded memtest86 but i'm still looking for floppies anyways. i have upped the vcore to 1.725 or 1.750 i dont remember. and prime ran a little longer. i'm assuming that i'll probably have to upp it some more in order to get full stability. right now i set my ram to 2-2-2-11 @ 2.7v. I'll have to use memtest sometime tonight in order to see if my ram is giving me errors. i tried 2-3-3-6 and it ran fine. i haven't done any benchs yet but i have yet to download 3dmark2001/2003 ? i dont remember which ver. is out. i'll post results later tonight.

 

[Loki726]

I have basically the same setup as you

Athlon XP 2500 (Not unlocked though)
2x 256mb Mushkin Level2 pc3500
ASUS A7n8x deluxe rev 2.0 1007 bios
Saphire radeon 9500pro
PC Power and Cooling TurboCool 510W Power Supply
2x 80gb Western Digital 7200rpm
Plextor 708A DVD-+RW

I get almost the exact same results as you. I can run memtest for like 3 hours with no errors at about 217fsb with 2-3-3-11 timing and 1.825 vcore(Havn't tried anything higher). However, I fail prime95 in less than 5 min at anything over 200fsb. The only settings that I have that are stable are 199fsb 1.825 vcore 2-3-2-11 memory timings. I've tried jacking up the voltages as high as they will go, running single channel memory, enabling all the memory dividers, and I even downloaded the UBER bios that unlocks chipset voltages but nothing would go past 199fsb.

I'm gonna test my CPU in my friends DFI Lanparty NfII and see if its my CPU or something else. His is at like 223fsb at like 1.75 vcore.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Loki726I even downloaded the UBER bios that unlocks chipset voltages but nothing would go past 199fsb.

I've heard that the chipset voltage selector doesn't work.

 

[asianguy80]

So finally i left the comp on at the specs in sig. I ran prime last night for about 30 min. no prob so i decided to leave it and see how it runs for about 8 hours. I go to work and come back at lunch only to see that it failed after 2 hrs 13 minutes. I decided to turn the torture test back on and see how it fairs. I come back from work right now and it gave me an error at 9 minutes.
Would upping the vcore to 1.8 and vdimm to 2.8 help? should i try looser timings?

There is a bios that allows vcore higher then the 1.825 on asus? I'd like to give that a try my vdimm maxes out at 2.8v also and goes in intervals of .1 (2.6 2.7 2.8) vcore goes by .025 (1.650 ~ 1.850)

 

[WobbleWobble]

Yes, the "Uber" BIOS

 

[asianguy80]

Ok finally I ran MemTest86 for about 24 hours all together with different settings/mem sticks/dimm's

here are my results:

1st test - Dual Channel Running in slots 1 & 3 with settings @ 2-2-2-11 @ 2.6v, I did 20 passes on this setting ~7 hrs.
i ran it for 20 passes (overnight) and came with only one error
Test:7
Pass:3
Failing Address:0000f0f8384 - 240.5 MB
Good:fffffff
Bad:ffff7fff
Error Bits:00008000
Count:1

2nd Test - Single Channel running one stick of 512mb in slot 3 @ 2-2-2-11 @ 2.6v, 28 passes no errors run ~ 5 hrs.

3rd Test - Single Channel running 2nd stick of 512mb in slot 3 @ 2-2-2-11 @ 2.6v, 17 passes no errors run ~ 3.5 hrs.

4th Test - Single Channel running 1GB in slots 1 & 2 @ 2-2-2-11 @ 2.6v, 18 passes 2 errors, run ~ 4 hrs.
Error #1:
Test:6
Pass:1
Failing Address:0001d82b140 - 472.6 MB
Good:0000000
Bad:0000008
Error Bits:0000008
Count:1

Error #2
Test:6
Pass:2
Failing Address:0001ba2b240 - 442.6 MB
Good:0000000
Bad:0000004
Error Bits:0000004
Count:1

Final Test - Dual Channel 1GB slots 2 & 3 @ 2-2-2-11 @ 2.6v - didn't write down results will put down to the best of my memory - ~10 passes running 2 hrs. w/ no errors.

For some strange reason each stick has no problem working on it's own but when it comes together in single channel or even dual channel it gives me errors. I'm sorry but the only results i wrote down were the ones above. i didn't even realize there was another option to see other types of errors until just now. I'm thinking that upping the vcore to at least 1.8v is the only way to get stability in prime. i'll see what happens tomorrow.

 

[myocardia]

The lower you run your ram timings, the more vdimm you have to give them, if you run two at the same time. Why don't you listen to us, and try 2-3-3-11, or even better, 2.5-3-3-11 in dual-channel, and see what happens?