Now: Memtest issue - Was: MSI K8N PC Problem..

[mohitk]

The configuration before:
MSI K8N Neo FSR MoBo
AMD Athlon64 3000
512 MB Corsair XMS DDR 400 (ProMOS chip Cl 2.5-3-3-6)
120 GB Seagate SATA HDD
Antec Case with a Antec Smartpower 350W PSU
This config has been running 24x7 for more than a year now.

I had been looking to upgrade the RAM for a while and since I was not able to get a matching corsair, decided to give Mushkin a try. The seller mentioned that he had tried it with the same spec corsair and both ran just fine. Put the mushkin black 512MB (Winbond CH5 - CL 2-3-2) on Thursday evening. The BIOS reset the RAM freq to 266 from 400 but once put in auto timing mode, ran easily on 2-2-2-6.

The system ran just fine for 24 hours and then hanged on Friday evening while I was watching a video on youtube. It started hanging intermittently but without a pattern so I decided to pull out the new RAM.
The problem continued even with my old RAM. Tried different slots and timings but to no avail. The system is running unstable no matter what. The height was when i had to reboot thrice trying to read on how I can make my memory stick bootable run memtest. And this was when I was running my old RAM.
Action items for today:
1. Run memtest on the old and new RAM (and the combi)
2. Get a compressed air can and clean the CPU Cooler/Slots etc.

Any ideas why this would be happening?? Any suggested solution? I am at the end of my wits on this now!

[_dangtx_]

i love the k8n neo's (all of them) , but tehre bioses are nazi lol. they match my old an35n-ultra's bios naziness .
the mushkin's 232x so running it at 222x should give u issues unles you feed her more juice.
make sure you havent corupted winnie.
dan

[mohitk]

The mushkin is rated at 2-3-2-x at 200Mhz. I was running it at 133! I am not able to figure out how to jack it up to 200 as I don't see ant config anywhere. Will try flashing to the latest BIOS and see how it goes.

[goofball]

The mushkin is rated at 2-3-2-x at 200Mhz. I was running it at 133! I am not able to figure out how to jack it up to 200 as I don't see ant config anywhere. Will try flashing to the latest BIOS and see how it goes.

Just because you run it slower than rated speed doesn't mean it can hold tighter timings. Generally speaking, it can but it's not a rule or 100% given that it will.
Have you reset the BIOS/CMOS yet?

[mohitk]

Yeah will try and set it to lax timings and see. regarding the BIOS/CMOS reset.. thats something I totally forgot! Will do it before actually updating the bios.
Does anyone know where I can get a compressed air container in the downtown Toronto area?

[goofball]

Yeah will try and set it to lax timings and see. regarding the BIOS/CMOS reset.. thats something I totally forgot! Will do it before actually updating the bios.
Does anyone know where I can get a compressed air container in the downtown Toronto area?

Go to Costco, they are much cheaper there than anywhere else. 4pk for $15, IIRC.

[mohitk]

Progress so far:
CMOS reset: No improvement in detecting memory
BIOS flash: YES! I can finally run it at 2.5-3-3-6 @ 200MHz. The new BIOS looks totally different from what I have.. much more tweakable
Going to run a all nigh memtest now

[_dangtx_]

what did i tell you about the bios? does your board have the reset button?
my ultra's and sli ones did, as well as some k8n and -f ones based on the ultra's pcb.
dan

[mohitk]

Well the Motherboard does not have a reset button (apart from the reg CMOS jumper). But anyhow, the new BIOS is giving the correct settings.

Now to problem number 2

Ran the memtest with both sticks (CL 2.5-3-3-6):
Time: 8hr 40mins
Pass: 20
Errors: 24

Is this normal?

Am going to test just the mushkin tonight and corsair tomorrow to see if its the individual sticks or the combi thats generating the errors.