I think my ram is crap -or something cuz i'm getting hella errors...

^topic

first a description of my system:
cpu: xpm 2500
hsf: slk947 w panaflo m1
mobo: nf7s v2 with mosfet hs, 'microcool northpole' active nb cooler and passive nb cooler on sb
tim: as5 on everything but the gpu hsf
bios: currently playing with 'Merlin's Ub3r D25 BIOS CPC On'
ram: 1 512mb stick of pc3200 ch6 kingston value ram in slot 1 (correct slot?)
psu: antec sl300s (supposed to be 350w)
gpu: 64mb radeon 9500 w omega drivers

volts: (correct me if my terminology is wrong)
cpu vcore: 1.575
ram vdimm: 2.6
chipset vdd: 1.6
agp: 1.5

there are two 80mm fans on my antec slk2600amb blowing in with an 80mm psu fan pushing air out (have not yet tried switching a case fan to blow out) which keeps the case at 30C and cpu at 40C

i was having some problems -unbelievable out of box slowness, blue screens, lagging, totally farked up messages and errors from nowhere that i didn't even get on a computer which is now totally DEAD, things randomly stop working after a few hours and i'm unable to install windows xp, all at low speeds and loose timings- so i decide to test my ram and set the multiplier to 6, upped the fsb to 200 and immediately ran memtest... just as quickly, the screen filled with errors... i am DEFINITELY giving kingston a call later today cuz this ram is rated for 200fsb and others have gotten it to 220 and beyond without incident... -the one other time i set both the cpu and ram to 200fsb (multiplier set at a hopeful 12.5) the board became unresponsive and i couldn't boot for 5 minutes...

now a brief history: the first time i ran memtest i noticed it was running at 199 with my cpu at 166 -i thought it was odd that the ram is rated at 200fsb and it's running at 199- in 11 minutes it ran into two errors, both 800 bytes in size in test 6... at this point it passes prime95 and 16mb superpi but fails 32mb superpi right off the block... the second time i ran memtest i set the cpu at 166, somehow the ram was at 167 and i ran into an 800 bit error again in almost the same spot (!) -very odd... couldn't pass prime95 right off the block after that and attempting to run 32mb superpi causes SERIOUS problems which require hitting the reset switch...

i'm running into errors in windows very frequently and this is a fresh build running below spec (2158mhz) -albeit with a second hand cpu and mobo... i didn't check to see where the errors were with the most recent test -didn't want to let it continue since it was just flat out failing... that said, i'm now beginning to suspect the mobo... for one thing, i can't seem to install any drivers for any of the onboard devices -none of them stick and nothing ****ing works (though i'm using windows 98 which apparently is no longer supported)... secondly, like i said above, the nb is really quite concave and my hsf is barely making contact with it -i don't know if this could be causing any problems as i don't have a device for measuring it's temperature (do i?) but it's something to consider since it controls the ram... that said, i'm not sure if i have my ram installed correctly -it usually goes in the slot closest to the cpu but the manual says sdram should go in slot 3... this is ddr ram and... idunno, i haven't tried sticking it in that slot yet but somehow don't think it'd fix these massive errors

:UPDATE:
set the cpu to 133x6 with ram running 6/6 (800mhz -firefox takes a long time to load with these settings) and i STILL can't pass test 1 -a torrent of errors appears, fluctuating in size and much larger than 800 bits (only 2 zeros in front)... i'm also getting crazy errors in windows minutes after a restart... what the hell do i do now?!! the longer this thing's running, the worse my problems get... just my luck


<hopes this gets some responses>

aw come on, someone help me out here... is it the ram or is it something else? i'm not too sure anymore :/

Mate,

That VDRAM needs to be bumped up to atleast 2.7V.

ok... i changed these values

vcore -> 1.825
vdimm -> 2.7
timings: -> 11,3,3,3

on the plus side, i can boot and go into windows at 200x12.5 (huzzah!) -on the minus side, i tried 200x6 and 100x6 with these settings and still couldn't pass 5 seconds of memtest, firefox now refuses to start and temps jumped to 32°C case, 45°C cpu with the case open and ac blasting is something seriously screwed up or am i not doing something right?

I would guess faulty RAM, unless the area around your northbridge is very hot to the touch.

First off, you shouldn't be trying to get things done in Windows with memory in that state. By now, your Windows install is pretty much screwed, and it's going to take a new install (with stable memory!) to get it to work right. My rule is if Memtest86 isn't stable, don't go into Windows until it is. You're just asking for data corruption (and it sounds like you have plenty). That would explain why Windows won't install, why drivers won't install, and why you have weird desktop behavior.

RMA the RAM, or test it in another system.

The good news is that your terminology is correct.

*EDIT* Your CPU temps are high because your vcore is higher than it needs to be. Keep the CPU at stock speeds and use the multiplier to test different RAM speeds while keeping the CPU close to stock. One thing at a time.

*EDIT2* Windows 98 could very well be causing a good chunk of your problems. Do you have another OS available to you?

Mate,

Logically speaking, you should also try 2.8 or 2.9 V VDimm!

johan851 said:

I would guess faulty RAM, unless the area around your northbridge is very hot to the touch.

First off, you shouldn't be trying to get things done in Windows with memory in that state. By now, your Windows install is pretty much screwed, and it's going to take a new install (with stable memory!) to get it to work right. My rule is if Memtest86 isn't stable, don't go into Windows until it is. You're just asking for data corruption (and it sounds like you have plenty). That would explain why Windows won't install, why drivers won't install, and why you have weird desktop behavior.

RMA the RAM, or test it in another system.

The good news is that your terminology is correct.

*EDIT* Your CPU temps are high because your vcore is higher than it needs to be. Keep the CPU at stock speeds and use the multiplier to test different RAM speeds while keeping the CPU close to stock. One thing at a time.

*EDIT2* Windows 98 could very well be causing a good chunk of your problems. Do you have another OS available to you?

Click to expand...

the odd thing is, for the first day and a half of operation things weren't *this* bad... -of course i couldn't install xp and was having serious drivers problems but i blamed that on software up till i ran memtest that first time this is my only 'working' pc with internet access so extremely eager to get it running, even minimally as right now... i've got 2 copies of xp streamlined with sp2 that don't get past the animated windows logo or the "39 minutes left" screen and a copy of win2k i haven't yet tried -the way things are going, i'm not sure if i should... i might try it if i can pass memtest once i raise vdimm again...

were my initial temps in line with other, similar computers? they seemed comparable to xpm2500s running on much higher volts

as for your ocing advice, i thought that to test the ram one should lower the multipler and start raising the fsb starting with about 200 till instabilities occur and do the opposite for testing the cpu (fsb at 100/133, then raise multipliers to max)... i did the former, ran into massive errors, lowered both fsb and multi to 100x6 and still couldn't pass 5 seconds of memtest; i'd racked up tens of thousands of errors in under 30 seconds i really don't know what to do next...

Super Nade said:

Mate,

Logically speaking, you should also try 2.8 or 2.9 V VDimm!

Click to expand...

i know there's some barrier that one shouldn't/needn't pass for voltages with this specific mobo and cpu on air but i can't seem to recall what it is -i think i've already passed it for the cpu (1.825vcore was suggested for getting an xpm2500 initially to 2500mhz)... i guess i'll try 2.8v vdimm although i'm surprised that i need this much just to get the ram to run at it's rated speed

as for your ocing advice, i thought to test the ram one should lower the multipler and start raising the fsb starting with about 200 till instabilities occur and do about the opposite for testing the cpu (fsb at 133, then raise multipliers to max)... i did the former, ran into massive errors, lowered both fsb and multi to 100x6 and still couldn't pass 5 seconds of memtest; i'd racked up tens of thousands of errors in under 30 seconds i really don't know what to do next...

Click to expand...

That's because your RAM is bad. Try the higher vdimms...if they do nothing, RMA. Your other OS's aren't working because the RAM is causing errors. It's simple.

It wasn't really overclocking advice...it was making sure that memory is the problem advice. And it looks like yes, memory is the problem. I really don't think more vdimm will help if you're getting errors at 100MHz FSB. Make sure your RAM ratio is set to 1:1 (100%, or whatever it is) and if you're still getting errors with the memory at 100mhz, THE RAM IS BAD.

johan851 said:

That's because your RAM is bad. Try the higher vdimms...if they do nothing, RMA. Your other OS's aren't working because the RAM is causing errors. It's simple.

It wasn't really overclocking advice...it was making sure that memory is the problem advice. And it looks like yes, memory is the problem. I really don't think more vdimm will help if you're getting errors at 100MHz FSB. Make sure your RAM ratio is set to 1:1 (100%, or whatever it is) and if you're still getting errors with the memory at 100mhz, THE RAM IS BAD.

Click to expand...

that's what i was looking to hear... thank you for providing certainity to an ignorant, wishy washy person who really needed it... i've already emailed kingston and am hoping to get this ram rmaed without much hassle... i'll keep y'all updated when i get the new ram!

Kingston is very good with RMA's...I've returned stuff through them before. They provided me a 2 day shipping label to send it back, and sent it two day back.

I don't mind providing certainty. Sometimes a product is just plain defective, and won't work with you no matter what you do.