A64 3000+ & MSI K8N Neo2, Windows Stability Issues

[icedogg9999]

Hey Guys,

I have a question that I've been trying to solve for a couple days now. I just setup my new Athlon 64 rig yesterday. Athlon 64 3000+ S939 90nm, MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, 2x512mb PDP Patroit PC3200 2-2-2-5 w/XBL.

I had to reinstall windows after I installed everything, it gave me a blue screen when I tried to boot into windows. So, I formatted my drive, and reinstalled Windows XP. Everything went fine. My system booted up very fast, and I was just installing the chipset drivers, etc. Now, my computer takes forever to boot up, I have to turn it off and on many times before it boots into windows, or it takes about a minute to load windows. I have a Powmax 400w PSU. The temps are fine, around 25*C for case, around 40*C for cpu. My rails are around, +3.3 = 3.20, +5.00 = 4.95, +12.00 = 11.67.

Currently, I don't know what to do to solve this problem. Everything worked fine with my old 1700+ T-Bred B Setup. This is my christmas gift to myself, and I really want this baby up and running smoothly.

Thanks,

-Icedogg

 

[Graphicism]

Where abouts does it hang on loading? bios, loading windows or loading the desktop?

 

[icedogg9999]

Loading Windows. It'll bring up the splash screen, and the status bar will just freeze, and the system will hang there. A few times it has restarted after it has done that, and then it does boot into windows. Other times, I restart the pc, and the windows splash screen doesn't appear until about 20-30 seconds after the bios screen, and then it loads windows fine.

-Icedogg

 

[Graphicism]

That's a tough one, haven't seen that before. Have you tried the usual... booting in safe mood? booting from the windows CD and seeing if the problem persists?

Try this - go to RUN' > boot.ini > and tick NOGUIBOOT & BOOTLOG - apply and restart. This will disable the windows loading screen and give you a log so if that doesn't fix it you can see what might be causing it.

Usualy if it hangs before loading the 'windows loading splash' it's CMOS, AGP related.

 

[Sentential]

Did you flash to the latest BIOS? Sounds like a CPU compataiblity issue. I for one know that my rig was sooooo unstable without v1.3 or higher. Hell it wouldnt boot in dual-channel unless I used the latest BIOS

 

[Graphicism]

I gotta say I haven't had any problems with the cmos version it came with, which makes me hesitant to upgrade to 1.3 or even 1.5 beta, could fix your problem tho. Any bonus in flashing to 1.5 beta Sentential?

 

[icedogg9999]

Well, the screen does flicker a few times when I reach the windows desktop. I've never flashed my bios before. I know its risky at times, and I don't want to kill anything. I am running my memory in dual-channel, its working fine at 2-2-2-5.

If I keep on having these problems, I might just return it and get a DFI S754 & 3200+ or whatnot. I really want my christmas present to work

 

[Sentential]

You need....NEED to flash to the latest BIOS available from MSI. Otherwise you will run into alot of issues.

Also.. do you have service pack 2 installed? SP2 gave my PC all kinds of hell.

 

[icedogg9999]

I dont have SP2 installed, thank god. Can you give me a easy guide on how to flash my bios. I don't want to kill anything. I've never done it before. My best friend has used his Abit software to flash his bios for his Pentium 4. I know MSI has a utility like that. I hope flashing the bios solves it, but how do it flash it

 

[Sentential]

I dont have SP2 installed, thank god. Can you give me a easy guide on how to flash my bios. I don't want to kill anything. I've never done it before. My best friend has used his Abit software to flash his bios for his Pentium 4. I know MSI has a utility like that. I hope flashing the bios solves it, but how do it flash it

Its fairly simple. Download the latest BIOS and downlaod a program called " Award Winflash ". This program will flash your BIOS via windows. Its a simple as opening a document file.

 

[Graphicism]

You also might want to back your current bios up on floppy incase you need to revert back.

 

[Suma]

Here are some useful links:
Award Flash:
http://freehost20.websamba.com/t0msmod/winflash.zip

Bios Files:
http://www.lejabeach.com/MSIK8N/k8nneo2.html

GL with it.
Suma.

 

[Graphicism]

He hasn't responded in over 4 hours... I blame it on Sententia.

 

[Sentential]

He hasn't responded in over 4 hours... I blame it on Sententia.

 

[icedogg9999]

Don't blame it on Sentential, he's the man.

Anyways, I'm going to order a Fortron 530w psu off newegg. I talked with Sentential for a while today sorting out my problem. He's pretty sure its my psu, which is dealing 3.0v on the +3.3v line. Hopefully that will solve all my stability issues. It should, because I have almost the exact same setup as Sentential, and he had a problem with his old psu working with his A64.

-Icedogg

 

[bobmanfoo]

where did you get the 3.0v reading from? psu problem or not you should get a new psu, those powmax psus are the devil

 

[icedogg9999]

I got the 3.0v reading from the bios. With my old Athlon XP 1700+ @ 2.1ghz, my +3.3v rail was around 3.29v all the time. I'm going to buy the Fortron tomorrow probably. My Powmax was great for my Athlon XP setup, but yes, it is a devil with Athlon 64's bobmanfoo.

 

[Clevor]

Icedog, what fsb and timings you running on the ram?

When I first tested this board with 2x512 XMS3500 (which did 245, 2-2-2-5 on the DFI UT3 board @ 3.1 volts, rock stable), I had horrible instability problems at just 225, 2-2-2-5, even though Memtest was clean. Same deal with OCZ Golds at 2-3-3-6. I thought my 3200+ Winnie was a dud, unstable at 2200 mhz. I was getting corrupted files, blue screens, and cold boot issues.

Well I put in 2x512 PQI TCCD. Result? Running 2600 mhz @ 1.42 actual, benching all four 'Marks (it's a week 44). The ram can run 236 @ 2-3-3-6, 257 @ 2.5-3-3-6, and 275 @ 3-3-3-6. At 257, 2.5-3-3-6 I clocked a 32 sec SuperPI 1M time. Compared to the BH-5, it was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The board now is extremely stable and predictable, with no hot/cold boot issues.

The board also likes Ballistix PC4000, where 2x512s can do 238 @ 2.5-2-2-5, 248 @ 2.5-2-3-5, and 255 @ 2.5-3-3-5. My board is an old 0409xxx with 0404xxx NF3 chipset (Taiwan).

All ram timings above are 1T, at 3-4x LDT.

I would relax timings on the ram (I think it is TCCD?) and see if it improves stability. I hear the later 0411xxx boards with 0439xxx or later chipset might run BH-5 better.

 

[icedogg9999]

Its been rock stable at 2-2-2-5 DDR400 2.6v. I even changed the timings to 2.5-3-3-7 DDR400 2.7v. Both times, the memory was fine. I even ran the ram in single and dual channel of and on for testing.

When I was able to boot into windows, the screen would flicker. And when I restarted my pc, it would take 5-10 attempts of restarting again and again, until I could get into windows. So, I know its not the memory. The memory is amazing, its rock stable and everything, $220 well spend right there, great job PDD Patroit.

 

[Suma]

He hasn't responded in over 4 hours... I blame it on Sententia.

Never blame the master
I love ya sen