re: My solution... A FIX THAT WORKED FOR ME!
Tuesday, March 23, 2004 at 3:00 pm Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Nick
(1 messages posted)
I have valuable information but not a solution, however this may help someone (maybe
an Asus firmware guy if he's reading this) fix the problem.
Because I see so many similar responses, I think this may have to do with the A7N8X
Deluxe memory bus architecture and the type of RAM that you use.
I too use the A7N8X Deluxe (PCB ver. 1.04), flashed to the latest BIOS (released
in October 2003) and have had the same type of problem. I do not get blue screens,
however I will get reboots. Like many others, I get the reboots whenever I have my
memory timings set to the most aggressive yet acceptable (or so we think) speeds.
I have one stick of Kingston [Samsung] 512MB PC2700 memory in the isolated black
DIMM slot and two sticks of Kingston [Hynix] 256MB PC2700 memory in the paired blue/black
slots. Reboots seem to occur when I am seeking through a Windows Media video file
or large AVI file, or when I'm playing a game like Unreal Tournament 2004, when it
starts to swap different map data into memory when I'm moving. It resets as soon
as it buffers. One time it just reset while I was standing in the same place shooting
my gun, which I still do not understand.
Setting timings to optimal seemed to fix this problem, but then again, it still has
happened a couple times -- but it is more of a rare thing now. With aggressive timings
it would happen almost every time I played or seeked through a video.
This is where things get a bit confusing so bear with me... I have not been able
to determine if this problem is with a. the isolated black DIMM slot, b. certain
kinds of memory in the isolated black DIMM slot or c. the isolated black DIMM slot
altogether. Prior to upgrading to a gig of memory, all I had was my Kingston [Samsung]
512MB PC2700 DIMM. It was NOT in the isolated slot, but in one of the paired slots
(I'm pretty sure it was the blue one). I was able to run that stick with the most
aggressive memory timings without _any_ instability whatsoever. It never reset on
me, not once. When I ordered my two 256MB DIMMs, I moved my 512MB DIMM to the isolated
black slot. As soon as I did that, the instability occured. Keep in mind that this
was still before the memory I had ordered arrived, so I was still using just one
512MB DIMM. This could mean that the slot itself will only work best with certain
types of memory, Samsung made for Kingston being one of them. I highly doubt this
however, because if you go to the official spec sheet for the A7N8X Deluxe at Asus's
website, Samsung is one of their suggested memory module manufacturers! So, this
could also mean that the memory bus architecture for most A7N8X Deluxe boards are
just not reliable, period. I will say that when the two 256MB Kingston [Hynix] DIMMs
arrived, and I put them in the paired slots, performance (on aggressive) was more
stable, and things are now less likely to reboot with these timings, but it STILL
happens regardless. The only thing that fixes it almost completely is by changing
your timings from aggressive to optimal. Rarely do I get a reboot, and I'm sure this
has something to do with my Radeon video driver (let's hope so anyway). Although,
you never know, it could be my memory. I should try removing my 512MB DIMM and just
let the two 256MB DIMMs run by themselves (in the stable paired slots) and see if
I get another reboot on aggressive. If I don't, then I know it HAS to be either the
isolated black DIMM slot or my Kingston [Samsung] DIMM being incompatible... but
why would Asus suggest Samsung if that was the case? Especially if it is mentioned
specifically for my board.
By the way, I have also run memtest86 and it found no errors.
Hope this helps,
Nick
|
All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | Confused (Adri1456: Fri, May 14, 2004, 3:29 pm) |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | re: My solution... A FIX THAT WORKED FOR ME! (Nick: Tue, Mar 23, 2004, 3:00 pm) |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | Crash (greine12: Tue, Apr 6, 2004, 4:57 pm) |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | re: Crash (MadMan: Sat, Apr 10, 2004, 1:19 pm) |
| |
| |
| |
Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum
|
|