"Rudy Kazuti" said:
Just installed this mobo. Using an AMD Athlon 3200+ 400fsb. Two sticks of
Kingston PC 3200/400 512. Could not install windows. I got the BSOD
everytime setup tried to reboot. Ran memtest86 And got all kinds of errors.
Yanked one of the sticks of ram and everything worked perfectly. The mobo
box lists DDR 400 as supported but not the ASUS web site. Had the sticks
installed in dimm A1 & dimm B1. Hard to believe that I just happened to pull
the bad stick out. Has anyone had a problem with 400 ram in this board?
Rudy
Test the sticks one at a time. My guess is they will both test OK.
The Nforce2 is picky about RAM. There is one person who posted
here recently, who claimed only Asus NForce2 boards are like
that, but I suspect you'll find any brand will do this. It is
just too difficult to collect enough data on Nforcershq.com
forums to prove it.
Things to try:
0) Bump up Vdimm, as DDR400 needs >2.6 volts.
1) One stick, single channel, could run at DDR400.
2) Two sticks, single channel, could run in A1 & A2.
Give that a try with memtest86. You get less memory
bandwidth. May or may not be entirely error free. Test
with Prime95 (mersenne.org) torture test to be sure.
3) Two sticks, dual channel, A1 & B1, could run at 180MHz
(FSB360, DDR360). Maybe even 185Mhz. If your processor is
not multiplier locked, you can bump down the FSB and
bump up the multiplier. 185*12 = 2220MHz, or roughly
equiv to a 3200+ . I use an AthlonXP-M as the mobile
chip has an unlocked multiplier (available from newegg.com
in the States, or ncix.com in Canada).
4) Two sticks, dual channel, A1 & B1, could run at 200MHz
by using "Trats BIOS" 2T Command Rate version. Using
2T Command rate instead of 1T Command rate, is easier
on the chip interface. But, it also reduces the memory
bandwidth, so isn't a very good solution. Trats BIOS
are available on nforcershq.com (I'm using the 1T
version right now myself, although the Asus BIOS is
1T by default, so if you want Command Rate 1T, the
standard BIOS does that.) Installing a hacked BIOS is
good if you want 200MHz and don't have a way to
change the multiplier. Too bad Command Rate is not
an option in the BIOS, as it should be.
5) Get two sticks of CAS2 memory. There are about six
brands using Samsung TCCD, but now that Samsung is phasing
it out (in favor of making DDR2 memory), apparently only
Corsair will have a decent supply. I am using two sticks
of Crucial Ballistix PC3200 CAS2 memory, and it uses Micron
chips. Perhaps we'll see more CAS2 memory makers switch
to Micron, if it is possible to get the appropriate chips
from Micron. In any case, I expect you'll find a CAS2
memory solves your problems. It just costs a lot more.
Note: Options 2,3,4 above cause about the same amount of
bandwidth reduction, so the only way to succeed, is find
some better memory. It is always possible that some CAS3
rated memory will work, as if the chips are actually the
same silicon as the CAS2 chips are made of, they may have
the "right stuff". But buying CAS2 memory is the right
solution if you want this fixed quickly, with fewest
memory swaps with your memory vendor.
By the way, if anyone reading this is using CAS3 memory
at DDR400 without problems, please post your brand/model
of memory, so it can be recommended as a solution in the
future
I think someone got some Crucial CAS3 to work,
but we need more confirmations of that. Many of the posts
on Nforcershq aren't running at FSB400/DDR400/Dual channel,
so the posted stories are worthless for figuring out what
to buy. You must test with both memtest86 and Prime95, to
be able to claim "it works". Being able to boot Windows
does not constitute a good enough test. Many people who
claim their memory "works", have never really tested it.
HTH,
Paul
