Help, need to stabilize Memory to install Vista 64.

[cluelessguy]

Hi all,

Before I go on and state my problem I'd like to confess that I don't know very much about tweaking so I normally stay away from timing/voltage tweaking menus, however I really need a tweaker's help now.

Here's the deal, I got an ASUS Striker II Extreme motherboard and 8GB of Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Memory (1600/1333, 9-9-9-24) however a recent flashing of the motherboard BIOS cleared the pre-filled settings under the 'Extreme Tweaker' options menu.

My processor is QX9650 3GHz which I normally run @ 3GHz, however after the BIOS update and CMOS-clearing, it says 2.00GHz during POST.

I've been playing around with different values for the 'CPU Multiplier' and found that setting it to '9.0' gets my speed back up to 3.00GHz



I've always had stability issues with memory on this machine, system would freeze regularly. Not sure if this is related to memory but BIOS froze at one point!

I can't even get through Vista 64 installation because after the first part of installation, it attempts to boot into Windows for the first time but just after the green loading bar, it suddenly reboots.

Sometimes it goes a little further until met with a BSOD:



The memory is Corsair TW3X4G1600C9DHX, 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 stated on the packaging but I've been trying to run it at 1333MHz since my motherboard supports up to 1333MHz without overclocking (which I don't know how to do).

Not sure if the motherboard is doing a good job of recognizing the right values for the timings since it selects 7-7-7-20 1T whereas I'm expecting 9-9-9-24 2T (?).



Voltages are also set to Auto, currently around 1.66V (weren't sure if I should set Memory voltage to 1.80V just because it says so on the memory label itself).

If someone can help me manually set the best timings/voltage to stabilize this system, I'd be most grateful. You'd be saving me from selling off my PC piece by piece, rolling around in mud, muttering to myself and eating my own hair!

[The0men]

Set those (1600MHz 9-9-9-24) settings with manufacturers voltage of 1.8v

See what happens, sometimes but manually setting your tCL-9 tRCD-9 tRP-9 and tRAS-24, and leaving the rest of your timings on auto, and putting frequency to 1600mhz the rest of the timings usually slacken off, and follow suit.

[cluelessguy]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I manually set tCL=9, tRCD=9, tRP=9, tRAS=24, voltage=1.80V and PC-12800

The following settings were automatically selected:
CMD=2T
tRRD=6
tRC=41
tWR=12
tWTR=18
tFAW=25
tRD=11
tRTP=6
tRFC=88
tREF=7.8uS

Unfortunately, I couldn't even get to the first part of Vista installation this time. It froze whilst loading setup.

[The0men]

I thought they might change lol.

Did you also set the voltage...

And maybe you should another kit of ram to see if the rams dead.

Or even just try one stick at a time.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Take out enough ram so you'll be left with < 2gb and I bet you'll be fine ( actual number I'm unsure of but vista doesn't like 8gb when being installed that's a known issue )

[Rab]

Take out enough ram so you'll be left with < 2gb and I bet you'll be fine ( actual number I'm unsure of but vista doesn't like 8gb when being installed that's a known issue )

microsoft advise doing it this way if you are having problems installing vista

had to do that last week with my new 2x 4gb, use 1 stick to install vista,
ms has a fix for this on there website.
problem solved if vista has sp1
G/L

[Marvin_The_Martian]

microsoft advise doing it this way if you are having problems installing vista

had to do that last week with my new 2x 4gb, use 1 stick to install vista,
ms has a fix for this on there website.
problem solved if vista has sp1
G/L

Yeah but if you don't have a sp1 preconfigured install medium you still need to lower the amount of ram before you install, as you can't download fixes if you haven't installed an os first, nor update to sp1 if you can't install it first

Edit:

Btw don't know your board nor ram, still on ancient i975 and ddr2 offcourse then, so maybe it's just a bios setting you have wrong and someone else will tell you that

[cluelessguy]

Yes, I did set voltage to 1.80V.

Thanks for the new suggestion guys, I'm now trying 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 1.80V, only 1x 2GB module installed instead of all 4 x 2GB modules.

So far it's in the middle of installation. Will let you know if it completes successfully.

Edit: Hooray! It installed! Thanks guys. Now, going to put the other 6GB back in, install my apps and use it for a few days to evaluate stability.... unless there's a program to help speed up the testing?

[cluelessguy]

Strange, I put all the modules in and I got the same BSOD as the one above.

I also think something may be wrong with my DIMM1 slot (A1), may need to call ASUS on that one.

[1badhabit]

Try to install windows without tweaking anything, see if that solves your installation issue, then continue to tweak after windows is installed.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Strange, I put all the modules in and I got the same BSOD as the one above.

I also think something may be wrong with my DIMM1 slot (A1), may need to call ASUS on that one.

Ignore the above poster, install the correct hotfix first. I'm assuming you haven't run through windows update all the way yet?

Edit: ignore my ignore the above poster I think I read his post wrong. Sorry for that I though you ment he should reinstall again instead of just leaving the xtra ram out untill he finished the updates?

[1badhabit]

Edit: Hooray! It installed! Thanks guys. Now, going to put the other 6GB back in, install my apps and use it for a few days to evaluate stability.... unless there's a program to help speed up the testing?

Well, nevermind, do ignore my post, congrats me for not reading through all of the posts, he already installed windows!

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Well, nevermind, do ignore my post, congrats me for not reading the entire posts, he already installed windows!

Who gave him the info to do that m8? I was just wondering wth you went.

[cluelessguy]

No problem 1badhabit, I appreciate the input.

Seems Vista 64 is only stable when I set all Memory settings to Auto (except for the speed is still manually set to 1333MHz because I really hate it when it sets it to 1067MHz!).

Following your advice Marvin: Downloading + Installing virtually all the updates via Windows Update. Also, KB929777 hotfix for >2GB.

Guess we'll have to see what happens after the update.

[cluelessguy]

Hmm... It's working now I think. Successfully installed hotfix KB929777 then SP1. Boots fine with 8GB @ 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 1.80V

There's nothing left to do but install my apps and test stability. Just hope it doesn't freeze by the time I click to post this message. That would be embarrassing.

Thanks guys for all your help.

P.S. There was only one thing that happened which was kinda weird. I clipped a Corsair Dominator Fan to my memory modules and when I booted up, POST reported wrong CPU speed (1.80GHz) + odd memory timings 9 11 30 etc. I restarted, then POST displayed the correct values (3.00GHz, 9-9-9-24)... Should I be worried?

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Just make sure your memory modules are fully inserted ( while the rig is off ).

Glad you got it running

Grrr

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[cluelessguy]

Hehe. Looks I celebrated a little too soon. After about 30-60 mins of booting into Vista, it froze as I was about to install Firefox.

What do you reckon I should do with memory settings? Lower voltage from 1.80V and/or change the timings?

[Marvin_The_Martian]

I would edit post 1, change the thread title and ask for help with your specific ram modules, as you've past the point about installing and want now some help with your Corsair TW3X4G1600C9DHX.

You could even post in the corsair support section, and ask a techy for help ( I would recommend this ).

[cluelessguy]

Thanks man, I didn't see that forum before.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Lol it's right there at the index, though I must admit I spend most time in the fah forum and cp already, I even don't look at the folders social group everyday it's getting harder to oversee ( though more fun at the same time )

[The0men]

Hehe. Looks I celebrated a little too soon. After about 30-60 mins of booting into Vista, it froze as I was about to install Firefox.

What do you reckon I should do with memory settings? Lower voltage from 1.80V and/or change the timings?

LOL I never even realised you had 8GB...

Now I know... Thats alot of RAM for the NB to deal with, if its still giving you BSOD's, you really need to raise your NB voltage lol.

Also the rated speed and timings and voltage, are likely to be only certified for 2GB use, and often when you use alot more you may need to relax this a little bit.