Testing / comparing : Intel D975XBX2 / Asus P5B DX ***56K WARNING***

[uberwurst]

I've RMA'd my Teamgroup sticks once (see sig) and the replacements have recently started to fail. When I say fail I mean programs crashing randomly giving memory related errors, and the RAM failing memtest and Orthos Blend/RAM stress tests.

I'm going to have to ultimately RMA the junk I'm running on now, but I wonder how long this merry-go-round process will go on until I get some good ram?

I never gave them higher V than rated (2.2) and kept the timings within the spd range. I've tried all sorts of timing-loosening, upping vMCH, etc.

What's more: I've already RMA'd my previous badaxe2 which I thought may have been the original culprit in the memory related errors. The errors have continued with a new board! (on my previous sticks that I already RMA'd.) So, new board, new sticks of ram, same problem?

I can RMA the Teamgroup ram for the rest of my life. If I get another malfunctioning set of ram I'm gonna have to buy a new pair.

[Skerlnik]

So my PC has been running great for weeks, until yesterday. Vista started crashing for no reason. Haven't installed anything (or any windows updates) so I knew it had to be hardware. Thought it was my memory, so I ran memtest86 for hours and hours, and it all checked out ok. Even worse, due to the crashing my user profile corrupted, so Vista started loading a "temporary" profile - such fun! Spent hours recovering my settings... if anyone is experiencing this, I have some tips for ya!

Bad news... it was my CPU. I don't know what's going on, but I had to up the voltage from 1.38 to 1.40v to make it Orthos stable again. It's been perfectly stable at 1.38v for many weeks, so now I'm worried. I remember hearing about processors that continually need more & more voltage to be stable - a sign that they're on their way out. I hope this isn't true!

Any advice?

Regards,
Sker

[uberwurst]

Bad news... it was my CPU. I don't know what's going on, but I had to up the voltage from 1.38 to 1.40v to make it Orthos stable again. It's been perfectly stable at 1.38v for many weeks, so now I'm worried. I remember hearing about processors that continually need more & more voltage to be stable - a sign that they're on their way out. I hope this isn't true!

Any advice?

Regards,
Sker

I've been getting the same problems with 2 different motherboards (both bx2's) and 2 sets of ram. The only thing that's been constant is the CPU. I'm wondering whether my problems also come from my CPU. If more info is available on this I would also be interested.

[nealh]

So my PC has been running great for weeks, until yesterday. Vista started crashing for no reason. Haven't installed anything (or any windows updates) so I knew it had to be hardware. Thought it was my memory, so I ran memtest86 for hours and hours, and it all checked out ok. Even worse, due to the crashing my user profile corrupted, so Vista started loading a "temporary" profile - such fun! Spent hours recovering my settings... if anyone is experiencing this, I have some tips for ya!

Bad news... it was my CPU. I don't know what's going on, but I had to up the voltage from 1.38 to 1.40v to make it Orthos stable again. It's been perfectly stable at 1.38v for many weeks, so now I'm worried. I remember hearing about processors that continually need more & more voltage to be stable - a sign that they're on their way out. I hope this isn't true!

Any advice?

Regards,
Sker

was your cpu set at 333 x 9 with 1.38v? was it orthos or prime95 stable? how long?

e6600@ 3.0ghz seems very conservative....No at worst cpu is not on the way out but degrading and I highly doubt this at 1.38v and 3000mhz....

[Reinvented]

Those of you who are having memory/stability problems and are using "rated" voltages - have you tried putting a fan over the dimms? Or even get some air moving over the NB? I mean, just by getting some direct airflow over there will increase stability by a LOT.

[uberwurst]

Those of you who are having memory/stability problems and are using "rated" voltages - have you tried putting a fan over the dimms? Or even get some air moving over the NB? I mean, just by getting some direct airflow over there will increase stability by a LOT.

I have an 80mm fan blowing air over the dimms, northbridge, and towards the outtake fan; I also have a 120mm side-fan blowing into the case directly onto the dimm/northbridge area. I wish it were as simple a problem as heat dissipation, I really do.

[Circaflex]

does the ocz ram cooler fit on the xbx2? I have both sitting next to me and i cant seem to get it to fit with an x800xl on there, what have you guys done to get it to fit?

[theonlybabyface]

Nope. But the Corsair one does.

[nealh]

Nope. But the Corsair one does.

I just do not think the Corsair unit(I have it moves much air)

I have this now on lowest setting..very quiet
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...rd_Cooling_Fan

[uberwurst]

I just do not think the Corsair unit(I have it moves much air)

I have this now on lowest setting..very quiet
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...rd_Cooling_Fan

I saw those at bestbuy.. outlandish pricetag for that little gizmo.

I used some old lego MindStorm parts and some zipties to situate a spare 80mm fan to blow over my ram/northbridge and into the rear outtake.

[Circaflex]

so the corsair cooler will work for sure? thats what i heard about the xtc but it ended up not working.

[theonlybabyface]

so the corsair cooler will work for sure? thats what i heard about the xtc but it ended up not working.

I'm using it as we speak...

[MuttonFlanks]

Well, the calculations will be correct but the other BIOSes don't provide the same settings as the XBX2 so things like "reference" and "memory" frequency might not have any meaning. The determination of the strap, which is directly related to the memory frequency, also won't apply to chipsets other than the 975X.

I see. Well thanks for all the help you've provided, I ended up picking up a QuadGT to play with. It would be nice if all mobos had a resident expert like yourself

[Skerlnik]

was your cpu set at 333 x 9 with 1.38v? was it orthos or prime95 stable? how long?

e6600@ 3.0ghz seems very conservative....No at worst cpu is not on the way out but degrading and I highly doubt this at 1.38v and 3000mhz....

Yes it was at 333x9 w/ 1.38v. CPU was mostly sitting at 2.0ghz (not much load). Temps are usually about 47c idle (always seemed high to me btw, but I figure as long as it's under 60, I'm happy). It was Orthos stable at 1.38 for hours... but no longer. At that voltage Orthos would fail instantly or the system would crash. Wish I knew why!

I have a 40mm fan over my NB as well... and a big case with 120mm fans.

- Sker

[nealh]

Yes it was at 333x9 w/ 1.38v. CPU was mostly sitting at 2.0ghz (not much load). Temps are usually about 47c idle (always seemed high to me btw, but I figure as long as it's under 60, I'm happy). It was Orthos stable at 1.38 for hours... but no longer. At that voltage Orthos would fail instantly or the system would crash. Wish I knew why!

I have a 40mm fan over my NB as well... and a big case with 120mm fans.

- Sker

when you say orthos stable for hrs was this blend/small fft/large fft? 2hrs, 4hrs, 8hrs,24hrs

[Skerlnik]

when you say orthos stable for hrs was this blend/small fft/large fft? 2hrs, 4hrs, 8hrs,24hrs

Blend, for at least 4 hours... I stopped it after that.

- Sker

[nealh]

Blend, for at least 4 hours... I stopped it after that.

- Sker

I understand everyone's definition of a stable overclock is different but I have had several overclocks crap out out at 10hrs(esp on my AMD processors) so I try to make sure it is at least 12hrs now....( I used to use large fft but I have not switched to Blend)

So I wonder if you were really stable at 1.38v....

BTW recently I found a real quick test of cpu stability on my C2D..3Dmark05 cpu test 1 & 2 ....I have found if my vcore is too low this will reboot winxp....these tests take 3 min to run, if I fail I will need more vcore for a stable setup

[Skerlnik]

I understand everyone's definition of a stable overclock is different but I have had several overclocks crap out out at 10hrs(esp on my AMD processors) so I try to make sure it is at least 12hrs now....( I used to use large fft but I have not switched to Blend)

So I wonder if you were really stable at 1.38v....

BTW recently I found a real quick test of cpu stability on my C2D..3Dmark05 cpu test 1 & 2 ....I have found if my vcore is too low this will reboot winxp....these tests take 3 min to run, if I fail I will need more vcore for a stable setup

Perhaps you're right. Maybe it never was truly stable at 1.38v. Never gave me any trouble before though, then suddenly would start blue screening shortly after logins.

Thanks for the advice!

[Nomad_Soul]

Hi all,

Maybe someone can help me determine if I was sent a used or RMA'd motherboard. I just received my Bad Axe 2 retail (975XBX2KR) from Microcenter, and I noticed the packaging was kinda scuffy looking. No big deal I thought, and I opened up the retail box and saw that the cables, I/O template, manual and disks were all just rattling around free in the upper part of the box (seperated from the motherboard by cardboard). Nothing was individually wrapped or secured aside from the motherboard itself and the usb add on riser (which were both sealed in anti-static bags). No added cushioning either.

I'm guessing all this is normal, but it seemed odd for a premium board's retail kit, and I just thought I'd ask.

[creicks]

Well I got my BX2 a few days ago.

Put everything together, NZXT Zero Case, Silverstone 560 Zeus PS, 2 gigs DDR2 800 Firestix, C2D e6600 (L706A499, 4/3/07), Enzotech Ultra-X CPU cooler, XFX GeForce 7900GS, 16X Lite-On Sata DVD Burner, 1ea. 250 GB Seagate Sata II and 1ea. 320 GB Seagate Sata II hard drive.

My goal is a relatively modest and stable 3.2 gHz out of the 6600.

Initial assembly was not a problem thanks to this thread (All of which I've read).

Unfortunately on initial boot the monitor showed only a few seconds of video signal and went blank. The board posted but couldn't find a boot device (there was none at the time).

I powered down, unplugged and waited a few seconds and tried again. I attempted to get into the BIOS this time. The screen flashed a couple of times and came up in the BIOS screen completely garbled. It was unreadable. Again I shut down to check that the Video card was properly seated in the Primary 16X pci-e slot and that the PCI-E connector from the PS was firmly attached. All was good connection-wise but from that point on I never again got another video signal from that card.

I didn't have another pci-e video card so I dug up an old S3 pci video card from many years ago (I knew there was a reason I held on to that thing). I was able to get a video signal and entered the BIOS to make sure that everything was being properly recognized. Everything looked OK.

I figured I would use my trusty Partition Magic 7.0 boot floppies to partition and format my hard drives. That was accomplished without incident.

I had a buddy of mine bring over his Box that contained a working GeForce 7600GT. I installed the 7600GT in my board and it worked great. I installed my 7000GS into his box and again there was no Video Signal.

So my build has hit a delay as I have RMA'd the video card as DOA.

I'm almost 100 percent certain that my problems reside with a faulty video card (Though I've learned that nothing is certain with computers). My guess is that the auxiliary pci-e power connector on the video card is bad since the card was acting like it wasn't getting enough power. My Silverstone PS is SLI-ready with 2ea. pci-e connectors and neither one made a difference with the video card (I have not checked the pci-e connectors with my multimeter yet so I guess it's possible that I have a bad PS). I didn't think to check the power supply until I had sent back the card.

Can anybody suggest another cause for my problem???

I'm hoping the replacement will function and I can get on with my life.

It figures, my first complete new build in about 6 years and I get a bum video card.

I just hope my chip is a good clocker.

[gtj]

Hi all,

Maybe someone can help me determine if I was sent a used or RMA'd motherboard. I just received my Bad Axe 2 retail (975XBX2KR) from Microcenter, and I noticed the packaging was kinda scuffy looking. No big deal I thought, and I opened up the retail box and saw that the cables, I/O template, manual and disks were all just rattling around free in the upper part of the box (seperated from the motherboard by cardboard). Nothing was individually wrapped or secured aside from the motherboard itself and the usb add on riser (which were both sealed in anti-static bags). No added cushioning either.

I'm guessing all this is normal, but it seemed odd for a premium board's retail kit, and I just thought I'd ask.

Welcome, and that's normal. There's not much in the way of packaging.

Well I got my BX2 a few days ago.

I'm almost 100 percent certain that my problems reside with a faulty video card (Though I've learned that nothing is certain with computers). My guess is that the auxiliary pci-e power connector on the video card is bad since the card was acting like it wasn't getting enough power. My Silverstone PS is SLI-ready with 2ea. pci-e connectors and neither one made a difference with the video card (I have not checked the pci-e connectors with my multimeter yet so I guess it's possible that I have a bad PS). I didn't think to check the power supply until I had sent back the card.

Can anybody suggest another cause for my problem???

I'm hoping the replacement will function and I can get on with my life.

It figures, my first complete new build in about 6 years and I get a bum video card.

I just hope my chip is a good clocker.

Welcome, and it definitely sounds like the card was just DOA.

[Nomad_Soul]

Welcome, and that's normal. There's not much in the way of packaging.

Sounds good, and thanks for the reply. It's much appreciated.

[SLi_dog]

Hey guys, what are the tips to pushing RAM on this board?

I'm using an E6600 which is good up to 400FSB on this board 8 hours orthos stable but I'm having real difficulties getting my RAM over DDR1000.

I'm using the 1066 strap and 2:3 divider.


I've increased vMCH, vFSB, vdimm and tried different CAS values but nothing seems to be able to get it stable higher.


It's good RAM, I've got it running 507Mhz 4-4-4-4 at 2.12vdimm so I know it's got alot more in it. This is damn frustrating

[IluvIntel]

Hey guys, what are the tips to pushing RAM on this board?

I'm using an E6600 which is good up to 400FSB on this board 8 hours orthos stable but I'm having real difficulties getting my RAM over DDR1000.

I'm using the 1066 strap and 2:3 divider.


I've increased vMCH, vFSB, vdimm and tried different CAS values but nothing seems to be able to get it stable higher.


It's good RAM, I've got it running 507Mhz 4-4-4-4 at 2.12vdimm so I know it's got alot more in it. This is damn frustrating

Chuck the board out and get a 680i mobo.

[Xilikon]

Sounds good, and thanks for the reply. It's much appreciated.

Same for me when I received it from mwave. I was disappointed by the poor packaging but from what I've gathered, it's standard