ASUS Striker II Extreme

[extremis]

I had the same issue when I was first setting up the system...even at below stock Vista64 install would BSOD. Use 1 stick to install OS then put the other stick in once your setup. Also I would do a complete system back-up to offline drive so you can quickly do a full restore if something goes harry.

I think it was a RAID + 4GB + Vista64 combo issue.

Yeah, that is my setup. Problem is that after it is installed, I cannot use the 2 sticks (4GB), because it will still lock up on boot. Once I got it to run stable until I could get SP1 installed, then nothing I did would get it to boot again.

Have you tried lowering the ram Mhz? 1333 or similar?

Yes, I lowered it, relaxed the timings, used other people's profiles, tried defaults, used other bios versions all the way down to 0402, and adjusted voltage on the RAM, NB, CPU, etc...


..


I just wish I knew if someone else has this same RAM working in this board. I'd like to know if it is worth my time to swap the RAM, or swap the board (again). Maybe I shouldn't be trying with the Asus.

I have to make good decisions if I am to swap, because the longer I take to replace things, the less likely it is that I can exchange the motherboard or ram for a different vendor.

[skinnee]

Yeah, that is my setup. Problem is that after it is installed, I cannot use the 2 sticks (4GB), because it will still lock up on boot. Once I got it to run stable until I could get SP1 installed, then nothing I did would get it to boot again.



Yes, I lowered it, relaxed the timings, used other people's profiles, tried defaults, used other bios versions all the way down to 0402, and adjusted voltage on the RAM, NB, CPU, etc...


..


I just wish I knew if someone else has this same RAM working in this board. I'd like to know if it is worth my time to swap the RAM, or swap the board (again). Maybe I shouldn't be trying with the Asus.

I have to make good decisions if I am to swap, because the longer I take to replace things, the less likely it is that I can exchange the motherboard or ram for a different vendor.

Which RAM again, I don't remember what you listed off earlier.

If you have G.Skill 12800CL7, then I can say 2x2GB works with Vista x64. I haven't tested RAID yet, I have some vacation time coming up for that testing.

Here is where I am sitting thus far, can't push everything too hard as I am still getting the cooling setup, soon enough I'll be able to push to the FSB wall. What I listed here is the only things I have changed from Auto. Proc is a Q9450

Clock Mode: Linked
Ratio: Sync Mode
FSB (QDR): 1720
P1: Enabled
P2: Enabled
tCL: 8
tRCD: 8
tRP: 8
tRAS: 20
CMD: 2T
Voltage: 1.9v

[skinnee]

One more thing to note...I went back and saw you do have the same sticks.

try these, I found after a bad OC attempt if I reset to these settings MemTest was fine.

Clock Mode: Linked
Ratio: Sync Mode
FSB (QDR): 1600
P1: Enabled
P2: Enabled
tCL: 7
tRCD: 7
tRP: 7
tRAS: 18
CMD: 2T
Voltage: 1.9v

[extremis]

Which RAM again, I don't remember what you listed off earlier.

If you have G.Skill 12800CL7, then I can say 2x2GB works with Vista x64. I haven't tested RAID yet, I have some vacation time coming up for that testing.

Here is where I am sitting thus far, can't push everything too hard as I am still getting the cooling setup, soon enough I'll be able to push to the FSB wall. What I listed here is the only things I have changed from Auto. Proc is a Q9450

Clock Mode: Linked
Ratio: Sync Mode
FSB (QDR): 1720
P1: Enabled
P2: Enabled
tCL: 8
tRCD: 8
tRP: 8
tRAS: 20
CMD: 2T
Voltage: 1.9v

Yes, the 2x2GB 12800CL7.

Another place that I BSoD on install is when I try to provide it with a driver for the disk controller (with the raid controller on or off), and I eject the disc. At the moment I push the eject button, it crashes. Which is why I don't think it is RAID that is doing this.

I will however try to do it without RAID enabled.

So, you do have the G.Skill 2x2GB 12800 7-7-7-18 1.9V RAM kit with a Striker II Extreme?

Could you post all your settings?

If it is bad hardware: Do you think the RAM is bad, even though ramtests say it is fine? Or perhaps my motherboard is bad?

[extremis]

One more thing to note...I went back and saw you do have the same sticks.

try these, I found after a bad OC attempt if I reset to these settings MemTest was fine.

Clock Mode: Linked
Ratio: Sync Mode
FSB (QDR): 1600
P1: Enabled
P2: Enabled
tCL: 7
tRCD: 7
tRP: 7
tRAS: 18
CMD: 2T
Voltage: 1.9v

Memtest is fine for me. I have yet to fail it, unless I set my timing/voltages wacky.

I am not trying to overclock yet. I just want a regular boot.

I will try those settings though.

[skinnee]

Yes, the 2x2GB 12800CL7.

So, you do have the G.Skill 2x2GB 12800 7-7-7-18 1.9V RAM kit with a Striker II Extreme?

Could you post all your settings?

If it is bad hardware: Do you think the RAM is bad, even though ramtests say it is fine? Or perhaps my motherboard is bad?

Yes, I have the same kit.

The settings I posted are the only ones I have changed from default on 0704 BIOS, which BIOS version are you running? I can update if needed. But I can post all settings, I'll snag BZ's list of settings and post those.

Which RAM slots are you using, blue or white?

The other thing you can do is Slipstream the driver into your OS install disc, this will automaticly provide the driver for install instead of hitting F6 to provide an additional driver.

nLite is great for slipstreaming, I use it lots.

[extremis]

Yes, I have the same kit.

The settings I posted are the only ones I have changed from default on 0704 BIOS, which BIOS version are you running? I can update if needed. But I can post all settings, I'll snag BZ's list of settings and post those.

Which RAM slots are you using, blue or white?

The other thing you can do is Slipstream the driver into your OS install disc, this will automaticly provide the driver for install instead of hitting F6 to provide an additional driver.

nLite is great for slipstreaming, I use it lots.

I don't really need the driver, I was just trying to see if that would help. I noted it here, so that people understood that bluescreens happen at a few key points, regardless of my use of RAID.

I am using the blue slots. However, as indicated, I have tried them in all slots. I have tried both blue, both white, and the first blue/white as well. 1 stick alone is fine, 2 in any slots break things.

[extremis]

One more thing to note...I went back and saw you do have the same sticks.

try these, I found after a bad OC attempt if I reset to these settings MemTest was fine.

Clock Mode: Linked
Ratio: Sync Mode
FSB (QDR): 1600
P1: Enabled
P2: Enabled
tCL: 7
tRCD: 7
tRP: 7
tRAS: 18
CMD: 2T
Voltage: 1.9v

With these settings, it bluescreens on the boot of the installation disk.

Could you post all of your settings?

[skinnee]

From BenchZowner's list...

Required System Specifications
PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = Silverstone DA1200
CPU = Q9450
RAM = G.Skill DDR3-12800 CL7 2x@GB
HDD ( the one where you have your windows installation on ) = Seagate  ST3250310NS Barracude ES.2 250GB
VGA1 = eVGA 9600GT
VGA2 ( if you have ) =
VGA3 ( if you have ) =
SPU ( Sound Card ) = Supreme FXII
NorthBridge Cooling = Stock
SouthBridge Cooling = Stock
CPU Cooling = Intel HSF
RAM Cooling = Corsair Dominator Fans
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version =
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version =
Sound Card Drivers Version =
BIOS version =  0801

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 8.0
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Sync Mode
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1600
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1600
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = Auto 
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Enabled
P2 = Enabled
tCL ( CAS Latency ) = 7
tRCD = 7
tRP = 7
tRAS = 18
Command Per Clock (CMD) = 2T
tRRD = (Auto) 5
tRC = (30) 30
tWR = (Auto) 12
tWTR = (Auto) 18
tFAW = (Auto) 25
tRD = (13) 13
tRTP = (15) 15
tRFC = (251) 88
tREF = (Auto) 7.8uS

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = (Auto)
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = (Auto)
CPU VTT Voltage = (Auto)
Memory Voltage = 1.90V
NB Core Voltage = (Auto)
SB Core Voltage = (Auto)
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio = (Auto)
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio = (Auto)
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio = (Auto)
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio = (Auto)
NB GTL REF Ratio = (Auto)
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt = (Auto)
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt = (Auto)
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt = (Auto)
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt = (Auto)

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = (Auto)
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Disabled
Execute Disable Bit = Disabled
Virtualization Technology = Disabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Disabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled
CPU Core 4 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled

Spread Spectrum Control
CPU Spread Spectrum = Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum = Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum = Disabled

[Trigger5521]

Using this post as a guide I'm 1800 stable @ 9-9-9-26 2T.

The CPU can run at 3600 easy. 1.325 v auto VTT and PLL.

Just going through the incremental testing at lower timings now, it's amazing just lowering the tRP by one causes memtest to fail. I rasie NB and retest ok..try the tRCD -1 next and boom memtest fails. It's going to take alot of tweaking I think.

[skinnee]

I had that suspicion with this board from reading all of the posts here...finding the golden settings for our own setup is going to be time consuming. And from what I've gathered, even the same hardware won't run identical settings, going to take slight variations.

[OBR]

solution for video freeze ... set PCI to 101MHz, and HTT to 205MHz, this working for me so far ...

[slim142]

Ok so I decided to finally get rid of my doubts about the Auzentech card and the D-link card and the IRQ related stuff and also anything with my RAM and Temps to see if this had anything related to my video freezes with SLI enabled. Im done with my testing, here is what I tried.

**(OC) means that I tried those settings with Overclocked settings. All of this was done with SLI enabled 177.35 w/ PhysX drivers with 15.17 nForce drivers.

Test#1
(OC) Removed Auzentech card = Froze 20 Mins

Test#2
(OC) Removed D-link PCI card = Froze 18 Mins

Test#3
(OC) Ram set to 1333Mhz = Froze 42 Mins

Test #4
Default settings (load default from BIOS menu) with RAM @ 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18, tRC 30, P1&P2 in Auto, Spread Spectrums Disabled, CPU Options disabled (All cores enabled), all voltages in Auto except for RAM at 1.90v = Froze 50 mins

Test #5
Same as #4 but NB voltage at 1.44v = Froze 5 mins

Test#6
(OC) OBR settings 201 for PCI-E and 205 for SPP/MCP clock speed = froze 8 mins

Ok, so in conclusion, no matter if I have the audio card in or not I always get freezes. No matter what I tried I would always freeze, some settings made it freeze after a long period but the movie didnt even get to finish playing.
I dont know if the Supreme FXII has anything to do with this (I never use it anyways) but it was on all the time, I dont know if this has any effect.

Well, I think after this 3 hours of testing, the only thing left to do is to wait for nvidia and see if they decide to fix their premature product or leave it to users luck. For now, Im done with this, I guess I'll just have to disable SLI anytime I feel like burning or playing a movie. Oh well...

[Warboy]

Ok so I decided to finally get rid of my doubts about the Auzentech card and the D-link card and the IRQ related stuff and also anything with my RAM and Temps to see if this had anything related to my video freezes with SLI enabled. Im done with my testing, here is what I tried.

**(OC) means that I tried those settings with Overclocked settings. All of this was done with SLI enabled 177.35 w/ PhysX drivers with 15.17 nForce drivers.

Test#1
(OC) Removed Auzentech card = Froze 20 Mins

Test#2
(OC) Removed D-link PCI card = Froze 18 Mins

Test#3
(OC) Ram set to 1333Mhz = Froze 42 Mins

Test #4
Default settings (load default from BIOS menu) with RAM @ 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18, tRC 30, P1&P2 in Auto, Spread Spectrums Disabled, CPU Options disabled (All cores enabled), all voltages in Auto except for RAM at 1.90v = Froze 50 mins

Test #5
Same as #4 but NB voltage at 1.44v = Froze 5 mins

Test#6
(OC) OBR settings 201 for PCI-E and 205 for SPP/MCP clock speed = froze 8 mins

Ok, so in conclusion, no matter if I have the audio card in or not I always get freezes. No matter what I tried I would always freeze, some settings made it freeze after a long period but the movie didnt even get to finish playing.
I dont know if the Supreme FXII has anything to do with this (I never use it anyways) but it was on all the time, I dont know if this has any effect.

Well, I think after this 3 hours of testing, the only thing left to do is to wait for nvidia and see if they decide to fix their premature product or leave it to users luck. For now, Im done with this, I guess I'll just have to disable SLI anytime I feel like burning or playing a movie. Oh well...

What OS are you running?

[slim142]

What OS are you running?

Windows XP SP3

[Warboy]

Windows XP SP3

Try Vista SP1, When I was running XP, I would get lockups too, But I switched to Vista, and I haven't had a Lockup yet.

[slim142]

Try Vista SP1, When I was running XP, I would get lockups too, But I switched to Vista, and I haven't had a Lockup yet.

I might end up creating a small partition on my Raptor to install Vista and see how everything goes. Not sure yet when.

[TheHardCase]

Does the S2E have network teaming?
I can't get it to come up in the nivida control panel..
Any Idea?

[Trigger5521]

Does the S2E have network teaming?
I can't get it to come up in the nivida control panel..
Any Idea?

Yes it's an option in control panel..when you install the nforce drivers it should ask you if you would like to install the Network Access Manager at the end. I say should because I have installed back and forth from 9.64 and the new 15.17 and it does not always ask you, very weird.

Hey Slim read this..My system just got buggered up with the nforce drivers not installing correctly, could'nt get network going with teaming..Vista said drivers failed ect. Get this..I uninstall just the nforce 9.64 package(not video drivers) and install the new nforce 15.17...network and teaming starts working again. Great I'm thinking then..bam screen freezes while looking at a web page in IE7. I figured ah just a bug reboot(my system has never frozen before..bsod yes crash yes but never frozen screen). Reboot, 10mins later bam frozen again..WTF I tried uninstalling 15.17 and putting 9.64 back and the damn thing would not install correctly. I've just restored from a full system back-up from a few days ago...all is well again no freezes. Could it be a bad driver install for you?

[TheHardCase]

Thank's Trigger5521, yeah I installed everything but it never came up.
Looks like I'll have to install again...

[slim142]

Hey Slim read this..My system just got buggered up with the nforce drivers not installing correctly, could'nt get network going with teaming..Vista said drivers failed ect. Get this..I uninstall just the nforce 9.64 package(not video drivers) and install the new nforce 15.17...network and teaming starts working again. Great I'm thinking then..bam screen freezes while looking at a web page in IE7. I figured ah just a bug reboot(my system has never frozen before..bsod yes crash yes but never frozen screen). Reboot, 10mins later bam frozen again..WTF I tried uninstalling 15.17 and putting 9.64 back and the damn thing would not install correctly. I've just restored from a full system back-up from a few days ago...all is well again no freezes. Could it be a bad driver install for you?

I also tried system restore but the drivers seemed to be stuck for some reason they would still be there, WTF? But somehow I got to fix my system, well it actually fixed itself as right now Im using the nForce ethernet port I dont know what happened but it started working again, havent tried teaming yet cause I dont have the option and Im good for now.

Thank's Trigger5521, yeah I installed everything but it never came up.
Looks like I'll have to install again...

I think (not sure) you have to install ntune. If you installed ethernet and NAM and it still doesnt show up, try installing system tools 6.01 to see if that adds it.

[Coupa]

Hey Slim read this..My system just got buggered up with the nforce drivers not installing correctly, could'nt get network going with teaming..Vista said drivers failed ect. Get this..I uninstall just the nforce 9.64 package(not video drivers) and install the new nforce 15.17...network and teaming starts working again. Great I'm thinking then..bam screen freezes while looking at a web page in IE7. I figured ah just a bug reboot(my system has never frozen before..bsod yes crash yes but never frozen screen). Reboot, 10mins later bam frozen again..WTF I tried uninstalling 15.17 and putting 9.64 back and the damn thing would not install correctly. I've just restored from a full system back-up from a few days ago...all is well again no freezes. Could it be a bad driver install for you?

At the moment, on 15.17, when im installing something, or even listening to music and browsing the web, process by process starts not responding. Eventually everything will stop responding (Takes about 5 minutes (and its just done it about 3 times as im typing this) then everything just goes back to normal, it starts responding again. This never happened on the 9.64 drivers or pre 177.xx drivers (i installed 15.17 with the 177.xx drivers so its hard to trouble shoot, silly me). So at the moment im assuming its the 15.17 drivers that are mucking with the HDDs (because i seem to get this non responding crap when the HDD is being accessed, ie downloading, sound or installation. Strangely enough, it doesnt happen in games. Go figure.

So im going to install 9.64 drivers and see if i lock up in games/desktop. Im pretty sure 9.64 makes me lock up in games but. I think i tried it before i reinstalled vista. (For the record this is a clean vista install. It has only had 15.17 and 177.39 drivers on it).

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the problem or solution? Does anyone have/have had this problem?

Edit: Installed SMU from the 9.64 only (Im assuming SMU = System management unit? Therefore it is whats causing the processes screwing up? and SMbus = System management bus? ie thats whats making my SLI not freeze. So according to my thinking SMU from 9.64 + SMbus from 15.17 should equal win. Please tell me if theres something wrong with that line of thinking).

[sakaana]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the problem or solution? Does anyone have/have had this problem?

Just wondering if you have "Loadline Calibration" enabled ? Cause it sounds like that you get those freezes when you don`t have that much load on your machine.

[Coupa]

Just wondering if you have "Loadline Calibration" enabled ? Cause it sounds like that you get those freezes when you don`t have that much load on your machine.

Hmm, i cant remember, but thats a good question. Ill have a look a bit later, i didnt even think about that. So far what i tried seems to be working ok (of course now that ive said that i can expect some crashtastic fun).

Edit: No, LLC is Disabled.

[Trigger5521]

Thank's Trigger5521, yeah I installed everything but it never came up.
Looks like I'll have to install again...

This is how I got my system messed up. My system was golden with Video 174.74 and nforce 9.64, then last saturday out of nowhere I wake the machine and I have only local netwrok access, no internet. Click the x mark over the internet line in the netwrok and sharing center and it tells me "either hardware failure or drivers are malfunctioning"

Tried some reboots no luck..thought my router may have kicked it..uh uh. Decided to install 15.17, first attempt was over top of 9.64..bad idea. No network teaming available, tried uninstalling and reinstalling..now teaming comes up but in control panel the netwrok devices are named different "10/100/1000 network controller #4" & #5. Teaming enabled was not adding a virtual controller when enabled. I tried unistalling drivers again and deleting both controllers from the device mgr and reboot. system worked fine using the Vista built in drivers...tried installing 9.64 again and no network teaming...Got pissed and restored the whole system back to my last good backup from the 15th. Now she is working perfect. Point of this long ramble is..there is a right way and a wrong way to install and uninstall these stupid nvidia drivers. I can't say I have figured out the right way yet, but I'm a little gun shy to just try any old set of drivers now. Wasted some serious time I don't have on that crap.