Instability Problem 2x2gig DDR800

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praxeologist

n00b
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Nov 16, 2010
Messages
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I've put together a couple systems a few years back but am kind of lost to do on this one. My dad got someone else to make him a system and it often locks up, screens go black and such, sometimes requiring a reboot.

This is the motherboard in it: MSI K9N6PGM2-V2

At first he had the shop try to get a 3 monitor setup off of the onboard + one video card. That failed so he has a geforce 6200 + 8400. The system was having windows installer errors, giving messages about video memory and such.

Now though, I have reformatted and used Nvidias newest drivers rather than whatever MSI ones were in before. I don't see errors related to graphics memory and it is still locking up.

At first he had only 2 gigs memory but I told him he should have them up it to at least 4 gig when he had them work on it. So, I pulled out the memory to reseat it and look at it and they aren't identical

Crucial

CT25664AA800.M16VFH

CT25664AA800.M16JF2

The first one also says:

2GB 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Unbuff
PC2 -6400 CL6

The second one says: 2GB 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Unbuff PC2-6 [Then is cut off by some other part of the label]

These seem the same but the first one is smaller, about half the height.

I let MemTest run overnight, up to about test 7 and there were no errors. I did then notice the timing of these is 6-6-6-18.

What's my next step? I've never dealt with a problem like this. Thanks all.
 
Well, if they passed memtest, then the sticks are probably fine (though, you should run memtest on each stick separately just to be sure). And all unbuff means is that it's unbuffered, which means it's not registered, which is the case with all desktop ram (buffered or registered ram is generally only used in server or workstation configurations). Try running his system on just one stick at a time to make sure they are playing well together. I doubt that's the issue, but it's worth a check.

Also, run PC Check to test the motherboard/cpu, and DFT to test the hard drive(s). That should give you a good idea of what the problem is. If everything comes back ok, then it's time for some physical trouble shooting (if you have spare parts laying around that is). As always, test the powersupply and check the motherboard for bulging/bend capacitors.

Good luck.
 
I don't know what PC Check or DFT are. I think I have some old 1 gig sticks laying around but they might be a bit outdated.

I have some software, AIDA64, if that helps. Is there a certain test# I can restrict memtest to so it doesn't take 12 hours to complete? Something I read said 4-6 passes on test #5 was all that it was really good for.
 
DFT = Drive Fitness Test. PC-Check is just a hardware diagnostic tool for testing your motherboad (and onboard featuers), cpu, memroy etc. I keep forgetting that it's not free for most people, so I should probably stop suggesting it lol. Since you don't sound like you have much experience troubleshooting pc problems, I'm going to point you to the FAQ in the General Hardware section. There's a good list of diag tools and some good steps to perform when troubleshooting.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1349426

That should get you started. As for your ram, it may or may not be compatible with your Father's system. I'd need to know what the specs are to tell you more.
 
Bump the northbridge voltage up, as well as the DIMM voltage. If the manufacturer says its safe to run it at 2.0 volts than try that. Set the timings according the the slowest pair of ram as well, you can look up the JDEC spec using cpu-z. I'd also loosen the trfc, try 42 or even higher.
 
PC Check sounds a lot like AIDA64 (old everest) I'll put some of the report below.

Motherboard:
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon II X2 245, 2900 MHz (14.5 x 200)
Motherboard Name MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 (MS-7309) (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce 6150SE-430, AMD K10
System Memory 4096 MB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)
DIMM1: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16VF 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)
DIMM2: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16FJ 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6200 (256 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6200 (256 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 8400 (256 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 8400 (256 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 8400
Monitor Dell D1626HT [21" CRT] (55347A0ZU488)
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 740N [17" LCD] (H9NL320488)
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 927DF(I)/927MB(I)/997DF/997MB [19" CRT] (HCGY500708)

Manufacturer MSI
Product K9N6PGM2-V2 (MS-7309)
Version 2.0

[ Caches / L1-Cache ]

Cache Properties:
Type Internal
Status Enabled
Operational Mode Varies with Memory Address
Associativity 4-way Set-Associative
Maximum Size 256 KB
Installed Size 256 KB
Supported SRAM Type Pipeline Burst
Current SRAM Type Pipeline Burst
Error Correction Single-bit ECC
Socket Designation L1-Cache

[ Caches / L2-Cache ]

Cache Properties:
Type Internal
Status Enabled
Operational Mode Varies with Memory Address
Associativity 4-way Set-Associative
Maximum Size 2048 KB
Installed Size 2048 KB
Supported SRAM Type Pipeline Burst
Current SRAM Type Pipeline Burst
Error Correction Single-bit ECC
Socket Designation L2-Cache

[ Caches / L3-Cache ]

Cache Properties:
Type Internal
Status Disabled
Maximum Size 0 KB
Installed Size 0 KB
Socket Designation L3-Cache

[ Memory Devices / DIMM1 ]

Memory Device Properties:
Type DDR2
Type Detail Synchronous
Size 2048 MB
Speed 800 MHz
Total Width 64-bit
Data Width 72-bit
Device Locator DIMM1
Bank Locator BANK0
Manufacturer Manufacturer00
Serial Number 00000000
Asset Tag AssetTagNum0
Part Number CT25664AA800.M16VF

[ Memory Devices / DIMM2 ]

Memory Device Properties:
Type DDR2
Type Detail Synchronous
Size 2048 MB
Speed 800 MHz
Total Width 64-bit
Data Width 72-bit
Device Locator DIMM2
Bank Locator BANK1
Manufacturer Manufacturer01
Serial Number 00000000
Asset Tag AssetTagNum1
Part Number CT25664AA800.M16FJ

--------[ Overclock ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Properties:
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon II X2 245
CPU Alias Regor
CPU Stepping DA-C2
Engineering Sample No
CPUID CPU Name AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor
CPUID Revision 00100F62h
CPU VID 1.4250 V
North Bridge VID 1.1750 V

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 2913.2 MHz (original: 2900 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 14.5x
CPU FSB 200.9 MHz (original: 200 MHz)
HyperTransport Clock 803.6 MHz
North Bridge Clock 2009.1 MHz
Memory Bus 401.8 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 12:6

CPU Cache:
L1 Code Cache 64 KB per core
L1 Data Cache 64 KB per core
L2 Cache 1 MB per core (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 64-0100-000001-00101111-090210-ATHLON64$A7309200_A7309NMS V2.6 090210
Motherboard Name MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 (MS-7309) (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce 6150SE-430, AMD K10
Memory Timings 6-6-6-18 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Command Rate (CR) 2T
DIMM1: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16VF 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)
DIMM2: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16FJ 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)

System BIOS Date 09/02/10
Video BIOS Date 03/19/10
DMI BIOS Version V2.6

Video Adapter nVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP
GPU Code Name NV44AGP (PCI 10DE / 0221, Rev A1)
GPU Clock 301 MHz (original: 300 MHz)
Memory Clock 266 MHz (original: 266 MHz)

Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.056 V
+3.3 V 3.328 V
+5 V 5.134 V
+12 V 12.144 V
+3.3 V Standby 3.328 V
VBAT Battery 3.040 V

--------[ CPU ]----

CPU Properties:
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon II X2 245, 2900 MHz (14.5 x 200)
CPU Alias Regor
CPU Stepping DA-C2
Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A
Original Clock 2900 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 5.0x / 14.5x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Code Cache 64 KB per core
L1 Data Cache 64 KB per core
L2 Cache 1 MB per core (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)

Multi CPU:
Motherboard ID nVidia MCP61
CPU #1 AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor, 2913 MHz
CPU #2 AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor, 2913 MHz

Front Side Bus Properties:
Bus Type AMD K10
Real Clock 200 MHz
Effective Clock 200 MHz
HyperTransport Clock 800 MHz
North Bridge Clock 2000 MHz

Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type Unganged Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio 12:6
Real Clock 400 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 12800 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info:
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket AM2+
Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16
RAM Slots 2 DDR2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 200 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset nForce6150SE-430

--------[ Memory ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physical Memory:
Total 4095 MB
Used 1216 MB
Free 2878 MB
Utilization 30 %

Swap Space:
Total 8188 MB
Used 1406 MB
Free 6782 MB
Utilization 17 %

Virtual Memory:
Total 12283 MB
Used 2623 MB
Free 9660 MB
Utilization 21 %


--------[ SPD ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ DIMM1: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16VF ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Crucial CT25664AA800.M16VF
Serial Number None
Manufacture Date Week 14 / 2010
Module Size 2 GB (2 ranks, 8 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered DIMM
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Speed DDR2-800 (400 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 1.8
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 400 MHz 6-6-6-18 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 24-51-3-6-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)
@ 333 MHz 5-5-5-15 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 20-43-3-5-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)
@ 266 MHz 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 16-34-2-4-2-2 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)

Memory Module Features:
Analysis Probe Not Present
FET Switch External Disabled
Weak Driver Supported

[ DIMM2: Crucial CT25664AA800.M16FJ ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Crucial CT25664AA800.M16FJ
Serial Number None
Manufacture Date Week 21 / 2010
Module Size 2 GB (2 ranks, 8 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered DIMM
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Speed DDR2-800 (400 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 1.8
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 400 MHz 6-6-6-18 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 24-51-3-6-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)
@ 333 MHz 5-5-5-15 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 20-43-3-5-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)
@ 266 MHz 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 16-34-2-4-2-2 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)

Memory Module Features:
Analysis Probe Not Present
FET Switch External Disabled
Weak Driver Supported

--------[ Chipset ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ North Bridge: AMD K10 IMC ]

North Bridge Properties:
North Bridge AMD K10 IMC
Supported Memory Types DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-667, DDR2-800, DDR2-1066, DDR3-800, DDR3-1066 SDRAM
Revision 00
Probe Filter Not Supported

Memory Controller:
Type Dual Channel (128-bit)
Active Mode Dual Channel (128-bit) - Unganged

Memory Timings:
CAS Latency (CL) 6T
RAS To CAS Delay (tRCD) 6T
RAS Precharge (tRP) 6T
RAS Active Time (tRAS) 18T
Row Cycle Time (tRC) 24T
Command Rate (CR) 2T
RAS To RAS Delay (tRRD) 3T
Write Recovery Time (tWR) 6T
Write To Read Delay (tWTR) 3T
Read To Precharge Delay (tRTP) 5T
Four Activate Window Delay (tFAW) 14T
Write CAS Latency (tWCL) 5T
Refresh Period (tREF) 7.8 us
DRAM Drive Strength 1.0x
DRAM Data Drive Strength 1.0x
Clock Drive Strength 1.5x
CKE Drive Strength 1.5x
Idle Cycle Limit 16

Error Correction:
ECC Supported, Disabled
ChipKill ECC Supported, Disabled
RAID Not Supported
DRAM Scrub Rate Disabled
L1 Data Cache Scrub Rate Disabled
L2 Cache Scrub Rate Disabled
L3 Cache Scrub Rate Disabled

Memory Slots:
DRAM Slot #1 2 GB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)
DRAM Slot #2 2 GB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)

[ South Bridge: nVIDIA nForce 6100-4xx (MCP61) ]

South Bridge Properties:
South Bridge nVIDIA nForce 6100-4xx (MCP61)
Revision A2
Process Technology 90 nm
nVIDIA SLI Not Supported
nVIDIA Hybrid SLI Not Supported

Integrated Graphics Controller:
Graphics Controller Type nVIDIA nForce 6150SE-430
Graphics Controller Status Disabled

PCI Express Controller:
PCI-E 1.0 x16 port #0 In Use @ x16 (nVIDIA GeForce 8400 Video Adapter)
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #1 In Use @ x1 ()
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #2 In Use @ x1 ()

Clock Generator:
CPU FSB 200.9 MHz
HyperTransport 803.7 MHz
PCI Express 100.9 MHz
MAC PHY 125.0 MHz
SATA PHY 100.0 MHz
USB2 Controller 48.0 MHz
PIT / ACPI Timer 14.3 MHz

--------[ BIOS ]

BIOS Properties:
BIOS Type AMI
BIOS Version V2.6
AGESA Version 3.7.1.0
System BIOS Date 09/02/10
Video BIOS Date 03/19/10
 
A few of the newegg reviews complained of only 1 dimm slot working. 1 guy gave up and just used 2 gigs, another "messed with it" and got it working.

His computer originally only had 2 gigs, and it was one thing I told him he should improve when he took it in to get working with 3 monitors.


Astronomica said:
Bump the northbridge voltage up, as well as the DIMM voltage. If the manufacturer says its safe to run it at 2.0 volts than try that. Set the timings according the the slowest pair of ram as well, you can look up the JDEC spec using cpu-z. I'd also loosen the trfc, try 42 or even higher.
Click to expand...

I'll try to look over this and make sense of it. TRFC is the last number in the CAS timing IIRC.

I really just want to get this thing stable, not make it a workhorse.

The mobo guide says DDR2 667/800 up to 8 gigs

2 DIMMs 240-pin/1.8v not 2.0

edit: I also swapped the DIMMs about an hour ago and haven't noticed any problems so far, even the chunky black screen/desktop area behind smaller active applications on the main monitor. This problem was rather sporadic even before this though. I might try stressing it and see if I can get it to hang again.

#2

The two DIMMs have the same JEDEC #1/2/3, the only difference is the suffix on the part number and whatever CPU-Z says for "Week/Year", whatever that means.

edit again: what is trfc? Bank time cycle (tRC)? CPU-Z says it is 24 clocks but I don't know what program to use to loosen that or bump up northbridge.
 
Last edited:
Trfc is part of all the "other" ram timings, some motherboards lets you change them, some don't. I find when high density ram is paired with other ram (not from a kit) it needs a bit of tweaking. All the changes need to be made from the BIOS under the advanced chipset feature tab (i think). Don't use a program to change timings, you'll likely just end up with a locked up computer.
 
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