Need some help here.

[leecho7]

Well I just recently bought a pair of G.Skill pc4000 ddr500 ram 2x1gig.
Popped them in, and my mobo will only recognize them as ddr400. Which is fine with me, since the amount I paid for them is about the same I would have paid for a regular pc3200.
Thing is, I bought these sticks to help with overclocking my cpu. Everytime I overclock my CPU, even at the slightest, it eventually freezes on me after about 20-40 minutes of use. Doesn't matter if im just letting it idle, or if I'm playing a game. At stock speeds it runs fine, and I ran prime95 for about 6 hours without errors at stock speeds. I don't think it's the memory, since I had the same problem with my other sticks as well.
I was wondering if it could be my motherboard?
I'm not too worked up about this though, cause even at stock speeds my system more than meets my needs (except for playing Oblivion at max settings).
Or maybe it could be my cpu? Or maybe I just wasn't meant to overclock afterall...

[madmat]

Have you boosted the Vcore? It could be that it's running out of CPU voltage. Also set the Vdimm to 2.8V.

[Rob Williams]

Do what Matt said.

I assume you are running a CPU capable of 2.5GHz, so you should try:

1.45Vcore, 2.8Vdimm, 3-4-4-8 (cas-trcd-trp-tras), 200HTT, 10x multi, 1:1 divider.

"Or maybe I just wasn't meant to overclock afterall..."

That's foolish :P We will make a hardcore overclocker out of you.

[leecho7]

I already tried different vcore increases, still no dice. As for the memory, I'm happy with the settings I have now. I read online that the memory I got doesn't work too well with Asus A8N boards. It was my mistake on not doing my research before I ordered it. I was thinking of getting a new mobo anyway, to start experimenting with SLI.
As for my processor... I don't know whats going on. I tried adjusting the voltage, but it still gives me the eventual freeze. But I'm not too stressed, I'm just going to run it at stock for now and eventually save enough for an X2, or an Opteron. Or just save my money and stick with my proc.

[Rob Williams]

Well... I guess the question would be... Do you have the latest BIOS for your board?

[RazorBack]

What specs have you got anyway?

[leecho7]

I do not have my latest bios. How do I get the latest bios?

As for my specs.

AMD Athlon 3700 San Diego
G.Skill 2gigs pc4000
Xfx 6800 xtreme
Asus A8n5x

[Rob Williams]

Go here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Type in your motherboard code to the left, and hit enter. Then click on BIOS when the tab comes up and download the latest one.

I would first check CPU-Z and it's Mainboard tab. Look at the Date.. if it's older than the date of the new BIOS, then you should update.

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/AsusUpdt70101.zip

Try downloading this and install it. It can automatically update your BIOS, but it doesn't always download the new BIOS ok. If you downloaded the new BIOS, just click Update From File and point to that file. Make sure you have no apps running while doing this.

</just woke up explanation>

[leecho7]

Ok updated bios, it reads my memory fine now, increased vcore to 1.45, overclocked to a conservative 2.3gigs (stock is at 2.2), ran 3dmark05 to test it and BAM! froze.
Oh well.

[Rob Williams]

Are you sure it's not a GPU problem then? Or.. does 3D Mark 05 crash at stock speeds? I cannot see THAT minor OC causing such a problem..

[leecho7]

At stock CPU speeds, 3dmark05 runs perfectly fine. My graphics card is fine.
However, I was talking to a fellow geek I met at work today. As I was talking to him, it brought me memories of this crappo Epox mobo I had in my 'primitive' 500mhz pentium 3. Things kept freezing up for no reason. So I think it could most likely be my mobo based off of that experience.

Either way, I'm gonna get a new proc and mobo mid-summer. Possibly getting the MSI Diamond something, and either an Opteron or X2. I also want to start experimenting with SLI.

[Rob Williams]

Hmm. I still find it strange to crash on you with such a minor overclock. I gotta think about this one more..

[madmat]

Don't ask me, I'm lost. I do know that if you go with the K8N Diamond that you will not be sorry, it's one hell of an overclocker. I got Vince's PC up to 2.88 (X2 4800+) on it at 1.5V although it wasn't fully stable at that speed a bit of a Vcore boost would've helped.

Beautiful board, even has Audigy 24bit audio onboard.

[(cf)Eclipse]

the ht link has my eye... somewhere in the bios should be an option for something called the hypertransport link or LDT link speed. should have a range of 1x to 5x or 200mhz to 1000mhz (alternately 400mhz to 2000mhz, but that's unlikely)

try dropping it down to 800mhz/4x or 600mhz/3x

[werty316]

I could help with this. I have a A8N-E board and I cannot OC my memory past 230Mhz or so using 1T before I get errors and BSOD. It seems the A8N is bad with this 1T bug but I am not sure if the A8N5X does but since it is part of the A8N family why not. If you can't get your memory past 230ish or so try using 2T comman rate.

[Rob Williams]

Wow, that is harsh. A motherboard that can't go over 230 and retain 1T? That seems a little odd. What memory are you using werty?

I'm just on the mindset that DDR500 memory is commonplace, and if that motherboard can't even handle that at stock speed (250MHz) at 1T, that's horrible.

[werty316]

I am using the memory I won here of course, 2GB Corsair XMS PC4000. I also tried 1GB Patriot XBL and still get this crappy 1T bug. I used the same A64 3000+ and Patriot memory on a MSI K8N Neo2 Plat board and was fine at 270MHz at 1T. I read around that alot of users say the "Premium" model is the only A8N board that doesn't suffer from this. Only way to get aroudn the 1T bug is to use 2T command rate; in that case whats the point of using 2T as you loose alot of bandwidth. 230MHz @ 1T was faster than 270MHz @ 2T in every bench I tested with the Corsair sticks.

[Rob Williams]

Oh no doubt.. 2T is horrible. I can't believe that the board won't go over 230MHz... sick! Hehe.

[werty316]

Asus totally let me down with this board. If I need a new board its DFI for me.

[leecho7]

Im seriously starting to think the motherboard is causing my system to freeze if I oc my proc slightly. So I'm gonna try to get a new mobo, and see if that helps. Any suggestions?
Looking for a nice socket 939 mobo under $200.

[madmat]

The MSI K8N-Diamond is an awesome board. The A8N32SLI is also a great board but then again so are the DFI-D series.

[werty316]

Before you go buy a new board you should run more tests like memtest86x be to be sure the memory is fine. Also try using a memory divider when OC'ing. Try OC'ing using a memory divider and set the CPU at a lower multiplier to see if it is the board. Try setting the command rate to 2T to see if that helps.

[leecho7]

The memory is already set to 2T. My system had the same problem with my old memory, even though they worked perfectly fine in my old system. I ran prime95 for several hours doing all the tests and passed without errors.
I'll try dividing the memory and see if that works.

[werty316]

Its always best to try different tests to make sure it isn't another part but since you had the same problem with your old memory its probably your board. Does Asus suck?

[leecho7]

Ok, I lowered my cpu multiplier from 11 (stock) to 10, and increased the frequency. Right now I'm at 2.4 gigs, and so far it's running fine. However my memory is running at 220 mhz at 1t.
I'm just going to get a new mobo. I was planning on it anyway, to start experimenting with SLI.

The Asus mobo I have right now is decent, considering it's only 70 bucks. However, it is very limiting.