P5N32-SLI Premium locking up, mobo or other causing this?

[FalconV]

Hi, I just got this rig up 2 months ago, and it has for the whole 2 months randomly locked up. Usually it will lock up once or twice a night, but sometimes will not lock up at all for a couple days. This is completely random as far as I can tell, it can lock up while playing a game (which is what I'm usually doing every night), or while sitting idle. At first I thought the video cards were overheating, so once when it locked up I opened the case and felt around. The video cards and CPU felt cool/warm to the touch, but then I touched the northbridge chipset heatsink and it was very hot. I called this in to ASUS, and the tech guy said after I explained to him and told him my config that my power supply needed at least 24A on the 12V rail to support my setup (my power supply claims 19A on each rail). Below is my list of components, please tell me what you think:

ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium (with WiFi, but although it's plugged in, I have it disabled because it couldn't pick up my WiFi signal)
Intel E6400 CPU (Core 2 Duo, 2.13GHz)
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 (2x1GB DDR2-800 in dual-channel mode)
two PCI-E eVGA GeForce 7950 GT KO ("factory overclocked") in SLI mode
two 32GB Western Digital Raptor hard drives in a RAID 0
one 160GB SATA Hard Drive
The sound card and wifi (again, wifi is plugged in, but disabled) both came with the mobo, wifi is plugged in the ASUS proprietary pins, and the sound card is PCI-E.
Antec TruePower Trio 650W
one optical drive (16X DVD-RW)

I'm pretty sure I have the latest drivers. I just updated the BIOS to the latest. I don't think it'd be any of these, but just in case here's a list of other peripherals:

Dell 2005FPW LCD
Razer Copperhead mouse
Logitech cordless keyboard
headset (phono, not USB)
network cable
USB hub integrated in monitor

That's everything plugged into the thing.

When I went in to disconnect any uneccesary components like the ASUS guy asked, I noticed the 2nd video card hadn't had the PCI-E power plugged in so I plugged that in and tried without disconnecting anything else, but it locked up the next day, so I'd disconnected everything, but while doing that my brother-in-law made a good point that if I have everything unplugged (specifically the extra video card and memory), then that's less work on the northbridge, and whether it's amperage or overheating it won't lock up, so this solution really wouldn't help me discover the real issue. I went ahead and disconnected everything that's not needed, and it hadn't locked up in over a day, so I've now plugged the memory back in (dual-channel), and the video card back in *with the PCI-E power* (but not in SLI mode yet) and so far it's been nearly a day without locking up. My next step is to re-enable SLI (if it hasn't locked up by tomorrow night I think), but if anyone has any ideas I'm open!!

Thanks in advance! Oh, and I know I should just drop it and get the P5N32-E SLI for the 680i chipset, but unless anyone here wants this one, I'm kinda stuck with what I've got until I can afford another $200-some-odd mobo (or $300 in the case of the P5N32-E SLI) 8)

 

[FalconV]

Okay, here's a quick update:
I'm pretty sure it's not the amps causing the problem. I also am starting to believe that it's not an overheating chipset either (though the heat is still causing me to worry, if it's not causing the problem I won't worry as much). I'm starting to believe that it's either one of my sticks of RAM, or the set isn't compatible to run in dual-channel mode on this mobo.

I've let my computer run for a period of time in various configurations from having everything out except the essentials (to check if it runs stably when not using many amps), to having everything plugged in except for one video card, or both cards and no SLI mode. Right now all configurations have locked up except when I have both sticks of memory in. I currently have everything plugged in as before, except I only have one stick of memory in (I wish I could try having both in, but not dual-channel, that's how I tested it on my last mobo when I had a similar issue, but ASUS doesn't support two sticks unless they're in dual-channel apparently, according to the manual... and according to trying it in spite of what the manual says )

It's been running stable for 25 hours so far, if it's still running tonight I'm going to swap the sticks of memory to be sure it's actually a dual-channel issue and not just a bad stick of RAM. With this new information, let's say it is a dual-channel issue, does anyone know what my chances are of getting my memory swapped for a set of memory that will work with my mobo? I've already sent in the rebate unfortunately, so I think I'm pretty much screwed here.... anyone want to buy some high-performance RAM? lol

 

[Compulsive]

FalconV

It looks like another ASUS memory incompatibility.

I have just posted you Mobo into the Corsair memory finder - http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/partner/asus/memorysearch.aspx?partnerid=42&modelid=1365
and your memory isn't included.

Also checked the QVL list for your mobo and it doesn't currently mention any supported DDR2 800 memory and only a measly list of DDR2 667 memory.
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=337&model=1325&modelmenu=1

I think ASUS need to spend some time improving memory support across the full range of Mobo's

Compulsive Computing

 

[FalconV]

Thanks for the reply Compulsive. I checked the Corsair compatibility list, but didn't put in the exact model. I used the pull-down list that has the P5N32-SLI Deluxe, but not the premium. I figured there wasn't much different between the two except for a few extra bells and whistles. If anything I figured the premium would have more compatibility than the deluxe but I guess not. My memory is on the list (recommended even) for the deluxe. As for Asus' compatibility list, I saw that too, but what gets me is that they only include 533 and 667, but on Asus' website for the premium it says it supports 533, 667 and 800(OC)... I'm kinda confused by the 'OC' I guess... Makes it sound like it should work... but it doesn't.

Anywho, for the time being I think I'm satisfied. I underclocked my memory to 667 and everything's running smoothly. I even turned down my fans. It gets nice and warm inside, but everything's smooth. I'm going to call up Corsair sometime, the RAM Guy said in the forums their tech support can help out with timing, they might be able to help me get the right configuration on mine to get the most out of my memory in spite of incompatibility with my board. If nothing else, I can leave it at 667 until I can afford to get yet another new motherboard.