M7NCD Ultra, Athlon XP 3200 and Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT not stable

[lackito]

Hi all, I just bought a matched pair of Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT (2x1GB) to replace a smaller Crucial unmatched pair of 1GB (2x512MB). I've tried Optimal settings (automatically detected by MB to 3-3-3-8) and Expert (manually set to 2-3-3-6 as speced by Corsair). In both situations the system boots fine but fails on prime95 within 15 mins. Can anyone please help, otherwise I'm returning the memory modules. The memory that I replaced (Crucial 2x512MB 3-3-3-8) was very stable and passed all prime95 test and mem86 also. The corsair website recommended this module for this motherboard.

Does anyone have any insight here? Perhaps a settings issue? or is it a compatibility issue? Any help is greatly appreciated!! TIA!!

Biostar M7NCD Ultra
AMD Athlon XP 3200 running at 2.2GHz (200x11)
Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT

P.S: The recommended DRAM voltage from Corsairs reads 2.75V, however I only have 2.7V or 2.8V available in BIOS, I've tried both but no luck.

TIA,
lackito

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

Hi all, I just bought a matched pair of Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT (2x1GB) to replace a smaller Crucial unmatched pair of 1GB (2x512MB). I've tried Optimal settings (automatically detected by MB to 3-3-3-8) and Expert (manually set to 2-3-3-6 as speced by Corsair). In both situations the system boots fine but fails on prime95 within 15 mins. Can anyone please help, otherwise I'm returning the memory modules. The memory that I replaced (Crucial 2x512MB 3-3-3-8) was very stable and passed all prime95 test and mem86 also. The corsair website recommended this module for this motherboard.

Does anyone have any insight here? Perhaps a settings issue? or is it a compatibility issue? Any help is greatly appreciated!! TIA!!

Biostar M7NCD Ultra
AMD Athlon XP 3200 running at 2.2GHz (200x11)
Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT

P.S: The recommended DRAM voltage from Corsairs reads 2.75V, however I only have 2.7V or 2.8V available in BIOS, I've tried both but no luck.

TIA,
lackito

Have you flashed the latest BIOS? Also, does your chipset support 2 x 1GB?

 

[lackito]

I should have the latest BIOS, unfortunately the biostar website shows a blank page for this mobo's BIOS so I can't really check. I will try to find out elsewhere.

However I ran into this in the Corsair website:

=================================
Why are the timings shown in the SPD set to CAS 3?
All of our XMS-3200C2 will have their SPD set to JEDEC defined values for the specific memory IC used to make that part. This is done to ensure maximum compatibility with a wide variety of motherboards. The tested settings Cass 2-3-3-6 for Intel and Cass 2.5-3-3-6 for AMD need to be manually set in the BIOS.
===================================

I have an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ so I will try a CAS of 2.5 which I have not tried yet, hope this works!! Thanks a lot for your reply!!

lackito

 

[lackito]

I will try the one stick a time approach also in case the 2.5-3-3-6 memory timings don't work. Also, should I be increasing the CPU voltage?? (I'm not overclocking, I have this in the default setting)

 

[PCSoul]

The cpu voltage should be fine in the default setting if your not overclocking. Definitely try the one memory stick at a time approach.

Hope this is what you were looking for (Bios)

http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloads.asp?model=M7NCD+ULTRA

 

[lackito]

UPDATE STATUS: PROBLEM SOLVED!!
Thanks everyone, your suggestions were very helpful!!

So I tried one stick at a time with 2.5-3-3-6 memory timings and both sticks passed the prime95 test with no problem. I didn't want to update my BIOS because I don't have a floppy drive installed but I figured this was the next variable to test in the equation. I updated the BIOS to the most current available in the biostar website using a bootable CD (modified a bootable CD ISO image from bootdisk.com). Some hardware (ATA/RAID, built in sound card) were rediscovered and I had to point them to correct location. I let prime95 run over night with both memory sticks installed and NO MORE ERRORS!!!

Thanks all!!