ASUS M4N82 Deluxe & F2-6200CL5D-4GBPQ

[KMax]

Hello All,

A little background as I'm new to this forum and it may assist in understanding my skill level:
I consider myself as a proficient PC builder as I've built, repaired and modified numerous systems and laptops for myself, friends and family with little to no problems for more than a decade now. I'm have used ASUS mobos and AMD CPUs exclusively for many many years with little to no problem... until now.

• My system:
  • WinXP Pro SP3
  • Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS Black ATX Full Tower
  • ASUS M4N82 Deluxe motherboard (BIOS v2501)(Chipset v15.56)
  • Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 power supply
  • AMD Phenom II x6 1100T CPU (NOT overclocked)
  • Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler
  • 8GB GSKill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
  • Four WD Caviar Black WD6401AALS HDD in RAID 10
  • Two PCIe MSI N260GTX Twin Frozr in SLi (Driver v296.1)
  • Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Audio Card (Driver v2.18.0015)
  • ASUS VK278Q LED Monitor

NOTE:
Yes, I am fully aware WinXP does not recognize any more than 4GB of memory and only utilizes 3.2(ish)GB.
The 8GB is in preparations for what seems to be a need to upgrade to Win7, which I dred since I literally have over 90 games installed on this rig in various stages of completion. HOWEVER, until five months ago I had never had an issue having 8GB installed. I've used GSkill (1066MHz & 800MHz), Mushkin (800MHz) and OCZ (800MHz) in various configurations from 2GB to 8GB with no change in my problem. ALL brands failed MemTest at some point and I've read in numerous forums over the years that MemTest, although very reliable and excellent compatibility, sometimes on AMD systems result in false failures... sometimes.

Typical usage:
Flight Simulators (FS9, FSX, X-Plane, CFS2, Falcon 4.0, LOMAC...)
Rally Racing (NFS series, Dirt series...
First Person Shooters (ie: Crysis series, COD series, Hitman series, Max Payne series, Tomb Raider series...)

My problem:
ALL software, regardless if it's a game, benchmark, video editing, audio editing, graphics editing... etc... work flawlessly. This is why I think it's not the motherboard and may just require manually setting the memory configurations. The ONLY programs that have issues, which unfortunately are my favorite, FS9 and FSX! FSX refuses to start citing a memory access error, with each attempt displaying different hexidecimal references, and FS9 will run for about a half-hour before locking the whole system with an nv4_disp.dll error.

What I've already tried:
Relying on the multitudes of forums I've searched I've tried various "fixes" for my issue with no success. I've accomplished a variety of testing and reconfiguring to the point my fingers were bleeding... LITERALLY! Nothing seems to have made a difference and I'm exhausted. The various attempts included:

Ran MemTest v4.0
Ran Futuremark 3DMark06
Ran Crysis benchmark utility
Ran Windows Memory Tester
Changed memory quantity
Tried all four memory slots used
SLi active / deactivated
Both GPUs / Single GPU (tried both, not just one)
Moved single GPU to each of 3 PCIe slots
New sound card
New drivers for ALL
Older drivers for ALL

I've never been proficient understanding memory timings and have always experienced failure whenever I'd try to manual adjust memory settings in the BIOS. I'm hoping that one of you brilliant memory experts can guide me in going from "AUTO" to correctly setting my memory to be utilized as it is designed and not how the motherboard guess-ta-mates. The BIOS displays the following settings, spanning a few different screens, when selecting "MANUAL". I've attempted to organize it in a way to not be a jumble of text. Any value I've shown in "<XXXXX>" equates to default and any value in Dark Green are what I think it's supposed to be:

• DRAM Frequency Control <AUTO> 800?
  • Memory Configuration <AUTO>
    • Bank Interleaving <AUTO>
    • Channel Interleaving <XOR of Address Bit>
    • Memory Clock TriState C3/ATLVID <Disable>
    • Memory Hole Mapping <Enable>
    • DCT Unganged Mode <AUTO>
    • Power Down Enable <Disable>

• DRAM Timing Configuration
  • Command Rate <AUTO> 2T?
  • Timing Mode <AUTO>
  • DCT0 First Information [5-5-5-3(5)-15-24-6-3]
    • TCL <AUTO> 5?
    • TRCD <AUTO> 5?
    • TRP <AUTO> 5?
    • TRTP <AUTO>
    • TRAS [COLOR="Gray"]<AUTO> 15?
    • TRC <AUTO>
    • TWR <AUTO>
    • TRRD <AUTO>
  • DCT0 Second Information [7-127.5-127.5]
    • TRWTTD <AUTO>
    • TWRRD <AUTO>
    • TWTR <AUTO>
    • TWRWR <AUTO>
    • TRDRD <AUTO>
    • TRFC0 <AUTO>
    • TRFC1 <AUTO>
  • DCT0 / DCT1 Strength Configuration <AUTO>

• DQS Timing Configuration
  • DQS Timing User Controls<AUTO>

[/LIST]

• DRAM Voltage <AUTO> 1.88?

• AI Clock Skew for Channel A (Memory related?) <AUTO>

• AI Clock Skew for Channel B (Memory related?) <AUTO>

So... I sincerely hope this information isn't an overload since I am trying to provide as much data as possible for your resource into my issue. I SERIOUSLY think this is a memory timing issue since, as I've mentioned above, all other programs work flawlessly with no hiccups, no errors, no freezing, no crashes... and this latest memory installation (GSkill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ) is a Qualified Vendor Selection for this motherboard.

Thank you in advance and I understand it could be weeks before someone is able to give me any information so I'm patiently waiting...

[Tradesman]

Will look a little closer when I get back, have to take off for a bit, but the first thing that comes to mind, with stock timings and 4GB sticks may need to raise the CPU/NB about +.05

[KMax]

...WOW that was FAST! I understand you must take some time and step away... No problem. I've been tinkering a bit and here are my findings thus far...

UPDATE:
1. As you suggested, I increased the CPU/NB voltage by .05 to 1.25v.
2. As described in my lengthy first post, I set the DRAM parameters as shown in dark green and left everything else DEFAULT.
3. I discovered MemTest is up to v4.2 so I downloaded it and ran it 100% without errors. The previous version, v4.0, resulted in failure during the "BLOCK MOVE" test #7. From additional information I gathered, failures during test #7 (v4.0) does not denote bad hardware. Then I guess this test is to separate the "super ultimate extreme" memory from the "run of the road"?
4. So far... booting is normal, running 3DMark06 and Crysis benchmarks have not resulted in any lock-ups or crashes.
5. FSX - Even though I've "repaired" and completely reinstalled the software, following numerous suggestions from forums dealing with exactly the same issue, it hasn't changed its pre-start crashing (ie: The instruction at "0x7c9108d3" referenced memory at "0x00000560". The memory could not be "read".).
6. FS9 - Well, even with a highly detailed aircraft, dense scenery and low altitude (ie: tasking the hardware), it's been flying for over five hours now with no hiccups.

I still don't understand why everything else functions perfectly (including FS9 now) and still FSX refuses to start. I've followed all the suggested and prescribed detailed and lengthy "fixes" to have it continually say there's a memory error.

Is there truly anything more I can do as far as the memory settings and/or tweaks?

Thanks in advance for when you, or someone else, posts a reply!

[RamJam]

Don't know, Tman had to run out out of town, he should be back Tues PM and think GSkill Tech will probably be in Tues

[KMax]

No problem... I can wait. I just prefer to answer as soon as I get responses.

[GSKILL TECH]

All the settings look just fine. Have you tested them individually to see if each perform the same?

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[KMax]

GSkill Tech,

I have two pairs of F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ and amazingly all four module numbers are consecutive (12100830083163, 12100830083164, 12100830083165, and 12100830083166). I have methodically tested each module individually, in matched pairs, and in unmatched pairs. This testing included as menial of a module "rotation" as swapping the modules between memory slot A1 & A2 to A2 & A1 as well as the B-slots. So you can imagine that of all the configurations I tested, including when all four modules are installed in various orders, I've pretty much eliminated the modules from being bad... I think.

Since manually setting the DRAM at 800MHz 5(TCL)-5(TCRD)-5(TRP)-15(TRAS), I came upon another "article" that revealed yet another number to set... TRC @ 19. So, with all six of these parameters enabled (800MHz 5-5-5-15-19) I set about testing a variety of programs.

After two "days" of gaming, the only problem has been with FSX... but, this problem is completely different than before. No more is there a memory error so I'm assuming it's a software issue that will be nearly impossible to track down as well as not in your realm of "responsibility". Hours of continual 3DMArk06 (full tests) and Crysis benchmarking occurred without a single error. Running MemTest v4.2 and Windows Memory Diagnostic were both successful with no failures.

So, I suppose my "guess" at where to initially plug in the timing numbers seems to have solved my main issue and somewhat prove that the four "sets" of memory I've utilized in my gaming rig (from GSkill, Mushkin, and OCZ) in an attempt to resolve what seemed to be a memory failure, are all most likely good and the fault lies with the BIOS automatically attempting to time the modules.

If there's anything I'm mistaken on, PLEASE instruct me to the correct route. And, as tempting as it is, I don't overclock as I prefer stable reliability over pushing my system to it's extremes only to fry hardware before it's time...

[Tradesman]

Sounds like you've found the answer. Often, one can get mixed sticks to 'play' together by simply adjusting voltages, but other times, like yours, can be very frustrating as things like tRC, tRFC, etc require testing and tuning, and many times separate sets just won't play together. Congrats on a job well done

[KMax]

Thank you Tradesman.

[Tradesman]

No problem, enjoy helping out