New Ram - Random (Serious Error) Crashes

lephanour · 05-24-2006, 10:35 PM

My specs are

AMD Athlon 3000+
ABIT KV7 Mobo (maybe its KV7-V, not sure)
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
1.5 GB PC 3200 DDR-SDRAM
80GB Seagate HDD
RAPTOR 400W PSU

This problem started as soon as I got my new RAM, which is a set of 2x512MB DIMMs, Corsair. My old RAM is also 512MB, but is Ultra. (ULT30215) I thought they would work fine together, but if I run the system with all three DIMMs filled, the system is subject to random crashes, though they are not vey frequent. There is no problem If I run the system with either just the corsiar, or just the ultra. I have not tried running 1GB with 1xCorsair and 1xUltra. It makes no difference if i clock the RAM at 400mhz or 333mhz.

CL=2.5 on both types.

**UncleMacro** · 05-24-2006, 11:42 PM

I have a machine with a KV7 but I've never tried running it with three sticks of RAM. In my opinion, three sticks on a single RAM channel is pushing your luck. Currently, I have two 1GB sticks in it because I didn't want to chance using three sticks of RAM. At the very least they should be identical sticks and even then it's a hit or miss sort of thing. I'm not sure about the KV7-V (I think that was the cheaper overclocking-challenged version of the motherboard), but the KV7 BIOS can manually adjust all the RAM timings and set the RAM voltage. About all you can do is go through the RAM timings and slow things down as much as you can and try increasing the RAM voltage. I personally wouldn't increase the RAM voltage to more than 2.8 volts. 2.7 is a fairly safe long-term voltage as long as you have decent cooling. One combination to make sure you try is allowing the BIOS to set the RAM timing according to the SPD and then increase the RAM voltage by .1 or .2. BIOSs tend to pick very safe timings when set to SPD and the extra voltage can sometimes help with noise problems. Other times raising the RAM voltage makes things worse. You just have to try to find out. Use MemTest86 to test your settings. Unfortunately, there's just no guarantee that you'll be able to get it to work reliably.

lephanour · 05-25-2006, 09:43 PM

Yes, running the ram at 266mhz makes it stable. Thanks for the tip. i'll try clocking it up again and hitting up in the voltage as well.

05-24-2006, 10:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
lephanour Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 26 OS: Windows XP My System	New Ram - Random (Serious Error) Crashes My specs are AMD Athlon 3000+ ABIT KV7 Mobo (maybe its KV7-V, not sure) ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB 1.5 GB PC 3200 DDR-SDRAM 80GB Seagate HDD RAPTOR 400W PSU This problem started as soon as I got my new RAM, which is a set of 2x512MB DIMMs, Corsair. My old RAM is also 512MB, but is Ultra. (ULT30215) I thought they would work fine together, but if I run the system with all three DIMMs filled, the system is subject to random crashes, though they are not vey frequent. There is no problem If I run the system with either just the corsiar, or just the ultra. I have not tried running 1GB with 1xCorsair and 1xUltra. It makes no difference if i clock the RAM at 400mhz or 333mhz. CL=2.5 on both types.

05-24-2006, 11:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	I have a machine with a KV7 but I've never tried running it with three sticks of RAM. In my opinion, three sticks on a single RAM channel is pushing your luck. Currently, I have two 1GB sticks in it because I didn't want to chance using three sticks of RAM. At the very least they should be identical sticks and even then it's a hit or miss sort of thing. I'm not sure about the KV7-V (I think that was the cheaper overclocking-challenged version of the motherboard), but the KV7 BIOS can manually adjust all the RAM timings and set the RAM voltage. About all you can do is go through the RAM timings and slow things down as much as you can and try increasing the RAM voltage. I personally wouldn't increase the RAM voltage to more than 2.8 volts. 2.7 is a fairly safe long-term voltage as long as you have decent cooling. One combination to make sure you try is allowing the BIOS to set the RAM timing according to the SPD and then increase the RAM voltage by .1 or .2. BIOSs tend to pick very safe timings when set to SPD and the extra voltage can sometimes help with noise problems. Other times raising the RAM voltage makes things worse. You just have to try to find out. Use MemTest86 to test your settings. Unfortunately, there's just no guarantee that you'll be able to get it to work reliably.

05-25-2006, 09:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
lephanour Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 26 OS: Windows XP My System	Yes, running the ram at 266mhz makes it stable. Thanks for the tip. i'll try clocking it up again and hitting up in the voltage as well.