Major problems

[whirling1]

Ok well built my system then found out PSU wasn't powerfull enough so replaced it with a 550w one.

Now when i try to install windows 2000 i get blue screen errors about 3/4 of the way through setup , they vary from ntoskernel.exe errors to registry errors...ok i tried XP and it went on fine but now its crashing on certain web sites , has no USB2 support and graphics are running poor.....also my athlon XP is only registering at 2.09ghz instead of 2.13ghz. I did get win 2000 up and running first try but it crashed due to 12v feed going off the rail during windows update and wouldnt install after i replaced PSU.

setup is

Athlon XP 2600+
512mb corsair pc2700 (333)(2x 256)
Asus Nforce2 A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
80GB Maxtor 8mb cache drive
DVD rom & HP 6xWriter

any suggestions? Ive got an old 1400 athlon i could try instead, but all stuff bought online from ebuyer/overclockers so will be long return process no doubt

 

[Testin da Cable]

iirc there are actually two different types of 2600+
as to the other problems...I don't know. bios flash? try your old cpu first though, to see how it runs...

 

[whirling1]

I know about the 2 types ...I think

mines the 333FSB one not the 266 or at least thats what i ordered and was told i got.

one other thing ive noticed with XP is the rear speakers dont work on my onboard 5.1 for some reason sound meant for rears comes out of both front speakers ...they are definatley in the right ports too.

 

[(Shovel)]

Originally posted by whirling1
ok i tried XP and it went on fine but now its crashing on certain web sites , has no USB2 support

Service Pack 1 introduces that.

 

[whirling1]

Yes I know about service pack 1 but cant get it as Windows 2000 is my original but XP is a ermmmm test version ..yes thats it test version.

Ok quick update. Have swapped out my proc with the athlon 1400. now instead of total crash and reboot it just dumps me to desktop , the 1400 runs fine in my old Asus A7V so I am beggining to think it aint the proc. I did a quick test ran Asus probe then ran 3Dmark 2001 (which caused the 2600 to reboot) and with the 1400 proc it runs for a while then dumps to desktop . Looking at the asus probe voltages it looks like the 5v rail drops by a little when running 3dMark , is this likely to be the prob? the power supply I bought was a Q-Tec 550watt as it got a good review at a few of the sites i visited and was half the price of the Antec or Enermax ones ( if it is the PSU i'll hit myself cos I was 1 click from spending the 70 quid for Antec 460 watt PSU )
the system runs stable enough until I either run a graphics prog (like 3Dmark) or access certain websites...my graphics card runs fine in my old setup and did for 2 months ive had it.

Suggestions please guys ...guys....guys!!!

 

[Sawtooth]

Clean the disk.
Reseat all the cards/leads etc
Other than that I had a similar problem when my memory module was failing.
Possibly HD but I'd look at the first 2 first.

 

[whirling1]

Ok I removed one stick of ram and it allowed me to run 3DMark 2001 without crashing....tried the same with other stick and it allowed me to run it too...put both sticks back in again and it also let me run fine.....booted up today and back to crashing to desktop again.....any ideas??? is it likely to be a mobo problem? also my CPU is still registering at 2090mhz instead of 2130mhz(not much of a difference I know.).

This is really starting to get me annoyed now.....£600 on a paperweight. AAAARRGGHHH!!!!

 

[Embattle]

I would go with a problem on the mobo.

 

[whirling1]

Thanks for advice

getting loan of a KT4 motherboard tommorow to test hard drive procsesor and memory on..so hopefully that will pinpoint the problem to the motherboard or other stuff.

Unfortunatly but not suprisingly Ive had no word from Overclockers.co.uk regarding the e-mail I sent to their tech department. Guess I'll build with the KT4 then ring them with the results.

 

[whirling1]

Ok just finished doing a bit of digging around , to see if anyone has any of my problems and found this on the house of helps website.

'We have had some reports from users that XMS2700C2 modules (CMS256A-2700C2 and CMX512-2700C2) are not stable on boards based on the Nforce2 chip set. These users have had problems attaining stable performance using a CAS latency of 2 cycles with two modules in the system. System operation is stable for a pair of modules with CAS latency set at 2.5 cycles.

For this reason we are currently recommending the use of XMS2700LL modules in these boards instead of XMS2700C2. These parts include the following part numbers: TWINX512-2700LL and TWINX1024-2700LL (matched memory pairs), CMX256A-2700LL, and CMX512-2700LL. The TWINX parts have been tested, in pairs, on Nforce2-based (Asus A7N8X) boards.
!!'

would this cause my system to reboot? or would this just cause dumps to desktop? I'm hoping this is the problem and will fix it....any comments on this from you MASTERS would be nice.

 

[Embattle]

I personally doubt it would cause reboots, more likely a slight performance drop.

 

[WPKenny]

Interesting. I'm wondering if this is why I've had problems over clocking.

I'll need to check my product codes when I get home but if they do turn out to be the ones that cause problems you reckon it'll be easy to get a refund?

EDIT:

I see that it applies when you have two modules in. Well this is the reason I went for a single stick of 512mb PC2700 memory so when I came to upgrade, I can have two sticks of 512mb running together but now it seems I'll take a slight performance hit if I want to keep my current stick of ram.

 

[Trem]

You have a private message Whirling.

 

[domin8or]

/format c:

haha

 

[whirling1]

Well turns out the entire problem was the memory....not being faulty just incompatable to an extent......reducing the timings to

2.5t 3 3 6 made the system stable. And some talking to the supplier is getting me a swap for the Corsair TwinX modules instead ...I'm now a happy bunny