Instability P5N-E SLI

[Thomas]

Dear Groups (sorry for crosspost),

Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and then my
whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing something at the
time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8 hours
Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when not
overclocked.

I'm using the Asus P5N-E SLI, 2 sticks of Kingston 6400LL @ 533 MHz, E4300 @
2400 MHz, Antec Truepower Trio 650 Watt, single eVGA 8800GTS 320, Seagate
320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x DVD+-RW. I'm getting low
temperatures, installed a heatsink on southbridge.

Anyone had similar experiences? Or even an answer?

After I got the board, I upgraded quite soon to the 0505 BIOS. I'm not sure
if i had this issue before that. Now I've quickly upgraded to 0602, hoping
this will cure it. Didnt hang yet. Also installed a third party VGA driver.

TIA,

[Thomas]

Post by Thomas
Dear Groups (sorry for crosspost),
Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and
then my whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing
something at the time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8
hours Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when
not overclocked.
320, Seagate 320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x
DVD+-RW. I'm getting low temperatures, installed a heatsink on
southbridge.
Anyone had similar experiences? Or even an answer?
After I got the board, I upgraded quite soon to the 0505 BIOS. I'm
not sure if i had this issue before that. Now I've quickly upgraded
to 0602, hoping this will cure it. Didnt hang yet. Also installed a
third party VGA driver.

Sorry, I included the less busy ASUS newsgroup. I hope this way of including
the busier one is okay.

[Thomas]

Post by Thomas
Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and
then my whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing
something at the time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8
hours Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when
not overclocked.
320, Seagate 320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x
DVD+-RW. I'm getting low temperatures, installed a heatsink on
southbridge.
After I got the board, I upgraded quite soon to the 0505 BIOS. I'm
not sure if i had this issue before that. Now I've quickly upgraded
to 0602, hoping this will cure it. Didnt hang yet. Also installed a
third party VGA driver.

Some more details: Running XP Pro. I even installed XP-Pro x64, to see if
that mattered. But the new install gave me the same problem (after
installing all the drivers, last driver was for the videocard).

This night I did another burn-in, still no problem.

To Phil, yes, I did use that Orthos test (also stress memory), but only for
an hour or 2.

I hope dearly that this BIOS upgrade helped me. Well, I'm off to work. Let's
see what the PC does.

[Phil Weldon]

'Thomas' wrote, in part:
| Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and then
my
| whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing something at
the
| time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
| I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8 hours
| Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when not
| overclocked.


Cross-posting is preferable to multi-posting. It is usually a good idea to
limit the number of newsgroups to three or fewer (some would say five or
fewer.) The only negative to cross-posting is when newsgroups with a very
high signal to noise ratio are included or some newsgroups that are a roost
for deliberate malicious pranksters that aim to disrupt discussions.

The problem you describe is a very difficult one to diagnose. Perhaps it is
a driver problem that only arises when certain events occur simultaneously.
Re-installing the drivers might help. Or not. That is what makes the
diagnosis difficult; it may take hours to see any results.

Have you tried the Orthos setting for stressing the CPU and memory (Blend -
stress CPU and RAM)?

Phil Weldon

"Thomas" <***@lycosmail.nl> wrote in message news:4638ff26$0$16940$***@news.kpnplanet.nl...
| Dear Groups (sorry for crosspost),
|
| Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and then
my
| whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing something at
the
| time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
| I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8 hours
| Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when not
| overclocked.
|
| I'm using the Asus P5N-E SLI, 2 sticks of Kingston 6400LL @ 533 MHz, E4300
@
| 2400 MHz, Antec Truepower Trio 650 Watt, single eVGA 8800GTS 320, Seagate
| 320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x DVD+-RW. I'm getting
low
| temperatures, installed a heatsink on southbridge.
|
| Anyone had similar experiences? Or even an answer?
|
| After I got the board, I upgraded quite soon to the 0505 BIOS. I'm not
sure
| if i had this issue before that. Now I've quickly upgraded to 0602, hoping
| this will cure it. Didnt hang yet. Also installed a third party VGA
driver.
|
| TIA,
|
| --
| Met vriendelijke groeten, Thomas vd Horst
|
|

[Jack R]

Hi Thomas,
I have the same board, different (other stuff), and the same video card,
I'm not seeing this, although I am seeing a couple of strange things, such
as hanging occasionally during startup at the BIOS press DEL or TAB screen,
and sometimes Vista not starting.
What OS version are you using? Does the hang recover? Is the hang/freeze
total, i.e.. no mouse, no Ctl-Alt-Del response, no num lock/caps lock led
response?
I'm running the 0505 BIOS, I didn't know a newer version was out. I'll have
to give that a try.
Sorry, no answers, only questions!
Jack r

Post by Thomas
Dear Groups (sorry for crosspost),
Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and then
my whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing something
at the time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8 hours
Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when not
overclocked.
@ 2400 MHz, Antec Truepower Trio 650 Watt, single eVGA 8800GTS 320,
Seagate 320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x DVD+-RW. I'm
getting low temperatures, installed a heatsink on southbridge.
Anyone had similar experiences? Or even an answer?
After I got the board, I upgraded quite soon to the 0505 BIOS. I'm not
sure if i had this issue before that. Now I've quickly upgraded to 0602,
hoping this will cure it. Didnt hang yet. Also installed a third party VGA
driver.
TIA,
--
Met vriendelijke groeten, Thomas vd Horst

[Thomas]

Post by Jack R
Hi Thomas,
I have the same board, different (other stuff), and the same video
card, I'm not seeing this, although I am seeing a couple of strange
things, such as hanging occasionally during startup at the BIOS press
DEL or TAB screen, and sometimes Vista not starting.
What OS version are you using? Does the hang recover? Is the
hang/freeze total, i.e.. no mouse, no Ctl-Alt-Del response, no num
lock/caps lock led response?
I'm running the 0505 BIOS, I didn't know a newer version was out.

Well, keeping my fingers crosses, my PC still seems to be functioning since
BIOS upgrade... But I'll refrain from doing anything extra-ordinary until
I'm certain it's fully stable...

The hang was total, the system didn't respond to ANYTHING. I could just use
the 'reset' button to get it back to life.

Well, I'm cooling the southbridge now, using a small Zalman block (only
4eu50, incredible).
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=71

I'm thinking about replacing the northbridge cooler as well. I've gotten the
CM Blue Ice. I hope it can just fit next to my Arctic Freezer 7. Any idea if
northbridge cooling can be removed without removing mainboard? If it can't,
I'll wait a week (stability isssue).
The cooler:
http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/heatsinks/coolermaster/BlueIce/index.htm

[Thomas]

Post by Jack R
Hi Thomas,
I have the same board, different (other stuff), and the same video
card, I'm not seeing this, although I am seeing a couple of strange
things, such as hanging occasionally during startup at the BIOS press
DEL or TAB screen, and sometimes Vista not starting.
What OS version are you using? Does the hang recover? Is the
hang/freeze total, i.e.. no mouse, no Ctl-Alt-Del response, no num
lock/caps lock led response?
I'm running the 0505 BIOS, I didn't know a newer version was out.
I'll have to give that a try.
Sorry, no answers, only questions!
Jack r

Hey Jack,

I read on the web that 0602 AND 0505 are sh*t. I now downgarded to 0401.
This BIOS is stable, AND I can change my multiplier! Now running at 8 * 333
= 2667 MHz...

[Jack R]

Good info, thanks!
Now, should I wait for a 'new and improved' BIOS version, or downgrade?
I'll grab a copy of 0401 while I ponder this...<g>
And, by the way, I'm coming to the conclusion that Vista is the OCer's worst
enemy.
I may have to stuff an XP drive in this system to prove.
Jack R

Post by Thomas

Post by Jack R
Hi Thomas,
I have the same board, different (other stuff), and the same video
card, I'm not seeing this, although I am seeing a couple of strange
things, such as hanging occasionally during startup at the BIOS press
DEL or TAB screen, and sometimes Vista not starting.
What OS version are you using? Does the hang recover? Is the
hang/freeze total, i.e.. no mouse, no Ctl-Alt-Del response, no num
lock/caps lock led response?
I'm running the 0505 BIOS, I didn't know a newer version was out.
I'll have to give that a try.
Sorry, no answers, only questions!
Jack r

Hey Jack,
I read on the web that 0602 AND 0505 are sh*t. I now downgarded to 0401.
This BIOS is stable, AND I can change my multiplier! Now running at 8 *
333 = 2667 MHz...
--
Met vriendelijke groeten, Thomas van der Horst

[Thomas]

Post by Thomas
Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability. Every now and
then my whole screen freezes (pc hangs). Harddisk seems to be doing
something at the time the PC freezes. This happens only in Windows.
I've excluded memory or overclocking issues (6 hours MemTest86, 8
hours Orthos burn-in, long tem gaming, no problem). Also happens when
not overclocked.
320, Seagate 320 GB HDD, Western Digital 120GB HDD, Samsung 18x
DVD+-RW. I'm getting low temperatures, installed a heatsink on
southbridge.

Last two days, I've had the same problem all over again. I'm going to try
and return the board. Pity I installed the southbridge, have to see if I can
clean the muck from the southbridge...

[Fishface]

Post by Thomas
Last few days, I'm plagued by some vague instability.

Apparently some tweaked memory settings took care of the
problem for some people here:
http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58425
The "Jimmy Smith settings" may be worth a try!