Having trouble with PC I built. Please help.
 

OK.. I built a new PC.. Tried something different than my usual "plug and run" job. This was for me, and I wanted something cool. I had been told that one of the better boards were the nVidia nForce 2 boards, so I went with my old standard, which was MSI. I was a little worried about all the integrated hardware, as I have had bad luck in the past, but everything I needed to upgrade the onboard equipment was there, so I went for it.

I had read about the memory issues with this board, and thought I chose the correct module(s), now I'm not sure.

My problems started in the beginning with the bios. The system was completely unstable. Then realized that the memory clocking frequency had to be over clocked in order for the type of memory I chose to work properly. Well, that made a major improvement, but still isn't right.

I'm on it now, typing this. Normal operations don't usually cause any problems. But once I start playing something resource hungry like EverQuest or UT2k3, I never know what to expect. I could go all night without one problem, the next night, I'm plagued with crashes. Some of which I have to reset the system two or three times to recover, as it hangs during detection or initiation.

I'm thinking several things could be wrong, but I need a strong opinion of someone who may know better than I, or has have similar problems. I'm thinking CPU temp. I've observed it to be around 122 degrees F, right after a said crash. Memory conflict, or clocking issue. I thought I chose the right components for this board..

Here is the parts list:
MSI K7N2G-L NVIDIA NFORCE 2 DDR SK
ATHLON XP 2600+ Socket A 333FSB
1 512MB DDR PC3200 400Mhz
CPU FAN COOLERMASTER DP5-6I31D
Installed in a ANTEC SONATA ATX W/380W PS

If you need more than this, let me know. I figure the problem is somewhere in these. Any help would be appreciated. THNX.:confused: :hmm: :confused:

Try different memory modules if you can.

I had a lot of problems with them when I got my ASUS board.

Also try moving the modules.

Oddly enough, this helped me by moving memory from the #1 slot to I think it was #2.

Good luck.

OK.. The DDR slots work funny in this board.. Slots one and two are on the same address.. Makes two sticks work like one.. I've tried every different combo, with no difference..

You mention overclocking - what clock speeds do you have everything set to?

I shouldn't have used the term overclocking. Only that I had to set the DRAM clocking rate over the factory bios setting. This was to get the RAM to clock at 400Mhz, as it was meant to. I'll list all the clocking settings here later..

OK.. More info about current clock settings.. If you need more, just ask.

Current CPU Clock = 2083MHz
CPU FSB = 166
CPU interface = Normal
FSB/DRAM Ratio = By SPD
Current DRAM clock = 200MHz
Memory timings = By SPD

I'd say that you having to increase that RAM speed is what's causing it. Are you sure your motherboard supports DDR400 RAM? If it doesn't, then that could cause issues. I'd try putting a different stick of RAM in it.

I just checked the info on your mobo, and it does support PC3200. But you still shouldn't have to increase the RAM speed like that; it should autodetect it.

Is the motherboard still in its RMA period? I'd seriously RMA the bitch back and get an ABit NF7-S Rev 2.0 motherboard. It doesn't have on-board video, but you won't find a better Athlon XP motherboard out there.

-Lasereth

Who makes the memory you have?
This is from MSI's website. This is what it says about PC3200 memory and your motherboard. It sounds like you need to change the voltage for the memory in your BIOS.

I've seen the random reboot issue from my video card. Especially after upgrading to the first service pack with XP.

I tried messing with this before, it wasn't pretty.. Unfortunatly, I am unsure of the manufacturer of the memory as I purchased it OEM.. I will look further into this, and post my findings.

Well.. So far so good..

I've adjusted the timing, and that has seemed to have done the trick. Two days now, and I've been crash free.

Thank you all who posted here and offered your advise.