G400-P3B-F-RAM?

[ginfest]

I need help bad. Been OC since 300a, and I'm at my wits end with my current
set-up. Had a P3-450 at 650(144 fSB) w/G400 and MSI 6163 v2. Ran everything
to the max. Installed a P3-550e/Iwill setup, it clocked to 733 stock.
Bought a P3B-f, now everything 3D locks up! Irqs are not shared, I've
checked the HS/paste, changed BIOS settings and drvs, still no luck. The
components are the same one that were OC, except the mainboard. I know
people are running the same combo with no probs. I even deleted HKLM/enum,
and re-detected all the components. Win 98/W2K dual boot, 2D is fine.
Photoshop runs with no errors. W2K installed, no probs. RAR/UNrar 1GB, no
errors. Safebench OC, Prime 95 "torture test" will run all night. and the
kicker, 3D mark 99/3Dmark 2000, both run completely also! I do notice a
slight(1sec) "hesitation" when running these 3D test. What could it be? Also
DXDiag test show no errors.
I really don't want to re-install W98, it'll screw up my W2K boot. Also,
putting the MSI Mb back is not an option, it's sold.
Running 2-128mb PC133, have tried to change the slots, still no luck.
Increased vio from 3.5(default) to 3.6, nope.
Motherboard Monitor internal diode reading 39-40C under full load for hours.
Plenty of cooling in case, same as b/4 when it ran great.
The memory sticks are diff brands, both at 3-3-3(per SPD), could this board
choke on 3D because of this? Newest BIOS flashed, vcore at 1.6, haven't
increased it running at 733, usually a low vcore will manifest itself in
Prime 95 or Safebench tests.
I'm sure that I missed some other things I've done, but as I've OC
successfully 300a-366-P3-450, V3,TNT,TNT2 and G-400, I can't think of
anything else to do that hasn't been done.
AGP-G400-irq11(552drvs)
PCI1-mt
PCI2- tekram scsi irq-10
PCI3-mt(shares with pci6)
pci4-NIC-irq3(shares with pci5 and usb)
PCI5-mt
PCI6-aureal vortex 8830-irq5(2048drvs)

Anyone, Please
TIA,
Ginfest

[moreau]

Have you forced agp 1x?
Also, try memory sticks individually. You did say you tried moving them around, but individually?

[This message has been edited by moreau (edited 10 March 2000).]

[ginfest]

Ya, I tried each one seperately. And I've been runnin' 1X since I got the G400. Funny, The card has run for months at 95 Mhz AGP, no problems. If it's the G400, I'd be suprised.

[Unam]

I had a similar problem with one of my P3B-F's, when I installed my PIII 600B, random lockups, everything 3D froze. Turned out that my SDRAM (generic PC100 CAS2) was "incompatible" with the mobo. I picked up some PC133 (Mushkin) and everything worked fine after that. I tried damn near everything I could think of as well, in the end I took the mobo and RAM back to the place I bought it for a return. Technician there thought it might be the RAM and he was right. Sigh... what can I say, at that time I didn't have any extra sticks of RAM laying around to swap out.

------------------
Primary system, Asus P3B-F1, PIII 600B, 128Mb PC133 RAM, 18.2Gb KA drive, HP CDRW & Travan drive, SB64PCI, Intel EPro+ PnP NIC, G400 and a ViewSonic 17" monitor.

Secondary system, ASUS P3B-F1, C366 OC'd to 550, 128Mb PC100 RAM, 10.2Gb DMPlus, 5x CL DVD Kit, ZIP Drive, AWE64, Intel EPro+ PnP NIC, CL TNT(1) and a Sceptre 17" monitor.


[This message has been edited by Unam (edited 11 March 2000).]

[ginfest]

Update: if I enable AGP in DX Diag, system locks with 3D. If AGP disabled, runs all day. What does AGP diable(duh) actually do? and any reason AGP enabled would cause lockups? Could it be memory addressing? And any possible cures?
TIA,
Mike G

[Rags]

AGP allows your video card to share system memory for texture addressing. If it is enabled and is causing crashes, most likely you are experiencing memory errors or a noisy memory interface. You can try forcing AGP2X or forcing AGP 1X to see if the crashes disappear.

Rags

[ginfest]

Thanx Rags, I'll try 2X again. Just swapped memory slots again. Would increasing the vio currently on 3.5-3.6 help the noise?
Mike G

[moreau]

You should check your PCB version on the P3B-F. For CuMine you need v 1.003 or later.

CEM

[ginfest]

Just bought the board, rev 1.04, Bios 1005
Tried both RAM sticks alone, still have some lockups. Dropped FSB to 124, UT ran for an hour, raised to 133, UT ran again for 1 hr. NHL 2K crashed at 133/124, had to lower bus speed to 115. Played 2 games NHL2K, re-booted, back to 133 UT again no probs. Later yesterday, started UT again, instant crash. I know OC isn't a sure thing, but I've done it since the 300a days and never had these probs. The same components in the MSI board ran FSB 142/144 no crashes! There must be some setting I'm missing, or could the G-400 be "worn out"? It's strange that I can run OK sometimes at high FSB, other times instant crash. And thru it all, 3D MARK 99 and 3D mark 2000 will run with FSB at 133/140, looped all day. Also Prime 95, and "CPU Burn", never a crash!
Mike G

[LAMFDTK]

ginfest I bet your Ram is the problem. The P3B-F has been a Rock for me. The board really does not have a history of being picky with Ram.

By the whay what are your chip markings on your sticks?

[ginfest]

1 Stick is Mushkin PC-133, with Siemens chips, PC-133-333-542, also -75 on chips. The other an Asus approved stick, sold by the retailer where I got the P3B-F, made by ATP, ram says PC133U-333-542, chips are "-75", not sure of brand mem chips, "MT 48LC8M8A2" under this is "TG" then -75 C. Both sticks ran with the same P3-550E/Iwill slocket at 144 fSB in the MSI, no crashes or locks, all 3D worked great.
This store only sells ASUS and these ATP modules, I have bought other ASUS/ATP comboes, they always worked.
Funny, W2K installs at 770, both mem chips recognized, usually bad mem will crash the Win install. Although there are no conflicts, could the cards/PCI slot placement matter? G400 is on it's own IRQ(11), nothing in PCI 1. The only "sharing is the NIC, in slot 4 with the USB(IRQ10). As you know, with an AGP vid card, and 3 other(SCSI, NIC, Sound crad), something has to "share" on the P3B-F.
Any other ideas?
TIA,
Mike G

[ginfest]

FYI, system temp is 16C, ambient room air 16C, internal diode under heavy load(CPU Burn) only 35-40C, case and components well-cooled. G-400 not OC, and it ran for months atb 95 Mhz AGP bus in the MSI.

[LAMFDTK]

MT 48LC8M8A2 I belive is Micron and is rated at 100, 133, 143. Good stuff!

Man I just re-read your post and damm if you haven't put the BIG-Ass effort into this one!
I'm Stumped. Try and remove that NIC card and see if that works. If not maybe we can take up a collection here on the Murc and buy you a PIII-1000 ...

[ginfest]

You guys have been great, funny I took the ATP ram out, left in the Siemens. Ran UT for a coupla hours, no probs. Started NHL2K, got thru 1.5 periods, lock-up! Put back both sticks, UT ran fine again! NHL crashed out after 5 mins. FYI, I did re-install both games, all patches.
Somethings funky, almost soungs like heat, but I'll tell ya, my big-ass case has mucho cooling, Alpha on P3, Card coller is blowin the G-400 across the room. I guess I should pull the NIC, prob is, if the lock-ups stop, I'm SOL 'cause a need my cable connection(ya I'm spoilt).
Maybe a driver prob? Guess I should re-format, re-install, just hate to blow away 3-4 GB if it's something stupid.
Thanx again all, guess I'll start swapping parts and hope for the best,
Mike G