[UV_Power]

Hey everyone,

My Abit NF7-S v2.0 has been acting funny lately. Here is a summary of what I have concluded so far (thanks to the help of G2G members and staff )

1) I have 3 DIMMs on my motherboard. My 3rd DIMM is completely non-functional. I try putting one memory stick in there and it doesn't BOOT/POST. It also doesn't give me any beep codes.

2) The only way the dual-channel works is by using DIMM1 and DIMM3. Since DIMM3 is dead, I don't have dual-channel anymore.

3) DIMM1 and DIMM2 both work fine. (that is up until now.....)

Here is my problem. I recently purchased new memory since it was a great price. OCZ Platinum 2x1GB PC3200 Dual-Channel. I install it in DIMM1 and DIMM2 (non-dual-channel) and it runs great. Computer recognizes it fine. It boots up just fine. And Windows recognizes 2GB memory. I browse the web for a while and play a game for about 10 min. to break it in and it runs fine.

I decide to stress it to see if it's good memory so I run Sandra Benchmark Lite. It's passes 5 runs. Then, I test it with SuperPI and it fails. I forget the exact error messages, but it's something like NOT EXACT IN ROUND... or something like that. I run it again. Failed. Third time. Failed. Next, I run memTest86 and it fails after 45 minutes (14 errors on Test#7 and 3 errors on Test#5). Run it again. Fails again.

So, then I test each stick individually to see which one it was. Overnight memTest86 one stick ..... flawless. All day memTest86 the other stick ..... flawless. SuperPI each stick individually .... flawless. So, I try both sticks (together , DIMM1 and DIMM2) in another computer. They run fine for 3-hour memTest86. Passes twice.

It sounds like a motherboard problem and not a memory problem. So my question is, what could be causing this kind of behavior? Why would my memory banks act so strangely? Is my motherboard going out? Do I need to roll back to an earlier BIOS revision? Or could it be something that I am missing? What could it be?

Thanks in advance.

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Hi again,

You mention rolling back the BIOS - is it flashed to the latest already? I don't think this will solve your problem, though.

After all you've tried, I think it's new motherboard time for you, and to add this v2.0 mobo to your R.I.P. signature section.

Have you run through this sticky yet?

Troy

[Troy]

Hi again,

You mention rolling back the BIOS - is it flashed to the latest already? I don't think this will solve your problem, though.

After all you've tried, I think it's new motherboard time for you, and to add this v2.0 mobo to your R.I.P. signature section.

Have you run through this sticky yet?

Troy

[UV_Power]

New motherboard time? Awwww.........

I was hoping to squeeze at least another 3 years outta this system before I grab a new board. If I grab a new board, I might as well grab a new processor, and if I do that, then it means system overhaul which I don't have the means or the time to do right now.

The good news is that it has been running stable with just one 1GB stick for the last week. Plays all my games too, but there was a noticeable performance difference when playing them. (such as a drop to 5 fps when I look out in the distance in a snowy COD2....SUPER CHOPPY..... but no problem when staring at my feet )

Anyways, I guess I better face facts and just be happy with my system the way it is.

Edited by UV_Power, 20 November 2008 - 09:23 PM.

[UV_Power]

I just mentioned my problem to my buddy yesterday and he sounded pretty confident that it was the memory controller. This makes perfect sense since the memory controller is related to the Northbridge chipset on the NF7-S, and in early September I replaced the stock fan since it was going out (making lots of noises and spinning at random speeds). Maybe while it was going out, it overheated and damaged the controller.

I also read this at www.pchardware.ro:

Due to the 128bit memory controller a lot of traces go from the nForce2 Northbridge to the memory slots

So, the consensus is that my memory controller went bad and it's time to get a new motherboard. At least I've narrowed down the problem.