Problem with Two DFI Ultra-D Systems

[Qapf]

I am having a bit of problem with two near-identical systems I have built.

 

System #1

DFI NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard

3500+ Winchester

2x512MB Corsair 4400C25 PC4400 Ram

ATi Radeon X850XT 256MB

Antec TruPower 550W 20pin PS

OS Drive: 1x WD Raptor 74GB

 

System #2

DFI NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard

3500+ Winchester

2x512MB Corsair 4400C25 PC4400 Ram

ATi Radeon X850XT 256MB

Thermalright 600W 24pin PS

OS Drive: 2x WD Raptor in Raid0

 

Both of these systems have the 6/23 bios loaded. The problem is that I can't get the systems to be stable at stock speeds. I have tried the shipping bios, the 310-1 bios, the 6/23 offical and -1 bios, I have tried retarding the timings, chainging the Tref, overvolting the CPU and the Memory, RMA'ed the memory on both systems, RMA'ed the processor on system 1, and I can't get the systems to be stable.

 

System 1 is the most stable system passing a 24 hour Prime95, but in games like Half-Life 2 I persist in getting random lockups and Memory errors that dump me to desktop, in addition to random physics bugs.

 

System 2 on the other hand outright refused to install windows in dual channel mode, and with only one stick of ram. I had to set a divider to DDR333 and disable T1 and Bank Interleave just to get windows to install correctly, and once in windows I can put the memory in dual channel configuration. Despite 2 days of trial and error once in windows with every bios, memory timing, and voltage that I can think of I can not get this thing stable at stock.

 

Now, what really gets me, I went out and purchased an Asus nforce4 ultra motherboard and dumped the innards of system 2 into it. Booted perfect, installed windows perfect, passed 24hours memtest perfect, and is currently 12 of 24 hours into a Prime95 run.

 

What am I doing wrong? What is with my memory, my cpu, and the DFI motherboard that just does not mix? What timings must I apply so I can get stable at stock speeds. Is it impossible to get a stable system at default voltages and memory timings on this DFI Board?

[ajones]

Running my memory at 2.8v and when windows starts (5% BSoD on boot up, XP sp2) she runs fine (hours 'n' hours 'n' hours of EQ2).

 

Lots of threads here about Corsair memory and DFI boards. The general consensus (no flames please from those who have made the effort with ram timings) seems to be that you're better off with different memory.

 

Lots of threads too about PSUs - 480W min with 24pin mandatory

[Angry_Games]

2x512MB Corsair 4400C25 PC4400 Ram

 

try something other than Corsair memory

[Frallan]

Did U keep track of all the changes U made in the BIOS? and how did U meaasure stability.

 

Also once Ure stable in memtest @ stock U might need to reinstall windows. That is what did it to me I had a less then 100% stable setup from the beginning and my Windows was never stable after that.

[Qapf]

Did U keep track of all the changes U made in the BIOS? and how did U meaasure stability.

 

Also once Ure stable in memtest @ stock U might need to reinstall windows. That is what did it to me I had a less then 100% stable setup from the beginning and my Windows was never stable after that.

I measured stability of a given configuration by seing if it passed first one run through memtest, then getting into windows, then firing up prime95 and running its test while copying about 200gb from my network into the drive while running ati tool in spinning cube mode to have the 3d card working and playing a endless loop of season 4 of family guy in media player. I measured the time it took for a system to crash doing this. System 1 managed to pass 24 hours, but something is obiously still not right. System 2 can not pass more than 2 hours of this test. System 2 on the Asus board so far is up to 12 hours of doing this without a glitch

 

As for trying ram that isn't Corsair, it is alot cheeper to buy new motherboards than new ram, if the offical word is that this motherboard is incompabile with my RAM, the motherboard is going to go. Fact is that the most unstable system, system 2, is running perfect inside the asus board without moving anything from automatic concerning the ram. I'll test with some Giel DDR400 I can get my hands on when I can. In the mean time, anyone wanna buy two DFI NF4 Ultra-D's? If you have VX ram, they are perfect

[ArcticSoldier]

try running the in dual channel using the orange slots but at PC3200 speeds at 2.5-2.7v and not 2.8v at 2.5-3-8-3. also boot with bare minimal items eg// 1xHDD, 1XDVD and nothing else. also try another brand of ram. be sure to clear cmos just to be sure you havent mess something up in bios