Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 replacement

On 22 Nov 2004 21:34:15 -0800, (Sheldon Roger)
wrote:
Before you give up on the Gigabyte try this:

1. Lower the dram to 4x (166)

Tried it and it worked, but.....

2. Change the memory settings to:

11,15,4,3,8,4,3,2,3

Tried it and it worked, but.....

3. Change the CL to 2.5

Tried it and it worked, but.....

4. Increase the CPU upward from 200, in steps to increase
your memory bus speed. If you can get to 234 you will be running
memory at 400.

Over clocking did not fare so well.

I first tried over clocking with Easy Tune 5, then by manually
changing things in the BIOS. The highest I could get this system
running without encountering stability problems was between 218 and
220 with the above memory settings. Also, I had to bump the processor
voltage slightly and it caused the temp to go a little higher than I
was willing to live with. So........

This is what I ended up doing. I set the memory back to automatic,
BUT, I limited the frequency to a max of 166. Now I can run Prime95
until the cows come home (well 24 hours plus and counting). As
before, I encountered no problems with Memtest & Microsoft's Memory
tester, therefore I am more than assured that this memory is good (It
was also tested on an ASUS A7V880 for 48 hours).

In the future, I am going to do as I have always done, WAIT before
building a new rig versus purchasing the latest and greatest on the
market. In fact, I will continue to consider Gigabyte as my board of
choice because they, along with ASUS and ABIT, have proven reliable in
the systems I have built over the years. Unfortunately, I can't say
the same for MSI as I had two boards die just after the one year mark.

Thanks again to everyone for all the help and suggestions.

Chris

System specs:

Processor: AMD 64 3500+
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939
Memory: 512 X 2 Corsair PC3200XLPRO in slots 3 & 4
Video: Gainward FX5900XT Golden Sample
Power: Enermax 470W
Hard drive1: WD 74GB Raptor
Hard drive2: WD2000JD
CD/DVDRW: LiteOn 812S
DVD ROM: LiteOn 167T
Floppy: MITSUMI FA404A
Sound: Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Case: Cooler Master - Wave Master with stock cooling

(snip)

Thanks again to everyone for all the help and suggestions.

Chris

System specs:

Processor: AMD 64 3500+
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939
Memory: 512 X 2 Corsair PC3200XLPRO in slots 3 & 4
Video: Gainward FX5900XT Golden Sample
Power: Enermax 470W
Hard drive1: WD 74GB Raptor
Hard drive2: WD2000JD
CD/DVDRW: LiteOn 812S
DVD ROM: LiteOn 167T
Floppy: MITSUMI FA404A
Sound: Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Case: Cooler Master - Wave Master with stock cooling

Chris: Sorry.

But after going thru similar happenings, and many different BIOS
settings I'm now running my memory, Dual Channel, 6-2-2-2-1T
with a very mild overclock, 204. Can raise this (OC) with slower memory
settings and an associated reduction in memory bandwidth, so I'm
sitting still.

Hope you find a winning combination.

I had problems with the same Gigabyte/Corsair PC3200XLPRO 1GB . I first
thought it was memory, but after chaning the memory 3 times, power supply
once, video card, sound card and SATA HDD to IDE-133 and having the same
problems, and then replacing the motherboard with an identicle replacement
and still having the problems, I changed to the Asus A8V Deluxe and never
looked back, not one problem since (even with my original Corsair memory).
Bottom line, I'll never buy Gigabyte again.


Thanks,
Shawn


"Chris" wrote in message
...
Greets All,

Due to all of the problems I have been having with my Gigabyte
GA-K8NSNXP-939 mobo, I am considering replacing it. It doesn't like a
dual memory configuration with my wallet busting Corsair PC3200XLPRO
memory, unless I relax the timings. Even with manually relaxed
timings, I am still only 90% stable and will randomly bomb out of
applications/games with a memory error. I also tried some Kingston C3
PC3200 memory that I obtained from a machine that I built for work,
and the Gigabyte board was just as unstable.

FWIW, I have all of the latest drivers for all my devices as well as
the F6 Bios, and I am still having fits. I verified that the Corsair
RAM is good by testing it on an ASUS A7V880 VIA KT880 (with an Athlon
XP 3200+, 2 WD Raptors, and an ATI 9200 Video card) and running Prime
95 for 48 hours without a single glitch in the torture test. In my
system I get anywhere from 1 minute to 24 hours before the torture
test bombs with manually relaxed timings. I verified that the memory
problem exists on Win 2k SP4, WinXP SP1, and WinXP SP2 because I was
insane enough to spend a week testing it with each operating system.

Regardless, I was wondering if I should consider the Abit or ASUS VIA
chipset based Socket 939 boards to replace my POS Gigabyte, order a
MSI K8N Neo, or wait? I have read on some forums where users replaced
their Gigabyte with the MSI K8N Neo and it worked fine for them.
Unfortunately, I take everything I read with a grain of salt now
because I read such rave reviews of how the POS board I have now was
so great before I plunked my some hard earned cash.

I guess my other alternative is to yank one of my 512 sticks and just
run with 512 in single channel mode, as this finicky Gigabyte runs
stable with either stick of ram in slot 1. Naturally, that defeats
the purpose of spending a small fortune on my Corsair RAM. I guess
plans B and C would be to replace the ram or wait to see what the
future holds for an ideal motherboard replacement.

Lastly, I have learned some valuable lessons from this experience:

1. The most expensive board out there is not necessarily the best.

2. Reviews tend to be biased and misleading.

3. Adopting new technology too soon is a royal PITA.


Thanks for any advice that you can offer me.

Chris