My PC Unstable If My DDR 2 RAM Set to 400 Mhz Manually form BIOS

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phenom_x8

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Apr 16, 2010
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Ok, before I started with my problem, this is the summary of my system (all run in their default value, I Never tried or wanted to OC my pc)

Proc : Phenom II X4 840 3.2 Ghz AM3 (95W TDP) w/ custom deepcool fans (forgot the type)
Ram : 8 GB of DDR2 800 RAM (2x 2GB Strontium DDR2-800 RAM + 2x 2GB Kingston value DDR2-800 RAM configuration )
Motherboard : ECS A780GM-A rev 1.0 AM2+(yes from 2008)
Harddisk : 1 TB WD Blue 7200RPM + 1.5 TB Seagate 7200 RPM (I forgot the model number)
GPU : Zotac Dual Silencer NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 192-bit VRAM
PSU : FSP Aurum 400Watt
Monitor : 23" LG M230 (connected via HDMI port) + 18.9 " Samsung Sync Master SN 9200 (connected via DVI port with DVI to VGA adapter)

For almost 7 years my PC are running fine. I set the RAM Clock to run at 400MHz (800MHz DDR) manually through BIOS without any problem. But since a week ago, my PC randomly crash. Screens are suddenly blank, and my monitor indicating that there is no input detected. My system are definitely still running (case fans, CPU fans, PSU fans dan GPU fans still turning in a lower speed, but my mouse and keyboard hangs, harddisk indicator also turned off)
I've Tried to troubleshoot the case by cleaning my PC from dust,swap the harddisk, cleaning my RAM Stick and swapped it one by one with my spare DDR2 RAM also Installing fresh Operating system (win 7 x64 Ultimate), but the problem still persist.

When I set the RAM clock to 400 MHz , its almost certain to crash when login to windows or some few minutes after login even without doing anything.
I tried to test the RAM with memtest and windows memory diagnostic, it passed both test succesfully even the extended one.
And then I tried to set my RAM clock speed in BIOS to auto.
The crash already not occur when login, but its still occur randomly, just less often.
I've tried to set my BIOS Setting to limit the RAM Clock to 333Mhz, the crash still happen, but much less often than before.
Its still pretty annoying though, especially when it happens while playing games or watching Video.
Is there any chance that my motherboard are already faulty (the PS/2 keyboard slot already not working almost a year ago)?
Its already 8 yrs old nowadays, I just hope to hold it a little longer until Zen arrives to completely upgrade my system (mainboard, RAM and CPU at least, I'm not that rich sadly 😀).
thanks, and sorry for my english ....
 
@countmike yeah,already tried that. But my guts aren't that high,only 12mv voltage raised and im already scared to hell that it will made my system more vulnerable :).the bios itself only allows up to +64 mV raised max. Enlighten me about voltage raising, if you dont mind.
Btw, With 12mV raised and 400MHz clock,the system still crash after login,just like before.

 
Standard voltage for DDR2 is 1.8v but you can safely go to 1.9v, some even 2.0v.
Phenom II processors are much happier with DDR3 and just tolerate DDR2. Try at 667 MHz and see if it behaves better, overall speed is not going to be affected much, barely few %.
 
@countmike yep,i tried to fiddle around with the bios setting a little bit
I tried to change the hypertransport setting manual ly right from 2ghz till down to 1GHZ, and then turn c&q on or off just to see any difference. Sadly, its still crash as long as 400mhz ram clock used,and even it didnt passed starting windows logo and hang in there.
I then tried by load its default setting. Curiously, the setting of the dimm voltage already set to +12 (120mV raised in voltage, a bit correction, actually +1 are equal to 10mV increased in voltage.my bad,s orry ) by default, with the clock set to auto. Then i change the clock to 400 Mhz,and reboot the system. Still didnt even passed the starting windows logo. The same thing happened when i set the clock manually to 333 MHz.
Now I tried to set the dimm voltage to +2 with 333Mhz clock frequency. Im planning to raised it by +2 in each step to see will it be more stable.
 
@countmike nope, not yet.i did the memory test with all four sticks intact. Worth to try though...
Oh,yeah +2 aren't that stable btw, still crash. now increasing to +4, i hope it much stable now
 
A little update, +4 and +6 @333MHz arent stable too. So I decided to remove the stick one by one starting from the kingston stick which i put at the 4th dimm slot.
Remove,one stick, so it is now 2x2gb strontiu + 1x2gb kingston. My pc refuse to boot up.
And then i remove the sticks from the 3rd dimm slot, so now it become 2x2gb strontium, the system boot up, i even try to raised the clock to 400MHz and its able to pass the login screen without crash.
My suspicioun ,whether the Kingston stick at the third dimm slot are broken or the dimm slot itself the culprit. Will try to populate the rest of the slot with my spare ASAP to see the result
 
OK, after get a stable result with 2x2GB strontium DDR2 RAM configuration , I put another Strontium RAM stick to the 3rd DIMM slot.
The result are quite well, with 3x2GB Strontium DDR2 RAM at 400MHz it can pass the login screen and there's no more crash. Then I put another memory stick at 4th DIMM Slot (albeit its a different DDR2 RAM I borrowed from my office unused spare, called Memory Power), and another crash happened after login.
So my conclusion for now, whether the 4th DIMM slot are broken or it is due to the different memory stick I put at the 4th DIMM Slot that cause the crash. Not very sure until I got another strontium RAM stick to test the 4th slot
Thanks for the suggestion, countmike...
Will update this thread as soon as I got another RAM Stick
 
I have a hunch that incompatibility of different sticks is making you most problems. That's an old issue with DDR2 and earlier memory. If you mix memory even from same manufacturer and of same type, results are unpredictable.
DDR3 is more flexible that way.
 
@countmike ,yep that was my first thought. But its just happened recently after almost 4 year working normally @400 Mhz with my initial configration i've mentioned before in my original post. Its kind of catch me offguard that my system ram sticks configuration are the one that cause my system unstable.
 
OK , a sad update...
Finally I've got another Strontium RAM stick last saturday . Put it in the 4th Slot ASAP.
First It refused to boot,it turning on then off immediately, when I tried to turn it back on, no display occur,all of the fans are still turning like usual , but no display and Harddisk activity indicator turned off
Going to my firends house to test the processor and motherboard, both of them are dead
Ahh... pretty sad weekend for me... , its time to upgrade I guess ..
Thanks for the help though...
Time to decide my new upgrade ...
 
Too bad it didn't work out but you were due to an upgrade anyway. As that "upgrade" will probably mean whole new system you can keep this one in the simplest form as a spare or something like that. Maybe as file server or....
 
yeah, CountMike, just ordering an i3 6100 , 8GB Corsair value RAM and MSI B150 M mainboard(thats my budget allowed to afford for now), the rest are still using the same old parts though( the PSU and the case are still in OK condition). Gonna sold the DDR2 RAM, BTW. because thats the only part that still works fine. So, no hope for using it as a file server or ... (would you mind to explain the rest to me... 😉
 


He..he.. thanks for the suggestion :)
 
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