# M4A79XTD EVO very odd ram problem



## OMGH4X! (Aug 13, 2010)

I have been having problems with this 'board since i got it..

at first it was just small things, like very occasionally i would get 'NO SIGNAL' msg from my monitor on boot and sometimes not detecting HDD/USB media..

A few weeks ago i started getting BSOD's and after running some memtest86+ i was convinced it was the ram... i pulled out the offending stick and have been finerunning since then with 1gb installed.

So today i got another 2gb kit in the mail.. here's where things get a bit weird..

I removed the remaining 1gb from my mobo, opened up the new kit and chucked it in there, reset the CMOS jumpers, and.. it freezes dead at the green ASUS screen.

So at this point i'm thinkin' it's gotta be the 'Board, right?

I reboot a couple times and it finally gets into windows... runs stable for a few mins on prime95 then crashes

I remembered reading that sometimes you can have memory errors caused by bent CPU pins, as the memory controller resides on the CPU itself.

So with this in mind i took everything apart to have a look. The pins were fine but i did notice quite a bit of thermal gunk in places it shouldn't have been (namely; the side of the cpu and on the 'board around the socket) which i promptly removed with some tissue.

Re-assembled, stuck the new kit in there again and it boots fine this time

So.. i throw my other -previously troublesome- 2gb kit in there alongside the new (same model from corsair) so that i have 4gb installed. POST fine.. boots fine.. prime95 fine -touch wood- still running while i'm typing this 

I am so confused... it could be (A) something messed up with the mobo (B) due to aforementioned MX-2 (C) maybe the new kit i got just needed warming up (D) Any number of other things i guess..

So yea.. my question is; Could cleaning the CPU and MB really have fixed the problem?
Is that even possible? :S



PS: ThankYou for reading


----------



## erocker (Aug 13, 2010)

OMGH4X! said:


> I am so confused... it could be (A) something messed up with the mobo (B) due to aforementioned MX-2
> 
> So yea.. my question is; Could cleaning the CPU and MB really have fixed the problem?
> Is that even possible? :S



Considering the memory controller is on the CPU, yes.


----------



## OMGH4X! (Aug 13, 2010)

Man i really hope it _was_ just that the cpu needed cleaning... now that i think about it though, the BSOD's did start around about the time i put an aftermarket cpu cooler in there, so maybe..

Has anyone else ever had thier ram come back to life after they clean the CPU? i've personally never heard of it before... which is why i was so damn confused


----------



## NAVI_Z (Aug 13, 2010)

OMGH4X! said:


> Man i really hope it _was_ just that the cpu needed cleaning... now that i think about it though, the BSOD's did start around about the time i put an aftermarket cpu cooler in there, so maybe..
> 
> Has anyone else ever had thier ram come back to life after they clean the CPU? i've personally never heard of it before... which is why i was so damn confused



no cant say i have but i'm runnig three sticks of ddr3 in dual channel mode.


----------



## NAVI_Z (Aug 13, 2010)

yep...dual mode.


----------



## OMGH4X! (Aug 15, 2010)

NAVI_Z said:


> http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af328/navizenabi/pc pics/cpu-zmemorytab.png
> 
> yep...dual mode.



yep...thanks for that .. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Anyway........ I just realized my ram is now running in 2T wheras before it was 1T.

I looked in asus mb user manual but it's .. less than specific about this issue.

Is it OK for the ram to be running in 2T? currently, 9-9-9-24-34-2T same as the screenshot above actually..except mine says 666.7 for DRAM Frequency, 2000.05 Mhz for NB Frequency and 4096 for size..

how much performance will i gain by switching to 1T? 

PS: all the ram settings in bios are at auto

PPS: i guess i should have started a new thread .. title is kinda inaccurate now... as my system has been stable with 4g for a couple days at aforementoioned timings


----------



## Mussels (Aug 15, 2010)

OMGH4X! said:


> yep...thanks for that .. http://i.tpucdn.com/forums/images/smilies/wtf.gif
> 
> Anyway........ I just realized my ram is now running in 2T wheras before it was 1T.
> 
> ...



higher timings are slower, so yes its 'safe' - hell its even more likely to be stable.

Unlike the DDR1 days, 1T vs 2T hardly makes a difference to performance.


667MHz in CPU-Z means 1333Mhz "DDR"


----------



## Mussels (Aug 15, 2010)

OMGH4X! said:


> Man i really hope it _was_ just that the cpu needed cleaning... now that i think about it though, the BSOD's did start around about the time i put an aftermarket cpu cooler in there, so maybe..
> 
> Has anyone else ever had thier ram come back to life after they clean the CPU? i've personally never heard of it before... which is why i was so damn confused



no, but i've had ram become more stable in different slots.

example:

1-2-3-4 didnt work but 2-3-4-1 did - despite all modules being 'identical' they behaved differently in different slots.


----------



## OMGH4X! (Aug 15, 2010)

Well after a couple days running 24/7 stable with 4gb i just got a BSOD after exiting a game..... damnit.. 

screen goes all distorted for like half a second then blue screen 

page_fault_in_nonpaged_area

something like win32k.sys

this means memory right?


----------



## cadaveca (Aug 15, 2010)

Memory, or memory controller.

And to illustrate what Mussels said about 1t vs 2t:


----------



## NAVI_Z (Aug 16, 2010)

got this on same mem test.


----------



## Mussels (Aug 16, 2010)

hmmm i'ma run that test later for random comparison purposes


----------



## Mussels (Aug 16, 2010)

as promised


----------



## 95Viper (Aug 16, 2010)

Get some electronics cleaner spray and clean the ram slots on the motherboard and cpu socket.
Also, clean the base of the cpu and dimms.

I use this:
CRC CHEMICALS Electronics Cleaner
Make sure, whatever you use, it is non-oily and leaves no residue.


----------

