Hard lock issues.

[j0hnnyl4w]

Hi guys, new to forums and to building. This is my first build ever so bare with me. I did it for the learning experience and so I could get what I want out of my system. Anyways, here's my setup and my problems/what I've tried.

Case:
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

PSU:
COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 115/ 230 V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CCC

MOBO:
XFX MBN790IUL9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

RAM:
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

GPU:

XFX GeForce 8800gt Alpha Dog Edition Extreme 512MB 256-bit DDR3 640MHz PCI-e Dual DVI/TV-Out SLI Ready

HDD:

MAXTOR 750GB SERIAL ATA/300 16MB BUFFER HARD DRIVE - L01F750

Vista Ultimate x86

I'm experiencing performance problems primarily during games (hard locking). I have all the latest drivers from nvidia. However, I'm unsure as to whether or not I have the p05 bios (after reading other posts I been seeing this may help me). How can I tell? Also can someone point me to instructions for installing the bios as that is new to me.

Thanks in advance. Please let me know if any of you need more information.

--J0hnnyl4w

[Scott]

I would make sure youhave the RAM voltage to like 1.9Volts. That is what I run.

[j0hnnyl4w]

I would make sure youhave the RAM voltage to like 1.9Volts. That is what I run.

ok I just upped it to 1.9v, lets see what happens.

[j0hnnyl4w]

well, I've ran a game for longer then ever so far lol. Hope this is the long run fix, I'll be back if bad things start happening again. Thanks Mr. Scott!

[j0hnnyl4w]

hmmmm. starting to lock again, any ideas? Do I start changing the timings?

7-7-7-20 is what they're at now on auto.

[Muppet]

hmmmm. starting to lock again, any ideas? Do I start changing the timings?

7-7-7-20 is what they're at now on auto.

What are the default setting for your memory. Also try setting them to 2t instead of 1t.

[j0hnnyl4w]

They say on the box 9-9-9-24 @ 1.8v. I've changed them to that and been MUCH more stable. but have still crashed a couple times. (probably about 70% more stable now though). I've also passed the 3dmark vantage test numerous times along with memtest86 running for several hours error free. Is it time to change the advanced settings now?

[j0hnnyl4w]

ok so I'm currently running them at 9-9-9-24 2t. Here are the advance settings:
tRRD: 4
tRC: 27
tWR: 10
tWTR: 14
tFAW: 17
tREF: 7.7uS

All those are auto'd in, let me know if you see something I should change.

[j0hnnyl4w]

Will getting a 1:1 ratio dram:fsb make me more stable?

[Methious]

1:1 FSB/Ram is he holy grail of over clocking. Every thing is synchronized and every time the cpu sends to Ram the ram is ready to receive and send back.

Even if it's not a stability issue it's desirable to run it at 1:1. You'll get a decent performance boost running it like that.

[j0hnnyl4w]

ok I'm still crashing.....I've passed 3d vantage numerous times, no hang ups. memtest86 error free for 5 hours. But when I play games I'm still freezing....my cpu never gets over 42c, my gpu never over 45c, my mobo lingers between 35/40c. Any ideas?

[XFX Tech]

Is it only in games that you are crashing? Did you ever update the BIOS?

[j0hnnyl4w]

Is it only in games that you are crashing? Did you ever update the BIOS?

Ok here's what i did as of yesterday/today. I completely formatted everything, reinstalled windows/all drivers, and the p05 bios, reconfigured my memory (9-9-9-24 1.9V 2T). Until I got my memory to those settings, I was pretty much crashing all over the place (left on for 12+ hours and still cool to touch). After setting the memory up like that, I haven't crashed once in windows, only in games and after at least 30 minutes of play time. All my temps check out under load and idle. Now, as of yesterday, I decided to underclock my gpu and haven't had a single issue. So.....I'll be taking it back to the store tomorrow. Hopefully that will be the end of things. I got it from Fry's Electronics, (don't know if this is everywhere) but I have 60 days to upgrade and just pay the difference so that's probably what I'll do and just get a 9800 for the extra coin.

PS
If I don't try to minimize a game it will last longer without crashing, but if i try to tab out and open another window ie firefox, I insta-lock up no matter what.