Loyd's New Year - A Trio of Problem Systems
by Loyd Case on January 13, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
The Constantly Crashing P7P55D
Now let’s consider a different problem, also with an Asus motherboard at its core.
I’d built a system running a Core i7 860 and the Asus P7P55D. The GPU installed was an AMD Radeon HD 4890. The system booted normally, and Windows 7 installed with no hiccups.
Periodically, the system would go into sleep mode – this was normal – but would then lock up. This was decidedly not normal. Occasionally, the system would lock up during multiplayer gaming sessions, too. Updating the BIOS didn’t fix the problem.
Then I came across several posts on several forums suggesting an incompatibility that was specific to the Radeon HD 4890. So I swapped in an eVGA 260 GTX Core 216 SSC.
Lockups still occurred, with the same frequency and symptoms. So the problem had nothing to do with graphics cards. Finally, I removed the memory – some early Corsair DDR3-1600 (though it was only running at 1333MHz) and swapped in some OCZ DDR3-1600 (also running at 1333MHz.)
The system has now been running smooth as silk over multiple gaming sessions.
These particular Corsair memory modules had actually given me fits in a number of different Intel-based motherboards, including P45, X48 and now a P55 motherboard. The Corsair memory is a 4GB kit, labeled CMS3X2048-1600C7DHX. What’s interesting about these modules is that when you drop them in an AMD AM3 based motherboard, the system seems to run perfectly fine. It’s quite a mystery, but illustrates how complex the issue of compatibility between components can be.
Lesson learned: nothing in particular, except to maybe to not trust forum posts, even multiple posts that may agree with each other. The graphics card wasn’t the problem here – once again, it was DRAM.
One other thought: despite rapidly falling DDR3 memory prices (or maybe because of rapidly falling prices), the state of the art in DDR3 modules seems to be evolving rapidly. This seems to create incompatibilities between specific motherboards and specific modules. I’ve had Kingston modules run great in Gigabyte motherboards and behave in a crashtastic manner in Asus boards. I’ve had OCZ memory behave badly in Intel boards, while running like a champ in eVGA X58 boards. Whether I adjusted timings, or ran in default modes, didn’t seem to matter.
How anyone can keep track of which modules run well on which motherboards at this point in time is a mystery. So the lesson here, I suppose is: if you don’t have a large supply of different modules and motherboards on hand – and most people don’t – make sure you buy your components from a reseller with a robust return and exchange policy.
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nubie - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
I think he is saying to buy Intel motherboards, at least they seem to have solid reliability.RJohnson - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
IMO he's talking about ASUS and i'd pretty much agree with him, my recent experiences with them have been poor to say the least...michal1980 - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
sounds like an ASUS mobo.They almost always review well/good. But I've had issues with each one, from various generations and families.
eastiest non-overclocking boards I've worked with were Gigabyte, and evga. most stable overclocking a dfi.
asus is off my list
yyrkoon - Thursday, January 14, 2010 - link
Yeap Asus, it is. Corsair is another off my list as well. Add DFI, and Asrock while we're at it. But hey, maybe I am just being finicky ? Because I know what I want . . .Anyways, best Over clocking board I had, and still own is/was the ABIT IP35-E, and it does this reliably. Not that I really need it, but who would not want to at least TRY getting more bang for the buck. At least once. right now, it happily chugs right along with the accompanying E6550 at 2.8Ghz. Stock voltages, stock heat sink. Has never crashed due to hardware issues once. Unless you count the time(s) I tried pushing said system passed 3.5 Ghz . . . Hopefully, Gigabyte, or MSI can give me something equally as pleasing in the future. For over clocking ? Not important, I just want something that will continue to run stable, until I decide to turn it off. Is this really asking too much ? I really do not think so.
eviloz - Thursday, January 14, 2010 - link
asus is the brand with best marketing ever, u find them everywhere, filled with goodies and at a afordable prices.indd all reviews say nothing but good for them, but.. for me too, they are always unreliable on the long-run.
i was a big asus fanboy in the very past (p2b times) and slowly realized these motherboards cant stand a 2-year life cycle, simply they become unstable, bios issues, lockups and such.
The entire AI thing was a epic fail. Qfan never worked with 3pin fans, the probe software is a piece of crap... and so on
i want to install a mobo, configure it, and after 4 years, come back and see it working like a charm. I know most Anand's readers (including me) change system almost every year, but this it not the real world scenario, where the systems have to work way longer than that.
so i moved to intel. some stuff is ugly, some features are missing, the mb tools are not the best (still far better than asus thu)... but these motherboards are rock solid. i never missed a boot.
my videocard blew up one mobo, it was replaced in 2 (thats TWO) working days, shipping was not charged. beat this.
ofc nothing is perfect, was pretty disappointed to see my dp35dp has no w7 support, but still this board brand is a winner.
btw i have few gigabyte mbs around and they are good too.
for my scenario (reliabilty always before performance, never overclock) the best choice is intel, followed by gigabyte.
i will never buy asus no more.
yyrkoon - Thursday, January 14, 2010 - link
I had been using ABIT since the early 90's, and was extremely happy with every one I purchased for my own systems. Even one of the AMD Thunderbird boards I bought when the "rash" of bad capacitors where circulating lasted 5 years. And it *did have 12 of these bad caps on it. They finally popped, and I replaced them, but it was never the same since. I even modded the BIOS so the system would except a 2000XP+ CPU. Ran perfect. *This* is the worst experience I ever had with them as a brand.I too have had some good experiences with Intel boards, but now days for me, they're too unpredictable.
Now, I am unsure who will deserve my money in the future for motherboards, but I think we all know who it wont be ; ) I suppose Gugabyte will be in order. I have always respected them as a motherboard OEM. Perhaps even MSI.
damianrobertjones - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
I hope your Daughter isn't runing as admin :)SlyNine - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
I think Anand should highlight Dell's throttling issues on these laptops,I'm talking Core I7 720QM's that run as slow as 300mhz while playing games. Dell saying it's not a gaming notebook so it doesn't matter. It sounds like Dell is plenty content to screw over people as long as its not made public.Please Anand take a look at the problems outlined here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=4...">http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=4...
I beg of you to make these problems obvious so unsuspecting people don't buy something this flawed, I'm getting one tomorrow, wish I hadn't but I'd be willing to offer it to Anand to get these problems in the open.
nubie - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
They should do an article, including a nice ATi/AMD descrete video and then forcing the entire system to function on ~90w is just disgusting.They are seeing between 50 and 100% improvement in modern games when the throttling is off while using a 130w power supply (I am assuming this is with a fully-charged battery, you wouldn't want to charge at the same time and risk burning up the power input lines.)
(of course one of my early PC's was a DELL, it literally burned up, 486 with a joke of a heatsink. Dell really lives on the edge of thermals in my opinion, I can't recommend them.)
Read the thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=4...">http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=4...
Pitiful. I can't believe they would release an i7 system with modern discrete graphics and this sort of power limit.
SlyNine - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link
All we can do is try to get this as much media attention as possible. Hopefully that will prevent Dell from screwing over people to much.