Do I have this correct?:
When you run the this board on defaults from the original bios that comes with the board, then you boot up, and load/run windows, and then check the memory voltage by running the AI Boost utility that comes on the CD with the mobo, -- well when you look at the sports car type screen of AI Boost, the memory voltage it reports is 2.7v . Is that really the voltage the memory is running under defaults from bios?
It seems to me that that is what I observed, and then I flashed the bios with the newest beta version (4th beta one) and then once again using the AI Boost utility to observe the memory voltage, it reported 2.6v .
So my conclusion is that the bios that comes with the board defaults memory to 2.7v.
While the newer beta bios, defaults the memory to 2.6v.
I now, manually set the memory voltage to 2.6v in whatever bios as I don't understand what it chooses. Is there a reason I would want to set memory designed at 2.6v to 2.7v if there is no overclocking? If you do not overclock- the cpu, can instabilty happen if you raise the voltage of the memory to 1.7v? Does the cause an occasional mismatch of the timings (like boosting it up to pc3500 memory), or does it make the pc3200 timing just stonger pc3200 timings? Get my point?
Is not most standard pc3200 memory with CAS 3.0 run at 2.6v?
How hot does it get when running at 2.7v? Without major cooling what will happen to it?
Most consumers would never find this out, as I loaded the ntune utility an the pcprobe utility and neither reports the memory voltage setting.
So what I am saying is, that it seems to me that there may be a lot of memory being run at 2.7v without people knowing it. Of course I would like to double check this. Is there another utility that will tell me what the memory is running at.
How do you flash to a previous bios version -- as the auto flash utility prevents it and says you got to use some dos thing. Can someone please help me out with that?
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Also something I noticed in the AI Boost utility with the original bios that comes with the board, well, if you manually set the voltage, it reports the CPU's voltage much lower than what you set. What is up with that? And by the way, when doing the same operation under the beta 4 bios, well, in the AI Boost utility , it will report a voltage very close to the one you manually set, the 2 things track together. So the AI boost utility seems to run much more sensically under the beta 4 bios.
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Another thing I noticed is that I get a lot of blue screens of death that result in system reboot, when I loaded all the drivers that come on the motherboard disk. Now of course I loaded some drivers for the video card too, but I don't think that is the problem.
Some of the irregular BSOD errors i get (like once every 2 or 3 hours) have messages relating to
kmixer.sys
ALCXWDM.sys
nv_4mini.sys
wins32k.sys
I ran memtest86 for about 6 hours no problem.
I ran a cpuburn type test for a nubmer of hours no problem.
I played a game without problem generally, but it did BSOD when trying to install it during like the 3 or 5 cd loaded into drive. Also I think there was a different BSOD at the start when I switched to the game once (but not many other times).
The BSOD happen whenever just runing regular programs or tasks in windows, or just leave the computer there idling. No rhym or reason or pattern.
I reinstalled windows xp pro again, and load no supplemental drivers ,and no BSOD for last 3 hours.
Many of the BSOD were of type
0x0000007E
0x000000D1 (nv4_mini.sys , ALCXWDM.SYS)
0x0000000A
0x0000008E (that was the win32k.sys)
So looking up these errors generally, point to drivers trying to access memory they should not be accessing, (conflict), hardware incompatability issues, memory issues).
Can it be hardware compatibility issue, when the system is stable, with just the the basic windows install (by the way, with just the basic windows install, just draggin a window around the screne is really slow, and also I have not audio, as I thin that needs the Realtek driver installed).
So also lookig at these errors, I guess maybe there is a problem with the audio and vidoe drivers? Or could it be something wrong with the motherboard itself, like the Realtek audio on the board, when the driver is installed and enables it? I have no clue whatsoever of what I am talking about.
I am frustrated, does anyone else have BSOD when they get there drivers installed?
Suggestions?
Help please.
PS.
Last question, do you install both the Realtek AC 97 drivers and the nvidia 3d sound drivers, or does teh Realtek handle all the 3d sound stuff , or do they work in conjunction with each other? PS, how do you prevent nvidia 3d sound from being installed when you want the other nforce4 driver stuff loaded from the nvidia driver stuff?