sorry for the xpost, put this in the wrong spot earlier....
having issues with my rig (a8n-sli-d,3500,corsair xms pro 3200s
ran fine for a week after setup, but this was probably due to being at work, and not having the time to utilize the system pushing a full load. so the weekend came and after loading doom3 and prince of persia, and ut2004. all games crashed with BSOD, mem dumps.
veins of anger popped from beneath the surface of my forehead.
checked bios...
system is set on quiet and cool, running 32-34c idle temps. no oc'ing done. bios set to auto on all applicable specs. tried manually configuring dram setup to 2.2.2.5 @1t and noticed mem was set to 200mhz on auto??? changed to 400mhz.
rebooted and system message failure, due to ocing. changed the "min ras# active time" back to auto (i had it set to 5, thinking it was the 5 in 2.2.2.5) and it booted back to windows.
games now sort of play, but gameplay integrity is still greatly comprimised: sluggish motion, flickering and motion clipping going on. and it still occasionally crashes. while games are in play windows task manager is showing cpu usage at 100% constant. that cant be healthy.
so i bought another video card to test, swapped... and same problem.
pulled memory from channel a, same problem @ 512mb in channel b. swapped b out with other ddr module, same problem.
i assumed this was a memory issue, but reading the vast array of problems, i am no longer sure.
still, being rather unexperienced at ocing motherboards, this could be as simple as some voltage modification. my ultra 500w power supply is modular and all my connectors are pretty much running independently, save for the cdrw/dvdrw on the same rail. also the 20 to 24 pin converter... any chance that might cause issues? the four pin is plugged into the mb, although the manual isnt clear as to whether that is only for SLI or a requirement.
also, my ez selector card was dual card side in slot, even though the manual says it comes factory for single use. to make it more confusing the dumb bastard in charge of the user manual used a picture of the dual card side in the selector right next to where it says "the factory sets ez-selector card for single use." logic tells me the little pointy arrow on the single side faces the blue pci-e, but maybe asus doesnt use logic.
tomorrow i plan to run by best buy, return the test card and buy some test memory. if someone is all knowing and wise and would like to save me the extra trip, please, for the love of god, shine down your infinite wisdom and spare me the agony.