I assembled what I thought was an excellent high end workstation. I used only top tier components on what I believed was an excellent foundation. Unfortunately, I've been unable to achieve any reliability or stability whatsoever
. My workstation was to be used in equal parts for DV editing, webpage design and "high end gaming". I copied my components list from SiSoft Sandra Pro 2004 and listed them below. In short, the workstation "feels" slow and unresponsive and completely crashes (complete system restart) when I try to load games. I have the latest drivers for all of components and have reinstalled the OS three different times. Any help or suggestions that anybody might have will be genuinely appreciated. I'm on the verge of disassembling the whole thing and selling the parts at this point ...

Help!

Furious1

Sorry. Here are the specs:

SiSoftware Sandra

System
Host Name :
User :
Domain :

Processor
Model : 2x AMD Opteron™ Processor 244
Speed : 1.79GHz
Model Number : 2887 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR5374 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 1024kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (16-way, 64 byte line size)

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 2 CPU(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 080008
Mainboard : TYAN S2885 Thunder K8W
Total Memory : 2047MB DDR-SDRAM Registered

Chipset 1
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 796MHz (1592MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1024MB DDR-SDRAM Registered
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 199MHz (398MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 796MHz (1592MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1024MB DDR-SDRAM Registered
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 199MHz (398MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ViewSonic VG800b-2
Adapter : RADEON 9800 XT
Adapter : RADEON 9800 XT - Secondary

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : WDC FireWire/USB2.0 IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device
Hard Disk : 3ware 8506-4:0 Drv 0 SCSI Disk Device (69.0GB)
Hard Disk : 3ware 8506-4:0 Drv 3 SCSI Disk Device (232.9GB)
CD-ROM/DVD : PLEXTOR CD-R PREMIUM (CD 40X Rd, 52X Wr)
CD-ROM/DVD : CD-ROM Drive

Logical Storage Devices
1.44MB 3.5" (A : N/A
Hard Disk (C : 68.9GB (59.5GB, 86% Free) (NTFS)
Hard Disk (D : 116.4GB (114.2GB, 98% Free) (NTFS)
Hard Disk (E : 116.4GB (116.0GB, 100% Free) (NTFS)
Traod2 (F : 675MB (0MB, 0% Free) (CDFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (G : N/A
Hard Disk (H : 232.9GB (16.0GB, 7% Free) (NTFS)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 1)

Network Services
Network Drivers Enabled : Yes
Adapter : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

Thanks again.

Furious1

I disabled the intergrated SATA in favor of a 3Ware 8506 RAID Adapter in order to take advantage of the 64bit PCI slot ([URL=64 v.s. 32 bit benefits]http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=dualduel&page=4[/URL]), I also added a 4 port USB 2.0 adapter. I'm using the Enermax EG651P-VE FM24P EPS12V 550W PSU in a Coolermaster alumininum case with Zalman HSF's. The Raptors are in a RAID O array and WD HDD (WDC WD2500JD) is also attached to the 3ware Drive. I think that's all that's not covered in the SisSoft Summary. Again, I'd be truly grateful for any help or suggestions.

Furious1

1. What rev are your Opteron 244 CPUs? Tyan's BIOS have issues with B3 rev CPUs (see here' ">http://www.beowulf.org/piperma...-September/007957.html). Latest C0 rev CPUs should work perfectly with Tyan motherboards, and both CPUs must ofcourse have the same rev and you should use the latest available BIOS (1.01).

2. What memory modules do you use? Bad memory can cause system instabilities and Opteron is also very picky about memory and only the latest C0 rev CPUs supports DDR400 AFAIK.

3. Are the HSFs mounted properly? Poor contact between CPU and heatsink can cause instabilities, so apply a thermal paste/goop if available.

4. Have you tried with another graphics card, e.g. Nvidia-based? Perhaps ATI's drivers dosen't support the AMD-8000 chipsets AGP tunnel properly and this may cause problems.

I got a very similar configured system myself (see my signature) and it's stable as a rock and the performance is outstanding to say the least

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My [i' ">http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=2208 8^)

Moved to Opteron Troubleshooting section.

Basically, do what snorre said...
- Make sure you're using the latest BIOS for your mobo.
- Use CPU-Z(search on google) to check what stepping/revision your 244's are.
- Check your memory with memtest86, maybe try to set your RAM to 166MHz(DDR333) instead of 200MHz(DDR400).
- Check your temperatures in BIOS
- Did you connect all the power-connectors on the mobo 24-pin, 8-pin?

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The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

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<center><font color=red>MODERATOR</center></font>

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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 89W :: Asus M2N32SLI Deluxe :: 2x1024MB Muskin XP2-6400 DDR2-800 :: BeQuiet! Darkpower Pro 530W :: 2x WD Raptor 74GB/10k rpm, RAID 0 :: ATI Radeon X1950XTX

MEMORY!!!!

Did you buy 2 DC kits or individual sticks?

Opteron 244's do not officially support PC3200 but it will work fine as long as you have matched kits installed in the correct slots. DC controllers on AMD CPU's have been notoriously picky about memory, and the AMD64's are no exception. In addition to this, AMD64 CPU's need exceptional memory if the memory is to hang with the onboard controllers at speeds up to, or in excess of 400MHz.

1) That's a lot of memory. Try raising your VDD to 1.8V minimum. If you've got the Corsair RE, it needs that voltage or even more. 1.8V is max for warranty though.

2) Check your timings. Make sure they are no tighter than 6-3-2-2, and you may even want to bump it to 7-3-2-2 if you are not keen on raising the voltage.

3) Use one memory kit for 1st CPU and one for the second. Do not mix them up!

4) Make sure your CPU's are getting plenty of juice and check to make sure their temps and VCORE readings are close to identical. You should run them between 1.48 and 1.52 volts. If the volts are the same and the temps are different you may have any number of problems. All power connectors should be plugged in. There should be two minimum, the main and the 4 pin 12V. There may even be a third.

5) Make sure you installed everything (drivers, o/s, patches/service packs, software, etc...) in the proper order.

6) Use only the latest CAT's for your Radeon XT. Download them from ATI, as opposed to installing from the CD. Video drivers are the number 1 cause of system instability.

Let us know if you find the problem. Have you built many computers?