Intel 875 Chipset & Memory/Rendering Issue Resoulution

treborvdrummer wrote on 8/24/2003, 2:06 PM
Hi Folks,

I just wanted to report that I have finally found a resolution to my memory and rendering woes.

Hopefully my experience here will help someone else just as this forum has helped me so much over the last several months.

Thanks again for all who had input on my situation in the following posts:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?
ForumID=4&MessageID=206582

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=206305&Page=0

Resolution:
After performing memory diagnostics with Memtest86: http://www.memtest86.com it appeared that I had received yet another pair of bad chips from Corsair. (XMS DDRAM 1GB TWINX1024-3200LLPT)

After some research on the net I discovered Corsair had a major problem with the chips being installed on most boards with Intel's 875 chipset and I had the Intel D8785PBZ board.

So I sent them back and called some other memory manufacturers for input. Based upon my configuration they suggested that I go with their Value RAM Memory (PN: KVR400X64C3AK2/1G) since I was not looking for over clocking but stability. I decided to go with Kingston since I had used their RAMBUS products on my prior system with no issues.

Well, I am very happy to report that I am now up and running. Although I did still have the rendering issues at first until I completely uninstalled VV4d and remove C:\Program Files directory as well. My performance is now better than ever and I can complete renders with out my peak memory usage flying well past critical levels as it was doing so before. In fact I just rendered the same project and my peak memory usage never went above 670MB! Before it was traveling well above 1.5 GB I had 1GB or physical RAM and the rest was using Page File but it would eventually still run out of memory and freeze up VV4.

Anyway I am sure that some folks are succesfully using the higher end overclocking chips but it you are using the Intel 875PBZ board it is really not capable for aggressive memory overclocking anyway so you may want to save some money. (I do however overclock my P4 3.0 CPU by 4% = 3.12)

The Corsair XMS cost is around $300.00 and the Kingston Value RAM was about $230.00.


My configuration is:
CPU: Intel P4 3.0 with HT (Overclocked to 3.12)
Motherboard: Intel D875PBZ
Memory: Kingston PC3200 1 GB DDR 512MBx2
O/S Drive: Seagate 30GB ATA
Storage: Seagate 80 GB ATA
Storage: Seagate 120 GB SATA
Storage: HP DAT24 Tape Drive
Video: Asus V8460 GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128 MB DVI and TV Out
Audio: SoundBlaster with Live Drive
DVD: Pioneer A06 DVD Burner (not installed just yet)
Canopus ADVC-100 (not installed just yet)

Comments

jamcas wrote on 8/25/2003, 12:15 AM
DO YOU ALSO USE dvd ARCHITECT ?
IF SO HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR dvda TO RENDER A 1 HOUR AVI FILE FOR DVD ?


IM LOOKING AT BUILDING A SIMILIAR SYSTEM TO YOURS AND WOULD LIKE A ROUGH IDEA ON THE SPEED

ITS TAKE ME 12 HOURS ON A p3 666 !!
REGARDS
JAIME
Howdie wrote on 8/25/2003, 2:38 AM
i would like to know to lol i have a p3 933....and will go the less "expensive" way with barton core though. Xp2500-> 3000 would do nicely i'd say :D

wow 12:1 rendering isnt good
BillyBoy wrote on 8/25/2003, 9:42 AM
Trying more condensed replies...

Very roughly render times decrease about 80% in time as you double processor speed. So a 2.0 Ghz CPU can render almost twice as fast as a 1.0 GHz and so on.

Converting from AVI to MPEG-2 shouldn't take that long regardless if you do it in Vegas or DVD-A. Again, roughly 3 to 1 to a little better than real time if you have a fast enough CPU. For me, I can get a rendered AVI made in Vegas converted to MPEG-2 in about 98% of the time. So for me a 40 minute AVI gets converted to MPEG-2 in around 37 minutes.
treborvdrummer wrote on 8/25/2003, 8:53 PM
BillyBoy is the man as you can see from his reply below. I have not output to DVD as of yet, this will be my first project once I get my A06 installed. I also plan to use SF DVD since I have the VV4+DVD. Looking forward to using it!
GmElliott wrote on 8/26/2003, 10:36 AM
I'm using the same exact ram but I'm running it on an Asus P4C800-E Delux board which is, indeed, an Intel 875 chipset board. Should I worry?! I just built this machine and have yet to transfer all my programs from my older machine over...in other words I haven't installed VV4 yet to see if rendering will give me any problems. Was it ram rendering (shift+B) which was giving you problems?

Should I download the memory diagnostics tool from the website you listed to check for a problem? If so what settings/results should I be looking out for?
BillyBoy wrote on 8/26/2003, 12:27 PM
As I've said in many threads faster CPU frequencies = faster renders. Specific chipsets aside, those supporting faster FSB speeds allow faster throughput. Depending on the motherboard, what version of chip you got, which chipset, and the capability of the memory (faster rated is better IF your MB supports it) and how or if you can change timing setting easily from BIOS and if or not you want to overclock all impact on the results you get. So far I'm very happy with my P4P800 Deluxe which is very similar to the P4C800.

The latest ASUS boards, many models, seem very stable even aggresively overclocked. I had mine as high as 30% overclocked, but Windows had trouble booting at nearly 3.8 Ghz. I got as far as getting a copyright confirmation page showing the CPU running that fast, but again, trying to get into the OS it just wasn't stable. Running at 15-20% overclock is still aggressive, and things seem fine, very stable and cool. Let see, right now, running a very cool 86F.
GmElliott wrote on 8/26/2003, 1:03 PM
I was referring to the problem treborvdrummer had where he'd run out of ram and cause VV4 to crash. He said after research he found that many 875 chipset boards have problems with Corsair dual channel XMS memory.

Speaking of oc'ing. I simply tried turning "turbo mode" on in my bios and my machine woulnd't boot. I had to boot like 3 times for my bios to reset. Though I don't feel I need any overclocking- I'm running a 3.0ghz P4, and according to Asus Probe my CPU has never gone above 80 degrees F. Usually around 76-78 F. Sound a bit cool- is this accurate?!
BillyBoy wrote on 8/26/2003, 2:53 PM
The probes aren't that precise. They really just give you a ballpark figure. The cooler the better but values always in the 70's sounds a little suspecious like maybe the probe isn't working right. A "cool" CPU probably will run in the high 80's to mid 90's, even the single digit 100's. Maybe you just got a super well venalated case keeping things nice and cool.
Glen_Elliott wrote on 8/26/2003, 3:29 PM
Well I keep the room with my PC and equipment at a constant 69-70f, plus I'm using an all aluminum Coolermaster case with good ventilation and carefull wiring job.

So regarding the 875 mb chipsets and Corsair XMS dual channel ram.........will I have a problem? The only difference is I'm not using the same board as Treborvdrummer. Though it's still an 875 chipset. *I'm a bit worried*

(PS "Digital_Oblivion" is my account at work)
JJKizak wrote on 8/26/2003, 5:42 PM
Recently upgraded to P4 2.8 800, ddr400 and intel 875board with
hyperthreading and sata serial and built in lan. The render time of a
5:44 minute clip with many titles and fx's was 11:35 without hyperthreading
and 10:09 with to DVD ntsc mpeg2 default. CPU temp 98F idle, 122F
without hyp. during render and 127F with hyperthreading. I had to install
a super 6000 rpm fan setup otherwise it would dump off on high temp.
This thing flies compared to my old 1 gig P3.

JJK
BillyBoy wrote on 8/26/2003, 9:34 PM
I've seen both good and bad reviews of Corsair XMS memory. Doing a simple web search you should hit several pro and con reviews.

I think the problem with RAM isn't so much adding to the heat problem inside a computer, rather when the memory itself is in use for awhile it may get to the point the heat generated by the memory chips effects the memory chips themselves. I went with the newer type of RAM that for a few bucks more has a copper heat spreader build into the little circuit board. I forget if the Corsair XMS has those or not. Following page shows some of the various types which you can buy seperately.

http://www.heatsinkstore.com/memmodheatsp.html