I wanted to ask those of you who happen to have Corsair memory (probably TwinX) with the ASUS A7N8XE-deluxe motherbord or a very similar Asus variation (with AMD CPU and NVIDIA NForce2 Ultra 400 chipset) the following question (assuming a setup of 2x512MB of DDR SDRAM at 400MHz / PC3200)-How has your performance and stability been in FS2004? Do you have good framerates even in custom photo-realistic airports (third-party addons) and with add-on mesh like the mesh from FSGenesis? Good frame-rates would probably be at least 15fps even when taxiing at one of these add-on airports with the mesh also installed for that region.-Have you had any problems with crashes to desktop which were NOT due to seasonal crash-to-desktop issue and if yes, have these crashes occurred often and continue to occur?My problem is that even though my FS2004 is stable, I am "short-changing" my system's specs by using slower 333MHz. Kingston ram because of stability issues I've had - if you search for postings by "Byrna" on Flightsim and AVsim, you'll get more details. One person had responded to my previous posting that Kingston memory with the HYNIX chip was the problem and that using KINGSTON chips for him fixed the problem. I have not specifically asked Kingston for Kingston chips but wanted to get people's feedback first due to the fact that Kingston does not test their memory with Nvidia chipset nor this motherboard (which was confirmed by an email I received from Kingston Technology) so even if I get Kingston chips, my guess is the problem will remain...Any feedback would be much appreciated.John

Don't laugh. I have once bought cheap Apacer PC2700 that I have taken from one computer to the next for I guess 3 years now. I would never ever buy any other brand. I own the motherboard in question and have it running perfectly stable at 210Mhz FSB. I once bought a set of this crazy expensive high priced RAM as I thought I might be able to cranck up the FSB. I had problems with stability even at 205. So I gave it back and returned to run my old 166 rated memory at 210 rock solid. I guess RAM is a matter of luck more than anythin else.Alex

Hi John,"-How has your performance and stability been in FS2004? Do you have good framerates even in custom photo-realistic airports (third-party addons) and with add-on mesh like the mesh from FSGenesis? Good frame-rates would probably be at least 15fps even when taxiing at one of these add-on airports with the mesh also installed for that region."This would require an answer that is entirely subjective. We would need to know what the rest of your system is, drivers, DirectX version, and so much more. Also, the way one person configures the sim may be entirely different than another even with the same hardware. I'll take a guess here and assume you wish to know if there would be a noticeable performance increase. Only with regard to app load times, scenery load times, and possibly a bit more smoothness (though the latter would be an entirely subjective observation). But, again, it's difficult to say without knowing the rest of your system. You shouldn't count on seeing a big performance increase."-Have you had any problems with crashes to desktop which were NOT due to seasonal crash-to-desktop issue and if yes, have these crashes occurred often and continue to occur?"None. My only complaint is that I had hoped the Coraisr would overclock better. No doubt a misperception on my part. I can now run it at 217FSB, but it took a bit of work to get it there (playing with mem timings, non-CPC BIOS, power, etc). It runs very stable now (no problems at all) and was dead nuts stable at 200. Not cheap stuff, but I can say (now) that I'm happy with the Corsair.Hope this helps,Greg

Hi John; You didn't mention what BIOS ver your using. I had a similar problemwith mem and had to lower the mem bus speed. I do recall that on the ASUS web site there was one bios upgradethat dealt with "hynix memory issues" . As to the speed issues, youcan lower your memory speed without lowering FSB. IE; you can adjustmemory speed as a % of FSB, say to 90% on the ASUS board. While I can'tremember the % I used it lowered my mem bus speed from 200mhz to like185mhz and I could not tell any diff in FS9. I can't be of any morehelp than this as I'm in Denver right now and can't access the bioson my desktop, but I'm sure you have to set to "manual" or "usercontroled" to change the %.IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE!!!!!! DO NOT CHANGE MORE THAN ONE SETTING INTHE BIOS AT A TIME!!!!!! ALSO AFTER MAKING YOUR ONE CHANGE.....DO NOT USE THE "F" KEYS. Like it will say to save change hit Fx...do not use that.Instead hit esc. Scroll right on main (top) menue bar to EXIThit enter...select "exit saving changes" hit enter. Box shouldappear saying "exit saving changes-y" hit enter and system willboot. If you have any questions PM me be glad to help.Denny

Thanks for your reply Greg,I should have given a more description of my system to give people a better idea of what I'm running so here it is:AMD ATHLON XP 3200+ASUS A7N8XE-DELUXE motherboard, BIOS 1008KINGSTON VALUERAM 1024GB (single module), 333MHz. DDR SDRAM running at default settings of 2-3-3-7Windows XP Pro, service pack 2Direct X 9cCreative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZSATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB retail box (built by ATI) - drivers are version 4.9 I think (I'm not at home now but drivers were downloaded about one month ago)Maxtor 40GB ATA133 hard drive, EIDEWestern Digital 160GB serial ATA hard driveSONY 52X CD-ROMHP DVD 630i DVD re-writer/CD re-writerIEEE1394 card which came with Pinnacle Studio 8CH FLIGHT YOKE and PRO PEDALSLG 19" monitor - 915FT PlusScreen resolution 1024x768 x 32bitsAs for "slow" - I mean frame rates as low as 5 fps when taxiing at a custom add-on airport with FSGENESIS mesh (e.g. Casablanca, Morocco-Mohammed V airport with FSGENESIS Africa 76M mesh and airport by Toni Agramont as part of his Morocco scenery) but this problem occurs in all photo-realistic airports. Frame rates go up to mid-teens when taxiing in Microsoft's default airports (e.g. 15 fps). I can still taxi but needless to say, at 5 - 8 fps, it is choppy. I have RMA'd Kingston RAM twice now and have tried three different kinds - since I bought Kingston, I cannot get "rid" of it unless Kingston is willing to refund it so I can buy Corsair. I noticed, as would be expected, that the Kingston high-performance RAM - the HYPERX 400MHz. 2x512MB running at 2-2-2-5, was much better performance than the previous 333MHz when taxiing but after about 1-2 minutes, FS2004 would "poof!" exit to desktop just like that...Of course, my present memory of 333MHz, is very stable. Only had one crash last week when I was switching repeatedly between FS2004 and Ready-for-Pushback calculators, Active Sky and FS RealTime but..I'm depressed... *sigh* As there are people who can get 400MHz. to work and I'm stuck with this nonsense, no thanks to the reseller from where I got my system and my upgrade to 400MHz. CPU and motherboard last January 2004 - if they had been concerned enough to recommend I go with Corsair instead of Kingston, I may be much happier now...Anyways, thanks for your feedback. I'll see if I can get the energy to talk to Kingston yet again next week as their customer service has been absolutely EXAMPLARY and I'm extremely impressed and in fact, ecstatic about how well they take care of their customers.John

Hi,since some days i have the ASUS A7N8X-E board as well, with an XP3200+ CPU, and Corsair XMS memory.I must say, i had nothing but problems. I had random hangs in windows, the PC just freezed, and i had to power off/on.I searched the official Corsair Forums at www.houseofhelp.com , and found the following recommendation of one of the Corsair Gurus:-------------------------------------------------------------------There is a jumper next to the chipset called FSB Jumper, please set this too pins 2-3 farthest away from the CPU and then remove the battery with the power disconnected and clear the bios for about a minute and then put the system back to gather and when you turn it back on go to bios setup and load setup defaults and set the timings and voltage as listed bellow.CPU Freq.: 200 MHzCPU Multiplier: 11x (Menu, not Auto)System Performance: User DefinedMemory Freq.: 100%Memory Timings: User DefinedPrecharge: 6RAS-CAS: 3RAS Precharge: 3CAS Latency: 2.5TFSB Spread Spectrum: DisabledAGP Spread Spectrum: DisabledCPU Vcore: 1.675DDR Voltage: 2.7VAGP Voltage: 1.6V-------------------------------------------------------------------I followed his recommendations, and since some hours my system seems to be stable. I hope that these settings resolved the stability issues. I can't say for sure if its resolved now, but it does look good for now.I hope this helps.Cheers,Michael

ASUS A7N8XE-DELUXE motherboard, BIOS 1008KINGSTON VALUERAM 1024GB (single module), 333MHz. DDR SDRAM running at default settings of 2-3-3-7Hi John, AFAIK, your mainboard is dual channel, so for one, performance will not be optimal using one module. You'll need two modules. Btw, when you get rid of that module, I definitely want it! 1024GB! ASAP! Hehe Some considerable improvements should be feasable. Good luck and kind regards Jaap

Well my system has been running really smooth even with all the tons and tons of add on stuff. I think my computer is heavier than the real aircraft I fly! :-wave . As for stability, the ram hasn't fallen off the motherboard yet! lol. I have had no problems with crashes as of yet. I know the memory is max when using flight sim, all the lcd's are lit up. Flight sim uses a lot of memory. I have noticed a big difference in performance, things are much faster, but that also has to do with the whole system. On the flip side, I haven't been able to install sp2 for windows XP yet. I keep getting a memory error. I going to have to take my system back and have the store do that while it's still under warranty. I don't know if that helps at all but I had no one to call this morning and I don't like just talking to myself! hehe.few stats.at busy airports with add on scenery including FSGenesis installed and flying with real weather, clouds at max detail and full AI, I usually get around 15-30fps at the airport. Up in the air, I get 25-85fps depending on weather.HuggsKittiex:)~ This system is: AMD 64 3500+ 939 ASUS A8V Deluxe with wifi GCorsair TwinX1024 3200 XL Pro 2 36gig W.D. Raptor drives in Raid256 X800 ProWindow xp homeAntec True power 550wThermaltake Premier V5000A caseCH USB Yoke and Rudder Pedals

Hi Kittie,Have you had any news regarding your system and the memory errors when installing SP2? I'm curious to know...Your system is quite different than mine - for one it has an Athlon 64 with a different motherboard and and different video card. I hope you are enjoying it though for it does seem to be very fast.By the way, noticed your nickname - I have a Siamese cat - her name is Skittles - she "skits" around and is a real gooffy puddy!Loves to "talk" a lot too as apparently all Siamese are known to do.John

Thanks for the tip Denny,I too have one of these boards, Rev 2, Bios 1012, with crashes all the time running Kingston 1024 dual 400MhZ memory in graphic applications.Don't know what the optimised setting was pushing it to as the MHZ was shown as auto. Set System Performance to User and Memory speed to 80% (166MHZ) and it seems fine now. Virtually no difference in the Aquamark3 score.Hopefully the system was trying to run it above 100% and that I will be able to set it back to at least that once I see how it goes over the next few days.ThanksAndy

Hi John!Yes Siamese cat's do talk a lot. I haven't found out any more about the sp2 problem yet. I just don't know what it could be. Now I'm starting to run into other problems with certain upgrades that need sp2. I've tried many boards and nothing. I know it's not the memory, I've had frame rates now around 115fps flying up high with real weather on (outside the cockpit and 85-90 inside including VC). I'm going to take my computer in and have them look at it. I just find it hard to part with, especially with the holidays now! So are you calling me gooffy? lolHuggsKittiex:)~

Hi Kittie and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (well... eventually anyways...)Well, as for being goofy - I'm kinda goofy too. I have a Siamese don't I? :)) Yup, you sound just as goofy, at least "online".Hope you have quick results with your new PC. Memory and other hardware really can have issues with them. The postings in this thread are clear indications that memory compatibility is definitely and issue with at least my motherboard model and seems to be resolved with later chipsets by NVIDIA and newer Athlon CPUs like yours (Athlon 64...)But I would like others who have CORSAIR memory with a motherboard like mine - I.E. ASUS A7N8X series with its variations (like E-Deluxe, -X etc...) to post their experiences, good or bad so I can get more specific info on the issue.John

Ok, I've got my Kingston memory(2 x 512 slots A1/B1 dual ch) back up to 100% (400Mhz) after locking the memory timing at 7-3-3-2.5T and generally following the tips for the Corsair memory. On the default settings above mem frequency of 80% timing went to 8-3-3-3T but was very unstable crashing to a reboot with most apps.I tried disabling the FSB spectrum spread but Aquamark3 dropped from 20200 to around 19200 so reset that to the default 50%. The best I had previously with the ATI 4.12 CCC driver (when I could get the PC to run without crashing) was around 22200. I'm thinking about changing back from the 5.1 driver just to see what happens but will wait for the next release later this month first. Out of interest, what sort of scores are others getting with Aquamark3 on this MB?XP3200 CPU 400MHz/Win XP Home SP2(Upgrade from 98SE) /1024 Kingston Valueram PC3200 400DDR kit 2x512 / 9600Pro 128M /FS9.1 RegardsAndy