weird memory issue

[harry18]

heres the siuationive been trying to get my ram, 2gb ddr2-800 to run at 400mhz, but it crashes in prime95, so i took out one stick and tested the other, and its fine, has no prob at 400mhz, so i swapped the sticks over and did the same thing, and still it ran fine, so why is it that when both sticks are in it crashes, i also swapped them to slots 2 and 4 from 3 and 1 but no effect

any ideas?:confused:

[werty316]

Do you get problems running both in single channel? IE 1&2 and 3&4 ram slots?

Try memtest on each stick and with both sticks in to see if you get errors.

Could be an incompatibility with your board when running the sticks in dual channel.

[Gray]

Ya that sounds like a cual channel problem.
You can disable dual channel in your BIOS and see if that still happens.

Check the .pdf for your motherboard to make sure that it supports the sticks that you have, (Single Sided Double sided and what slots that they go in.)

[harry18]

k, i couldnt find how to diable dual channel mode, so i just put em in slots 1+2 it usully crashes after a few mins, so we shall see...

nope it crashed, im gonna run memtest and see what happens

[boundlessone]

you know that prime 95 is a stress testor right? im sure you do. but just by looking it up on google i see that it puts different parts of the computer under very heavy workloads and at the sight of one minor error it crashes. i found it on wilepedia heres a chunk that might help. im not sure.


On an absolutely stable system, Prime95 would run indefinitely. If an error occurs (the tray icon will become yellow from the default red, indicating that the test has halted), there is a chance that the system is unstable. There is an ongoing debate about terms "stable" and "Prime-stable", as Prime95 often fails before the system becomes unstable or crashes in any other application. This is because Prime 95 is designed to subject the CPU to an incredibly intense workload, and to halt when it encounters even one minor error, whereas most normal applications do not stress the CPU anywhere near as much, and will continue to operate unless they encounter a fatal error.


if you could tell me your mother board brand i could see if maybe there is a compatibility issue. but i doubt since a single ram card would work and not 2.

[Kougar]

heres the siuationive been trying to get my ram, 2gb ddr2-800 to run at 400mhz, but it crashes in prime95, so i took out one stick and tested the other, and its fine, has no prob at 400mhz, so i swapped the sticks over and did the same thing, and still it ran fine, so why is it that when both sticks are in it crashes, i also swapped them to slots 2 and 4 from 3 and 1 but no effect

any ideas?:confused:

If the RAM is not getting the full specified voltage, it can also cause this problem. In addition to what everyone else said, check your voltages closely and make sure they are at the highest setting within the manufacturer's specs.

[harry18]

yup i tried them at the max voltage recomend, and at the bios default, but no worky:(

[GIBSON]

This is very strange. I can't really see a dual channel problem as well, why would they otherwise run on higher frequencies? (unless this is like some weird bios bug). Anyhow, if i were you I'd try to contact tech support of your mobo. Maybe they'll know something more.

[werty316]

If you can try them in another computer.

Also not sure if you have done so but run each stick in MemTest (http://www.memtest.org/).

[boundlessone]

you know if the mem test dosent pick up any errors and it still dosent work it could be faulty RAM. if the mem test dosent help see what you can do about getting a different stick.only thing that sucks is most warrantys dont work after you use em.

[werty316]

you know if the mem test dosent pick up any errors and it still dosent work it could be faulty RAM. if the mem test dosent help see what you can do about getting a different stick.only thing that sucks is most warrantys dont work after you use em.
That what memtest is for, to test for faulty ram.

[nam-ng]

yup i tried them at the max voltage recomend, and at the bios default, but no worky:(
If everything is working fine and all tests passed with single stick, try running both of them at lower clock settings.

For more pertinent info follow up with this THREAD (http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?&t=16821).

[BigD]

yup i tried them at the max voltage recomend, and at the bios default, but no worky:(
sometimes what you put as the v's in the bios isnt what they are realy getting..

[harry18]

ok, i finally got round to doing mem test, i did it in widowns cos i dont have a floppy, anyways it came up with 0 errors, so i geuss its fine, but still why wont it run at 400mhz, surly that is the stock speed, http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic16821-2.html 3rd post down cought my eye, is that relevent, cheers

[werty316]

ok, i finally got round to doing mem test, i did it in widowns cos i dont have a floppy, anyways it came up with 0 errors, so i geuss its fine, but still why wont it run at 400mhz, surly that is the stock speed, http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic16821-2.html 3rd post down cought my eye, is that relevent, cheers
Memtest in windows??? I never heard of that. Well anyhow there is a an ISO you can burn to a CD and you gotta have a cdrw now. Give that a try.

For the bootable CD ISO just search on memtest for "Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)" or click on this link: http://www.memtest.org/download/1.65/memtest86+-1.65.iso.zip

It is true when having all four memory banks filled, four memory sticks are used, the memory will run at DDR333 instead of DDR400 and sometimes will require to be run at 2T and not 1T to be stable.

[harry18]

oh ok, well i dont have all four slots filled, so i geuss that dosnt apply

hers waht i used http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=350

[werty316]

It always better to use a bootable based memory testing app so all the memory is tested. Testing in windows doesn't allow this since Windows allocates some of the memory.

[harry18]

yea, valid point, how do i use that memtest, do i just copy the rar file to a disk, then restart the pc with it in the drive?

[werty316]

Nope, there is a file named "memtest86+-1.65.iso" you extract from the "rar" file and then you burn this image file to a CD using Nero or anyother burning app you have.

Once that is done you need to make sure your ROM drive is the 1st boot drive. For this you need to change the boot order in the motherboard bios.

[harry18]

ooh ok, ill try that, cheers wert

[Xero (1)ne]

make sure to run it nice n long
the longer you run it the more patterns it tries
is the memtest on the ubuntu linux iso the same thing?
thats wuht ive used in the past
good stuff

[harry18]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, why the hell cant i get memtest to work!

heres what i used: http://www.memtest86.com/#download0 the zip file iso the second to last one, but when i extract it, i just get a nother rar file with nothing in, anyone shed some light on this?

[werty316]

Second to last????? Ok well anyhow download this one:

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1659/clipboard01om9.th.jpg (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clipboard01om9.jpg)

Extracting the "zip" file should give you a file called "memtest86-3.2.iso". Burn it, reboot your computer, and boot to the CD. Also make sure you boot order has a ROM drive as the 1st drive to boot to.

[harry18]

um, jeez, well this is embarrising, i cant seem to work memtest, i donwloaed the one you said, using winzip, then i put it on a cd, it now looks like this http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-13.jpg

i alos set the boot priority, but it just loads up windows instaed?

[werty316]

um, jeez, well this is embarrising, i cant seem to work memtest, i donwloaed the one you said, using winzip, then i put it on a cd, it now looks like this http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-13.jpg

i alos set the boot priority, but it just loads up windows instaed?
Thats where the problems lies; you need to make a ROM drive the "1st" boot drive. Your HD is the "1st" boot drive and thats why its boot into windows.

I'll see if I can find what you need.

[harry18]

k, but thats the right one on the disk and everything right?

ill tryi it again and chck the boot.

[werty316]

One thing that you did wrong was you didn't burn the file as an "ISO" image. You burn it as a data cd. Burn it as an image file.

Here is what you need to do in Nero7:
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3467/clipboard02qh8.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clipboard02qh8.jpg)

[harry18]

right, im lost, (it dosnt take much), umm, i disabled my hdd, and it said insert a bottable media, so yea i ****ed up something with the disk, what do you men, with the iso?

thanks wert

[werty316]

The file you have is named "memtest86-3.2.iso" and the ".iso" is the files extension and a ".iso" file is an image file.

What did you use to burn it?

Whatever burning program you have choose the "Burn an image" option.

[harry18]

well, i just opend up my computer, clicked on the black cd and dragged the extracket file into it, then burn it

[werty316]

well, i just opend up my computer, clicked on the black cd and dragged the extracket file into it, then burn it
You need to use a burn program that can burn image files.

For a free image burning program try ImgBurn:
http://www.imgburn.com
http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/Data-CD-DVD-Burning/ImgBurn.shtml

[harry18]

alright, thanks wert, im trying it now!

[harry18]

ok, ran memtest over night, and zero errors, i think we can safley say the ram is fine.....so back to the origanal question:

why cant i get my ram to run at 400mhz?

*it will run at 400mhz with just one stick
*it wont run at 400mhz if in single channle mode, as well as double
*ive given it the max voltage it recomends


so whats the prob?

[Kougar]

ok, ran memtest over night, and zero errors, i think we can safley say the ram is fine.....so back to the origanal question:

why cant i get my ram to run at 400mhz?

*it will run at 400mhz with just one stick
*it wont run at 400mhz if in single channle mode, as well as double
*ive given it the max voltage it recomends


so whats the prob?

I think something common is getting overlooked... What is the exact speed it is running at with both sticks being used? What is the FSB:DRAM ratio set at? And lastly, what is your FSB running at?

[harry18]

hmm, well here are screens of everything at stock:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-14.jpg
overclocked to what i can and get it stable:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-8.jpg
and, overclockerd but unstable:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-11.jpg

does that help?

[Kougar]

Yes, it does :)

Basically the only difference there is the RAM running stable at 600mhz, but running unstable at 800mhz. So since the memory is rated for 400mhz and it checked out fine with memtest, some setting somewhere must be off.

I would first suggest you look for the "Command Rate", or possible "Command per Clock" for the memory in the BIOS, I don't know what ASUS labels it or if they even provide the setting. If you find it, make sure it is set at "2T", because if it's not then that is probably the issue right there.

That RAM is rated for 2v exactly... if the above doesn't work or there is no setting to change then I would suggset you try giving the RAM 2.1v. If it is still unstable, then 2.2v... after that if 2.2v isn't enough to make it stable then I wouldn't bother trying anything higher. You should deal directly with G.Skill at http://www.gskill.com/indexen.html (http://www.gskill.com/indexen.html) and pop them an email from their support page.

[werty316]

I noticed that your timings aren't stock so set the timmings to 5-5-5-15, and set the voltage to v2.0 if not done so already. You board might not like the memory you are using. Do you have any other memory to test it in the board?

[harry18]

ok, firstly ive had a little look for anything todo with 2t, and nothing, ill look a bit harder in a sec.

ive tried it at 2v and 2.1, and nothing, i can set the timeings to 5-5-5-15 at stock, but not weh i put it at 400mhz, alos after the last timing setting the 15, theres one more called dram write recovery time, what should i set that to?

thanks



this is interesting, i can set it to 400mhz, with 5-5-5-15, and its completely stable, but leave the cpu at stock, wats that all about

right ive even managed to clock it at 450, with the 5-5-5-15, but no sign of the 2t, dont think i can change it :(

[werty316]

Based on the TechARP Bios Article Guide read what "dram write recovery time" is here:
http://www.techarp.com/showFreeBOG.aspx?lang=0&bogno=220

this is interesting, i can set it to 400mhz, with 5-5-5-15, and its completely stable, but leave the cpu at stock, wats that all about
Uh.... well that is normal since that is the stock settings. Other than that not sure what you mean by this.

[harry18]

yea, its the stock setting, but when the cpu is at 400fsb, the whole thing crashes, i think i said earlier, either the ram or cpu can be put at 400mhz, or fsb, but not at the same.

alos, i cant set it at stock setting, the ram this is, if i OC the cpu, which would be 400, and 5-5-5-15

[Kougar]

I wish I could actually be there in person to troubleshoot, it's much easier... :roll:

The board does claim DDR2-800mhz compatibility, although I thought I recalled that the 975X only unofficially supported DDR2-800mhz RAM. So I still think there is one setting in your BIOS that is configured wrong and holding the system back.

THe only non-software problem I can think of might be your chipset is getting to hot, which I suggest carefully checking. ;)

You were able to test for a stable OC at 2.8ghz, but locking in a 1:1 ratio made it unstable...

Since you were able to attain a stable 300mhz (DDR2-600mhz), I'd suggest you lock the FSB:DRAM ratio at 1:1, set a 300FSB, and slowly inch the FSB up by increments of 5 untill your system tests are unstable. Infact, before you do this make sure you have the absolutely most current BIOS, and if not flash to it. Then reset/clear the BIOS to defaults and make the above changes, and see how far you can get.

Once you find the max stable overclock, XtremeSystems and Anandtech both will have OC guides from other P5W-DH owners, I suggest finding a few of those that look decent and seeing what else they recommend changing in the BIOS.

[harry18]

interesting, thanks kouger, ill give that a wirl...i wish i got the ds3:(

[Kougar]

The DS3 is not as user friendly as you may think... the P5W-DH would definitely be nicer to work with. ;)

[harry18]

yea, ya maby be right, ah well

[harry18]

alright, heres what ive done, ive managed to crank the fsb upto 420, with a 4:3 mem divider, and some lame timings ill try fix tomorw, anayways the mems at 315, and the cpu at 2940, i think thats preferbel over a 2.6ghz proc mem at 380, well it seems stable so i think it will do.

tell me this tho, would differnt memory fix this prob, gos i could easily selll this stuff and get some geil stuff or somthing?

[werty316]

Think of it like this: 2.94GHz CPU with 315MHz memory wil give you faster frames for gaming than 2.6GHz CPU with 380MHz memory ;)

Raw speed rules over memory bandwidth for games.

[Kougar]

420FSB is very good for that specific board, and if you are to get anything more out of it you will likely have to do some heavy research into those various BIOS options. ;)

630mhz on the mem isn't bad, but I don't think using a 1:1 ratio is much of an option anymore unless that RAM can be overclocked to 950mhz. And what Wert said, in the end the raw CPU speed will always outweigth the RAM speed in terms of performance.

[harry18]

good good, yea, i put the mch up to its max, i got t to boot at 440, but it crashed in windows. maby one day ill volt mod it, try and get a abit more on the mch.

anyways thanks for your help:)

[Kougar]

Make sure your MCH isn't cooking itself, it's going to need active cooling if you maxed out the voltage on it. ;)

[harry18]

Make sure your MCH isn't cooking itself, it's going to need active cooling if you maxed out the voltage on it. ;)

****, it has the asus heatsink on it, buuuut, thats all, wat should i do:???:

[Kougar]

Again, just make sure it isn't cooking itself. Be careful touching it though as some get pretty hot, or preferably use a temp measuring laser thingmabob on it. ;) It will mostly depend on your case's airflow, but if it is to hot to hold your finger on then you need to somehow add a fan to blow directly onto the cooling fins or directly through the MCH heatsink itself.

[harry18]

oh ok, on the p5w which is the mch: http://www.itnewsonline.com/images/news/ASUS-P5WDH-ss.jpg

long one or the square one?

[werty316]

Its the heatsink in the middle of the board.

[harry18]

thanks wert, i cant really feel any haeat, so must be fine.....i think