RAM problem on 780i

[Lamiel]

Hey there - new member here... Just built a new system (not my first build) with a 780i, running 2 x 2GB sticks of Patriot Viper DDR2-1066. Neither BIOS nor Windows recognizes the 2nd stick. It's not a bad stick, because I've tried running both in the first DIMM, w/out the other stick installed, and everything works fine. I just can't get both sticks working together. I've tried running them in DIMMs 0+1 and DIMMs 2+3, with no luck, and I've flashed the BIOS to p04 and then to p05. Running 64-bit Vista Home Premium with all updates except SP1... Anyone else have this problem or know what's going on? I'd greatly appreciate any help I can get!

[werty316]

How much memory is detected during POST?

Have you tried DIMMs 0+2 and DIMMs 1+3?

[Lamiel]

2GB detected during POST... And no, I haven't tried DIMMs 0+2 or 1+3 - I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try, but even if it worked, it wouldn't really be the solution I'm hoping for because I definitely want to run in dual channel... Still, it would probably be a clue as to what's going on. I'll give it a shot...

[Lamiel]

Okay, that was a bust. Dropping the 2nd stick in DIMM 2, adjacent to the 1st stick, merely (and quite oddly) resulted in a FDD error, preventing a boot into Windows. So next I'll try installing two 1GB DDR2-800 modules in DIMMs 0+1... If the mobo recognizes both I suppose I'll have to assume the problem w/the Vipers is a compatibility issue. At least I'm hoping that's the worst case scenario, because I really don't want to RMA the board itself!

[Lamiel]

Okay, threw 4 x 1GB sticks of DDR2-800 in there, and it recognized all of them w/no problem - both BIOS and Windows read 4GB... So, I guess I have to assume that there's a compatibility issue w/Patriot Viper RAM and the 780i board? Can't think what else it could be... So I guess I'll have to RMA the memory and choose a different brand. Maybe OCZ Reapers - I've heard some good things about them...