Noob build: Crucial RAM - slow and stable or stability killer

[j.baker]

I have 4x1GB modules and the BIOS still only sees 3GB of memory.

 

I have just swapped 2 of the 1GB modules for 2 unbranded 1GB modules, and I am still getting the same problem.

 

Memtest 86 only sees 3GB and the memory test appears ok.

 

When speaking to DFI, they now want me to send my 4x1GB modules away for about 3-4 weeks so they can test it on their boards or go and buy new memory. This is something I can not really afford to do.

[RED STATE RAY]

When I decided upon the LanParty UT SLI-DR, I went to Corsair's web site, and it recommended the Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2 for this board. That's what I bought ... didn't know at the time that a lot of folks in this forum would have problems with the Corsair RAM.

 

Anyway ... I've been tinkering for a few weeks ... and I had to follow the Corsair web site recommendations for configuring the latency and voltage. (This is for my RAM ... not necessarily yours.)

 

Dram Voltage = 2.8 Volts

Enable CPC

CAS Latency Control = 2.5

RAS to CAS Delay = 3

Row Precharge Timing = 3

Min RAS Active Timing = 6

 

You'll want to see the Corsair site for recommendations for your exact model of RAM.

 

Memtest and Prime have always been stable, but Windows won't boot unless I kick the voltage up to 2.8 from the default of 2.6. I advise you up the voltage to 2.8 and give it a shot ... assuming 2.8 is within the Warranty range of the RAM.

[RGone]

Actually for Frallan and j.baker. 4gigs was a proposed specification of AMD to Nvidia and on down the line as Nvidia sold chipsets to mobo manufacturers. Never ever forget specifications subject to change without notice is relative to almost any computer spec I have ever seen and in most manuals related to electronics. Period. Got that out of the way.

 

4gigs is a new thing and folks are rushing to it and hitting their heads on walls. WinXP is not even fully able to handle 4 gigs or only does fair in a few cases and WinXP Home is not even able to handle 4 gigs at all since it is not the more professional orientated O/s. Now I am only hitting the very topmost peaks of some of the variables and unknowns that attend moving into what are really uncharted waters with enthusiast and game class motherboards. 4 gigs should really be on a server/workstation class board with ECC memory and no overclocking. Period. There are not any real good arguments against that once you do the homework that surrounds spec'ing for a real world use.

 

Now we know that we have stepped into deep water that has not been fully depth sounded. I am using my NF3 U-D now and cannot see the bios menu. Look for Memory Hole for PCI MMIO and enable this. It may be in Advanced Chipset Features but I cannot veryify this and type on board at the same time. Enabling that feature may give and assist. Now about that feature. The cpu the chipset and the original bios that Nvidia wrote for all board manufacturers from what I can tell is NOT fully 4 gig compliant. No board maker is ALLOWED to make certain changes to a bios. They may make some changes but NOT changes everywhere. NO you did not know that. DFI will not fix this quirk on their own. Nvidia and AMD and maybe in the overall scope of things Microsoft may have to assist with the O/s portions of failings.

 

You guys are out into the realm where the 'answers' are not in yet. The answers may never be in to the extent we all wish for. This is a distinct possibility.

 

And j.baker, I see you bought 2 sets and the two sets do not match by numbering you listed above. That is not good. 4 sticks of the same lot and all is the best way and in many cases the 'only' way to have good results. I am not saying that is your problem> but it certainly 'can' contribute to the overall mess.

 

Try MMIO enable/Auto whatever it is to have it ON.

 

RGone...

 

Yes the X2s support 4 Sticks but Not 3...

 

So 2*1Gb+2*512 at 2T would be ok

4*1Gb should be ok (also at 2T)

but 3 * any combo of sticks is not ok.

 

U can Use 1 stick

2 sticks

or

4 sticks.

 

But why 4*1Gb only finds 3Gb RAM thats over my head. Id PM Angry_games or RGone about that. :dog:

[ccone]

Wizessor-

Did you have to mess around much to get it working? What BIOS are you using? Your experience is heartening. Windows crashed every time at the login screen until I turned CPC off (meaning I was running at 2T), even though memtest ran without errors at 1T. I just flashed to 510 -2, and I've loaded windows several times with RAM at 1T and no problems, but I'm still a bit on edge -- my first build and it took me about 20 hours of reading and trying to get windows stable. I don't trust it enough to do work on it yet.

 

Venice is supposed to have a better memory controller, but from what I've been seeing on the boards the opposite seems to be the case.

 

Thanks

 

 

The reason you were having issues before flashing to 510-2 is that the original BIOS that shipped with your board (probably 310 or 125) did not fully support the Venice and San Diego cores.

 

When I tried running my rig on 310, I would see memory errors all over. A simple flash up to 510-2 and resetting my memory timings fixed everything for me. Granted, I use different memory, but it just shows what a difference a BIOS that fully supports the processor can make.

 

CC

[j.baker]

Actually for Frallan and j.baker. 4gigs was a proposed specification of AMD to Nvidia and on down the line as Nvidia sold chipsets to mobo manufacturers. Never ever forget specifications subject to change without notice is relative to almost any computer spec I have ever seen and in most manuals related to electronics. Period. Got that out of the way.

 

4gigs is a new thing and folks are rushing to it and hitting their heads on walls. WinXP is not even fully able to handle 4 gigs or only does fair in a few cases and WinXP Home is not even able to handle 4 gigs at all since it is not the more professional orientated O/s. Now I am only hitting the very topmost peaks of some of the variables and unknowns that attend moving into what are really uncharted waters with enthusiast and game class motherboards. 4 gigs should really be on a server/workstation class board with ECC memory and no overclocking. Period. There are not any real good arguments against that once you do the homework that surrounds spec'ing for a real world use.

 

Now we know that we have stepped into deep water that has not been fully depth sounded. I am using my NF3 U-D now and cannot see the bios menu. Look for Memory Hole for PCI MMIO and enable this. It may be in Advanced Chipset Features but I cannot veryify this and type on board at the same time. Enabling that feature may give and assist. Now about that feature. The cpu the chipset and the original bios that Nvidia wrote for all board manufacturers from what I can tell is NOT fully 4 gig compliant. No board maker is ALLOWED to make certain changes to a bios. They may make some changes but NOT changes everywhere. NO you did not know that. DFI will not fix this quirk on their own. Nvidia and AMD and maybe in the overall scope of things Microsoft may have to assist with the O/s portions of failings.

 

You guys are out into the realm where the 'answers' are not in yet. The answers may never be in to the extent we all wish for. This is a distinct possibility.

 

And j.baker, I see you bought 2 sets and the two sets do not match by numbering you listed above. That is not good. 4 sticks of the same lot and all is the best way and in many cases the 'only' way to have good results. I am not saying that is your problem> but it certainly 'can' contribute to the overall mess.

 

Try MMIO enable/Auto whatever it is to have it ON.

 

RGone...

 

First up. When I spoke to DFI they said that the boartd and chip should run with 4GB of memory.

 

I am not overclocking my system, Ijust needed a motherbaord theat would take the X2 and still support my 6800U AGP card.

 

Overclockers.co.uk suggested the DFI. Now they inform me that they will not accept the board back!! They refer me to DFI

 

DFI want my memory, this is not going to happen. Would you ship 4GB of memory away for 3-4 weeks to someone you dont know?

 

The BIOS is buggy, Cool 'n quiet does not work and it appears that DFI are not really interested in fixing it.

 

DFI refered me to this forum, as they said that they could not help.

 

I have spoken to Crucial and they will call me back tomorrow. Hopefully they can help, although the problem is not related to crucial.

 

With referance to the two different part codes: I thought that as long as the banks were matched then that was not a problem.

 

I am running XP Pro not home!

[j.baker]

I forgot to add, then when I set the PCI MMIO option the system would not post.

 

I have to clear my CMOS. Still only 3GB.

[RGone]

John, I am priming 4 gigs of this right this minute as I type to you on my DFI NF4 SLI-DR board.

OCZ PC4000 2GB(2x1024M) 500MHZ DDR EL GOLD DUAL CHAN OCZ5002048ELGE-K ENHANCED LATENCY 3-4-4-8

 

When it passes its' 8 hours of prime or however long it will run at 250X11 for 2805mhz> will swap it to my NF3 Ultra-D 939 AGP board and see what happens.

 

Oh by the way I did enable the memory hole for Pci MMIO before starting to run this 4 gigs of memory and it is reporting in bios that 3.978 gigs in use. A lot better than I have seen others report. Everest at Home Bench System does not show but 2.5 gigs memory and yet cpu-z sees the full 4 gigs as well as the bios seems to. Often third party software is out to lunch. NF4 DFI SLI-DR board.

 

Oh also the X2 processor on the NF3 U-D does not like cool and quiet. No idea when or if that can be fixed.

 

RGone...

[j.baker]

So,

 

What can I do?

 

I took 2 of the modules out. Enabeled the setting. System booted.

 

It tried to set my PCU speed to 268, I have to change that back.

 

Put the other 2 modules back in. Still only 3GB.

 

I know its not your fault, and you are trying to help, but I feel that everyone is blaming eveyone else. The BIOS/board/CPU has faults/compatability problems and I am getting very peeved. If I did not have an AGP card I would have purchased a NF4 MB.

 

BTW, I have also tried 2 1GB (ebuyer) unbranded memory modules, they pass memtest 86+ 1.60 on their own, but even using them I still only get 3GB of memory.

 

I also tried using the 2x512MB modules that are in my Wifes machine, the systems is fine with 3GB 2x1GB + 2x512MB

 

All modules are dual sided, and are configured to run at 200. I have also tried running the modules at 133 and 166 just in case that might have fixed the problem.

[j.baker]

"Oh also the X2 processor on the NF3 U-D does not like cool and quiet. No idea when or if that can be fixed. "

 

So DFI advertise the X2 compatablility and the Cool 'n Quiet but yet it does not work. That is false advertising!

[RGone]

At this point since it seems a board fault you have no option I know of but to rma the baord. I see no other options.

 

RGone...

 

So,

 

What can I do?

 

I took 2 of the modules out. Enabeled the setting. System booted.

 

It tried to set my PCU speed to 268, I have to change that back.

 

Put the other 2 modules back in. Still only 3GB.

 

I know its not your fault, and you are trying to help, but I feel that everyone is blaming eveyone else. The BIOS/board/CPU has faults/compatability problems and I am getting very peeved. If I did not have an AGP card I would have purchased a NF4 MB.

 

BTW, I have also tried 2 1GB (ebuyer) unbranded memory modules, they pass memtest 86+ 1.60 on their own, but even using them I still only get 3GB of memory.

 

I also tried using the 2x512MB modules that are in my Wifes machine, the systems is fine with 3GB 2x1GB + 2x512MB

 

All modules are dual sided, and are configured to run at 200. I have also tried running the modules at 133 and 166 just in case that might have fixed the problem.

[j.baker]

I will contact Holland in the morning. I have only had the board for a week. I am very miffed.

[blinky]

In response to the original poster. I'm using 2x512Mb Crucial PC3200 CAS3 with a Winchester 3000+ with no problems. See my sig for further details.