I have a Asus M3A32-MVP DELUXE motherboard and I have had some memory problems in the past. After a memory check I removed the faulty stick wich was at slot 1(I took the pair, not just the one faulty stick), and replaced them with new ones. In the start I had 4 sticks coupled two and two in dual channel from the same vendor with the same specs. The vendor was Geil.The memory is 1066MHz PC8500. The motherboard was advertised to run PC8500(random site here: http://www.afterdawn.com/h
After removing two of the sticks I couldn't find sticks from the same vendor with the same specs, so I bought sticks from another vendor(Patriot) with the same specs. In the process I noticed a list with approved memory manufacturers(you can find it at: http://support.asus.com/ search for M3A32-MVP DELUXE). The vendors I was bying memory from were not on that list.
Before installing the new sticks I tested memory again with the faulty sticks removed. This time I got no errors. Now I installed the new memory and again tested for errors. I note here that slot 1 held errors earlier, but that stick was removed. Now when i test both slot 0 and 1 show errors. Slot 0 was healthy before I installed the new memory and slot 1 has a new memory stick that should be OK. To make things clear: Slot0: Geil, Slot1: Patriot, Slot2: Geil, Slot3: Patriot. Patriot is the new memory and Geil is the first functioning older memory. They all have 5-5-5-15.
The memory sticks from Patriot come with cooling ribs, but the Geil sticks have no extra cooling.
I am kind of frustrated. Where are the memory problems coming from? Bad luck, me or a faulty motherboard? I noticed that the memory test runs at much lower speeds then the memory(DDR1, the memory is DDR2).
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So mixing brands and models can be a hazard to my hardware? So older functioning sticks can actually take damage from it? I was virtualizing 4 OS'es at the same time, and the server froze. Turned down memory speed from 1066 to 800 Mhz. Runs ok now. But annoying that I cant't use the full capacity without overclocking.
Sometimes the use of 4 sticks can overload the memory electrial bus, especially when overclocked, and this is especially true if it is not buffered and registered ram such as in a true server motherboard.
Have you tried the questionable ram on its own without the second pair installed?
What other problems are you referring to when you state--> "and I have had some memory problems in the past"
Sparkmaker: As I wrote in the beginning: I had 4 sticks to begin with, I had a memory problem in one of them and removed the pair it belonged to replaced that pair with the new Patriot sticks.
nobus: The problem is: the motherboard was advertised as supporting PC8500. It said nothing about having to overclock to reach those specs. When I got it I discovered the fact. I will stear away from Asus motherboards in the future thanks to this "scam." Since it was advertised to support PC8500 I overclocked it, and thought it was just the way the made it. Maybe not.
Well you didn't specify recent or distant past, as that may give a clue to your problem happening now.
Did you test the bad ram on it's own, as 4 sticks on an unbuffered, unregistered, type memory system can make the memory electrical bus carry a very heavy load and degrade the signal causing errors to occur.
You have successfully ran this setup for a year, with it overclocked, but that doesn't mean the motherboard hasn't degraded from heat cycles and is just now showing it's frailty.
I talked with the shop that sold me the hardware. They adviced me to be sure that the BIOS is set up correctly according to the sticks voltage. They also claimed that I did not need to overclock to get the to the speeds of 1066Mhz. I needed to have the correct voltage set and also the CPU must support DDR2 PC8500. I guess my AMD Phenom 4 core 2500Mhz does that? Coral47 was in on salmost the same thing about the voltage as the guys in the shop.
Sparkmaker: Is there any way to check the motherboard for failures? I did not test the faulty memory on its own. I can try to do that, but I will not have time before later.
Not really. If known good ram keeps giving errors when placed in certain slots then it would imply that those slots are bad on the motherboard.
The other issue of using 4 sticks can certainly cause errors, so testing with only 2 sticks of ram in either pair of slots will determine if the slots are having issues with the memory slots electrical bus being overloaded.
>> I guess my AMD Phenom 4 core 2500Mhz (Q9850+) does that?
I think so. I didn't find anything that said it specificly did, but this seems to say so. Though the pic above that statment says DDR2-800.
"The Phenom X4 includes an onboard, dual-channel/128-bit DDR2 memory controller, with support for up to DDR2-1066 memory (with future 45nm support for DDR3). The Phenom's memory controller is flexible, and is actually dual 64-bit controllers, which can provide 128-bit dual-channel access to system memory, or be configured for individual 64-bit read/write channels."
http://www.sharkyextreme.c
I was careless when I bought new RAM. Forgot to check the voltage. The Patriot memory has to have 2.1 V (Memory DDR2 4.0GB 1066MHz PC8500 Viper Dual Channel Kit:(2x2GB) 5-5-5-15 Retail). The Geil memory has to have 2.2 - 2.4 Volt(Black Dragon 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2 8500 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15 /8-Layer PCB with LED Retail ). Bios is set to AUTO. What can I do?
I first tested my old RAM over again. In this case it was set to 2x2GB Geil + 2x1GB Geil(5-5-5-15 2.2-2.4 volt). I manually set the voltage to 2.4 Volt. I noticed I could change the frequency on the FrontSideBus also. It was set to 200 Mhz, but I was capable of setting it to 600. I didn't know what frequency was the highest supported, so I set it to 400Mhz and restarted. That ended up with a CPU speed og 5Ghz. I quickly jumped into the BIOS as the CPU heat rose to 67 degrees Celcius. Turned the FSB back to 200 and restarted. Then tested the memory, and there were no errors. Most likely because the voltage now was correct. But about the FSB: what is the correct speed? Is it better to turn up the FSB frequency and lower the multiplier or the other way around?
This evening I will test coral47's advice. I will juse 2x2GB from Geil(spec: 2.2-2.4 Volt) and 2x2GB from Patriot(spec: 2.1 Volt). I will set them to 2.2 Volt and 1066 Mhz. But I am confused on how to set the timings. Is there an explanation somewhere for my Asus M3A32-MVP DELUXE motherboard's BIOS settings? There are a myriad of them, and the manual just repeats it's names.
1066 ram needs a 266MHz base speed (FSB), but you say over 200MHz also OCs the CPU.
I need to download the manual and look through it, but there should be a setting to run the CPU and RAM at different speeds, or it might be a FSB/RAM ratio thing. I haven't done AMD in a while, I need to refresh my memory about that kind of setup.
See if this helps. Scroll down to the memory section.
http://www.computerpowerus
Yesterday, I tested again with 2x2GB geil and 2x2GB Patriot. Set the voltage to 2.2 Volt. And the timings to auto. Set the Memory speed to 1066. That resulted in a bunch of errors on the Patriot sticks, since they were 0.1 Volt over and some errors on the Geil sticks since they were 0.2 Volt under. Seems as the geil bricks (2.2-2.4V) need to be at 2.4V to operate at 1066 Mhz.
"Then go to Memory Configuration > Dram Timings > Memory Clock Mode > "
This will set the memory speed to 266, not the FSB. I know where the FSB configuration is and can change that. I guess I have to lower the CPU multiplier then, so that I will not overclock the CPU.
Where to you get the 266 Mhz value for the FSB?
My bad. Actually FSB doesn't apply anymore, but I still think of it that way.
Now its a "BaseClock". HyperTransport is what AMD calls it, and it's Quick Path Interconnect for Intel.
"The Phenom X4 memory controller runs at its own fixed clock, rather than using the divisor method employed by the Athlon 64 X2. There were issues with the latter design, as depending on the CPU multiplier, you could be running your DDR2 anywhere from 716 MHz up to 800 MHz. The Phenom no longer has that limitation, and now operates the DDR2 independent of the CPU frequencies, and always at the proper speed. "
>> also from the link I posted before <<
Anyway, 266MHz is 1/4 of 1066MHz.
I will probably catch flack for this, but I think of it this way:
PC-133 uses a clock of 133MHz
Double it for DDR, so DDR-266 uses a clock of 133. (double-pumped)
Double that again for DDR2, so that DDR2-533 uses a clock of 133. (quad-pumped). I think DDR3 is the same, it just allows for a higher clock
All the other(then memory) voltage on the motherboard is set to auto, is it safe to leave it there as auto? I want to set the FSB to 250 Mhz, the transfer to the processor will be greater. I will then set the multiplier to 10, so that I reach a CPU speed at 2500, wich is what the CPU is manufactured for. But I have to CPU multipliers:
*Processor Frequency Multiplier
*Processor-NB Frequency Multiplier
What is the difference, and can I set both safely to 10?
There are also a bunch of memory timings settings. The specs on the sticks say 5-5-5-15, but the different settings say:
2T Mode -What is this?
..CAS Latency (CL)
..TCWL
..TRCD
..TRP
..TRAS
..tWR
..tRFC0
..tRFC1
..tRFC2
..tRFC3
...TRC
..TRRD
..tWTR
..tRTP.
..tRWTTO
..tWRRD
..tWRWR
..tRDRD
..PLL1 Spread Spectrum
..PLL2 Spread Spectrum
..AI Clock Skew for Channel A
....Current Clock Skew Advance
..AI Clock Skew for Channel B
....Current Clock Skew Advance
>> Processor Frequency Multiplier
The multiplier for the CPU.
>> Processor-NB Frequency Multiplier
The multiplier for the Northbridge. Controls the speed of the base clock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
>> 2T Mode -What is this?
Set the number of CMD (commands) the ram can use
I don't have any idea about all the new ram setting they give you nowadays. I haven't had a chance study or to play with them, yet. But mosy of what I have read says leave them at Auto unless you really want to "fine tune" the ram.
This might help some:
http://www.techpowerup.com
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by: nobusPosted on 2009-11-01 at 03:59:45ID: 25713423
i suggest to use the same kind, model, and brand for all Ram sticks.
you said that it was not on the supported list; that does not mean they will not work (actually they will) but you get no support from asus on it
but many boards do not like mixing brands and models ..