ASUS P5N-E SLI Won’t boot with 4GB?

ssmacc

ssmacc

ssmacc

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Hello, I’ve got ASUS P5N-E SLI working fine with 2GB of GEIL Ultra memory, just bought another 2GB (as so many others have) and it now won’t boot with 4GB in? can’t even get into the BIOS the screen doesn’t turn on? With 3GB it its fine, pop in the other stick and nothing…any ideas?

ASUS P5N-E SLI
GEIL Ultra 6400
Vista Premium 64bit
 
As far as I'm aware, this board is known to have problems, running 4 sticks of memory at once. Have a browse on various problems as there could be a solution.

Would be worth trying to flash to the latest BIOS. It might also be worth setting your memory frequency in BIOS to 533 or 667, then sticking the other two sticks in to see if that ammends the problem
 
To run 4Gb you usually need to limit yourself to 667MHz. Even then, the third slot (yellow) is generally dodgy. This is a well known 'issue' with the board.
 
Am I best sticking to 3GB then? Just noticed the ram says 2.1v that seems high? what timings do i use for 677? I'm currently on default 4-4-4-4-12

I’m on an old BIOS 202, but I’ve not got a Floppy drive and I’m a little unsure how I update the BIOS without a floppy.

To make matters worse sometimes (well frequently) the PC freezes during boot up, post the Motherboard screen the hard drive light goes out and the screen does nothing and the machine just hangs…all in all its driving me nuts!!!
 
ssmacc said:
Am I best sticking to 3GB then? Just noticed the ram says 2.1v that seems high? what timings do i use for 677? I'm currently on default 4-4-4-4-12

I’m on an old BIOS 202, but I’ve not got a Floppy drive and I’m a little unsure how I update the BIOS without a floppy.

To make matters worse sometimes (well frequently) the PC freezes during boot up, post the Motherboard screen the hard drive light goes out and the screen does nothing and the machine just hangs…all in all its driving me nuts!!!
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If you're running XP, there is a Windows based program for BIOS flashing on the ASUS website.

Disable the JMicron controller in BIOS to cure your boot issues.

Running 3Gb will put you in single channel mode for the RAM, so you'll lose any performance gain you might have had.

You could RMA the motherboard and ask for one with 4 working RAM slots, but they are pretty few and far between.
 
WJA96 said:
If you're running XP, there is a Windows based program for BIOS flashing on the ASUS website.

Disable the JMicron controller in BIOS to cure your boot issues.

Running 3Gb will put you in single channel mode for the RAM, so you'll lose any performance gain you might have had.

You could RMA the motherboard and ask for one with 4 working RAM slots, but they are pretty few and far between.
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Cheers, where is the 'JMicron controller in BIOS '? i'll be chuffed if my boot issue is resolved, i've got Vista 64bit.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
Are you sure it isn't just that one of the RAM modules is messed up? Have you tried different combinations?
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I first came across this in the E4300 Overclocking thread, and I've seen it at least 7 or 8 times since then in the P5N-E Sli thread.

The C55 Northbridge cannot handle overclocking 4 sticks of RAM over 700MHz - it was an issue with the early 680i boards too.

He can try swapping RAM about, but I'm almost certain it won't run with 4 sticks over 667MHz, if it runs at all.
 
ssmacc said:
Cheers, where is the 'JMicron controller in BIOS '? i'll be chuffed if my boot issue is resolved, i've got Vista 64bit.
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It's under Integrated Peripherals - after chipset if memory serves..
 
OK thanks for the tips I’ll have a look for the 'JMicron controller’ when I get home tonight…I’m a bit miffed the motherboard will not take 4GB of ram but I suppose there is nothing I can do (although I only bought the motherboard on 17/03/2007 – any options to send it back?)

I will be happy if the PC boots first time - as I’ve posted at the moment the hard drive can pause after the motherboard screen.

Lastly if I get the PC to boot first time I’ll fiddle with the memory timings, what should I use for 667? Plus should the voltage be 2.1v as stated on the ram (that seems high?)

Thanks for all your help.
 
I've got windows vista and this board and flashing the bios was easy peesy just use the windows program on the asus disk.
As for the 4gb issue you have to run the ram at 667mhz the get it to run stable
you shouldn't have to on a new board like this but thats the way things are abit annoyed about it really.
Also running the ram at 2.1 volts is fine don't worry about it.
 
DYNA_ROD said:
I've got windows vista and this board and flashing the bios was easy peesy just use the windows program on the asus disk.
As for the 4gb issue you have to run the ram at 667mhz the get it to run stable
you shouldn't have to on a new board like this but thats the way things are abit annoyed about it really.
Also running the ram at 2.1 volts is fine don't worry about it.
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Thanks DYNA ROD, I know this is a stupid question but what timings do I use for 667?
 
I will do thanks, i think with 3GB its defaulted to 5-5-5-18 (from 4-4-4-12, with 2GB).

i suppose the obviose question is am i better having:

2GB @ 4-4-4-12
3GB @ 5-5-5-18
or (if possible)
4GB @ 3-3-3-10?

Cheers
 
I think the Geil 2Gb sets default to 5-5-5-18 timings if you let it auto detect. Its a sort of safe-mode, the bit of paper in the box mentioned something about it.

I'd also like to know the answer to your question about which combo is best. Im sure someone here will know. If it helps, I want max games performance!
 
The big downside to running 3 sticks (3Gb) is it's going to have to run single channel.

4Gb at 667MHz is my suggestion.
 
Yea, the 3Gb options not for me. I need my dual channel :)

So for me its just:
4Gb at 667Mhz OR 2Gb at 800Mhz

I expect if i get it running 4Gb at 667 Vistas performance test will show if its any better/worse.

I get a score of 5.0 with 2Gb of Geil Ultra DDR2 @800Mhz (4-4-4-12) can anyone compare to say if thats normal for that setup?
 
thatnod said:
Yea, the 3Gb options not for me. I need my dual channel :)

So for me its just:
4Gb at 667Mhz OR 2Gb at 800Mhz

I expect if i get it running 4Gb at 667 Vistas performance test will show if its any better/worse.

I get a score of 5.0 with 2Gb of Geil Ultra DDR2 @800Mhz (4-4-4-12) can anyone compare to say if thats normal for that setup?
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I've got 4.8 and 5.2 with in built Vista test (although not sure how good the vista test is) thats with 2GB 4-4-4-12.

I'm going to try and get 4GB 3-3-3-10 going when i get home tonight (i assume thats 667 speed?)
 
I'm running 2 sticks of Crucial Ballistix at a little over 1250MHz and I get 5.9 on my Memory score ;)
 
ssmacc said:
I'm going to try and get 4GB 3-3-3-10 going when i get home tonight (i assume thats 667 speed?)
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If you're filling up all of the slots, you're less likely to be able to have the timings that low. Start off at 5-5-5-18, and lower them; or maybe 4-4-4-12, if you're feeling lucky!
 
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