1600 DDR3 vs 1333 Ram?

Yellowbeard said:
LOL...I was not saying you have a low quality board. That was more of a general statement. But if in this specific case, if you did have such a voltage drop with 4 modules that it caused instability then I'd say that is grounds for an RMA.
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RMA = Returned Merchandise Authorization. In this specific case, if you did have such a voltage drop with 4 modules that it caused instability then I'd say that is grounds for an RMA.
 
Andy. Was that 1.82 actual or load? I can get 2 sticks to run 1600 with 9-9-9-24 1T with 1.64 in BIOS (1.7 actual).

But POST freezes on cold boot on USB INIT and MSINSTAL. Set ram back to 1066 3:2 ratio and doesnt happen anymore.
 
cje said:
When adding 2 more sticks, would I need to up the VDIMM more? I know NB would need to be raised.
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Yellowbeard said:
2 modules or 4 modules should not necessitate raising Vdimm unless your board has poor voltage regulation. Each module only needs its rated voltage to run at its rated specifications, regardless of the number of modules used
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I agree! :)

Each stick of Ram just needs enough voltage to do its work. The main reason for changing vDimm would be to allow you to run the sticks at an increased frequency (i.e more MHz) or with faster timings! :cool:

It's the Northbridge that comes under increased workload and normally needs a simple bOOst in vNB to keep it happy.

With newer systems like Intel® Core™ i7 and AMD® Phenom™ II the memory controller is on-chip so I'm not sure how you adjust the volts in this case? :o
 
Yep, tried 1.4 to 1.46. Same result.

It bsods and restarts after 30-40 minutes every time. No matter what I do. Temps are all ok, everything under the 60s.

Also, I loaded setup defaults, reset, entered BIOS again and was inputting some new settings when my BIOS actually froze up. Nothing responded and had to reset it.

I am considering an RMA on this board because nothing over 1333 fsb seems to work properly.
 
Try your testing with 2 x 1GB. If it is stable, clear CMOS, reboot with a single modules, disable Legacy USB Support in the BIOS temporarily for testing, set the timings, frequency, and voltage manually, and test each module for 3-5 passes each with Memtest. Make sure you have the most recent version of Memtest:

www.memtest.org
 
Yep, have only got 2 sticks in, and they pass 12 passes of memtest. Also 50 passes intel burn test, but I start watching a movie in itunes for 30-40 minutes and I get a BSOD and a restart. Very very annoying.
 
Does it only fail when watching a movie or, does it fail doing other tasks also? You may be right on with RMAing the board but I like to be thorough before I ship something off.
 
It happens only when i leave it alone "idling". I am watching a movie fullscreened right now, and running prime95 smallFFTs in the background no problem.

If I leave it watching a video, then return after 20 minutes, it'll sort of freeze for 10 seconds, bsod for 10 seconds, restart.

I lowered multiplier to 6x and it freezes after 30 seconds of starting to watch a video. Maybe 1600 fsb is unstable on the board? I'll try something in between 1333 and 1600. I know it is out of Intel spec, but I've tried everything else.
 
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Definitely sounds to be related to the MOBO or perhaps the PSU. Check the Windows Event Viewer and see if you are getting any reported errors there that may give you a hint.

Also, I assume this is a clean install of the OS and not a migrated install from a previous build?
 
It is a clean isntall, but i can't remember if the bad RAM stick was in at the time...

I loaded defaults, and vista startup froze on the logo. I went into safe mode. swtiched off pc, cleared CMOS and booted up fine.

But I'm going to run it with setup defaults for a while, see if it could be a bad OS. Because the faulty RAM stick I had produced an error every 5 seconds in memtest, so my windows install might have been corrupted?

EDIT - Well have run pc with default stock settings for 2 hours just fine no bsods, so I guess my OS is fine. My PSU should be fine, it's a brand new Zalman 1000 watt PSU. Memory controller issue on mobo?
 
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cje said:
Yep, tried 1.4 to 1.46. Same result.

It bsods and restarts after 30-40 minutes every time. No matter what I do. Temps are all ok, everything under the 60s.

Also, I loaded setup defaults, reset, entered BIOS again and was inputting some new settings when my BIOS actually froze up. Nothing responded and had to reset it.

I am considering an RMA on this board because nothing over 1333 fsb seems to work properly.
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Could you tell me which BIOS version you are using?

I have found that different BIOS releases have had a direct consequence on whether I can attain 1600 FSB or not!
 
AndyOcUK said:
1104 I found best.

Lots of FSB holes at 400MHz (1600MHz) on earlier BIOSes.
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Funnily enough I ended up sticking with 0705 which Asus took off their site after a while - I still have the odd failed start, but the system seems generally stable at 1600FSB
 
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