2GB memory woes

DragonHunter · 26 Aug 2006 at 09:15

HI !

to start off with, the important bits.
3500 winchester, 2*512 corsair 3200 pro (flashy light stuff) A8V deluxe
after checking the asus website there seems to be a 1017 flash (12/05/05 dd/mm/yy) but i've just got back off a night shift and dont fancy flashing my boobies while still half asleep.

system works stock settings (too much of an idiot to really understand overclocking A64's regardless of having it explained on the phone and reading several guides)

cue new purchase of 2*512 corsair 3200 pro flashy light stuff
replace old ram, system works

put all 2GB in together... bios checksum errors, non bootable hdd's, cpu failure, bios failure, unrecognised cdrom.

replace original ram, system works
run original ram in dual channel 1 sockets = works
run original ram in dual channel 2 sockets (current configuration) = works
*rinse and repeat for new ram* channels 1 and 2 = system works.

for those of you in the know (or otherwise interested, here are the numbers and letters printed on my cpu
ADA3500DIK4BI
CBBFD 0441UPAW

what would i like you to do?
Please tell me either the bad new that either my chip or board just isn't going to handle 2gb ram (despite the manual saying it will on 4*512) or which buttons i need to poke in which order?
apart from the bios flash, is there anything else i can try before resigning my brand new ram to eitehr my dad's machine (which wouldn't appreciate it on a 266 fsb anyway) or back to where it came from?

ots3go · 26 Aug 2006 at 10:40

The memory controller on your chip won't handle 1T with 4 sticks of memory.

The option to change this to 2T should be in the BIOS somewhere (just don't ask where for this board). Someone else should hopefully be able to tell you where if you can't find it, i'm sure.

Unsure if that would be giving the wide array of errors you're recieving though :confused:

Tetras · 26 Aug 2006 at 12:16

Older cores (like newer ones) not only can't handle 1T but (unlike newer ones) also can't handle 4 sticks at 400 Mhz. You should try running at 333 Mhz and see if it becomes stable (though I thought winchester was one of the cores that could..). Also even though your memory is apparently identical, it isn't and may even be different chips, which is another thing that older cores can have issues with. There be more than a few reasons why people tend to buy 2x 1GB sticks for A64s

ace1981 · 26 Aug 2006 at 12:50

also try loosening your read preamble !what is it at ?

also disable 32 bit granularity been told if you have 4 stick you disable it

DragonHunter · 26 Aug 2006 at 16:33

thanks for all the feedback, i feel loads better now that i've had some sleep ^^

read preamble's set to auto, as is everything else on the memory page (i hate a64's, give me an XP any day)
i managed to enable the 2T commant rate (after flashing the bios to 1017).

i have no idea about adjusting my memory speed, i only found this option
memory to cpu ratio
1:1 (ddr200)
4:3(ddr266)
3:2
5:3(ddr333)
2:1(ddr400)

now this has me a lil confused as i thought it all ran at 200 / ddr400?... or has my brain not woken up yet.

if someone could tell me which one to use so i dont kill my old ram and the new stuff too, then i'll much appreciate it, and also what it should normally be running at as i just leave everything on auto.
(i'm not sure if its just that i'm too stupid to understand a64's or just this particular bios, it does seem quite unfriendly...)

ace1981 · 26 Aug 2006 at 16:40

DragonHunter said:
thanks for all the feedback, i feel loads better now that i've had some sleep ^^

read preamble's set to >try 7ns<auto, as is everything else on the memory page (i hate a64's, give me an XP any day)
i managed to enable the 2T commant rate (after flashing the bios to 1017).

i have no idea about adjusting my memory speed, i only found this option
memory to cpu ratio
1:1 (ddr200)
4:3(ddr266)
3:2
5:3(ddr333)
2:1(ddr400)

now this has me a lil confused as i thought it all ran at 200 / ddr400?... or has my brain not woken up yet.

if someone could tell me which one to use so i dont kill my old ram and the new stuff too, then i'll much appreciate it, and also what it should normally be running at as i just leave everything on auto.
(i'm not sure if its just that i'm too stupid to understand a64's or just this particular bios, it does seem quite unfriendly...)

ajgoodfellow · 26 Aug 2006 at 17:00

Set it to 5:3, DDR333 not to DDR400 as suggested

You'll need to run the memory at 333MHz for it to be stable with four sticks

DragonHunter · 26 Aug 2006 at 17:02

huzzah >_<