2GB stable 4gb Unstable, Any help?

MONOLITH

MONOLITH

MONOLITH

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3 May 2007
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50
Hi,

I have been running 2gb of OCuk value ram (pc6400) in my pc for a few months now. Everything has been working fine, the system is very stable. I then decided to buy 2gb more of the same ram. The system is now very unstable. When running stability tests the system just locks up and i have to switch off the pc. Sometimes the mobo speaker gives off a slight beep on lock up. I have never had this problem with just 2gb. All the settings are the same in bios for the 4gb as they were with just the 2gb. The mobo is an Asus P5W DH with the latest bios. Im running the ram at its recommended 800Mhz speed. Is it to do with voltage, overheating?

Any suggestions/help would be very much appreciated.
 
Could be just dud ram. RMA it and see if the next ones do the same. Or try the new sticks in a different PC and see if the same problem occurs.
 
Try running the PC with just the new set, see if it does it still. If it does, run it with a single stick and see if it does it, if not change sticks and see if it does it with that one.

Does sound like you have a dud stick there.

InvG
 
I would also suggest running DOS version of Memtest overnight on the new memory, should show up any errors on the ram...
 
Sometimes both kits are fine and it's just the case that both won't work together on the same mobo even when they have the same specifications, probably due to different mem chips used.

I can't explain exactly why this is but quite a while ago I had 2 sticks of cheapo PNY 512Mb that have the exact same chips, model numbers and specifications but bought seperately but they were very unstable when used together. However I changed the mobo afterwards and everything was fine with the same sticks.

It usally happen if you mix value RAM or different brands / specs.
 
Due to some MB restrictions , and windows XP , which i think you are using the xx32 version.

you can only have the luxury of 3GB rams.

try and see if your processor and mobo supports x64 bit computing and that might solve your problem.
 
It's quite normal to have to bump the vdimm a tad or loosen the timings slightly after adding a second 2gb.
 
Yes if you go over 3Gb with this MB you may get some errors if your using a 32 bit operating system. The limitation is mentioned in the MB manual. I went up my mem from 2 to 3 GB with 2x512DDR2 and it works fine. Vista 32 sees all the memory. I didn't change any mem settings.
 
Typhoon said:
Yes if you go over 3Gb with this MB you may get some errors if your using a 32 bit operating system. The limitation is mentioned in the MB manual. I went up my mem from 2 to 3 GB with 2x512DDR2 and it works fine. Vista 32 sees all the memory. I didn't change any mem settings.
Click to expand...

The operating system shouldn't cause any problems, it will just limit the amount of usable RAM. I think you need to do what Cob suggested. What timings and frequency are you trying to run them at?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I have been fiddling around with the RAM and have found out something that might help the diagnosis. The new sticks both work fine when i replace the 2 existing sticks. So that proves that the new RAM is not at fault. However i have noticed when running the RAM in single channel mode with 2GB's rather than Dual Channel i get the same crashes. So its fine in dual channel, and not single channel. Any ideas??

Cheers.
 
I am running the RAM at 800MHz which is what they are rated. The frequencies reported by CPU-Z under the 'Memory' Tab:

CAS Latency 5
RAS to CAS 6
RAS Precharge 6
Cycle Time 18
Bank Cycle Time 24

Funnything is, when i set the frequencies to 5-5-5-18 in bios for the 2gb's it works fine. Set it at that for 3 and 4gb it crashes. Im starting to think the memory sticks are incompatible with each other but i dunno, im not too hot on memory. They are both OCuk value sticks but they are slightly different PCB's.
 
Have you tried using only the two slots that you put the new memory in?

It's possible that one of the slots that you weren't using with your old set is flaky.
 
What's your CPU's FSB frequency? Well, if it's lower than your current memory frequency, lower your memory frequency so it's equal to that of the CPU's FSB (in a 1:1 ratio). Also, try loosening up the timings a little and you might need to apply a little more voltage to the NB.
 
I had the same prob with my ballistix, had to knock em down to 667 from 800 they were rated at, maybe 4 individual sticks are putting too much strain on mem controller
 
Bradmax57 said:
I had the same prob with my ballistix, had to knock em down to 667 from 800 they were rated at, maybe 4 individual sticks are putting too much strain on mem controller
Click to expand...

Really? Gah, i hoped that the frequency drop wouldn't be necessary with Ballistix because of their Micron D9GMH-goodness. Bugger; but i suppose it isn't much of a big deal if your CPU has a high multiplier.
 
I had to loosen the timings on mine (crucial pc2 5300 c3) and add a bit more voltage. original was 900mhz at 2.1v 4 4 4 12 with the extra 2gb i had to put voltage to 2.25 and can only manage 900mhz 5 4 4 15 .

It show up as 3.5 gig in win xp

minor note i have not tried the the 2nd 2gb by itself cos i could not be bothered to take the first 2gb out so it might just be the second set that doesn't like the timings or even the slots on the motherboard. I'll probably try it when I get bored.
 
Last edited:
Bradmax57 said:
I had the same prob with my ballistix, had to knock em down to 667 from 800 they were rated at, maybe 4 individual sticks are putting too much strain on mem controller
Click to expand...

Yes, on my ASUS P5N-E SLI 4 sticks won't run at 800. 667 works perfectly as does the 711 I have them set at using one of the dividers.

To the original poster - presumably you have them at 2T ? That is sometimes necessary for stability with 4 sticks
 
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