adding memory causes x fi fault

jonph · 16 May 2009 at 20:41

hi all,
I'll try to explain my problem.
First off, specs that may help:
mobo asus A8N SLI Deluxe,cpu opteron 170,memory 2x 1gb crucial ballistix DDR pc3200, 2x 1gb OCZ DDR pc3200, suond x fi elite pro, gfx nvidia 9800gt, os windows7 rc1/windows xp pro.
Now, to try and explain.I have been running my system using 2gb ballistix memory on both xp and win 7beta with no sound problems. swapped to win7 rc1 and all still seemed ok. I decided to add an extra 2gb of memory but couldn't get any matching ballistix memory so opted for OCZ (Was told should be ok but would run at whichever had the lowest settings).When all 4 sticks of memory are in, my sound is so bad its unuseable, but only in win7. If I boot to xp no problem. If only install either ballistix or OCZ sound fault is gone.
Are these two type of memory incompatible or is it just timings that may need setting up(not too clued up on mem settings)? or is it just a win 7 problem as xp seems fine(saying that though,xp only recognises 3gb of memory) sorry to be so long winded but any help would be appreciated.

alex24 · 16 May 2009 at 20:43

iirc the x-fis had problems with 4GB of RAM, this could be the issue, though it has been addressed in driver updates. Do you have the latest x-fi beta drivers for win7 installed?

jonph · 16 May 2009 at 20:44

latest beta driver for win7 installed. Just tried with 3gb memory on win 7 and sound is ok. Looks like a driver issue with 4gb of ram as you said.I tried to install earlier(vista) driver but but stupid creative web installer won't let me install on win 7!

jonph · 17 May 2009 at 12:30

can anyone point me to creative vista drivers to try without using creative web install?
or am I wasting my time with earlier drivers and better off with 3gb ram and waiting to see if creative sort a stable win7 driver?

alex24 · 17 May 2009 at 12:42

I would suspect this issue is documented at least on the creative forums, so have a gander over there and see what you can find. A quick look shows this.

jonph · 17 May 2009 at 13:11

thanks alexhull24 looked on a few forums, plenty of comments but not much on solutions.
just hope creative guys don't let me (and anyone with same problem) down with a fix pretty soon

alex24 · 17 May 2009 at 13:47

They don't have a great track record with drivers, but they're definitely improving. Them having win7 drivers out at all was a pleasant suprise, and this is clearly a big issue, so i'm sure it will be fixed.

Eye seven · 17 May 2009 at 14:12

To say creative are getting better with their drivers isn't hard. When you have the worst reputation in the industry, and well deserved, the only way is up.