Corsair memory problem

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 19:39

I've just bought a second pair Corsair VS1GBKIT400C3 to go with the pair that I already have. When I install the new ones alongside the old, the pc hangs after the BIOS has checked the memory (It sees 2Gb) I tried booting it a few times, but it still hangs in the same place. I took out the old sticks and put the new ones in - no problem with the pc booting first time, every time. Same with the old set. Both together - Nada.

The board is a K8N Neo2 Platinum with a venice chip..

Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong?

Dave

Joe42 · 31 May 2006 at 21:21

Can you get into the bios at all?
You need to drop the command rate to 2t, and start by dropping the speed to 333 aswell.
I think the venice should do 400 but i'm pretty sure you can't have it at 1t with 4 sticks.

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 21:33

Joe42 said:
Can you get into the bios at all?
You need to drop the command rate to 2t, and start by dropping the speed to 333 aswell.
I think the venice should do 400 but i'm pretty sure you can't have it at 1t with 4 sticks.

In the mobo manual, it says that if all 4 slots are filled with double-sided sticks, then the max speed is 333.

I can get into the bios, yes. I am also pretty new to modding/overclocking etc.

I've seen something in the BIOS called "memclock index value", which is currently set @ 200. Should I change this to 166? (166 x 2 333 - am I correct?)

Thanks for the reply.

Dave

Usher · 31 May 2006 at 21:35

Joe42 said:
Can you get into the bios at all?
You need to drop the command rate to 2t, and start by dropping the speed to 333 aswell.
I think the venice should do 400 but i'm pretty sure you can't have it at 1t with 4 sticks.

exactly right, thats why there are or were lots of peeps selling their 2X512 sticks to upgrade to 2 gig, it doesn't affect Pentium only earlier versions of AMD64 unfortunately & your system will run at lower bus speed & 2T command unless you get 2X 1 gig sticks

Joe42 · 31 May 2006 at 21:43

Yep, change it to 166.
Most importantly you need to change the command rate to 2t.

The board manual was probably written when only the earlier memory controllers were around, and they could only do 333 with 4 sticks, however i believe that the winchester and venice ones can do 400.

You can try 400 once you've checked that it worked with 333 and use memtest to see if its worked ok.

Edit: The command rate really doesn't affect performance that much, a few precent at best. If you can get it to run at 400 it shouldn't be noticebly worse than a 2gb 2 stick kit.

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 22:04

Joe42 said:
Yep, change it to 166.
Most importantly you need to change the command rate to 2t.

The board manual was probably written when only the earlier memory controllers were around, and they could only do 333 with 4 sticks, however i believe that the winchester and venice ones can do 400.

You can try 400 once you've checked that it worked with 333 and use memtest to see if its worked ok.

OK, I've changed it to T2 and to 166 and in BIOS it shows 333 for 1Gb. I'll power down now & fit the 2nd gig and see what gives.

Dave

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 22:25

OK, so I'm up & at 'em with 2gig at 333.

I suppose the answers I've had so far now beg 2 questions.

1. what are the consequences of running at 333 with 2GB ( I use P2P 24/7, make artwork for CD/DVD covers and edit video mostly. No gaming whatsoever.)

2. What mobo should I be looking at to run these things at the speed they were designed for and will I notice the extra MHz?

Thanks for all the info & help so far.

Dave

Joe42 · 31 May 2006 at 22:27

It has nothing to do with the board, the memory controller is on the cpu.

Try 400 and see if it works, it should.
As i said, performance drop from using 2t is fairly small, performance drop from 400 to 333 is a little more but i expect you won't notice.

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 22:31

Joe42 said:
Try 400 and see if it works, it should.

Do you mean 400 at 2T?

Dave

Joe42 · 31 May 2006 at 22:34

Bernard-Shakey said:
Do you mean 400 at 2T?

Dave

Yup.

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 22:44

Joe42 said:
It has nothing to do with the board, the memory controller is on the cpu. Try 400 and see if it works, it should. As i said, performance drop from using 2t is fairly small, performance drop from 400 to 333 is a little more but i expect you won't notice.

Perfect! 2T & 400. Thanks so much for all your help, it's really appreciated. It's a steep learning curve, bul I'll get there.

I'm now off to install the new WD 74Gb raptor that I bought along with the memory (don't tell my wife :-)

)

Dave

Joe42 · 31 May 2006 at 22:52

The raptor shouldn't need any installation, just plug, format and go.
Told you it would do 400

Although you should run memtest just to check its working ok.

I hope you've joined the fold btw...

Bernard-Shakey · 31 May 2006 at 23:06

Joe42 said:
The raptor shouldn't need any installation, just plug, format and go.

It's later than I thought, so this old bod is clocking off for the night. Tomorrow's another day....

Joe42 said:
Told you it would do 400 Although you should run memtest just to check its working ok

Just d/l'd it as we speak. Will run it in the morning.

Joe42 said:
I hope you've joined the fold btw...

I've a friend who told me about this a long time ago. You've just jogged my memory.....thanks.

Thanks once again my friend

Dave