DFI Expert Ram Problems

Amidar · 15 Jun 2006 at 16:04

Hi,i have just installed my Crucial Ballistix PC4000 (2 x 1GB sticks)in my Expert mobo and running at 3.2.2.8(In the orange slots)Now in my previous motherboards Asus A8N32-SLI & SLI-DR it would run 2.2.2.5 if i even change it to 2-5.2.2.5 it wont boot?
Just wondered if anybody knows what is wrong :confused:

I'm trying to run the timings tight as i just up my multiplier to overclock.

Thanks.

Rokusho · 15 Jun 2006 at 21:16

Change back to regular timings, then use memtest on each of the modules independantly

Amidar · 16 Jun 2006 at 00:07

Hi,have already done that should have said in my first post.I set them to PC4000 speeds 400mhz & the correct timings and they have been fine for 24 hours.

Dutch Guy · 16 Jun 2006 at 08:47

Amidar said:
Hi,have already done that should have said in my first post.I set them to PC4000 speeds 400mhz & the correct timings and they have been fine for 24 hours.

PC4000 speed is 250Mhz, not 200Mhz.

What BIOS are you using, on my DFI I couldn't get anywhere stability wise until I updated the BIOS.

Amidar · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:11

Sorry i mean they where running at 250mhz not 200mhz during memtest.Will see what bio's version i am on & flash to the latest if a newer one is available.

Cyber-Mav · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:31

i don't understand why ram works better in certain slots on these dfi boards. what if you wanted to run 4 gig like me? the dfi board may not be able to handle it if its got problems using certain ram slots. they should have just made a 2 slot board.

Dutch Guy · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:53

Do you get errors in Memtest86+ and in what test(s)?

I needed to run my Ballistix with active cooling as my sticks were roasting and causing instability because of it.

[edit]I think I read in some reviews that the PC4000 sticks were different than the PC3200 sticks in the fact that some had trouble running 2-2-2-5 200Mhz and only really worked well at 3-4-4-8 250Mhz [/edit]

Cyber-Mav · 16 Jun 2006 at 14:21

ballistics pc3200 and 4000 are the same. they just have different spd data on them.

Dutch Guy · 16 Jun 2006 at 14:32

Cyber-Mav said:
ballistics pc3200 and 4000 are the same. they just have different spd data on them.

Same chips but possibly on different PCB's that are optimised for tight timings or high speed?

kitfit1 · 17 Jun 2006 at 14:57

Cyber-Mav said:
i don't understand why ram works better in certain slots on these dfi boards. what if you wanted to run 4 gig like me? the dfi board may not be able to handle it if its got problems using certain ram slots. they should have just made a 2 slot board.

It works better in the orange slots because the yellow ones are optimized for ram that needs a high vdimm, ie BH5. You can run 4gig of ram, but it will have to be at 2t not 1t. This has not got anything to do with the mobo, it's a limitation of the mem controller on the cpu. Setting the ram up to run sweet on a DFI requires a bit more than just setting 2.5-2-5-2. Take a look here and have a good read of the overclocking stickies.

Cyber-Mav · 17 Jun 2006 at 16:35

hang on. you mean that the not all the memory slots on this board provide the same amount of voltage?

kitfit1 · 17 Jun 2006 at 17:00

No i don't mean that at all. It's just when you have the jumpers set for a higher vdimm, it works better in the yellow slots.

Cyber-Mav · 18 Jun 2006 at 02:43

kitfit1 said:
No i don't mean that at all. It's just when you have the jumpers set for a higher vdimm, it works better in the yellow slots.

hang on now im confused, so if you had 4 sticks of ram would they not work properly in this board since all the slots don't seem to behave the same according to your earlier post?

ted34 · 18 Jun 2006 at 09:33

Cyber-Mav said:
hang on now im confused, so if you had 4 sticks of ram would they not work properly in this board since all the slots don't seem to behave the same according to your earlier post?

No what he's saying is that yellow is generally better for bh5 and orange for tccd. Both put out the same voltage which you set in the bios. Most people, especially those with dfi run only 2 sticks for overclocking an so having this extra compatibility helps. If you run 4 sticks you will need to run 2t and the board will still do this

kitfit1 · 18 Jun 2006 at 15:06

ted34 said:
No what he's saying is that yellow is generally better for bh5 and orange for tccd. Both put out the same voltage which you set in the bios. Most people, especially those with dfi run only 2 sticks for overclocking an so having this extra compatibility helps. If you run 4 sticks you will need to run 2t and the board will still do this

Yes that is exactly what i mean. The DFI NF4's were designed for overclocking, so all sorts of ram were catered for. If you want a mobo to run 4 sticks of ram they will still do that as well, but timmings will have to be slackened the same as on every other mobo.