Inserting extra memory.

michaelcbell

michaelcbell

michaelcbell

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Joined
9 Nov 2011
Posts
4
Hi all,

I've had my overclocked system for a couple of years now, still running great. My friend recently upgraded his RAM and gave me his old chips.

The type I currently have installed are Corsair (3x2gb) CM3x2G1600C9.

I'm trying to get my friends to fit in the other 3 slots on my GA-X58A-UD3R mother board.

His memory is came from his OCUK system and is Kingston HyperX DDR3 KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX

When I first put the new RAM into the other 3 slots it worked fine for about 5 mins before cutting out (black screen). I have since tried multiple configurations but to no avail.

Is there any way I can get his memory to work in my machine? I haven't touched the timings, left everything on the OC settings in the bios that came with the system but I'm happy to change stuff in the bios if you think it will help...

These are the configs I've tried with the results:

How the motherboard manual describes the slots:

Blue Slot (DDR3_2)
White Slot (DDR3_1)
Blue Slot (DDR3_4)
White Slot (DDR3_3)
Blue Slot (DDR3_6)
White Slot (DDR3_5)

1)
b- nothing
w - corsair
b- nothing
w- corsair
b- nothing
w corsair

= works great

2) same but with kingston memory - works great.

3)
b- Corsair
w- Kingston
b- Corsair
w- Kingston
b- Corsair
w- Kingston

= recognises 12 gb ram okay for 5 mins then black screen

4) Same but swapping the Corsairs for the Kingstons - 5 mins then black screen

5)
b- Corsair
w- Kingston
b- Corsair
w- Kingston
b- nothing
w- nothing

Recognises 8gb dies after 5 minutes

6)
b- Corsair
w- Corsair
b- Kingston
w- Kingston
b- Kingston
w- nothing

Recognises 10GB (only usable 8gb) - lasted for about half an hour then died. (realise this is a non-scientific part of my test but solution worked the best for the longest) I was thinking the slot channels might work in pairs in which case I could buy just one more kingston chip and have matching across the pairs... Possibly the extra unnecessary kingston chip in the DDR3_6 slot threw it off?

This is confusing me a lot. I've run windows memory diagnostic when in options 1 and 2 and the results came out absolutely fine leading me to believe the chips are all fine...

In the motherboard manual it recommends using the same RAM manufacturers/capacity etc. but says it has this "flex memory mode" that runs when they are different. But I dont see this message when it boots. Am I missing something?

I'm running the F5 version of the Bios. Everything else is working great just want to get this new ram installed and working reliably....

Any help you guys could provide with this would be greatly appreciated.

Apologies for the somewhat essay length request for help, just wanted to let you all know what I've tried.

Many Thanks,
Mike
 
I'm no expert mate, but I'd say the ram needs to be running at the same voltage and timings / command rate.

Your corsair ram is spec'd to run at certain timings at a given voltage, whereas the kingston may be spec'd to run at different timings, for example, causing the instability.

Also, populating more memory dimms puts more strain on the CPU memory controller which could have an adverse effect on overclocking, making your cpu overclock unstable.

In both cases I would've thought you'd get a bsod though..
 
Thanks for the reply, I know what you mean but there's no BSOD, the whole thing just cuts out.

Is there a way of configuring 2 sets of differently branded RAM? (3x2gb)(3x2gb) Would I have to manually set some timings/voltages in the BIOS?

Would love to get this working with differently branded RAM otherwise I'll have to buy a whole extra set of one of the brands I already have....
 
Youll have to set the timings manually, your corsairs are rated at 9-9-9-24, the kingstons are rated at 9-9-9-27, both kits are rated at 1.65v. Start with the corsair kit installed, in bios change the 24 to 27, save and reboot. Then add the kingston set. Both will now match in timings. In bios youll have to up the qpi/vtt voltage to deal with 12gb.
 
It will depend entirely on your own system tbh, i have two x58 rigs with 12gb here, one in a mixed sets 6x2gb config, the other in a 3x4gb config. Both require different levels of qpi voltage. The former at 1.35, the latter at 1.3215.
 
thanks for all your help. I'm having no luck with getting the configuration to work. Think I'm a bit out of my depth trying to adjust all of the voltages as the system came overclocked. I've tried a load of combinations, voltages, timings etc. but cant produce a system with 12gb that manages to get all the way to log in screen again. I'll just bail and see if I can get another matching set to the first lot I have. Do you know if there's any place you can swap RAM for other RAM??? I'm in London

Thanks again, M
 
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