IP35-Pro - 4x1gig sticks :(

Bony Maloney · 27 Nov 2007 at 13:18

Rich, what sid is saying, are you changing the default DDR2 voltage from 1.8v to 2.1v? This board will struggle to run, boot at all with 4 sticks of GeIL and 1.8v default. (With my set up it wouldn't even post and I'd get a checksum error with 4 sticks and default 1.8v. I had to remove 3 sticks, go into bios change DDR2 V to 2.1, then install 3 sticks and bobs you mum's brother, no further probs).

EDIT: You posted as I did

Are you using Cpu-z for your clock readings, also are you checking for these readings under load/ If you are just on windows desktop the cpu drops speed and voltage as a power saver. Under load (Prime95 etc , Cpu-z will give you true clocks).

mmj_uk · 27 Nov 2007 at 13:30

If you are only seeing 3GB then look in the BIOS for a "Memory Remapping" setting or similar and enable it.

I have an Asus Maximus and it is very flakey with 4 DIMMS, in my experience it's best to stick to 2 sticks on the latest Intel chipsets to be honest - especially when overclocking.

ademcg · 27 Nov 2007 at 14:44

Silly question (probably) have you installed the Windows Hotfix for the 4 Gig ??

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777

ezhik · 27 Nov 2007 at 16:24

It could just a have been a glitch with your BIOS. I have 4 sticks showing up with BIOS 14, 16b1 and 16b3. (The latter seems the best so far). The fact that you flashed and could then see see all sticks doesn't neccessarily mean your initial BIOS was at fault, and maybe flashing back to it you would find all sticks show up in that one now too.

Anyway discussions elsewhere seem to agree 16b3 is good for 4 sticks, and with better options on the memory divider it's more tuned for overclocking.

Rich · 27 Nov 2007 at 16:47

"ademcg Silly question (probably) have you installed the Windows Hotfix for the 4 Gig ??

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777

27th Nov 2007 01:30 PM
mmj_uk If you are only seeing 3GB then look in the BIOS for a "Memory Remapping" setting or similar and enable it.

I have an Asus Maximus and it is very flakey with 4 DIMMS, in my experience it's best to stick to 2 sticks on the latest Intel chipsets to be honest - especially when overclocking.
"
Thanks for the suggestions guys, but as you will see we have already covered these points. There is no memory map option and it isnt a windows issue.
As above, it turns out to be some BIOS/Memory weirdness and im going to reflash again now and see what happens.

Rich · 27 Nov 2007 at 17:24

Ok, Flashed back to the latest Beta - M629B_16.B03. Did it from a USB stick using AWDFLASH.
All went perfectly.
Back to 3 gig. So, any of the last 2 beta BIOS and the latest official release BIOS will not work for me with 4 sticks of GEIL or OCZ ram. The 11 BIOS seems to work. Guess ill try 14 next then......<sigh>

EDIT: Its actually 14 that came with the board. No dice on that 1. 12 it is.

mmj_uk · 27 Nov 2007 at 17:49

Rich said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys, but as you will see we have already covered these points. There is no memory map option and it isnt a windows issue.
As above, it turns out to be some BIOS/Memory weirdness and im going to reflash again now and see what happens.

Have you checked all areas of the BIOS? it's not necessarily in with the memory settings on my Maximus Formula it's in the Chipset/Northbridge menu and bear in mind Abit may have given it a different name.

Rich · 27 Nov 2007 at 18:00

I have checked all areas. I cannot see anything that even vaguely relates to it. If anyone can show me otherwise, please do so, it will save me more headache

Rich · 27 Nov 2007 at 18:57

Well. This thing is rapidly becoming a massive pain in the backside.

Firstly, the ONLY bios (and i tried em all) that will see the 4gig is version 11. Which just so happens to be the BIOS that wont let me touch any settings

Every time I enter the bios to make a change, save and exit, it powers off and reloads bios defaults. *sigh*

Edit: Sent an email to Abit Tech Support UK laying out the procedures I have followed and emphasising that I dont want to hear any 32bit or 64bit OS? response out of them or I may implode.

BUFF · 27 Nov 2007 at 20:25

Rich said:
Firstly, the ONLY bios (and i tried em all) that will see the 4gig is version 11. Which just so happens to be the BIOS that wont let me touch any settings

will 12 let you?
You say that your board had the 14 BIOS on it from the start which probably makes it a 1.1 & that has a different PLL chip from the original 1.0 - afaik 14 is the first BIOS for the 1.1s & I wouldn't go to an earlier version.

Rich · 27 Nov 2007 at 22:43

Its currently got 16b03. All bios i Have tried other than 11 show 3 gig, including 12. It certainly explains a lot about the flakiness with the older BIOS, thanks for the heads up

Hope Abit come back with a useful response. I want all 4 gig working. I wont be buying memory again, ill be replacing the motherboard. Never known anything this fussy.

Rich · 28 Nov 2007 at 12:10

Abit's Response below....

"This is normal due to legacy IBM PC architecture, although, you have 64 bit of OS, it will still limited by this issue with 4G memory range.

You will always loose some of memory between 3G-4G as this segment of memory is allocate to display card memory, therefore, the larger the display card memory, the less main memory can be used for OS.

If you install more than 4G, you will gain all of memory beyond the 4G, but the loosing 3-4G will still remain.

Technical Dept.
UNIVERSAL ABIT U.K. Company Ltd.

Unit 3 , 24-26
Boulton Road
Stevenage
Herts SG1 4QX"

Even though 4gig is visible at both BIOS and Windows when running version 11 BIOS. I would keep 11, but it is unstable for other things.
Seems to me that they need to get with the program and allow memory mapping.

Rich · 28 Nov 2007 at 13:01

Abits next response:

"Showing the memory size and the available to use size is different.

There may be also, the board is faulty (one of memory slot).
I have tested with 4 x 1G Corsair PC8500 memories on IP35 Pro with ATI
X600 256 PCIE card and BIOS 14. I get full 4G memory display on screen,
but windows sees less than that.

You are welcome to use other manufacturers' boards and see if any board
can do that."

In other words, yes the 4gig "should" show up in the BIOS. I have advised him that I do not care about what is available and what isnt. I just want him to fix the issue of it not showing up in BIOS, and Windows can take care of the rest.

3 different memory configurations and 2 different brands I have tried for this. Ill be damned if I am outlaying any further cash for this.

ezhik · 28 Nov 2007 at 14:53

I've been following your problem, something is wrong with the board isn't it?

Why not just RMA it?

A bummer when you are the one with a faulty one, but after all that's what guarantees are for, get it replaced!

Bony Maloney · 28 Nov 2007 at 14:58

Rich said:
Abit's Response below....

"This is normal due to legacy IBM PC architecture, although, you have 64 bit of OS, it will still limited by this issue with 4G memory range.

You will always loose some of memory between 3G-4G as this segment of memory is allocate to display card memory, therefore, the larger the display card memory, the less main memory can be used for OS.

If you install more than 4G, you will gain all of memory beyond the 4G, but the loosing 3-4G will still remain.

Technical Dept.
UNIVERSAL ABIT U.K. Company Ltd.

Unit 3 , 24-26
Boulton Road
Stevenage
Herts SG1 4QX"

Even though 4gig is visible at both BIOS and Windows when running version 11 BIOS. I would keep 11, but it is unstable for other things.
Seems to me that they need to get with the program and allow memory mapping.

Isn't this a pants fob off, I'm not 100% certain but the idea of losing ram to video seems, well as you know I have a lot of video card ram and I have lost nothing from my 4 gig (well maybe 1mb

).

Datamonkey · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:12

There has to be something wrong with the board.

Even with the early bioses it should show the full 4gb.

Mine which came with bios 11 showed 4gb of both g-skill and geil mem with no issues. Dont have any other brands to test though

I would RMA and get another. Dont let this issue put you off the board, its a good un. (When you get a working one)

Rich · 28 Nov 2007 at 16:45

ezhik said:
I've been following your problem, something is wrong with the board isn't it?

Why not just RMA it?

A bummer when you are the one with a faulty one, but after all that's what guarantees are for, get it replaced!

This is why I have the tech case raised with Abit. Wanted to go through the motions and ensure I wasnt missing something or that Abit werent witholding a magic BIOS

Looks more and more like a Motherboard fault so Ill see what they come back with...

Cheers.

VaderDSL · 30 Nov 2007 at 13:13

Just went out and bought an extra 2X1gb sticks for my system, I was a bitapprehensive about plugging them into the IP35-Pro. But I set RAM voltages to 2.2v flashed to latest BIOS (from 10 to 14) and it all went fine, installed Vista 64bit and seems to be fine.

But cheers for the thread, got pretty much all *** info I needed for the upgrade in here.

Rich · 8 Dec 2007 at 00:10

Well, In the end, Abit told me to RMA the board back to the seller, which was OCUK. They promptly turned the board around and had a replacement out to me today, great service as always.

Unfortunately, the same issue is still present. Only 3 gig ever shows up. It is identical in nature to the original fault. Board shipped with the 14 BIOS. If i take out my GX2 and put in a 64MB 6200 I have i see the full 4 gig at the BIOS screen.

Im back on my old system at the moment. Dual core and Badaxe, the GX2 and all 4 gig of memory showing up just fine

Dont really know where to go from here. Could be something to do with the GX and the Abit being incompatible with 4 gig of memory? Who knows. Its bloody annoying though :mad:

Datamonkey · 8 Dec 2007 at 14:55

Very odd,

I would have to admit at this point it does look like a problem with mem mapping and the gx2 causing it.

Perplexed mate, never seen it before.