Memory Wont Run.......

moawan · 15 Dec 2009 at 08:46

Hi All

Well, I am running an ASUS P5QL SE Motherboard with 2 Memory Banks,
Up until now i have been running 4GB RAM and everything has been working fine. The Mobo can handle 8GB of RAM, so i brought 2 4GB sticks to use.

Put them in 1 by 1.

1 4GB Stick in Memory Bank 1, booted the machine up, works fine. the second chip into Memory Bank 2, and Windows dosent start up, Gets to the starting windows page and nothing else, Thought it was a faulty stick so i put that 2nd stick into Memory bank 1, and it works fine, so both new Sticks work in the first memory bank, which leads me to believe the second memory bank was faulty on the Motherboard.

I took the old 2GB RAM stick and put that into the second Memory bank and works fine....... which means the memory bank work.

So why dosent the 8GB RAM work,

Does that make sense,

raralis · 15 Dec 2009 at 09:06

Trying flashing your mobo with the latest bios/firmware.

It might resolve the ram issues.

moawan · 15 Dec 2009 at 09:07

Ok Cool, Will try that tonight

moawan · 15 Dec 2009 at 21:20

so, flashed the bios from version 0505 to 0610 and still the same problem

please help

RJC · 15 Dec 2009 at 21:40

Did you setup the RAM voltage, this is usually stamped on the side of the modules what voltage is required.

Also increase the MCH voltage (northbridge) a notch or two.

moawan · 17 Dec 2009 at 12:48

Checked the RAM Voltage and this is set to Auto so shouldnt that be ok?

Where would i see the MCH voltage, couldnt see anything on the Northbrige system details.

p.s .. dont know if this is relevant, in the system settings the BIOS Sees the amount of avaliable memory as 8192MB, so the BIOS is seeing the RAM but it wont Boot up windows....gets stuck at the Starting Windows screen..... Did think about installing windows again and it dosent even load the set up files onto the machine.

raralis · 17 Dec 2009 at 14:30

Which version of windows are you using?

32 or 64bit?

d.chatten · 17 Dec 2009 at 15:11

moawan said:
Checked the RAM Voltage and this is set to Auto so shouldnt that be ok?

You will need to set the RAM voltage and timings manualy to what the manufacturer recomends, if that doesn't work then try raising the MCH voltage a notch or two as RJC has said.

Corasik · 18 Dec 2009 at 08:22

Auto rarely works on ram, Auto will just set 1.8V in 99% of cases. Some versions of OCZ Gold for example actually need 2.1V for stability. Most memory sticks will have their recommended voltage printed on the label, or on the manufacturers website.

Often 1 stick will appear to be stable on the nominal 1.8V, but as soon as you put 2,3, or 4 sticks in it will fail.

If you cant find any clue as to what the voltage should be, try increasing to 1.9V and test for stability. If that doesnt work move to 2.0 etc. Try to use the lowest voltage that is 100% stable.

moawan · 18 Dec 2009 at 19:53

Hi All,

Back with an update, found out the manufacturers recomended voltage is 1.8V, Manually set it in the BIOS to 1.87V (That was the only option) no joy, tried setting it to 2.00V -- no joy, tried setting it to 2.13V and the machine would not boot, so i am guessing that is too high

Next i tried the NB voltage no matter what option i chose it didnt work, the options in the list were 1.129,1.199,1.269 and 1.339

Have emailed ASUS and the supplier for any help!!!