P5N-E SLI 4x1GB memory problem

andyh

andyh

andyh

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At work we have just ordered a whole load of kit to upgrade our computers.
We have gone for the P5NE SLI with 4x1GB Geil PC6400C4 (2 x matched pair sets) and a E6600.
We have found that the system hangs at the asus logo boot screen and we cannot enter bios if we have all 4 sticks in, at default memory speeds of 800mhz. If I take a stick out it boots fine and if i run all 4 sticks at 667 then thats fine.
I have upgraded to the latest BIOS and have made sure that the memory timings are correct (4-4-4-12) and that the voltage is correct.

Any ideas how to get the 4GB to run at its specced speeds?
 
Oddly enough someone else had exactly this problem, but i cannot remember how it was fixed. I think the board or the RAM was faulty. It was in the E4300 overclocking thread in CPUs. 4 stocks does work because I have 4 sticks of Crucial Anniversary in mine and it works fine. Pointless, but it works fine.
 
WJA96 said:
Oddly enough someone else had exactly this problem, but i cannot remember how it was fixed. I think the board or the RAM was faulty. It was in the E4300 overclocking thread in CPUs. 4 stocks does work because I have 4 sticks of Crucial Anniversary in mine and it works fine. Pointless, but it works fine.
Click to expand...
What speed is your crucial running at?
I have 15 of the P5N-E's and 30 sets of the memory to play with so I should be able to tell if its an individual faulty board or memory stick.
Out of interest have you tried the 0505 bios. After flashing from the 0202 I found that the time it took windows to load with significantly longer.
 
andyh said:
What speed is your crucial running at?
I have 15 of the P5N-E's and 30 sets of the memory to play with so I should be able to tell if its an individual faulty board or memory stick.
Out of interest have you tried the 0505 bios. After flashing from the 0202 I found that the time it took windows to load with significantly longer.
Click to expand...

It's running 950MHz 4-3-3-8-12-20-2T

Why 15 P5N-E's?

Yes, I am running 0505 and it's fine. I can't comment on the boot time as I never turn mine off.
 
Tested memory using memtest and no errors. Tried the memory in another board and still the same issue.
4x1gb @ 800mhz = no post
3x1gb @800mhz = ok
4x1gb @667mhz = ok
I have tried different NB and vdimm voltages but still a no go
It would appear that this is a compatability issue with these components at the 800mhz rated speed of the memory.
 
andyh said:
At work we have just ordered a whole load of kit to upgrade our computers.
We have gone for the P5NE SLI with 4x1GB Geil PC6400C4 (2 x matched pair sets) and a E6600.
We have found that the system hangs at the asus logo boot screen and we cannot enter bios if we have all 4 sticks in, at default memory speeds of 800mhz. If I take a stick out it boots fine and if i run all 4 sticks at 667 then thats fine.
I have upgraded to the latest BIOS and have made sure that the memory timings are correct (4-4-4-12) and that the voltage is correct.

Any ideas how to get the 4GB to run at its specced speeds?
Click to expand...

I have exact same problem - same board and same memory
I boot successfully with all 4 sticks of the Geil. Memory will not run at 800, but will run at 711 sucessfully - can't remember the exact divider in the BIOS which gave me that. I run 4-4-4-12 2T at 2.0875v - make sure you set the timings anf volts manually

There is a post in the memory section from a Corsair rep who says he has 4 Corsair sticks running at 800 in this board. The board is VERY picky with memory. Later BIOS updates are better. I'm using 0307 but still 800 doesn't work. 0401 is the latest I think, I haven't tried that

Difference between 711 and 800 would be minimal. I'm happy enough. You'll just have to settle for 667 or 711, or experiment with different brands of memory (if that's an option to change them for something else)
 
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Tuvoc said:
I'm using 0307 but still 800 doesn't work. 0401 is the latest I think, I haven't tried that
Click to expand...

I had a vote and I decided 0307 is officially the worst BIOS ever released for the P5N-E SLi. It was only actually up for about 8 hours before it was pulled and replaced with 0401.

0505 is the latest, but 0401 is pretty stable. In my experience the best overclocks are still with 0202, but the recovery from a bad overclock is appalling, usually you need to reset the BIOS every time.
 
WJA96 said:
I had a vote and I decided 0307 is officially the worst BIOS ever released for the P5N-E SLi. It was only actually up for about 8 hours before it was pulled and replaced with 0401.

0505 is the latest, but 0401 is pretty stable. In my experience the best overclocks are still with 0202, but the recovery from a bad overclock is appalling, usually you need to reset the BIOS every time.
Click to expand...

0307 is still avaliable for downlaod - and 0505 officially isn't - when I last checked ASUS site which was yesterday.

0307 woeks perfectly for me, don't know why you would say it is the worst. No different from 0202 either for me, machine works just the same
 
Tuvoc said:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5N-E SLI

OK, 0505 is there now
0307 was not pulled, still officially available on that page
Click to expand...

It might be available for download, but so is 0202. The night it was released all the early Rev. D machines crashed hideously (I'm talking disastrously) and we all had to go back to 0202. We were NOT amused. 0307 probably works fine on the Rev. G boards, but it was death for the early adopters.
 
Bizarre - 0505 has now been pulled, refreshed that page and it has gone !!
I did see earluer reports that it locks the multiplier on some CPUS, but presumably this has been fixed now

Anyway - back to the original problem - I doubt you will ever get the 4 Geil sticks at 800. You'll have to change for another brand or settle for 667 or 711 in my case
 
WJA96 said:
It might be available for download, but so is 0202. The night it was released all the early Rev. D machines crashed hideously (I'm talking disastrously) and we all had to go back to 0202. We were NOT amused. 0307 probably works fine on the Rev. G boards, but it was death for the early adopters.
Click to expand...

I guess I have a revision G then perhaps... I'm not sure how to check. I noticed no difference whatsoever from 0202 to 0307
 
Tuvoc said:
I guess I have a revision G then perhaps... I'm not sure how to check. I noticed no difference whatsoever from 0202 to 0307
Click to expand...

I just noticed you're running a quad-core. If you are overclocking on the multiplier, you might want to be careful of the 0505 BIOS as it is reported to lock the multiplier (maybe not on extreme chips though).

Just thought I'd give you a heads up!
 
WJA96 said:
I just noticed you're running a quad-core. If you are overclocking on the multiplier, you might want to be careful of the 0505 BIOS as it is reported to lock the multiplier (maybe not on extreme chips though).

Just thought I'd give you a heads up!
Click to expand...

Yes I've seen that !!

I have tried 2.9 by increasing the multiplier to 11, it does this at stock volts. Nice easy overclock. No increase in temps, but these things run hot anyway compared to the Core 2 Duos... So I run at stock
 
I ran some tests based on what we will be using the machines for and 4@667 worked out quicker (although not by a lot) than 3@800, so 4 at 667 its going to be.
 
andyh said:
I ran some tests based on what we will be using the machines for and 4@667 worked out quicker (although not by a lot) than 3@800, so 4 at 667 its going to be.
Click to expand...

Sounds fine, always slightly disappointing when you can't get what you're supposed to get (i.e. 800) but you're talking a couple of percentage points performance wise depending on what exactly you're doing, so it's not the end of the world (at least it wasn't for me...)
 
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