Problem using G.SKILL PC2-8000C5

[mark-p]

I am having a problem with the new PC I have built and am about to start tearing my hair out in frustration.

Intel e8400
Asus P5K-E wifi-ap edition, motherboard
MSI 8600GT graphics card
Western Digital 320Gb hard disk
dvd drive etc
Windows Vista 64bit

The memory I bought to go in to it is:
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit

How ever I can only get the PC to work stably with one of the two sticks of ram.
With one everything is fine (I can write this) but if I take it out then use the other either windows dose not load or if it dose programs crash and hardware devices fail to work. etc
If I try to use both (4gb) the same problems happen.

I set the motherboard to use the recommended timings and voltage for the ram and also used lower clock speeds to see if they helped.
but couldn't get anything to work so returned them to Overclockers who tested the ram but found no fault.

so is there anything else i need to do

 

[mark-p]

I have just run it (for about an hour) it didn't find any problems.
so maybe i am just imagining it is the memory causing the problem?

 

[mark-p]

I ran Memtest86+ again using all 4Gb for nearly 3 hours and it did not find anything.

but i am still having problems

e.g earlyer today I attempted to run the windows installation DVD. while it was loading there was t PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA blue screen.
looking this up it could have lots of causes from memory to software to harddisk.
But as it is loading off the DVD i assume the problem is not caused by software or the hard disk. so is caused by hardware somewhere?

currently i am running the Windows Memory Diagnostic in the extended tests
it is at 21% and says "Hardware problems detected. To identify and repair these problems, you will need to contact the computer manufacturer."
unfortunately it doesn't seem to be anymore informative than that.(and i am the manufacturer)

dose it still sound like a problem with the memory or something else?

 

[mark-p]

Hi Steve thanks for responding

I have tried all the sockets and dram voltage up to 2.2v. with same results 1 module ok the other not

but have not touched the Northbridge voltage yet.
there are so many settings i don't really understand but i am going back to the feeling that it is the memory that is faulty.

I should have bought a complete pc it would have taken a few days of overtime (in a boring job) but at leased i could have returned the whole thing.

 

[mark-p]

updating the bios was about the first thing i did so it should be ok.

i've now tested the northbridge voltage between 1.25 and 1.55v no difference but maybe it will help ryan as he is using 4 sticks rather than 1 (or 2) for me.

The best thing you could do is to return it again and ask them to try to boot Vista.

I'm pretty sure that they usually just do a few runs of Memtest to test returned memory, and thus your problem wouldn't have been caught.

I think i will do this and I will give them a pointer to this thread when i ask about returning it

 

[mark-p]

The newer BIOS's tend to set it to 54 or 60 when set to auto. But to make sure I set it manually

I have the latest BIOS (1004) it looks like auto sets it to 52.
5-5-5-15-3-52-6-3-3

So I have set it to 60 but after booting a couple of times it has made no difference

What is the row refresh cycle time and why 60? I know a little bit about how memory works from when i was at uni (10 years ago) but not all the details, which have probably changed anyway.

Unless I read the OP post incorrectly, he can run everything fine with one stick, and yet if he swaps that stick with the other (in the same slot), then he has problems.

Thats what seems to happen, although there must only be a tiny fault in it if Memtest doesn't find any errors?

 

[mark-p]

yeah, thanks for your help.
I am just waiting for Overclockers gets back to me about the possibility of a second RMA

 

[mark-p]

aghhh

now I have got the memory back again

"No fault found, Fully passes 10 cycles of memtest"

I've now spent £112 just to be able to use 2Gb of ram.

can anyone think of a good explanation why one stick would work but the other doesn't if the memory is fine

 

[mark-p]

You best try it in another PC if you can. That will confirm whether it is the memory or your board.

The trouble is everyone I know has a laptop, a mac or uses DDR

I'm sure you can't install Vista with 4gb in. Put in 2gb and install Vista. Then apply the 4gb patch and then install the other 2gb. There are other post's about this.

I have only been trying 2gb at a time and I can use vista fine with one stick but not if i swap to the other.
My new machine with 2gb is 100x better than my 5 year old pc (upgraded slightly over the years).