Wierd problem with RAM in DFI NF4

Associate
Joined
14 Mar 2003
Posts
1,305
I'm running with 2x512Mb Crucial sticks stable now but I'm having trouble moving to 2Gb. I have 2x1Gb sticks of generic Samsung RAM which result in a million scrolling errors in Memtest86. I know the Samsung stuff is good as it runs fine in my old AGP board (with the same cpu) with no errors. I thought modern mobos would have no problem with specific RAM.

Anyone have any idea whats going on? I've tried shuffling DIMM slots and trying a single stick at a time with no success.
 
Its just generic stuff at 3-4-4-8, 2.5v. I've tried changing voltage/timings as well with no effect.

edit: Eurgh, after hours of testing.. it seems it only works at 2T on this board. Cheapo nasty indeed :(
 
Last edited:
nF4 DFI boards are known to be very very very picky about which RAM they'll accept.
 
jklc said:
Its just generic stuff at 3-4-4-8, 2.5v. I've tried changing voltage/timings as well with no effect.

edit: Eurgh, after hours of testing.. it seems it only works at 2T on this board. Cheapo nasty indeed :(

I thought DDR started at 2.6v+?

Is it running 1T on the other board, or does it need to be 2T on both boards? Could just be because it's generic stuff. What happens if you slap the voltage up to like 2.8 - 2.9v. Any more stable?

The DFI board has many many additional settings for memory, it's a dream for people who love to tweak. Perhaps try altering some of the below settings to aid stability.

Row Cycle Time (tRC) - 7 = best performance / 15-17 = best stability

Row Refersh Cycle Time (tRFC) - Usually set 2-4 clocks higher than (tRC)

Write Recovery Time (tWR) - 3 = best stability

Write to Read Delay (tWTR) - 2 = best stability

Read to Write Delay (tRTW) - 2 = best stability

Write CAS Latency (tWCL) - 1

DRAM Drive Strength - 3 / 5 / 7 = for TCCD modules

DRAM Data Drive Strength - (With CPC Enabled, i.e. 1T) 1 / 3.

Max Async Latency - 7-8ns

Read Preamble Time - 5-6ns

Idle Cycle Limit - AUTO (for low grade RAM)

Dynamic Counter - Disable for stability

Bypass Max - 7x

32 Byte Granulation - Enable 4 Burst for more stability.


(All info above from a handy BIOS Optimisation Guide for DFI motherboards. Can't find the web link now though). :(
 
It does 1T on the other board so it looks like its just the DFI being picky. I don't mind the slight performance hit. The extra ram makes a load of difference in games. A nice cheap upgrade just to keep me up to date.

Thanks for the suggested settings, I'll tinker with them later.
 
Cob said:
This ?

And lower spec DDR runs at 2.5v.


That's the bad boy right there. Nice find!

I didn't know that about lower spec DDR, lol. My general rule of thumb is DDR = 2.6 - 2.9v and DDR2 = 2.0 - 2.3v

Ah well. Stupid cheap-o RAM! :p
 
It wouldn't happen to be the cheap high-density Samsung that's selling on a certain auction site?
 
Back
Top Bottom