srcshelton Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 On my system, the memory is detected and the system runs (broadly) correctly at 800MHz - but changing any of the BIOS memory settings ("MemClk Tristate C3/ALTVID", "Power Down Enable" set to "Chip" rather than "Channel", "Optimal Performance Mode" which enables use of the EPP SPD data, "Auto Tweak Performance") or setting the memory speed to 1066MHz causes the system to hang pre-POST even when the DIMM voltage is set to 2.112v (up from the default of 1.936v - this is with the first updated BIOS for this board: as shipped, the closest voltage was something like 2.15v). Could someone from Corsair confirm whether the above BIOS settings should be expected to work, and provide any hints for why my system can't run its memory above 800MHz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 3, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 3, 2008 Please test the modules one at a time with http://www.memtest.org to make sure one is not failing and I would set the tested settings manually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Sure - will do... but in the meantime please could you post whether any of the above BIOS settings (and I'm thinking about the Tristate and Power Down options here - should chip-level power control work?) are specifically known to be good or bad when used on conjunction with the Dominator DDR2 memory modules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Actually, it's probably worth mentioning that whilst I've been typing this, the machine has been rebuilding a Linux installation from source - and so the modules definitely work successfully at 800MHz and under load. In addition, I did run memtest86+ on the machine a couple of weeks ago before I went away for a break, and that succeeded (again at 800MHz). Once the compilation has finished I'll re-run memtest86+ to confirm, but assuming that no problem occur, what can I do next? To recap, the machine won't even POST at more than 800MHz - so its not just a case of instability. I think I read somewhere on this forum that increasing one of the other voltages may help - is this advisable for AMD boards (it may have been a suggestion to increase the North Bridge voltage on Intel boards)? If so, what voltages should be upped in addition to the DIMM voltage? Should the memory be running at 2.1v or 2.15v, and is that last 0.05v likely to make any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 3, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 3, 2008 That sounds like a MB BIOS problem, and I would check with the MB maker for a newer BIOS but to be sure you can over clock the CPU to get the higher memory frequency and see if it will pass http://www.memtest.org. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 The BIOS is definitely the latest - I upgraded yesterday. The problem is that at 1066MHz, it's not a case of memtest86 failing due to instability - it won't even POST and requires a CMOS reset to even enter BIOS setup! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 3, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 3, 2008 Like I said please set the memory frequency at DDR800 and over clock the CPU to get the memory frequency higher but do it a few MHz at a time up to 266 MHz that will set the memory to DDR1066. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 I've now tried this, and using the AMD OverDrive utility, the board/CPU/RAM combo can overclock to a massive 205MHz CPU/memory clock :( I did try increasing the voltages and applying a 266MHz clock whilst reducing the processor multiplier and HT ratio to keep things at about the same levels (which would have resulted in a 266MHz memory clock, each 2.5GHz core running at 2.48GHz, and an HT bus of 2.1GHz rather than 2Ghz), this this (predictably) froze the machine. Serious question: Am I mistaken to expect a CPU with a memory controller compatible with a 1066MHz bus, 1066MHz-capable memory, and a modern motherboard to just-work? Surely, this should all be auto-detected by the BIOS and it shouldn't be necessary to (attempt to) overclock different parts of the system? I'm most displeased right now with the performance of the Foxconn board - do other boards (I'm thinking of the Asus M3A79-T) work out-of-the-box at 1066MHz, or at least out-of-the-box with a vDIMM increase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 6, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 6, 2008 Yes but that is a BIOS issue and the BIOS may not be fully matured on that MB as of yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 I read on a different forum today that Asus' documentation states that 1066MHz operation is only supported for a single DIMM, and that as soon as a second is added, everything drops back to 800MHz. Is this be, after all, a CPU/chipset limitation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 7, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 7, 2008 Yes it could be, where did you see that limitation information? Can you post a link to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 The message I saw was: http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=12&threadid=100918 However, the only similar reference I can find on ASUS' site is: "* DDR2 1066 is supported by some of the AM2+ CPUs only. Refer to http://www.asus.com for the supported CPU models." ... which presumably does little but rule out Semprons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007bont Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I'm most displeased right now with the performance of the Foxconn board - do other boards (I'm thinking of the Asus M3A79-T) work out-of-the-box at 1066MHz, or at least out-of-the-box with a vDIMM increase? http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4272&stc=1&d=1223407428 i dont know much about AMD, but doesnt it look like this board can handle 2 modules at 1066? QVL list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Ah, that's the QVL list I was looking for. I assume that the blue "V"s mean 'verified', or similar. Note that the final page of the PDF document define what columns A, B, and C actually denote. The document seems to suggest that on the Asus board two DIMMs in two channels at 1066MHz is supported, but that 4 DIMMs would cause the speeds to drop back to 800MHz. I have two DIMMs in two channels on the A79A-S, yet the system still completely fails with any speed above 800MHz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted October 7, 2008 Corsair Employee Share Posted October 7, 2008 Yes that shows it will support 2 modules at DDR1066 but if you install 4 modules DDR800 or DDR667 would be suggested. You only have one set of modules correct? And you have tested them one module at a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srcshelton Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 I have just today received this comment by email: got nearly the same System,beside a 4870 and 8 Gb of non-EPP 2Gb Corsairs(C5D).My Ram with EPP wasnt able to run stable 1066 or 800 either,3 of 4 Modules had this problem.I took it back to the shop,got new ones without EPP,made a new Biosflash (P05-Bios,Rumors say P06 with NB Clock changeable is on the Run) under DOS and everything turned out alright.running allday now with 5-6-6-18@1066Mhz cos my 9850 does not like so tight timings(Theres a known bug with 1066 Ram+Phenom,Errata XYZ).Your and my older Type of RAM turned out to be a Problem in several Forums in Germany.They dont run 1066 bring them directly to your Shop,do a Biosflash with new RAM and be happy with your A79A-S. Since Rams are working fine ,I wont give away my Board.Reminds me of my old Epox. Google Tonys SPD for ******** PC2-10000 Reapers,these Timings will work fine if you move to 8 Gb Dominators ... so what this guy seems to be suggesting is either that a newer revision of DIMM is required, or EPP causes issues even if not enabled. Can you confirm/deny? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dacs Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Here's my story: I bought my Dominator (see specs) to replace my 2x2GB DDR2-800 sticks. When I installed and set it up to DDR2-1066, it gave me random crashes and it won't even last 5 seconds in Prime 95. I made a ticket with Corsair and I was told to run memtest for each sticks. The other stick ran fine but the other one gave me a single error in memtest in which I cannot reproduce (both were tested at DDR2-1066 @ rated timings/voltage). Corsair then advised to RMA the sticks but thinking that it might take too long, I decided just to have my sticks swapped with another one on the store where I bought the sticks. But when I installed the memory, I still can't make it work at DDR2-1066 (random crashes). I can use my rig at DDR2-800 just fine without any problems. So I'm kinda leaning towards the motherboard (or maybe the IMC of the processor) having some issue running 2 sticks at DDR2-1066. Anyone can give my any advice on what to do next? Just so you know as well, I also made a ticket with Foxconn but no replies yet :( EDIT: BTW just to add, I also tried setting it at 4-4-4-12 2T (@DDR2-920) and ran memtest and passed without problems, but I can't get to have a stable session in Windows. What gives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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