CMX8GX3M4A1600C9 unstable without lowering frequency and increasing voltage

Hi folks,

This is my first post here and I'm an utter newbie when it comes to configuring frequencies and voltages and the like in the BIOS, so please be gentle with me!...

Last year I built a new system which comprises a 2x2Gb set (ie 4Gb altogether) of the above memory along with an Asus M4A89GTD Pro USB3 mobo, Athlon Phenom II X4 965 CPU and Windows XP Pro SP3...

The memory has been a constant problem in that it locks the machine once a day on average (though, curiously, most often when the system is idle).

I don't do overclocking (at least not consciously!) and just allowed the BIOS to decide what frequency and voltage it should run the RAM at. It chose 1600MHz and 1.55V. (Although the RAM is actualy rated as 1.65V)

Anyway a few nights ago I decided to try to sort this once and for all. Running the Prime 95 program's Torture Test and the machine would consistently lock up within a few seconds of starting the test.

I then overrode the settings in the BIOS and set the RAM to run at 1333MHz and 1.55 volts. But it still locked up, so I then increased the voltage to 1.7V. At last I seemed to have a stable system: Prime 95 ran for the next twelve hours with no problems at all.

So I then upped the RAM back to 1600MHz but left the voltage to at 1.7V. But the machine locked up again as soon as I started Prime 95. Increasing the voltage to 1.75V didn't help. I don't want to risk increasing the voltage any further without asking you guys for your opinions first!

So does this memory not really run at 1600MHz? Or are my particular sticks faulty? Or can I safely increase the voltage even further? Or is there some other tweak I can do in the BIOS to get the memory to run at 1600MHz?

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Many thanks!

Dave Matthews

Thanks, Ram Guy.

Yes, the system does indeed seem to be stable at 1333MHz but only if I set the voltage to 1.7V. Any lower voltage - including 1.65V, which is what the sticks are officially rated at - causes the system to become unstable.

If I stay at 1.7V but increase the frequency to 1600MHz and switch overclocking on, the system becomes unstable again. So I guess my question is whether it is safe increase the voltage even further in order to run at 16000Mhz (with, as you say, Overclocking switched on).

Actually I've just realised that while these sticks are on Asus' QVL list for the motherboard, they don't appear on Corsair's own list as being compatible with the board...?

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Cheers,

Dave

Welcome to the club :P I'm in the same boat.

I will be watching this thread to see if anyone comes up with anything.