Requesting Go-Ahead

Greetings RG.

i have had an Intel DG965RY sysbo since Feb. 2007; dual channel with 4 dimm slots; shipped with, and still populated with, 2 x http://www.corsair.com/vs2gb667d2.html/, manufactured in May 2007 ... 5-5-5-15-18

i need to upgrade. these are the memory specs for the dg965ry sysbo http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dg965ry/sb/CS-026602.htm?wapkw=intel+desktop+board+dg965ry and this is additional data re the sysbo : http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/search.html?keyword=Intel%20Desktop%20Board%20DG965RY

i want therefore to add 2 more VS2GB667D2 -- good idea, or do you want to improve on it?

i am reading Corsair's Memory Upgrade Resource Guide - 2010. it reads in pertinent part:

First, loading all the memory slots as opposed to loading half of the slots places a greater electrical load on the memory controller. This increased load can result in instability if the BIOS is not tuned or tweaked to compensate. The user should make certain that their motherboard BIOS allows adjustments to the memory controller voltage. Additionally, users should be certain that their cooling method is capable of cooling the CPU+ memory controller as it will generate more heat with all slots loaded and the increased voltage

the following pre-purchase questions are obvious: how can i ascertain whether my BIOS will allow adjustments to the the memory controller voltage;

assuming it does, how do i tweak the bios to compensate for the increased electrical load (i'll need the procedure delineated because i have never done this); are there negative consequences to such tweaking; how can i ascertain whether my cooling method will prove to be insufficient?

note that the hardware platform is 64-bit, and will be dual-booted with 64-bit and 32-bit os's

Usually with more dimms you need to raise memory buss voltage and also the north bridge voltage. But you would need to go through your BIOS and figure out exactly what each setting does .

i want therefore to add 2 more VS2GB667D2 -- good idea, or do you want to improve on it?

It's never recommended to add memory to an existing set. Even two kits of existing part numbers can cause issues with each other.

how can i ascertain whether my cooling method will prove to be insufficient?

Your CPU temps go up if it's not sufficient. But with a stock system and value memory it wont be an issue for you.

are there negative consequences to such tweaking

Any time you adjust BIOS settings there is a risk of damage or instability. Too much voltage can render a cpu or MB useless if too much is applied. And there are many others than can screw things up pretty easy.

you are therefore recommending that i discard the current 2 x 2gb? and use what?

Well, ideally you would want an 8 gig kit that consists of 4 2gig modules. Mixing memory is a crap shoot. There is no way to guarantee that any two kits that were not tested together, will run together. Corsair will only guarantee correct operation when a single kit is used on a MB.

Just spend some time reading through these forums and you'll find hundreds of posts all on the same subject with the same outcome.

They do not have an 8 gig DDR2 set available for your MB at the time.

Now if you decide to add another 2 gigs of 667mhz to your existing set just keep in mind that they may not run together correctly. With all slots filled you may have to run them at 533mhz anyway.

Something else to consider is that your MB will only support 8gigs if they are 667mhz or 533mhz modules. And only 4 gigs with 800mhz modules.

Supported DIMM configurations

The following table lists the supported DIMM configurations.

DIMM Type SDRAM Technology Smallest usable DIMM (one x16 Single-sided DIMM) Largest usable DIMM (one x8 Double-sided DIMM) Maximum capacity with four identical x8 Double-sided DIMMs

DDR2 533 256 Mbit 128 MB 512 MB 2 GB

DDR2 533 512 Mbit 256 MB 1 GB 4 GB

DDR2 533 1 Gbit 512 MB 2 GB 8 GB

DDR2 667 256 Mbit 128 MB 512 MB 2 GB

DDR2 667 512 Mbit 256 MB 1 GB 4 GB

DDR2 667 1 Gbit 512 MB 2 GB 8 GB

DDR2 800 256 Mbit 128 MB 512 MB 2 GB

DDR2 800 512 Mbit 256 MB 1 GB 4 GB

Note Regardless of the DIMM type used, the memory frequency is either equal to or less than the processor system Bus frequency. For example, if DDR2 667 memory is used with a 533 MHz system Bus frequency processor, the memory works at 533 MHz. The table below lists the resulting memory frequencies based on the combination of DIMMs and processors.

 

 

how do i assess the risk?

There is no way to asses the risk. Every system is going to be different and have different thresholds. So what is safe on one system may not be on another. It's the sort of thing that if you are at all uncomfortable with, it's best to take it to a shop. But setting memory voltages is pretty simple given you have the correct BIOS setting. The reason i say this is depending on the BIOS the same setting may be called several different things.

This may be of some help...It's the BIOS glossary for your MB and many other intel MB's.

http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/biosglossaryalpha_v17.pdf

And this site also has definitions for most BIOS settings

http://www.techarp.com/

Or spend some time reading up on overclocking your CPU. I understand you are not wanting to overclock, but it would give you some ideas on what BIOS settings do what, and what the limits are. There should be overclocking guides that are specific to your MB which might be a better choice.

I looked all over the link you provided for your MB and could not find any manual that showed the exact BIOS settings that would be offered on your MB, but no luck. Just the glossary, so im going to take a stab that those or most of them should apply to your MB

thank you for Your Help, peanutz: i appreciate the bios glossary's value, and that of the links that stem from it; the Techarp site is also a big find. (.. too bad you don't live in new york city!)

the bios settings related to memory -- and there are many more than i expected -- need explanation, else i risk calamity; i have substantial reading ahead of me.

you are suggesting, therefore, that i take the (minor?) risk of adding one or two VS2GB667D2 modules to the two VS2GB667D2 inveterates (for five years)? .. i don't have much of a choice: how else can i effect 4 x 2GB (DG965RY sysbo has 4 slots; 2GB max. per slot; quad kit does not exist)

I would be more than happy to help you in any way i could. I looked for screenshots of your BIOS to see exactly what was what. But no luck there.

Basically when you set up memory you need to just input the first 4 values and the initial voltage. But lie we explained when you run all four DIMM you may also need to adjust the memory controller voltage. That could be CPU/VTT , QPI, North Bridge Voltage, but they are all generally the same thing but all have a different name.

I just would not want to tell you what to adjust without being certain it would be a safe move i the first place.