W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Ok, I've looked at other posts and I haven't quite seen enough answers to this common question: The above motherboard now has 2 sets of TWINX1024-3200C2 RAM (2GB total), and like everyone else - I'm getting memory errors. I'm running at 2.5-3-3-6, with the MAX DDR setting on the mobo moved from AUTO to DDR400 (which makes the mobo post-report show the RAM is running at DDR400). Every thing else is set to auto, including the DRAM voltage. I'm sure there are a few of you out there with this exact setup - what have you guys come up with as stable settings to get these 2 sets to work? I don't want to overclock at all - I just don't want CS:S to dump out in the middle of a firefight! I thought I saw in a few previous posts that some had gotten 4x512MB to function, but I just need a few pointers in the right direction... Thanks a million! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Try raising your DRAMv to 2.8v. That is safe and within Corsair warranty. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 Ok, I'm looking for ALL settings - DRAM voltage, latency speeds, 1T or 2T, etc... My specs are as follows: A8N-SLI Deluxe 90nm 3500+ Antec TruePower 550 Dual PNY 6600GT's Dual Maxtor DiamondMax10 SATA 80GB in RAID 0 BIOS rev 1006 Chipset rev 6.53 First set of TWINX1024-3200C2 - v1.2 (bought 3/04) Second set of TWINX1024-3200C2 - don't remeber right now - much higher, though. Just bought 'em 3 days ago from Tiger Direct. Nothing overclocked at all - she idles at 33° C with the all-copper Zalmann CNPS7000 LED at full speed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 You've got several potential problems. First, are both sets of RAM the EXACT same revision? If not, you may not be able to run the 2 sets together. Also, the current AMD machines don't seem to like running 4 double sided sticks of RAM, which is what your RAM is. And, with 4 sticks you are most likely going to be forced to run at 2T. And, believe it or not, you may not have a big enough power supply. Keep in mind that your RAM alone with 4 sticks will about 50w of power. Then, you have got those 2 power hungry video cards, CPU, etc. So, if you continue to have instability, it could be the MOBO/bios not liking 4 DIMMs, a power supply issue, a compatibility issue if the revisions of the RAM are not the same, etc. So, in a case like this, the only thing to do is to try to slowly tweak the bios 1 step at a time and see if you can get it stable. That's why I suggested raising the DRAMv and testing to see if it will run without errors that way. Once you get it stable (IF you get it stable) with 4 sticks at stock/default settings, then you can try the other stuff. Post up what happens with raising the voltage and good luck. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garvin Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 I think you probably are going to find the difference in revisions between the two pairs is the problem. I'd try changing the command rate to 2T first with the appropriate latencies for your particular ram to see if that will run Memtest86. Then I'd try dropping the frequency to 333mhz at 2T and see it will run. If not, go down to 266mhz and try that. I can guess what your thinking, what's the point with 400mhz ram? 2gig at 266mhz will still run Doom3 and Half-Life2 in high quality settings at a 1024x768 without a glitch, don't know about CS:S though. I got one Twinx 3200xlkit and a couple of cheap 512meg sticks to run this way (266mhz) before zooming onto the net for another Twinx kit. Now running two Twinx kits at 400mhz with 2t command rate. ps: Others have had no problem with the Antec truepower 550 powering their systems. First page: http://hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38623/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 Thanks guys for all the suggestions. I went back in and looked at the sticks, and the first set I bought last year is a 3.1, with the new set being 4.2. I decided to pull the 3.1's and leave the new. I'll just sell the 3.1's to one of my friends that doesn't have a gig on their system yet. (Sigh) - This is all quite disparaging... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polandro Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Thanks guys for all the suggestions. I went back in and looked at the sticks, and the first set I bought last year is a 3.1, with the new set being 4.2. I decided to pull the 3.1's and leave the new. I'll just sell the 3.1's to one of my friends that doesn't have a gig on their system yet. (Sigh) - This is all quite disparaging... If you sell the 3.1's and go for another pair will you be sure of getting the same revisions next time? I made that mistake. Also, if you decide to just run one pair for now, are the 3.1's better than the 4.2's? Maybe you should check the IC Inquiry thread: http://www.houseofhelp.com/v2/showthread.php?t=35940 and ask the RamGuy which chips are on your sticks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 Well, they system seems to be running great on the 4.2's. I had some extra money lying around, and thought I could tempt fate above what I've seen about this mobo. I'll just look at it this way - I'll hook up a less-fortunate ($-wise) friend of mine, because one of my older friends ($$$$$$) tends to pass stuff along to me at no charge (he gave me the second 6600GT for taking him out to breakfast after he took delivery of his X850PE!). The more I help others, the more stuff he shoots down the pipe my way... One last question - Is there a way I can tell what 'T' setting the sticks are running at when I've got the BIOS set as 'auto' on that control? Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 I just ran the Memory bandwidth benchmark in SiSoft Sandra and it showed CMD rate in the results. This may do it for you. I used Sandra 2004. Also, it sounds as if you and your buddies believe in the law of karma. I recently helped a friend out in similiar fashion. Several years ago he did some flooring work for me and refused payment so, I helped him out with some puter gear that he can't afford right now. And, a total stranger at another forum donated a MOBO and CPU to the cause, a really kool guy :sunglasse L8R, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 OK - Better News!!! I upped the BIOS to 1007 from 1006, and was surprised to see that on re-boot with all 4 sticks in, it read out properly now as DDR400. I changed my timings from 2.6-3-3-6 to 2.5-3-3-8 and went in and played Counter-Strike with no errors, CTD's, or BSOD's. I'm off to set the DRAM voltage manually to 2.8v - hope everything goes well... Also, any idea what I should set as a paging file with 2GB? At 1GB, I set a static size of 1536 MB. Should I raise it now? Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 The rule of thumb for paging file reset I have always seen is 1.5x - 2x total RAM. Just curious, is your paging file on a physically seperate disk from the OS and games/apps? Good news on the bios flash, mebbe you will run just fine after all. Many are not so lucky. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 I have a 160GB RAID-0 array made of 2 80GB SATA drives, and 2 off-board 200GB USB drives (cutting down on heat inside the main case). The paging file is on the RAID array... Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Is the OS on the RAID array? It may not make as much difference on a RAID array but a good tweak is to put the paging file on a physically different drive from the OS/apps. This greatly reduces the I/O bottleneck when the OS/apps are busy and there is heavy page file usage. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garvin Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 A link to download Sisoft Sandra Lite: http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_3264&langx=en&a= The command rate will be displayed as 1cmd or 2cmd at the end of the timing list for each stick under Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks section after clicking the Mainboard Information Icon once in the Sisoft Sandra Lite program. ps: with 2 gigs of ram your hard drive lite should only flicker ocassionally, page file bottlenecks are extremely rare with this much ram, I didnt notice any difference with the page file on a seperate non-os drive, welcome to 2 gig nirvana. ps2: if your stable at the vdimm your at now I wouldn't raise the voltage to 2.8, it won't gain you anything unless your planning on overclocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 5, 2005 Author Share Posted June 5, 2005 #1 - Yes, the OS is on the RAID array #2 - Thanks for the DRAM voltage tip - I don't plan on overclocking at all, so I'll turn the DRAM volatge control back to 'auto' Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2SJW Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 *UPDATE* I've been running a week now at 2.5-3-3-8 and 2T rock-solid with no errors whatsoever. Today, I pushed it up to 2.5-3-3-6 with no program crashes or BSOD's!!! I can't think of any thing else I've done but move the BIOS up to the 1007 version. I'm throughly impressed that 2 sets of TWINX-3200C2 over a year old in age between the two are running so well! I'll never buy another brand of ram other than yours! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted June 13, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted June 13, 2005 Well thank you and Mike for the compliment and Mike for helping us. If you should ever have a problem with our module we will be happy to replace them, F.Y.I. so don’t worry about that. But we do try hard to provide the best product and service we can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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