Jonsey Posted July 27, 2005 Posted July 27, 2005 Hi, I'm at a loss for how to continue on this problem: I've just obtained 4x512MB Corsair Value Select (2.5 CAS) for use with my AMD64-X2 4400+ on an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Motherboard (running BIOS image 1005, the newest ASUS bios for this board according to their site). I can get any three of the memory modules to boot, and can get memtest to run at least one pass over it... However, even with manually setting the DIMM configuration in my motherboard to CAS 2.5 .... 2T timing, I cannot get my system to post with a full 2GB of RAM in it. Motherboard gives one long shrill beep, no screen renders, no chance to enter the BIOS, totally unresponsive, makes me think the 2T timing option isn't taking effect, and the CPU can't address all the chips... Please help, I'll be monitoring this forum for about the next three hours from now (8PM Eastern), as I'm absoloutely at my wits end to solve this. Thank you, - David Jones *edit* found a typo, used affect instead of effect. The net effect of which is that I've found out how much grammatical errors affect me.
Wired Posted July 28, 2005 Posted July 28, 2005 Try these timings: CAS Latency (tCL): 3 RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 4 Row Precharge (tRP): 4 Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 8 2T Memory Voltage: 2.75 Volts All other settings to defaults.
Jonsey Posted July 28, 2005 Author Posted July 28, 2005 Okay, I'll try that before I leave for work today. Will post results in 10 minutes.
Jonsey Posted July 28, 2005 Author Posted July 28, 2005 No luck, still no-POST, same symptoms as before. *edit* I'm thinking this is less a Memory problem than a motherboard problem. I've found ASUS' beta BIOS 1007.002, and will be flashing over to that once I'm back home from work. Hopefully this will change something. Still sad that the Corsair Compatability Applet said that this RAM was compatible, when it seems that it isn't (without extra work). Will post back here tonight once I've flashed up to 1007.002, hopefully that will resolve this issue. (It's gotta be that the motherboard setting of running the RAM at Command Rate 2T isn't making itself known, as I can run three DIMMs, but not four. Gurfle.)
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 28, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted July 28, 2005 That would suggest a problem with the MB and or bios, you might contact ASUS and see if they have a newer bios to support this CPU.
Jonsey Posted July 28, 2005 Author Posted July 28, 2005 That would suggest a problem with the MB and or bios, you might contact ASUS and see if they have a newer bios to support this CPU. Right, as I said in my last post, I've got the new beta BIOS, and I'm hoping that will allow my system to address all of the Corsair RAM I have. The CPU is very happily recognized, as are up to any three of the RAM modules I own. I'm not stating that Corsair is at fault for giving me faulty RAM, but the RAM sets I purchased are listed as being compatable with this motherboard, when they are not.
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 28, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted July 28, 2005 Please test the modules one at a time with http://www.memtest.org to make sure one is not failing. If they all test with no problem one up that would suggest some other problem. There is no compatibility issue that I am aware of. Other than you may need to set the memory frequency at DDR333 with 4 modules.
Jonsey Posted July 28, 2005 Author Posted July 28, 2005 According to AMD, that is not the case, given a 2T command latency four dual-sided chips should be addressable at PC3200. However, I have tried it at PC2700 speeds to the same no-boot result. I will individually test the modules tonight again, but they showed no problems on the last runthrough. I am very much believing that this is not a problem with the RAM, however, I am very dissatisfied that RAM called compatible with my motherboard by Corsair is not actually compatible with my motherboard. I will post when I have a resoloution to this issue, so that others may benefit from it, but I'm beginning to think very much that my money on this RAM has been a complete waste, and I will be better off buying some other vendor's product.
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 28, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted July 28, 2005 Well while I understand your frustration, I don’t understand your reasoning. At any rate please let me know what you find. But I think you will find some other problem, IE failing memory controller in the CPU, or weak or failing PSU, or some problem with the MB. But please test the modules one at a time to make sure one is not failing.
Jonsey Posted July 28, 2005 Author Posted July 28, 2005 I owe you an appology I believe, while I do feel as though RAM_GUY's assistance was "shirking the responsibility", I believe he was very much in the right to do so. All the RAM tests fine, unless it's in the 4th Bank (B2 as labelled by ASUS), when the RAM is in the 4th bank, it throws random errors in memtest. I'm chalking it up to a motherboard problem, and this will mark the second purchase in a row I've had to RMA to newegg, ah well. :p I'm very sorry for any stress I may have caused, I will update this thread happily with good news once I get a new motherboard.
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 28, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted July 28, 2005 No worries Jonsey :cool: It's all good just hope you get your system up and running. I know how frustrating this can be. Trust me I have been there many times. Please let me know if you have any more questions! P.S. the latest bios is Ver 1.012 Beta 3 I would try the latest bios as well if you have not done so.
Jonsey Posted July 29, 2005 Author Posted July 29, 2005 The latest BIOS for my motherboard is 1007.002 Beta, I'm running the Premium, not the Deluxe. The Deluxe BIOS cause errors on this board, because of this board's extra SATA controller. : ) Yes, it's majorly frustrating, but, thankfully I'm building an additional system from the ground up, so I'll not be totally unproductive while waiting for the RMAs. : )
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 29, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted July 29, 2005 Please let me know how you make out!
piperwarrior16b Posted July 30, 2005 Posted July 30, 2005 Ok, RAM Guy it looks like you are indeed the ultimate answer man. I need help getting a stable set-up that still maintains the high performance I expected when I put my system together. I am running the new X64 4800+ Dual core on an Asus a8n-sli premium MB with 4 sticks of 512MB XMS3200XL. Could you please tell me what setting to use for the following DRAM settings in bios (I have placed brackets to indicate the current setting). I'm not looking to overclock but I don't want to sacrifice performance either. Memlock index value (MHZ) 200/266/333/[400]/433/466/500/533/550/600 CAS# latency (Tcl) 2/2.5/[3] Min RAS# active time (Tras) 5T-14T [8T] RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) 2T-7T [3T] Row PreCharge Time (Trp) 2T-7T [3T] Row Cycle Time (Trc) 7T - 22t [10T] Row refresh cycle time (Trfc) 9T-24T [12T] Read-to-write time (Trwt) 1T-6T [4T] Write Recovery Time (Twr) 2T/[3T] 1T/2T Memory Timing 1T/[2T] S/W DRAM over 4G Remapping (Disabled/[Enabled]) H/W DRAM over 4G Remapping (Disabled/[Enabled]) DRAM Voltage: currently set a 2.8V
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted August 2, 2005 Corsair Employee Posted August 2, 2005 Already did in another thread! Please do not double post!
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