Trinity214 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 My current systems is: Mobo: Asus Striker Extreme 680I - Bios Ver. 1.305 (Newest) FSB: 1066MHz RAM: Domintaor CM2X1024-8500C5D X4 (4GB) 800MHz PC6400 (Max of Mobo) CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz (Stock) 1066MHz Video Card: BFG GTX 8800 720-OC (Stock) Non-SLI Configuration (1 Card) Power Supply: Antec 850W TruePower Quadro (Stock) OS: Windows Vista Home Premium (All updated) My Current Temps: Idle: CPU 38C-40C / Chassis 31C-35C (4 Total Sensors) / GPU 58C-62C Load 100% CPU & 90-100% RAM and GPU 3D Stressed: CPU 60C-62C / Chassis 35C-40C(4 Total Sensors) / GPU 75C-78C Note: The Temps above are aprox. and Load temps are after aprox 25 min. of stress testing. I am listing these to illistrate that temps appear to be all within safe working temp. The problem I have is getting my RAM, FSB and CPU to 1066MHz. The only way can get it to run stable is to Unlink and force RAM to 800MHz and FSB to 1066MHz. I've tried forcing the RAM to all rated latency, voltages, and freq. with no success. FSB: 1066 Unlinked, Auto, or Linked RAM: 1066 / 5-5-5-15-2T CAS-22 (or 24) / 2.0V thru 2.4V SLI Ready Memory: Disabled or Expert Disabled all Spread Spectrum options Legacy USB: Disabled I've tried about everything I can think of and also surfed the forums for hours trying to figure why this doesn't work. I've returned two pairs (4BG) of RAM already to make sure I didn't have a failed stick. I have also tried two other 680I Mobo's (Different Models) with this that have simular specs but I have been unable to get either to run this setting. Am I missing somthing? I can't get my RAM to run 1066MHz stable under rated settings. This RAM is on the QVL list, in fact it's listed as one of the 3 models Corsair recommends with this Striker Extreme Mobo. RAM GUY HELP ME PWEASE! =P Note: "Stablilty" was tested using Prime95 -A0 thru -A3 to test all Cores, and the amount of RAM tested is evenly distributed according to CPU affinity or the ability of the Bios or Vista to Load without locking up or blue screen. The best I've been able to achieve is 20 min of Prime95 on all cores before I get an error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 The memory controller can not keep up with the extra DRAM at the rated 8500 speed. You will need to drop the speed of the DRAM from 1066Mhz to 800Mhz. If you had purchased 4 X 1024MB of PC6400 (800Mhz) DRAM, then you would have had to drop to P5300 (667MHz) DRAM, etc. 2 X 2048 will not issue this problem. This is a problem of all 4 banks being populated. Think of it this way. If you have a small phone book, then when you go into the index to find the page where you will find the phone number you are doing so at a certain speed due to the pages of the Index. Then you have to drive through the pages to get to the number. Now if your index is twice as large and the pages twice as many, then it takes longer to access the data. Now DRAM has a Strobe and the length of the strobe is how long the rows and columns can be left open before they must be refreshed. There is not enough time for the dram to be refreshed and then accessed with 4GB at the full access speed of the DRAM. The chipsets are optimized for 2GB, not 4GB and for 2 DRAM slots, not 4 DRAM slots populated. You can overclock the FSB (and hence the Memory Controller Hub = MCH) to gain some extra bandwidth and thus access the capabilities of the DRAM since the chipset is now clocked up. Usually when you clock up the FSB and concurrently the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) you need to raise the voltages of the CPU/MCH a bit as well. All you have to do is look at the pages of people who have had this issue on this site, on other DRAM and motherboard sites and Google "4 Dram Banks Populated Errors" to see this issue. You haven't heard of this issue? It is with both Intel and Nvidia. There are a few who do get the 4 DRAM banks to run at the DRAM's rated kit speed, but they are not many and often they come back with DRAM errors six months or so later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity214 Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 Not the news I was looking for but thanks a ton! It answered my questions. I'd seen about a dozen or so simular posts but this clears it up for me. Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 You are very welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted October 29, 2007 Corsair Employees Share Posted October 29, 2007 Moved to correct section, and please let us know if you have any more questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity214 Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 Yes I do have 1 more question. What would you recommend for settings to get the memory freq closer to it's rated 1066MHz? The Striker board should be able to tolerate quite a bit as it is specifically designed for Overclocking flexability. I am corrently still running the same parameters as listed in thread starter. Any info will help. I was under the impression I'd be able to get this to run with four sticks at the rated 1066MHz of the RAM. Even though the board is setup for 800MHz shouldn't I be able to OC it to match the ram with stabilty? Also.... "The memory controller can not keep up with the extra DRAM at the rated 8500 speed. You will need to drop the speed of the DRAM from 1066Mhz to 800Mhz. If you had purchased 4 X 1024MB of PC6400 (800Mhz) DRAM, then you would have had to drop to P5300 (667MHz) DRAM, etc. 2 X 2048 will not issue this problem. This is a problem of all 4 banks being populated." Why is the memory controller having trouble keeping up with PC8500 speed? It's not able to run faster than PC6400 according the board spec's and CPUZ readings anyways. IAW CPU-z the speed is PC6400. Is this changing when i set Freq to 1066MHz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I was under the impression I'd be able to get this to run with four sticks at the rated 1066MHz of the RAM. Even though the board is setup for 800MHz shouldn't I be able to OC it to match the ram with stabilty? Possibly. It's all a crap shoot when you run with four banks populated. You need to test and find out what your board will accept. No two boards react the same. You overclock and tweak and try to get them to an acceptable throughput. My advice? Don't expect it. Hope for it, yes. But not expectation that you will get 1066. The issue is NOT the DRAM. The issue is the onboard Northbridge (MCH) and it's dislike of running at high frequencies with a population of four banks. I have seen people finally make stability, only to lose it months later. I have seen yet others damage the DRAM running too much voltage through trying to reach stability with 4 banks populated and trying for the full throughput of 2 banks populated. Good luck, but be clear that you might not make it. Edit: Think of it this way. The memory controller is optimized for 2 banks populated, not 4 banks. The que is now twice as long for data retrieval. The doors to the DRAM data are being opened and closed at the rate of the optimal 2 banks que and you are trying to make the Northbridge do double duty as fast as it does single duty. Often this leads to data corruption with doors being closed before data is fully retrieved or stored. Hopefully this clears it up for you. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted November 1, 2007 Corsair Employees Share Posted November 1, 2007 Well its more of a loading issue, as you add more memory the memory controller will need more time to access all of the memory properly. Not to mention the system will need to be able to provide more power to the memory and chipset. About 11 Watts per module running at Default MB settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 as you add more memory the memory controller will need more time to access all of the memory properly. This pretty well sums it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity214 Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Thanks for info! As i'm sure you probably know lots of peeps seem to have the same questions with reguards to getting this Striker Extreme to run at 1066MHz RAM. I think it's because of the QVL listing, it can seem a bit misleading. The Striker Extreme would appear to be able handle it at 1066MHz from a glance due to it's extreme overclocking ability even though rated at 800MHz, but from information you have given expains why it and the RAM can't under the conditions. Not with 4 Dimms anyway. Is there a better suited RAM that would run at 1066MHz on all 4 dimms that you can recommend? Or am I stuck with 2 Dimms to get the speed I want? I just bought this RAM and want 4GB for my system, but now I have 4-1024GB sticks running slow rather than 2-2048GB sticks which would read a bit faster. =( Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Is there a better suited RAM that would run at 1066MHz on all 4 dimms that you can recommend? It's not as great a difference as you may think. Run Memtest with 2 X 1024 @ 1066Mhz @ 5-5-5-15 and check the uncached memory speed. Then Run Memtest with 4 X 1024 @ 800Mhz 4-4-4-12. What are your results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity214 Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 Any recommended voltages? Is the there a different Voltage that I should use when using 4 sticks vs. 2 sticks? Striker Mobo wants to put 2.26v in Auto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I would use the 2.2V on both settings. This high end DRAM needs more than lower end DRAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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