psies Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Hi, I have a MSI P67A-GD65 flashed with the latest bios. I have been running on 2x CMS8GX3M2A1600C9 4GB modules (total 8GB). The system runs flawless with 1333mhz (default bios mem settings) and also with 1600Mhz (EPS/XMS settings) But because i am running a lot of virtual machines i need some extra memory. I tought installing 2 more corsair modules of exactly the same type would cause no problem at all.. Well i was wrong. As soon as i installed the 2 extra dimms (so 4x4GB total) the system was in a startup loop. It powers on.. you hear the harddrives spinning and after 3 or 4seconds it powers down... then powers up and after 4seconds powers down.. no images and no chance to go into the bios! After removing the 2 extra modules the system works again. It does not matter which two modules i use nor does it matter which slots i place them in. The PC simply won't boot with 16GB. It should support 32GB so what the problem here? My psu is antec with 550W with is really plenty, i hooked up a powervoltage meter and when booting it got a max of 290W, so still a lot of wattage left! I also removed all drives so the psu has even more power to use.. But that didnt change a thing.. The modules are not really faulty as they are working with 2 in the slots.. So what should i do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanutz94 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Mixing memory is not suggested or supported by corsair. As you have already found out , it can cause more problems then good. Your best bet would be to ditch what you have and buy a matched 16 gig kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psies Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Que? What are you talking about mixing up? perhaps i was not clear in my first post. I have 4 equal xms3 modules! That's the whole point! I especially bought the exact same modules!! Same brand, same type! CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9! all are the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 The SPECS are the same, but they haven't been tested together, therefore they haven't been guaranteed to work together. There's many different IC manufacturers and versions of those ICs that can be used, and even ICs from the same batch may not play well with each other. In otherwords, there's too many factors for anyone to guarantee compatibility without testing. Test one stick at a time in each slot using Memtest86+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psies Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 I downgraded the bios version of my motherboard, and now its working! But althought the model number are the same, apparently they are different! One set is reconized as PC-8500 while the other set is PC10666. The modules are sold as 1600mhz! So when you don't use XMP profile my motherboard should use them at 1333mhz (which is the same as the cpu speed) Why is on kit running at 1066mhz and the other on 1333mhz? Sure they do work now when i activaded the xmp profiles and increased the voltage to 1,65. but i find it really strange!!! Don't people buy extra memory in the corse of time? I mean 16GB DDR3 was last year very expensive and so it very logical to buy 8GB first and later upgraded to 16GB? Don't most people do this? And everbody nows you can't send memory back after a 1 year usage? "why are you sending it back? Is it defective? " "nope i want to get my money back, so i can buy four equal memory modules so i am sure they are working on my motherboard...." you see that's crap! So how can you be certain to get a working kit of memory modules if the manufacturer is "playing" with the hardware and still selling it under the EXACT SAME NAME? I must admit i was quite shocked to find out that underneath the same label/brands/model/sticker there is that huge different in specification! Hopefully my rig is stable running in this config.. But i wil think twice to buy corsair again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanutz94 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Why is on kit running at 1066mhz and the other on 1333mhz? Sure they do work now when i activaded the xmp profiles and increased the voltage to 1,65. but i find it really strange!!! Memory not running at rated speed is one of the problems with running two sets of memory. They could cause instabiltiy or just not work together at all. But the difference in the modules is just what they default to. Don't people buy extra memory in the corse of time? I mean 16GB DDR3 was last year very expensive and so it very logical to buy 8GB first and later upgraded to 16GB? Don't most people do this? Some do , yes. And some get away with it. But most do not. Memory today is not like memory of years past. When the memory controllers got moved to the CPU instead of the MB it became really picky about the need to have all modules matched. As a matter of fact Corsair has never supported or suggested using more than one kit because of the problems that arise when you use more than one set. Years ago you could throw just about anything in your rig and have it work, nut it is ot like that any more. You can scour these forums and find litterally thousands of posts all with a similar issue caused by using more than one set of memory, or any other manufacturer forums around. So how can you be certain to get a working kit of memory modules if the manufacturer is "playing" with the hardware and still selling it under the EXACT SAME NAME? You cant, unless you get all your modules out of one single package. That package of modules have all been tested with each other to ensure they all perform the exact same way. They may go through 100 mdules to find 4 that match. Or how ever many modules are used to make up that kit. I must admit i was quite shocked to find out that underneath the same label/brands/model/sticker there is that huge different in specification! It's the same across all manufacturers and it all depends on the prices of the chips used to make the modules. So there can be many different vendors used to make the same exact part number.This is where it becomes important to purchase a single kit of the capacity you want right off the bat instead of trying to add later. Hopefully my rig is stable running in this config.. But i wil think twice to buy corsair again! Sorry to hear that. Corsair makes the most reliable and best performing modules in the industry. Their reputation in the memory memory market reflects that too. But like i stated , it is the same across all manufacturers. So you run the risk of the same exact issues with any other brand of memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Quite honestly you don't know what you are talking about, no offense. Why is on kit running at 1066mhz and the other on 1333mhz?They aren't. All memory runs at the same settings. What you have highlighted in red is in the SPD as only a reference for the max bandwidth. The BIOS does not use that field for anything. They (and the other JEDEC specs) probably differ because they're different ICs / versions of CMX8GX3M2A1600C9. The settings in the timings table are what are used when the BIOS sets it to default. I don't know what it uses when the SPD settings don't match up over multiple sticks and you set it to defaults, but I'd wager it just looks at the first stick. And everbody nows you can't send memory back after a 1 year usage?Please elaborate. It's a lifetime warranty on the memory. However, they have no way to guarantee compatibility between sets, nor can they guarantee the version # you get from an RMA (version # doesn't guarantee compatibility either, just the IC used). So how can you be certain to get a working kit of memory modules if the manufacturer is "playing" with the hardware and still selling it under the EXACT SAME NAME? I must admit i was quite shocked to find out that underneath the same label/brands/model/sticker there is that huge different in specification!No, the spec is the same, but it's possible to hit those specs with different internal parts. Either way memory companies have been making memory by using different ICs for at least a decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psies Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Memory not running at rated speed is one of the problems with running two sets of memory. They could cause instabiltiy or just not work together at all. But the difference in the modules is just what they default to. Some do , yes. And some get away with it. But most do not. Memory today is not like memory of years past. When the memory controllers got moved to the CPU instead of the MB it became really picky about the need to have all modules matched. As a matter of fact Corsair has never supported or suggested using more than one kit because of the problems that arise when you use more than one set. Years ago you could throw just about anything in your rig and have it work, nut it is ot like that any more. You can scour these forums and find litterally thousands of posts all with a similar issue caused by using more than one set of memory, or any other manufacturer forums around. You cant, unless you get all your modules out of one single package. That package of modules have all been tested with each other to ensure they all perform the exact same way. They may go through 100 mdules to find 4 that match. Or how ever many modules are used to make up that kit. It's the same across all manufacturers and it all depends on the prices of the chips used to make the modules. So there can be many different vendors used to make the same exact part number.This is where it becomes important to purchase a single kit of the capacity you want right off the bat instead of trying to add later. Sorry to hear that. Corsair makes the most reliable and best performing modules in the industry. Their reputation in the memory memory market reflects that too. But like i stated , it is the same across all manufacturers. So you run the risk of the same exact issues with any other brand of memory. Thanks for this info, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psies Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 The settings in the timings table are what are used when the BIOS sets it to default. I don't know what it uses when the SPD settings don't match up over multiple sticks and you set it to defaults, but I'd wager it just looks at the first stick. Well actually that is my point i am confused or worried about. The timing tables settings do differ between the two kits! That's my whole point. When i use bios default memory settings, one kit was running at 1333mhz (2x667mhz) the other kit was running at 1066Mhz (2x 533mhz) Even when all 4 modules were inserted together! So that is pretty strange don't you think? I do understand that there are different ic's and chips are being used (samsung/infinion/mt etc) but at least i expected that all 4 memory modules would run at the same 667mhz (or 1333mhz) default bios memory speed. But as they are sold to be 1600Mhz,1,65V compliant i used XMP settings and it works.. Just played a heavy game for two hours and i havent had a single crash or lock up.. BTW does it need to run at 1,65V or can you also use 1,6v? or 1,55v? or will it get unstable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 2, 2011 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 2, 2011 When mixing memory like that I would suggest DDr1333 at 1.65 Volts and increase the memory controller Voltage +.2 Volts as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 The timing tables settings do differ between the two kits!The SPD timings are different, but since you're using XMP that doesn't matter. Also, if you set the timings manually then SPD / XMP are ignored. When i use bios default memory settings, one kit was running at 1333mhz (2x667mhz) the other kit was running at 1066Mhz (2x 533mhz) Even when all 4 modules were inserted together! So that is pretty strange don't you think?That's impossible. IGNORE the SPD tab. Everything you see in there will NEVER change. The MEMORY tab shows the actual memory speed / timings. BTW does it need to run at 1,65V or can you also use 1,6v? or 1,55v? or will it get unstable?You can always try various voltages, but I would stay within 1.35v to 1.7v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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