Combining with older RAM

[Mirality]

I previously had 6GB of OCZ DDR3 RAM in my PC (OCZP1866LV6GK, 2GB sticks x3). The label specifies timings of 8-8-8-8 @ 1.65V but the BIOS was set to 1.575V and CPUZ said it was running at 7-7-7-7. But the RAM has been running for years and has been thoroughly stable.

 

I wanted some more RAM, and recently purchased 3x CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9 (in singles, because I couldn't find any triple kits). The label says 9-9-9-9 @ 1.5V. (4GB sticks)

 

My system will boot and seems to run (and Windows Memory Diagnostic) ok with either set of RAM installed.

 

The system will not boot (stays hung at the BIOS splash screen, showing debug codes CF and 3F) if I have both sets of RAM installed, no matter which one I have in the primary slot. (I've ensured that each type is only in one colour of slot.)

 

Is there some setting I can change to make these play nicely with each other? 12GB total RAM from just the Corsair sticks is still an upgrade, but 18GB would be nicer. :):

 

(Note: for the moment I'm running with just the Corsair sticks and have lowered the DRAM voltage to 1.5V. All other settings are at auto or defaults.)

 

Edit: in case it helps, I just checked the new RAM with CPUZ and it's showing 533-2:8-7-7-7-19-139-1T. I think this is mostly the same as the previous RAM, with the possible exception of the second and third to last numbers.

[Synthohol]

2T would help stability and its what they are rated for as well.

combining ram is not supported, some users can get lucky but most are disappointed.

also you are running 1600 ram at 1066. try enabling XMP in the bios.

[Mirality]

Granted my last experience with RAM upgrades was with DDR1, but I'm pretty sure that you could mix-n-match in pretty much any combination without issues. (Though performance would be less unless you at least used matched pairs.) I realise DDR3 is a different animal but it's disappointing if it doesn't just work.

 

I don't think my BIOS supports XMP, or at least I couldn't find the option anywhere. 1066 is the max speed supported by the BIOS, unless I start overclocking things. (Edit: correction, the MB manual shows 1066/1333/1600[OC], so I guess it could be bumped up a little. But 1066 was what the last set of RAM was running at, and I suspect trying to increase the frequency would just make it less likely that the two sets will get along.)

 

As for 1T vs. 2T, the profiles shown by CPU-Z seem to indicate that 2T is only needed when the frequency is higher.

 

For the moment though I've manually bumped up the multiplier to 12 and command rate to 2N and CPUZ is showing the new memory running at 800-2:12-11-11-11-28-208-2T. I haven't run a memtest on it yet but it appears to be booting ok.

 

(BTW, your left COMBINING RAM link doesn't work, and neither does the related link from the FAQ page.)

[Synthohol]

...but I'm pretty sure that you could mix-n-match in pretty much any combination without issues.

unfortunately this is not the case, there are well over 1000 threads here of folks trying to mix even the same model and have issues. sorry, things have changed unfortunately. while some users have no issues others cannot even boot or be stable at JEDEC specs when mixing 2 kits.

this is why its not officially supported, there are just too many variables from system to system.

 

(BTW, your left COMBINING RAM link doesn't work, and neither does the related link from the FAQ page.)

thanks, once they changed the main site, a bunch of documents got moved around the server, ill try to get that sorted, thanks!!

[Mirality]

Even if not officially supported, can you tell me (unofficially) what settings I could tweak to make it more likely to work?

 

I haven't really played much with memory settings before, I usually just leave them at whatever they default to, and things Just Worked™.

[Synthohol]

you can try 9,9,9,27,2T, i think that is what is printed on the sticks.

can you post a screenshot of CPU-Z mem and spd tabs?

if -11-11-11-28-208-2T is stable honestly i would just leave it for now because Corsair only lists matched kits for stability www2.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?sc=us&id=812974 so honestly its a hit or miss venture you are on.

 

you can try matching the stick settings, leave everything else on auto and see what happens.

[Mirality]

Hmm. Possible problem. Ever since I installed the new RAM I've been getting audio glitches when playing video files -- the sound seems to freeze and stutter for a moment before playing normally again. If I stop playing the video and restart, it stutters in the same spot, but if I skip to earlier while still playing it doesn't. This affects both local video files and YouTube, across multiple players.

 

Not sure if this is RAM related yet as it's happening at both RAM speeds and memtest86+ didn't report any errors, but I don't think anything else changed before this issue started.

[Synthohol]

can you try one thing? remove the power and battery for 5 minutes or so then reinstall and boot to bios, reset to defaults again then see if its stable at 1333, if so then make the timing and voltage changes and see if the glitches go away.

[Mirality]

Good news / bad news: I reloaded my previous BIOS settings (all auto) and reinstalled my old RAM instead of the new Corsair RAM and the audio glitches are still present. So it does not look like the RAM is the culprit there. But it's definitely something that changed within the last week.

 

These are the settings I've tried most recently with the Corsair RAM installed, incidentally:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1Gnc1UR.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/BAoyTYp.png

http://i.imgur.com/GTNv9Xd.png