On Monday 20 February 2006 16:35, Mike Coan wrote:
Dear all who replied,
On Sunday 19 February 2006 19:53, Rikard Johnels wrote:
Even memtest sometimes fail detecting Tried using the 2's independent? Install om A and swap it for B and reinstall? (Didn't really understand if you had...) Are they the same types? Or is it mixed manufacturers/models? Some MB's are very particular on the flavor of the sticks
[snip]
It is extremely unlikely that the memory is fine and that two completely different motherboards are exhibiting identical symptoms -- even if they're using the same chipset.
One possible scenario:
Mixing and matching sticks from different manufacturers on high end machines like this is asking for trouble. Even when the specs "match" one brand can test and run OK, then the other brand can test and run OK, but both installed can generate a disparate "blend" of noise in the memory bus that confuses the surrounding logic. Each stick has a distinctive noise 'signature' and you want those signatures match... to be synchronized with each other... as closely as possible.
[snip]
Assuming that all of the ram has passed memtest (and it seems that it has), I think I'd look at the bios on the main board - I know in the past there have been situations where unusual hardware configs were just plain not tested for by bios manufacturers, although there was no real reason why they shouldn't work. Manufacturer and version of the rom? Is there a newer version that you can flash and try?
Thanks for all the suggestions, although I am not sure they will help.
To clarify the memory situation. The memory is two sets of matched Dual Channel DDR from Rosewill. In other words, I purchased two sets of identical memory. Two sticks of 1 GB memory (2 GB) were packaged together and certified as Dual Channel DDR, with a lifetime warranty. I purchased two such packages for a total of 4 GB. Let's call the packages A and B.
Package A passes Memtest whether it is in DIMM 1 &2, or DIMM 3 &4. Package B passes Memtest whether it is in DIMM 1 &2, or DIMM 3 &4. Since I couldn't install with 4 GB, I installed with package A in DIMM 1 & 2. I ahve not tried installing with just 2 GB in DIMM 3 &4, but it did pass Memtest in those slots.
The motherboard, an Eox 9NPA Ultra, nforce4 chipset, came with a BIOS dated 6/29/05. The latest BIOS on the web site is dated 12/9/05, and I flashed the BIOS with that version. The motherboard thus has the latest BIOS available.
The specs for the motherboard indicate that if all 4 DIMM slots are populated, then the memory must run at 166 Mz as opposed to 200 Mz. The board seems to recognize this as the POST says "128 bit Dual channel DDR at 166 Mz" When only two DIMMs are used the POST screen says "128 bit dual channel DDR at 200 Mz.
This is most probably your problem! The bus runs too slow when you populate all four slots. The specs for the RAMS states 200 MHz and is only certified for that speed. Trying to run them at anything less most yields possible timeout problems. See if you cant test the sticks on somebody's system that DOES run at 200 MHz at all times. Or see if the manufacturer of your motherboard has a "work around" for that timing problem. Or get a new set of RAM... -- /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web : http://www.rikjoh.com mob : +46 (0)736 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78 46 1C EE 56 >