AV8 with only 2 sticks only showing 333 Dual channel

[mperu99]

I am running only 2 rams (512)and the AV8 reports 333 ???
when I know these are 400?? (I have tried slots 1 and 2,, as well as 3 and 4.)

my Gigabyte K8U reports these rams just fine as dual channel ddr 400...
what gives with this ABIT? bios vers. 27.

I can manually force it too 400mhz.. but i cannot change any timming settings they all have to be set at auto or the system does not boot.

ANY IDEAS!??
__________________
ABIT AV8 K8T800 Pro uGURU
AMD 64 3500+
512 X 2 (CMX512-3200C2PT)(DDR400)
Nvidia XFX 6600GT 128
WINDOWS XP SP2 Geniune
SOUND BLASTER AUDIGY 2.
200Gig Samsung
120Gig Maxtor
Plextor 712A
TSSTCorp SH-D162C

 

[Jimmy 2004]

My Asus board does the same thing, doesn't let me set 400MHz if there are two sticks. My solution? Overclock them back up to nearer 400MHz!

 

[mperu99]

My Asus board does the same thing, doesn't let me set 400MHz if there are two sticks. My solution? Overclock them back up to nearer 400MHz!

Well i have an option to set the clock at 400Mhz. but im more interested in the fact that the board dont report 400Mhz from the SPD.

And the fact that even if i do set the clock at 400 I cannot set my timming settings to 2-3-3-6. If i do then i cannot boot the system.

I know someone has this same board and had the same issue just how did they fix it?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Are you sure that RAM is definately capable of running stable at such low timings? I'm not an expert on what speeds different RAM can run at, but 2-3-3-6 is VERY quick.

 

[Agility]

have you check your motherboard manual? My motherboard tells me putting which Ram into different DIMM slots would give me different speeds for dual channel.

 

[mperu99]

Yes im sure

Yes im positive, these are cmx512-3200C2PT -> check www.corsair.com these are very good matched ram modules..

They ran perfectly at DDR 400 dual channel on my GIGABYTE K8U 939


Yes I have checked the manaul and it shows 1/2 or 3/4 for dual channel.

 

[mperu99]

have you check your motherboard manual? My motherboard tells me putting which Ram into different DIMM slots would give me different speeds for dual channel.

Heres something very interesting..

When I pull out both modules and place only one in slot 1 and boot.. it reports DDR400 NOT 333

When I pull that one out and put the other one in slot 1 it too reports DDR400 NOT 333!

When I place the second one in slot 3 as to have one in slot 1 and one in slot 3 it reports DDR333.. Single Channel Mode 64bit ERRRRRRR!!!!!! ( was expecting DDR400 Single Channel Mode)

So I place them back into slot 1 and 2 and Still 333 dual channel..

So DDR 400 seperately and 333 together.. HOW LOVELY!!

Just for some more FYI.. I had these modules running DDR400 in a K8U-S939(gigabyte) in DUAL Channel.. Had them also in a ASUS A7V8X-X running DDR400 just not in Dual Channel.

So 2 systems run the DDR400 fine but the ABIT DONT!!!??????

 

[Pandaz3]

What BIOS version do you have? I think you need 24 or later.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=175

It is a common problem with more than 4 banks of memory (2 Double sided Dimms), but with just two dimms... Must be BIOS related.

 

[mperu99]

What BIOS version do you have? I think you need 24 or later.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=175

It is a common problem with more than 4 banks of memory (2 Double sided Dimms), but with just two dimms... Must be BIOS related.

Bios Vers. 27 the latest. Ya I would agree and i have rolled it back to 26 and still no change. so I put it back to 27 with still no change. Well im gonna have too keep digging.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Just the same as my Asus then... one stick runs fine at 400MHz, two will only go at 333. Apparently it's something to do with the AMD64 specification according to Asus, but I'm not so sure.

 

[Pandaz3]

It could be you have Winchester or Newcastle cores which have a weak sister memory controller, but if you have a Venice or San Diego they can control more banks. If you had two single sided dimms you would have 400 on both sticks.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

I have Newcastle so that might explain mine. Either way, I overclock quite nicely to 390MHz so I'm not too bothered.

 

[mperu99]

It could be you have Winchester or Newcastle cores which have a weak sister memory controller, but if you have a Venice or San Diego they can control more banks. If you had two single sided dimms you would have 400 on both sticks.

I downloaded CPU-Z and ran it after boot up.. it shows im running a Venice A64.
I and i know i have DDR400, I have ran it DDR400 in the previous 2 boards.
they are cmx512-3200C2PT which are Dual Channel DDR400 rams.

Also something interesting is the "by SPD information" that CPU-Z shows. On one module has 2 timming settings it can use while the other shows 3. Both of which are neither of the advertised timmings.. this is cause for concern...

So now im going to pull both modules, stick one in, boot to bios; and look at the SPD info from the bios (ver 27) stand point and compare it to the other seperately....

Let you know what I find.

(my guess is from what im finding out so far is the match ram i purchased isnt truly matched, and ABIT is more strengent about rams being equally matched than the other 2 boards i had.)

 

[mperu99]

FOUND FIX!! AV8 showing 333 on 2 sticks of 400

OK EVERYONE!!! I know everyone is wanted to know what happened....
here it is... looks like someone jacked up the ram module programming at the factory. anyone notice anything?? ya! the very miniscule number differences.. only .5 of a difference in CAS and only 1 point for the other 2 timmings.. (IN BOLD BLUE)
The red indicates the timmings that most would refer too I.E. 2.5-3-2-8


RAM MODULE 1.......RAM MODULE 2
SLOT 1..................SLOT 1
BY SPD..................BY SPD
DDR400..................DDR400
CAS 2.5.................CAS 3.0
11.........................12
13.........................14
3...........................3
2...........................2
8...........................8
3...........................3
3...........................3
4...........................4
AUTO.....................AUTO
4 BEATS.................4 BEATS

Even though this was matched ram.. it really isnt.. It looks like ABIT has very strengent/picky memory requirements.. I dont know if i should applaud or curse.. lol..

So for all of you out there that hasnt figured yours out.. check your Ram modules individually.. BY SPD in the bios and match the numbers against each ram module.. you might be suprised to see what you find as I did.
According to an article i read.. NOT all "MATCHED RAM" is truly matched. usually these numbers are very close and the mobo manufactures are to give the ram configurations some breathing room. ABIT didn't in this case with these rams. So in my case the very slight 1 number off causes the AV8 to run home to mommy.. (DDR333). I think it has alot to do with the CAS 2.5 and the CAS 3.0 being different not so much the other numbers. I think if the CAS was the same (2.5) then it would have probably reported DDR400 DUAL CHANNEL from the start.

THE FIX! (APPLAUD ABIT FOR MANUAL ACTIONS)
OK what i ended up doing beside purchasing new matched rams. Is I put both rams back in to slots 1 and 2 and I manually set both rams the the lowest of the 2 rams in this case. as well as forcing the clock to 400
(CLOCK 400/CAS 2.5/11/13/3/2/3/8/3/3/4/AUTO/4BEATS)
which is the same as the module 1 test above.

CPU-Z now reports DDR 400 / DUAL CHANNEL / 128bits and yes the POST still indicates the DDR information is 333 but the manual settings overrides this.

I have ran games like FARCRY and DOOM 3 without a hitch