Ram unable to run as posted speed.

[NeilSmith]

First post time (time to look stupid)

Alright, my current mobo is a ASUS M3N78-VM
My ram is OCZ Reaper PC2-8500 (2x2gig)
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_reaper_hpc_4gb_edition
This stuff is supposed to clock at (1066) 533 DDR2, however if I let my Bios run "auto" it sets them to (800) 400 DDR2.

If I set the Bios to manual, I can set them to 533 however the system becomes unstable and the timings which are supposed to 5-5-5 @ 2.2v transform into some ugly 7s and 9s.

Now, as I'm looking at this I just realized the ram might need to go is slots 3 & 4 and not 1 & 2, as I never tried that... [if this is the reason, i will kick myself. Hard] (i bought this PC white box about 2 years ago on ebay for 650$, it was a pretty good deal since the guy included about 100$ in legit games and the GTX 275 alone was in the high 200s back then)

Some images:
This is what I see in CPU-Z (1 & 2)
CPU-Z shows my PC2-8500 as PC2-6400
And the third was taken when I was cleaning the box last month (dust is the enemy of all things) I had the ram card from the 1st slot out as I was also taking a picture of it [which did not turn out to be very readable, see 4th image] and the other stick in the 2 slot.

While I am actually in the process of building a new PC (there will be a thread about this later this week as I ask dumb questions to keep myself from frying some $1000+ in electronics) based around the ASUS Crosshair 4 Formula, I'm thinking of using this machine as a personal/private game server [mainly steam games like Killing Floor] and I'd like to get the ram up to the speed it ought to be at...

 

[Tatty_Two]

Hi and welcome to TPU....I would firstly try slots 3 and 4, my last 3 boards did not like 1 & 2. if that does not work, have you tried initially setting VDimm a touch higher to see if that could be it, and lastly, what choices do you have other than ganged (just for my interest).

 

[NeilSmith]

hmmmmm

moved the ram to the other 2 slots, started PC... got nothing past fans
moved ram back to original 2 slots, started PC... got (667) 333 on bios
took ram out again, put back into first 2 slots... all fans, no bios

i get this baaad feeling I just derped myself.

(posting from laptop)

 

[newtekie1]

The IMC on the processor might not be able to handle those speeds, at least not on stock voltages.

 

[NeilSmith]

im at a bit of a loss as to what to do here. Get fans, nothing else.

 

[Athlon2K15]

clear CMOS, and put the ram in the right slots when its set to AUTO is clocking @ 800 mhz because of the SPD profiles are set to JEDEC standards you have to manually set the timings if you want more

 

[NeilSmith]

alright so, to get to the battery which is under the video card I would have to take out said video card.

the card appears tobe stuck in the portion on the PCI slot nearest the battery, now I'm somewhat really worried bout breaking something. (its kinda wedged in/out and wont go back in either...)

i do believe I am now a train wreck in progress, please stand by
edit:

got the card safely back into the PCI slot... still trying to figure out how to remove battery. really great spot asus <.<;;

 

[Chicken Patty]

alright so, to get to the battery which is under the video card I would have to take out said video card.

the card appears tobe stuck in the portion on the PCI slot nearest the battery, now I'm somewhat really worried bout breaking something. (its kinda wedged in/out and wont go back in either...)

i do believe I am now a train wreck in progress, please stand by
edit:

got the card safely back into the PCI slot... still trying to figure out how to remove battery. really great spot asus <.<;;

Another thing you need to try is, maybe the BIOS is not setting your DRAM voltage @ 2.2v which is what it's advertised to run at, correct? You might need to set that manually and your timings as well.

 

[NeilSmith]

at the moment I cant clear CMOS because there is a GTX 275 sitting right over the battery and it refuses to come out of the PCI slot.

google did nothing, whats the procedure for remove the ASUS M3N78-VM's battery? I can see some sort of latch on this side of the GPU.

 

[newtekie1]

alright so, to get to the battery which is under the video card I would have to take out said video card.

the card appears tobe stuck in the portion on the PCI slot nearest the battery, now I'm somewhat really worried bout breaking something. (its kinda wedged in/out and wont go back in either...)

i do believe I am now a train wreck in progress, please stand by
edit:

got the card safely back into the PCI slot... still trying to figure out how to remove battery. really great spot asus <.<;;

You don't need to remove the battery to clear the CMOS.

 

[NeilSmith]

manual says remove battery and then move the cap from 1-2 to 2-3 for 5-10 seconds.

and also from asus

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...M&id=20100508025152265&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

[BUCK NASTY]

Another thing you need to try is, maybe the BIOS is not setting your DRAM voltage @ 2.2v which is what it's advertised to run at, correct? You might need to set that manually and your timings as well.

+1 CP. You have to set the ram voltage to at least 2.1 and manually set the divider.

 

[newtekie1]

manual says remove battery and then move the cap from 1-2 to 2-3 for 5-10 seconds.

and also from asus

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...M&id=20100508025152265&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

No it doesn't, page 1-23 of your motherboard manual tells you how to clear the RTC RAM, AKA the CMOS, it gives 4 steps, none of which are remove the battery.

1. Clear RTC RAM(CLRTC)
This jumper allows you to clear the Real Time Clock (RTC) RAM in CMOS. You can clear the CMOS memory of date, time, and system setup parameters by erasing the CMOS RTC RAM data. The onboard button cell battery powers the RAM data in CMOS, which include system setup information such as system passwords.

to erase the RTC RAM:

1. Turn OFF the computer and unplug the power cord.
2. Move the jumper cap from pins 1-2(default) to pins 2-3. Keep the cap on pins 2-3 for about 5~10 seconds, then move the cap back to pins 1-2.
3. Plug the power cord and turn ON the computer.
4. Hold down teh <Del> key during the boot process and enter BIOS setup to re-enter data.

Also, from the motherboard manual:

Due to AM2+ CPU limitation, only one DDR2 1066 DIMM is supported per channel.When two DDR2 1066 DIMMs are installed, all DIMMs run at 800Mhz frequency by default for system stability.

 

[NeilSmith]

alright, so that did work.. somewhat. Its now/still starting up at 667, not 800.

aaand its not recognizing my video card

belay that, it took a good couple minutes to recognize my gpu

 

[newtekie1]

Saddly I think you just aren't going to get the RAM running at 1066, and it isn't the RAMs fault.

It definitely is 1066 RAM, CPUz is just reporting it as 800(6400) because that is what the JDEC information says, but the EPP profile is there for 1066, so it definitely is 1066 RAM.

I think between the board and the processor, you probably won't get it running at 1066 though. But as others have said, manually set all the settings, exactly as they should be, including the voltages and see what happens. You probably will have to set the voltages first, reboot, then set the rest of the settings like speed and timings.

 

[NeilSmith]

well, it was worth try.

now i have to deal with the CMOS reset.

it unganged my ram and CnC is making my CPU go from 800 to 3000 and back again. Never saw that before. (was always at 3000)

 

[Chicken Patty]

+1 CP. You have to set the ram voltage to at least 2.1 and manually set the divider.

Neilsmith,

Try what I suggested bro, that might do it so the RAM can run as advertised.

 

[NeilSmith]

one problem : i see an option for over voltage but not one for direct voltage. I haven't really played around with BIOS a whole lot...

 

[Chicken Patty]

one problem : i see an option for over voltage but not one for direct voltage. I haven't really played around with BIOS a whole lot...

I am not familiar with your BIOS so I'm sorry but can you maybe take a picture and post it?

Is there anything called DRAM voltage or DDR voltage or anything of that sort?

What options does the "overvoltage' give you?

 

[NeilSmith]

over voltage goes in increments of 6.25mV, always up.

 

[Batou1986]

I have the same ram and have no problem running at 1066 tho i cant hit that now because of my divider.

You must manually set the timings in your bios to 5-5-5-15 @2.1 v or it will not run at those speeds im not familiar enough with the AMD bios's to help much.
Mines strapped to the fsb @ 400 1:1 500mhz/DDR 1000 5-5-5-18 2.1v right now if that points anyone in the right direction to helping you.

OCZ Fourms Post

Set the memory voltage to +250mV, this will be 1.8 + 0.250 volts for 2.05V on the memory.
tCL = 5
Trcd = 5
Trp = 5
Tras = 18
Trfc (Row Refresh Cycle) = 195ns

Make sure you have the latest bios version, the rest of the settings can remain at Auto

Hope that helps

 

[overclocking101]

its a good possibility your IMC cant handle the rated speeds. or you have a nb setting wrong somewhere. my ram runs great on almost every cpu rated settings all day long, but my new cpu it wont run rated whatsoever.

 

[Chicken Patty]

over voltage goes in increments of 6.25mV, always up.

hmmm, if you can get me pics of your BIOS that'll be great.

 

[newtekie1]

Try upping the Processor-NB Voltage to +100Mv and setting the memory overvoltage to 43.75Mv.

 

[NeilSmith]

after some searching (lol dead camera batteries)

http://es.asusxperts.com/attachments/chipset-nvidia-para-amd/144d1238586165-m3n78-vm-img_0150.jpg

http://es.asusxperts.com/attachments/chipset-nvidia-para-amd/144d1238586165-m3n78-vm-img_0150.jpg

thats all that i see, the ram options, the memmory over voltage going by 6.25mV and the final option "chipset voltage" wich offers only 50, 100 or 150mV