Memtest86 not seeing 4gb of ram in DFI SLI DR board

[delshay]

Yep - What you circled is what got nicked in mine.

I already know to get these from another chip and how to do all that, I just haven't had opportunity to do it yet.
The one that got nicked in mine affected the cache as said because before that it was all working correctly but afterwards, the L2 cache wasn't working. Checked it and saw the affected component, knew what to do from there - I just haven't done the deed yet.

I don't know the configuration of every CPU from AM1 to AM3, but the "golden rule" is the capacitors nearest to your main memory on the CPU is for memory, but not always all of them. It's likely only three of the four support the memory for this CPU.

You can use a MM to identify them as it's connected to the same power plane as your main memory. The computer does not need to be on to buzz them out. There will be one or two for the Hypertransport, one - three for something else & the remaining will be for the core. How it's split-up depends on the CPU model part number.

 

[Bones]

Probrably, but the good thing is I have a few dead 939 chips I can rob what I need from those and try it one day - Probrably soon to have something to do.

 

[N2 Gaming]

Just tried something I should have from the get go. I mixed up the two sets of Ram so one from each set would be paired per channel and used just two sticks of Ram and the system would not post. Same in either channels yellow or orange. One set of Ram “newest set to me” reports default timings of 2.5-3-2-5 in cpuz while my original set reports 2-3-2-5 in cpuz. Wondering if having mix matched ram has anything do do with it?

 

[Mr.Scott]

Just tried something I should have from the get go. I mixed up the two sets of Ram so one from each set would be paired per channel and used just two sticks of Ram and the system would not post. Same in either channels yellow or orange. One set of Ram “newest set to me” reports default timings of 2.5-3-2-5 in cpuz while my original set reports 2-3-2-5 in cpuz. Wondering if having mix matched ram has anything do do with it?

Possibly

 

[N2 Gaming]

I purchased another set last night that looks near identical to my original set. So now I’ll have another set of Ram as well as another cpu to try once they arrive

 

[ir_cow]

TLDNR - Did anyone suggest just reinstalling windows like I did? Clearly the ram works and is detected by the MB if CPU-Z sees it.

 

[N2 Gaming]

TLDNR - Did anyone suggest just reinstalling windows like I did? Clearly the ram works and is detected by the MB if CPU-Z sees it.

Yes Mr Scott suggested it, I was hesitant, tried after a bit of persuasion and unfortunately it produced the same results :/

Have you tried another bios? There are different bios' for different ram with these DFI boards, for your current version (N4D623) there's N4D623-1 for TCCD, -2 for BH5 & -3 for everything else.
N4D623-3 or N4D702-3 are what you want for the best chance of this config to work.

Pio gave me a link to ram info a couple of times. Not sure if this is the same link but I stumbled upon this earlier today while looking for something else here on my iPad.

This is a quick list from that link with the types of memory chips that could be on these sticks:

OCZ EL DDR PC3200 Platinum Edition (2-3-2-5) = Samsung TCB3, ProMOS 5ns

So it took me a minute to figure it out and with the info provided I think you are correct stating it would be best to use the N4D623-3 BIOS

And I have no idea what ProMOS 5ns stands for.

Then this was just found on OCN. and at th3 bottom of the post with the ram specs it says this info was retained from TPU. I found the OCN link While googling ProMOS 5ns

EL DDR PC3200 Platinum Edition (2-3-2-5) Samsung TCB3, ProMOS 5ns (relabeled), Mosel Vitelic 5ns (relabeled), Winbond CH-5

 

[Mr.Scott]

DDR RAM List - i4memory.com

List of chips used on DDR RAM modules. Copyright © 2004-2016, Ronald Goedbloed (Rone).

web.archive.org

The guides are not gospel all the time.
I have 2x1 kit of OCZ Platinum's (2-3-2-5 1T) and they are Infineon BE-5's.

 

[delshay]

And I have no idea what ProMOS 5ns stands for.

It's the cycle time. To get better understanding fill-in the two yellow boxes User-Entered Memory Timing Comparisons and Memory Timing Examples (CAS Latency Only) - Google Sheets

EDIT I strongly advised all user to save that link, unless your very good at math's & know your way around advance calculators.

 

[N2 Gaming]

That list seems more informative . Two thumbs up. “Dude, Your getting a Dell”.

DDR RAM List - i4memory.com

List of chips used on DDR RAM modules. Copyright © 2004-2016, Ronald Goedbloed (Rone).

web.archive.org

The guides are not gospel all the time.
I have 2x1 kit of OCZ Platinum's (2-3-2-5 1T) and they are Infineon BE-5's.

I am seeing that. The ocz plats I have 2-3-2-5 1T original kit i got from OCZ headqaurters in San Jose iirc have what looks like the brain pcb's as well as the other kit I recently purchased but that list does not specify that. Makes me think OCZ used what ever they could get a hold of after that big earthquake that took out a lot of the ram manufacturing facilities. Anyone remember ram prices sky rocketing after that?

Anyone Know if OCZ is still able to honor the lifetime warranty?

 

[Mr.Scott]

Anyone Know if OCZ is still able to honor the lifetime warranty?

Not a chance. OCZ got bought out and is no longer.

 

[N2 Gaming]

Awe :/

UPDATE on the Toledo X2 4400+. It finally was handed off to USPS and should be delivered by next Monday. :/

 

[N2 Gaming]

The x2 4400+ is out for delivery along with 2 more kits of ram. Hopefully I'll end up with 2 exact matching OCZ Platinum kits of 2x2GB = 4 matched sticks of ram.

I should know later this evening if I'll be flashing the bios as a last ditch resort to try to make the system see 4gb of ram as well as Memtest86+

EDIT:

Ok I got all the items. 2 separate kits of ram and the cpu. The cpu looks like it has some TIM on several of the pins. I'm thinking I should be able to clean it using a soft bristle tooth brush and some rubbing alcohol.

One of the ram kits has a broken capacitor or some other ic on the pcb so I am scared to even try that kit. The other kit looks identical to the kit I had originally but on the right upper side of A side of the ram pins 1-92 side the chip on the edge is smaller and more under the heat spreader vs sticking out close to the edge of the pcb half under the heat spreader and half outside.

I installed the ram and still get the same thing and CPU-z reports the ram as being a different part number just like the other kit I have that is using a taller non BP PCB. So now I think I'll try the other taller ram kit to see if CPU-z reports all 4 sticks of ram as the same and what it does to the bios being able to address the ram. It's still not being addressed on the post screen or in Win 7

CPU-z Validation Link:

https://valid.x86.fr/qxh32v


EDIT #2 :

Ok, the two most recent kits I got that don't appear to have any damage are in the system and running just fine with the 3500+ but still only showing as 2GB in the system.

The good news is CPU-Z is reporting all the ram sticks as the same according to the part numbers and Timings.

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ @ 2209.72 MHz - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

[7h061l] Validated Dump by DFINF4SLIDR1-PC (2022-11-26 09:36:37) - MB: DFI LP NF4 Series - RAM: 4096 MB

valid.x86.fr

I did not get around to swapping out the CPU yet. Got busy watching Bullet Train. Lots of fighting, shooting stabbing etc. So next on the list is clean the cpu and see if it makes a difference. If not it will be flash the bios time after verifying the system is 100% stable.

EDIT #3 SUCCESS : Figured I'd play with the ram settings real quick before heading off to bed and sure enough now it's seeing all 4GB of ram in the system with out the new cpu or bios flash. Had to uncheck the max memory option in msconfig advaced boot options as well before it would see more than 3GB or 3.5GB don't recall what it was, something like 30xxxMB or 31xxxMB or something like that. Any way now I can do some Memtest86+ testing Weeeee!

CPU-Z Validation: https://valid.x86.fr/23zr56

 

[delshay]

My question is, why would one need to adjust this with a fresh install. I use windows 7 Ultimate on the 939 platform & I never needed to adjust anything in the OS. Not even once.

 

[N2 Gaming]

It did not need to be adjusted originally IMO, it was adjusted prior to getting 4 sticks to be addressed properly as a trial and error scientific diagnostics process of my efforts trying to eliminate all possibilities that could be related to the issue based on suggestions from other people. I was unaware of that option so it definitely was a lesson for me . As previously noted by others with this problem while using x86 based os’s and that option is used in MSConfig only 3.5MB or so showed up in Windows not the full 4096MB.

I let it run memtest overnight and it made 4 successfull passes

Now to swap out the cpu for x2 wonderfullness “praying the x2 4400+ Toledo is good” and get some pics of the ram sticks so I can post them up here to show How they are different from each other and show how the labels on them show that the part numbers are different than what is being reported by CPU-Z.

EDIT: I just tried to run that RAMMon Program to get more info on the ram sticks and it won't run because it is giving me some run time error of missing some type of .dll file.

 

[delshay]

What are you going to do with this build. I still use my 939 for modern games mostly games that can use the Vulkan API. I have a number of FX-60 CPU, but only two very well binned

 

[N2 Gaming]

I was not using it until I joined a HWBot Team for the 2022 Team Competition. I orginally was just playing with it trying to over clock the CPU, RAM and FSB then as I dove into that Rabbit hole and got sucked into knowing that if my hardware is good then I could finally maximize the ram count and cpu on it as prices can be fair if you find what you are looking for. Naturally I won't be buying any FX chips. Sellers are still selling them as if they are gold and as it has been mentioned in other threads. Even those FX chips are a hit or miss with performance overclocking and they are still just a Novelty item IMO. Kind of like this board, so I'll stick to the cheap affordable Chips and Ram for now. I have some idea's I want to try that I never got around to, so that's another reason to get back to using this board. It's fun to overclock and see what I can do on air. Now that chips and ram can be had fairly cheap I won't be so reluctant to push the volts a little to see what they can do with in temp limitations of course.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll end up using it for when all is said and done. It's possible I'll restore it back to it's former glory of being used strictly as a gaming machine. Install Win XP X64 Pro or Enterprise and put some of the older legacy games on it and run them in SLI for those games that support SLI with out stutter. BF2, Quake, TF2, Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition, Half Life, Doom etc.

I just got the floppy hooked back up last night so I can go through all my old floppy disks and copy and save all the files into a folder on a bigger storage source. This is the only PC I have that has a floppy hooked up and working atm. Pio was telling me to make a data server for all my files like BIOS, Drivers, Manuals, Pictures, Apps, documents etc. I just might do that one of these days when I get around to it lol.

I have a DFI NF4 SLI DR Expert "VENUS" board in the original box! Wait for it. Got it super cheap too on ebay. Problem is. are you still waiting lol? It is all busted up on some of the traces iirc. I think it was used as an LN2 board and got messed up pretty good. I'm not sure if I ever even tried to use it. I might do that one of these days once I get enough cheap hardware to try it with

EDIT:

OK the x2 4400+ cpu should be dry now. think I might of got some alcohol down under the IHS while cleaning the pins with the toothbrush. It's been well over the amount of time needed to dry as it's been sitting since I typed the above ^ reply to delshay so I'm confident the chip is dry by now. I'll be back soon to report if the x2 4400+ is alive and well.

 

[Mr.Scott]

EDIT: I just tried to run that RAMMon Program to get more info on the ram sticks and it won't run because it is giving me some run time error of missing some type of .dll file.

View attachment 271778

Your error is because you're missing c++ runtime 2015.
Run this and it'll work.

Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

Store photos and docs online. Access them from any PC, Mac or phone. Create and work together on Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents.

1drv.ms

 

[N2 Gaming]

Man, You are the Man, Mannnnnn, I mean MrScott That's cool that you know all this stuff.

The X2 4400+ is Alive and running with 4GB at 2-3-2-5-2T

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ @ 2209.72 MHz - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

[0kjyhf] Validated Dump by DFINF4SLIDR1-PC (2022-11-26 21:21:16) - MB: DFI LP NF4 Series - RAM: 4096 MB

valid.x86.fr

EDIT: Now I get this stupid screen LOL OMG if it ain't one thing it's another. It never fails to disappoint!

Here's another question for all the ram techies. the question is written into the image below.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Yes.
Rammon is incompatible.
Typhoon Burner doesn't work?

 

[N2 Gaming]

Never heard of Typhoon Burner. I'll have to google it.

I'm seeing how these older 939 systems are lacking with video playback in Youtube. I am able to run 480p with out maxing the cpu to 100% utilization and experiencing stop and start video play back. 720p res playback and any setting higher cause the playback to buffer a lot and stop and start video playback with the little circle buffering icon in the middle of the screen of the video. I guess I'll have to over clock this little chip to see what it's capable of At this point I'm just assuming the cpu is the limiting factor. I have yet to try tightening the ram timings a hair more to like 2-2-2-5-2T as suggested. I'm thinking more along the lines of loosening them to like 3-3-3-8-2T and see if I can get them to run at 500MHz by using the FSB to overclock the cpu. Oh yeah this is a non black edition cpu so that's pretty much the only way LOL. I'm use to being spoiled with a non locked multi on the cpu.

Pics of x2 4400+ Toledo dirty pins and IHS i.d.

Pics of one of the OCZ RAM Kits that arrived yesterday that has a bad I.C. Chip on one of the sticks.

EDIT: Just out of curiosity because I wanted to make sure I did not accidentally flip some option in the bios and get lucky causing the system to see all 4GB of ram with out a cpu change or bios flash to different version. I decided to install My original kit which resulted in the system going back to only seeing 2GB of ram.

My conclusion after a lot of detective work and help with definitive results = It was the ram causing the system to not see all 4GB.

I tried using that Typhn software and I have no idea what I'm doing.

EDIT #2: All the ram sticks look generic to me like they all don't have a serial number etc. See screeen shot.

 

[N2 Gaming]

Additional info:

One thing I have noticed after having all 4 sticks of ram populated and working the system will not display video every other boot or so. Not sure why but so far every time I hit Ctrl/Alt/Del to reboot the video came right back. strange how it's happening now.