p35DS3L- ram problems, pro64bit

[manooti]

i was wondering if anyone can suggest new ram for me on my gigabyte p35-ds3l board. i just built this thing with a e8400, 2x2 gskill pc2 8500 and one of my sticks went bad.

i tried raising the voltage and adjusting the timings but everytime windows was finalizing the installation i got the blue screen. nothing worked so i took it to the shop and they said i had a dead stick.

now heres the problem. im running xp pro 64bit and my system pauses for a few minutes, and slows down a lot. i only have one stick in there as the other is dead. would that be why its doing this? i dont know if its the ram because it isnt running in single channel or because its x64bit. if anything ill get 2x1 ram and run xp home 32bit.

problem number 2- gskill wants both ram before i get a replacement. so for about a week or two ill be left with no computer. i might as well buy new ram and chuck the gskills.

which ram do you guys recommend for non overclocking? and should i go back to xp home or xp pro 32 bit? people are saying that pro has basically stopped being supported so im not sure which way to go here.

also, just in case you guys are going to ask.. i have a silverstone 700watt psu, evga 8800gt and 250gig seagate.

thanks

 

[Kursah]

As-far-as x86 or x64 OS's...depends on what you want...XP x64 is good...I just dislike the faded support and updates for it.

I have had to RMA before on memory, it doesn't matter if it's a vendor or MFG...they require the kit you bought in most instances, thus both sticks of memory. 2x2gb is the popular thing to do right now...I would stick with it...the 8500's should be good...but there will always be bad sticks out there...it's unavoidable. I would get some cheap DDR2 to get you by until your RMA'd replacements arrive. You may be able to find a really cheap 2x1GB kit or 1x1GB kit to hold you over.

Another question...what all did you have set in BIOS...were you overclocking at all? What's the voltage/timing specs on that memory kit? What did you have set?

 

[manooti]

the ram was set on auto with a voltage of 1.8. i thought it was the voltage so i upped it and same thing. changed timings and same thing again. the timings the board used was 5-7-7-20 with 1.8v before i touched anything. so i used 5-5-5-15 with 2.1v as gskill recommended. same thing.

i wasnt overclocked either. everything was stock.

 

[Kursah]

Well I'm sure that shop is correct in stating that you have one bad stick...it does happen, DOA's will happen in this industry as frustrating as it can be at times. But the quicker you RMA, the quicker the replacements will show up, like I said before, get a cheap 2x1gb or 1x1gb kit to hold you over, get your windows set up and running (if ya haven't already) and see what happens with the new kit. That's what I'd do, or if you want a performance 2x1GB kit, there are plenty out there still.

 

[manooti]

yeah i dont have the patience to do the rma. you know, dealing with the post office, and then waiting for them to receive it, test it and then send out. ill just order new stuff.

which ram do you recommend though? 6400 or 8500? and which company would you suggest?

 

[Kursah]

I've had good luck with G.Skill...I had one stick fail before on my 2x1GB PC6400 HZ kit (currently running two 2x1GB kits of 6400HZ)...I have a backup stick of 1GB DDR2 667 to hold me over.

Just depends on what you want out of your memory, if you get a higher speed memory, overclocking your CPU should be easier since the memory won't be stressed as much by the OC since it's really not being overclocked. The memory I have is great for PC6400, in 4x1GB though it's proven a daunting task to overclock it...so I've left it at DDR800 and tuned the sub-timings for it (and the other crazy memory related settings on my DFI board).

In my G/F's rig with the P35 DS3L I'm running a 2x1GB DDR2 1066 kit of Crucial Ballistix Tracer...that stuff has proven to be great memory, it gets along very well with the DS3L. On the DS3L a CAS timing below 5 causes instability with the Crucial, but it's CAS5 memory so I didn't expect miracles due to the limited tuning abilities of the board. Good board though, I'm impressed with it for how simple it really is.

There are plenty of good companies out there though, Crucial, Mushkin, G.Skill, Buffalo (their Firestix are pretty good), Patriot, etc. I know you don't have the patience, so I think you should research a little more and find out what you want/need, and decide what will fit your budget and how much RAM you'll really need for what you'll be using your PC for. 2GB is fine for most, I only have 4GB because I found a screaming deal on another 2x1GB kit of my G.Skill HZ's...I had to do it...otherwise I'd still be at 2GB and be just fine with it (and have higher RAM OC's too).

I don't know what your plans are with your build, but usually users that go with the higher speed memory tend to want to OC their CPU without the memory causing issues and possibly interfering...some just get it to have DDR1066 memory with a 1066FSB CPU but not nearly as many.

 

[manooti]

i see what youre saying. basically im just going to keep the system stock. the only thing ill probably mess with is the ram voltage if required and maybe the timings.

i was actually looking at the pc2-6400 ballistix tracers. theyre 70 bucks and a lot of good reviews. yes no?

 

[Kursah]

Ballistix tracers are good memory and if you decide to overclock them, there should be sufficient head-room. I'd say go for it if that's what you feel will take care of your needs, no sense in getting more than you are going to ever use imo. Good memory, the tracers in my G/F's rig are great!

 

[manooti]

sounds good. thanks for the help on this. ill give it a shot and let yah know how it works out.
thanks again