4gigs of ram possible w/ NF4?

[lotharamious]

Hey all,

I built a rig 3 years ago that included a DFI lanparty ut nf4 ultra-d and 2x1 sticks of OCZ OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K RAM. This week I bought the same sticks of ram, (and ironically, for 1/4 the price I paid 3 years ago) and I can't get all 4 sticks to boot. I get the long repeated memory beep code of death. I've tried all sorts of things to make them all work together. While plugging in just one stick at a time, I have verified that all sticks work. Slots 1 and 2 will only boot the new sticks, and only slots 2 and 4 will boot the old sticks. Why any of this is... I have no idea. The bad news is that I have no way to verify slot 3 functions properly.

What else I've done:
I've cleared and reset the CMOS back to default settings
set CAS latencies to 2.5 - pretty much everything should boot with this
set command rate to 1T and 2T.
set speeds everywhere from 200-400 MHz in as many increments as I could find.
Everything else is at defaults

I'm using the latest BIOS (2006/04/06).

Anything else I can do to fix the memory beep of death?

My rig is

DFI lanparty ut nf4 ultra-d mobo
2x1GB OCZ OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K
Opty 165

 

[EarthwormJim]

Try just one stick in slot three to verify if it is working. You should be able to post fine in single channel mode.

What does your motherboards manual say btw about memory limitations?

 

[SickBeast]

I've had problems getting 4gb of ram to work in my NF4 motherboard as well.

I tried 4 1gb sticks to no avail. After reading up on the issue, it seems it's a chipset limitation. I've settled at 3gb, but it's really not quite enough for Vista 64 and will force me into a platform upgrade in the near future unfortunately.

It's really turned me off buying another NV chipset down the line. Who in their right mind engineers a 32-bit chipset for a 64-bit CPU? 😕

 

[lotharamious]

Try just one stick in slot three to verify if it is working.

The manual says it will only work in slot 1. Maybe it's slot 2. It doesn't really matter though as it will only boot 1 stick in only one slot and not the other 3.

After reading up on the issue, it seems it's a chipset limitation.

I want to hang on to some hope, as it just cost me 70 bucks. Also, the motherboard says it supports 4x1 dual-sided DIMMs.

Please, any other ideas?

 

[lopri]

All I needed to do was changing the command rate (1T->2T).. Did you try different dividers? (not just HTT)

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: lotharamious

Try just one stick in slot three to verify if it is working.

The manual says it will only work in slot 1. Maybe it's slot 2. It doesn't really matter though as it will only boot 1 stick in only one slot and not the other 3.

After reading up on the issue, it seems it's a chipset limitation.

I want to hang on to some hope, as it just cost me 70 bucks. Also, the motherboard says it supports 4x1 dual-sided DIMMs.

Please, any other ideas?

K what if you try single channel with slots 1 and 3 propagated. That should post just fine. It works on my Epox nForce 4 board and my Asus nForce 4 board.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
It's really turned me off buying another NV chipset down the line. Who in their right mind engineers a 32-bit chipset for a 64-bit CPU? 😕

Part of the problem lies in the uniqueness of the IMC in the CPUs the chipset/motherboard supports. And that's another part of the equation - the motherboard itself.

You're being a bit rash to put all the blame on the chipset itself when the CPU and rest of the motherboard could be causing part if not all of the problem. Heck, even the RAM you're using could be part of the problem...

 

[kkk60091]

i have 4 stick 1GB on my dfi nf4 ultra-d. it works fine. only installed vista 32bit. can use up to around 3.25GB. i believe you should be able use all 4GB with 64bit os...

 

[lotharamious]

Did you try different dividers? (not just HTT)

Yes. I've used 1:1 all the way to 1:2, with all options in between.

K what if you try single channel with slots 1 and 3 propagated. That should post just fine. It works on my Epox nForce 4 board and my Asus nForce 4 board.

As far as I know that won't work with either sets of RAM, new or old. It also won't work with a new stick and an old stick.

i have 4 stick 1GB on my dfi nf4 ultra-d.

One of the things I really wanted to know was if it was even possible to load 4x1GB into this board and have it function properly. What RAM are you using? What are your timings? I'm wondering if it's something I don't have configured properly.

I still haven't really figured out the answer to my RAM beep of death though. Recently I discovered that when I run the 2 NEW sticks of ram at stock settings (2-3-2-5 1T, 400MHz), I can post, but Windows won't load. If I drop the timings and speed, then I can load Windows. I didn't even think about running MEMTEST now that I think about it, but when I run 2 instances of stress prime 2004 with affinity, and run the ram intensive test, after 20 minutes or so I'll get an error. Of course, I should just run MEMTEST, but since I consistantly cannot boot at stock settings it leads me to believe that the RAM is faulty. So after drawing this conclusion, I have the following question...

Even though I can boot the RAM at a stable speed, albeit well below stock settings, why am I getting the RAM beep of death with all 4 DIMMS propagated? I have verified that I can boot the old ram at the relaxed settings that keep the new RAM stable. But when I keep these settings and start filling all 4 slots, nothing seems to work. Any other ideas? I want to know if I should return the RAM or RMA it and get some new stuff. I'm trying to not have to waste more of my money if at all possible.

Thanks for all your help thus far

 

[kkk60091]

it's g.skill ddr500 (1GB*4)

I no longer use that pc. it's now for my parent, so it's in a low power mode

cpu undervolt @stock
memory at 400mhz @3 3 7 7 2T

it has been this way for a year now..

vista 32bit can use 3326mb

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: lotharamious

K what if you try single channel with slots 1 and 3 propagated. That should post just fine. It works on my Epox nForce 4 board and my Asus nForce 4 board.

As far as I know that won't work with either sets of RAM, new or old. It also won't work with a new stick and an old stick.

If it won't work at all, sounds like slot 3 is bad to me.

Dual channel operation is NOT a requirement to post. The board SHOULD work fine in single channel mode with slots 1 and 3 occupied (just to test if slot 3 works).

Got another computer to tests the sticks out with? Also try bumping the voltage a bit on the memory sticks, some sticks need more than JEDEC specs to run at certain timings. The sticks you have only need 2.6v, but double check to make sure that's what they are getting.

 

[lotharamious]

I'll try a few things when I get home Wednesday. I had to run home for a funeral. It's been really busy the last week or so. I'll keep you guys posted. Feel free to continue making suggestions.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Check the DIY forums which is the old DFI Street. Also, DFI has a current forum but I don't know if they have the databases that DIY does as DIY retained all of the old DFI info.