Adding another 2x1gigs of ram, OC went to hell

[Raider1284]

I just got another 2 gigs of ram so I now have a total of 4 x 1 gigs. When I had 2 x 1 gig I was overclocked to 3.2ghz(completely stable, no crash ever), so I know my ram and cpu can take it. After adding the other two gigs, while keeping the original OC settings, the system wont even post, no video at all. Not sure what is causing it. When reverting the bios back to default settings I am able to boot into vista and its completely stable. The new ram works just fine. I'm thinking maybe I need more vdimm voltage? NB voltage? Currently running at stock cpu speed. Any suggestions would be really helpful.

Current settings:

400 x 8
5-6-6-12
1.37vcore
1.9ram voltage
other voltages on auto, forgot what i had them set to
pci frequency: 33
express frequency: 100
spread spectrum disabled

Hardware:
p5b deluxe
e6400
2x1gigs Patriot ram, 2x1 gigs OCZ ram
8800gt

Another question is I had the ram in dual channel before. How should I set it now? Patriot in 1-2, OCZ in 3-4? Or Patriot in 1-3 and OCZ in 2-4?

P.S. Currently running x86 vista business. Yes I know it cant use it all but should be able to use ~3+ gigs. I will upgrade to x64 if its really worth it.

Thanks in advanced.

[EDIT] Been doing some more research and looks like I may need more NB voltage to handle all 4 dimms? Anyone who has a p5b with 4 dimms, would you mind posting your NB and vcore settings?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Raider1284
Or Patriot in 1-3 and OCZ in 2-4?

^ This.

As for your four dimms fun...the P5B Deluxe isn't a bad mobo, in fact considering its age, it's pretty impressive.

But it hates four dimms.

I replaced my P5B-D in my main system (P5B-D got moved to HTPC use) because of that.

Basically, if was running 2x1 GB or 2x2 GB, i could OC like wild.

But with 4x1 GB or 4x2 GB, i could not ever POST over 399 MHz FSB.

No amount of voltage helped.

I think it's to do with the strap change that occurs at 400 MHz, & it's not set up properly to do that with all slots populated it seems.

You could try updating to the latest bios, but i doubt it changes anything.
(Make sure you do NOT use the Windows bios updater; it will likely brick your mobo; use EZFlash or floppy, or make a bootable USB, etc.)

Try running 8x399...i bet you it works.

You might have to drop a bit lower to be stable, but below 400 MHz you'll likely be fine.

 

[Raider1284]

Thank you for the reply. I will try 399 when I get back home. I also ran into a windows hotfix that looks like it has something to do with running 4 gigs. Hotfix KB929777 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929777 Anyone have experience with this Hotfix helping/hurting?

n7: I actually did use the Asus Autoupdater in windows to update my bios and it seems to have worked just fine. Should I reflash it using EZFlash? Will I need higher NB settings since I'm using all 4 dimms?

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's bad juju to mix different dimms, and to be able to overclock with all slots filled. It's bad enough with homogenous RAM chips.

 

[Drsignguy]

Populating all 4 slots is well known to put stress on the NB. Adding more voltage to the NB is just 1 step of many to get a stable OC over 3.0. I have 8Gb and a Q6600 that I have tried and didn't like the results so I am very comfortable @ 3.0. I do wish you luck, not to say you cant get there but it will take some patience and um well, LUCK!

 

[n7]

No need to reflash if you're already up to date.

I just warn against using Autoupdater since it's well known to brick their motherboards (as it did mine) :frown:

As for mismatching dimms causing bad juju, you can actually do quite fine mixing as long as you make sure you set voltages appropriately, & timings as well if so needed.

As for extra NB helping with four dimms, that certainly work for most motherboards, but it may not on the P5B-D, since as i mentioned, it seems to have issues getting past 400 MHz once all slots are populated.

Raider1284, keep us updated though...would like to hear how it goes.

 

[Raider1284]

Originally posted by: n7
No need to reflash if you're already up to date.

I just warn against using Autoupdater since it's well known to brick their motherboards (as it did mine) :frown:

As for mismatching dimms causing bad juju, you can actually do quite fine mixing as long as you make sure you set voltages appropriately, & timings as well if so needed.

As for extra NB helping with four dimms, that certainly work for most motherboards, but it may not on the P5B-D, since as i mentioned, it seems to have issues getting past 400 MHz once all slots are populated.

Raider1284, keep us updated though...would like to hear how it goes.

I will def update, will be home soon. Checking everyones suggestion on the shuttle on the way home from work.

Since the two dual channel sets have different timings and speeds Im guessing I should manually set the speed and timings and not let the SPD determine the specs?

Im still confused how how 32bit OSes handle the four gigs. In my bios the "installed memory" stays at 3gigs even if all four dimms are in place; if i remove 1 gig it stays at the same 3gigs. Once I have booted into windows my task manager also only sees 3 gigs of avaiable memory. Not 3.1-3.3 as i assumed it would say but only 3 gigs available. But when I look under My computer-Properties is says four gigs installed. CPU-z also sees all four dimms.

I also remember in the past I believe I was having trouble booting succesfully if the FSB was in the 300-400 range and was giving the advice to just jump directly to 400 and that did the trick. Should I just jump directly to thet suggestd 399FSB, or should i slowly creep up to that speed?

Lastly, is there an easier way to reset the bios on the p5b deluxe. I supposedely have to unplug the comp, pull out the battery (which means removing the video card) switching over the jumper, waiting 10 secs and then reinstalling everything. Do I really have to pull the bios battery? I would think flipping the jumper would just tell the bios to reset itself. If anyone has experience with this I would really appreciate it.

 

[n7]

Just unplug power, & switch the jumper.

You should not have to remove the battery.

Or if you do remove the battery, then there's no need to touch the jumper, as removing the battery will reset the bios anyway (assuming no power to system).

 

[Raider1284]

Originally posted by: n7
Just unplug power, & switch the jumper.

You should not have to remove the battery.

Or if you do remove the battery, then there's no need to touch the jumper, as removing the battery will reset the bios anyway (assuming no power to system).

I assumed this was the case and tested it out. You are right you dont have to take out the battery, MUCH easier this way.

UPDATE: so I increased the NB(1.45) and vdimm voltage(2.0) and I appear to be stable at 333x8, posting from the main desktop. About to play GRID for a bit to see if its truly stable. If it is I will try for 399x8 as suggested. Thanks for the help so far guys.

[UPDATE2] So I thought the system was stable, windows ran fine, playing GRID in full screen ran just fine. But when I quit to the Desktop it blue screened and reset. Any ideas? not enough voltage? too much voltage?

[UPDATE3] So after restart I did some cpu/memory benchmarking, ran just fine. So I thought I would try playing Assasins's Creed. Game played smoothly, no stutters or glitches. and when quiting the game no BSOD this time. Could the last time just have been a fluke?

 

[n7]

You should be running Memtest86+/HCI Memtest for testing RAM/NB.

And P95/OCCT for CPU/RAM.

If those are fine, then i'd say it's due to a glitchy nVidia driver, especially if you're in Vista.

 

[Raider1284]

Originally posted by: n7
You should be running Memtest86+/HCI Memtest for testing RAM/NB.

And P95/OCCT for CPU/RAM.

If those are fine, then i'd say it's due to a glitchy nVidia driver, especially if you're in Vista.

By HCI memtest do you mean http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ ?

On a side note, since vista 32bit cant use all 4 gigs could i use the leftover 800-1000megs for something like a virtual drive that exists in ram. I've seen it mentioned on another forum but cant remember the name. The idea was that you could use the ram as basically a virual hardrive, almost like a ssd drive but the data gets lost when you shutdown. The program suggested though had a feature that would save your data to your hardrive before shutdown and then reload back into the virtual "ramdisk" at startup.

Would something like this work?!

 

[n7]

Yes, HCI Memtest.

No idea on the virual RAMdisk...i have a feeling it'd be a big hassle w/o much benefit, but i don't know.

 

[Raider1284]

n7 you are the man! Dunno if it was your 399 magic FSB or the increase in NBvcore and vdimm voltage but its up and running at 399x8. Currently running OCCT on it for the last 10 minutes and it hasnt seized up yet! Do errors normally show up quickly in OCCT or after hours of test? Load temps of 60C. Vcore is current 1.31v under load. ~1.35 on idle

My settings for future reference:
399FSB
NB voltage: 1.45
vdimm voltage: 2.0 up from 1.9
vcore: 1.375 in bios, ~1.35 in windows
spread spectrum: disabled
memory remap: off (should this be on? when i had it on earlier windows only seemed to recognize 2gigs)
most cpu powersaving/virtualization settings: off (any advice if these should be turned back on?)

 

[n7]

I don't personally use OCCT because it's a joke for stressing 8 GB, so i couldn't say.

But i'll tell ya HCI tends to show RAM or NB-based errors in a hurry.
For CPU i'd use P95 small FFTs.

I'm most curious whether you can get it going @ 400 or 401, since i hit a brick wall @ 399...not one MHz more was possible, again, i believe due to the strap change that happens there.

 

[Raider1284]

Just noticed that my 5v rail is down to 4.75... seems damn low to me? dont think it was that low with only 2 gigs. Does ram pull from the 5v rail?