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Corsair PC3200: can it be installed in pairs?

A

andrey

Diamond Member
I have Asus P4PE motherboard and originally had only one stick 512MB of PC3200 DDR RAM (Corsair CMX512-3200C2 ). I decided to upgrade the total amount of RAM to 1GB, so I purchased one more identical stick of PC3200.

I know both sticks are good, since if anyone is installed in DIMM1, motherboard recognizes 512MB of RAM, however if I do the following combinations, I cannot get past 512MB:
1+2 DIMMs - only 512MB
2+3 DIMMs - doesn't work
1+3 DIMMs - only 512MB

Could it be that my DIMM 2 or DIMM 3 defective, or is more than one stick of DS (doubl-sided) DDR PC3200 simply is not supported on P4PE?

Thank you in advance,
--Andrey
 
According to the Asus website (but not the motherboard's manual which was unavailable when I checked):
Memory
3 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets support max. 2GB PC2700/PC2100 (FSB533) or PC2100/PC1600 (FSB400) non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory

Based on my knowledge of motherboards and PC3200 (which BTW is not a standard yet), your motherboard supports only a single stick running at PC3200. Back the memory speed down to PC2700 in the bios and both sticks will more than likely work to give you 1GB.

Most motherboards only support a single dual-banked piece of memory running at its most agressive memory timings. This is most likely the case with your motherboard as well.

techfuzz
 
Sounds like a mobo problem.

I'm running 2x256 XMS 3200 C2 @ a little over 333 with no trouble.

MOST 3200 motherboards out there are having trouble running with all 3 slots populated at full (400Mhz-ddr) speed. Many struggle with only 2 populated.
 
Originally posted by: Smilin
Sounds like a mobo problem.

I'm running 2x256 XMS 3200 C2 @ a little over 333 with no trouble.

MOST 3200 motherboards out there are having trouble running with all 3 slots populated at full (400Mhz-ddr) speed. Many struggle with only 2 populated.
Click to expand...

I think he probably means running PC3200 ram at their rated speed, which is 200Mhz, not the 166Mhz you're talking about. But yea, many mobos struggle with 2 dimms at 400Mhz, although it might help if you have single sided dimms.
 
Originally posted by: Smilin
Sounds like a mobo problem.

I'm running 2x256 XMS 3200 C2 @ a little over 333 with no trouble.

MOST 3200 motherboards out there are having trouble running with all 3 slots populated at full (400Mhz-ddr) speed. Many struggle with only 2 populated.
Click to expand...

Are you running that on Asus P4PE motherboard?
 
update

It appears that I had defective motherboard. Today I receive replacement Asus P4PE and everything works beautifully with 1GB of RAM.

By the way, my original motherboard was revision 1.02, while the new one is revision 1.03.
 
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