DFI nF4 Ultra-D & Kingston RAM problems

[bluebunny]

When I run CPU-Z, my RAM (Kingston KHX3200AK2/1G) reports SPD Timings Table of:
Freq 166MHZ/200MHZ
CAS Latency 2.0/2.5
RAStoCAS 3/3
RAS Pre 3/3
Tras 7/8

But I get memory errors in Memtest86 test #5 if I keep everything set to auto by SPD. Board appears to run fine if I manually force CAS Latency to 2.0 (it wants to default to 2.5)

Can anybody tell me what is the problem? I thought you only need to tweak these settings if you wanted to overclock.

Running 2/9 BIOS. Both 512MB sticks are in orange slots. CPU: 3200XP

TIA
Greg

 

[CheesePoofs]

I have same ram, same board. That ram on my old board (nforce 2) did the same thing, I think its just an issue with the ram. I just manually entered the correct timings and it was stable.

However, on my ultra-d, I can't get the ram to run at 200mhz. It just beeps, saying there is a ram issue. At 180 the ram is fine though, I ran memtest on it last night and its stable.

 

[bluebunny]

Kingston's web site shows timings for this ram to be "2-3-2-6" (CAS/tRCD/tRCP/tRAS) (Still trying to learn the lingo)

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configu.../partsinfo.asp?ktcpartno=KHX3200AK2/1G

So why does CPU-Z say something different? Why do they only advertise one set of timings if they can be different based on frequency?

CheesePoofs, you says you entered the correct timings and it was stable. Which are the correct timings? From your sig it looks like you have rRAS set to 8. Is that because you are oc'ing? Should I use the numbers from Kingston's site if not oc'ing?

Thanks!

 

[CheesePoofs]

Those timings (2-3-2-6) are the timings for 200mhz. If the ram is clocked lower, it can run at lower latencies. If its clocked faster, you have to loosen the latencies (make them higher)

There is a problem with this ram where it tells the motherboard that it can run at looser timings than it actually can. All you have to do is go into the bios and manually change the timings to the correct ones.

Right now my memory is actually running at 2-3-3-7. I have been having trouble getting my ram to run at the correct frequency, so I havn't gotten arount to actually setting the ram to run at the correct latencies yet.

 

[Snowice]

i had the same memory from the fry's rebate deal. i used them on my gigabyte nF3 ultra and the board also defualted the ram to CAS 2.5. i was able to manually change it back to 2-3-2-6 like CP did. however, these rams suck at overclocking. my sticks maxed at 205. still a good price for CAS 2 rams, but i wanted something faster. so i sold them. now i got my dfi ultra-d w/ geil pc3000 ultra-x (tccd), and my ram can hit 300 and beyound i wish i still have the kingston so that i can test them out and let you know. anyway, i've heard this board doesn't really like kingston hyperX. also, this is a good board, you just have to be patient with it. i've spent more than 2 week working on the setting to just get it to prime. i'm still working on finding the best setting. good luck

 

[Cares]

I don't really understand this overclocking and ram timing issue. I already ordered a DFI NF4 Ultra and traded for 2x512 Kingston HyperX PC3200. Will my computer work still? It isn't incompatible to the point that it won't work or be horribly slow right?

 

[Cares]

Anyone? I'm planning on ordering today...

 

[bluebunny]

It won't be slow at all. I am not overclocking my machine, but I had a hard time getting it to work (ie install Windows or pass Memtest86) without manually adjusting the bios.

The problem seems to be that the ram reports to the motherboard what "timings" to default to. For whatever reason, this Kingston stuff does it wrong. I had to manually go into the DRAM settings in the Genie Bios screen and set the values like so:

tcl (CAS latency)=2
tRCD (RAS to CAS)=3
tRCP (Row precharge)=2
tRAS (Min RAS Active Time)=6

There are the timings recommend by Kingston's web site.

I also flashed my bios. Not sure if that also helped or not. (I think that it did). I found a beta version (date 2/9/05) on the web. Not sure if there is a newer one yet or not.

Finally make sure you have the two sticks in the 2 & 4 slots (orange ones).