fry RAM with timings?

[Oachkatzl]

My Specs:
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Extreme 775
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
RAM: Corsair XMS3 1600MHz 4x2GB DDR3 CL9(9-9-9-24)

FSB was overclocked to 380 -> DDR Frequency 1520MHz
CPU-CoreV set to 1,1125V
RAM Voltage was set to 1,6 but was doing fine for 2 days (if that does mean anything)

I set my ram timings manually (chances are i set them wrong but i thought i can't really harm anything by setting the timings) and tried to boot but nothing happened (fans begin to turn and everything has power but the screen stays black).
i have quite some expirience with failing hardware so i reset the bios by removing the battery but it still wouldn't start.
after that i removed the RAM sticks and tried to boot with a single one but none of them worked with different slots.
Luckily i had an old RAM arround and suddenly the computer was booting again.
i thought maybe the BIOS was faulty and couldnt reset all values (which kind of doesn't make sense but i tried everything else) so i opened the bios with my old RAM and changed the boot order to achieve an overrite of the settings (everything else set to auto) but my RAM sticks still won't work (again single tests).

Is it even possible to fry all 4 sticks with just setting the timings!?

thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Probably not going to fry DIMMs with timings alone. The vDIMM might have done it, though.

I was going to say, you might have nuked the memory controller as well, but you're using such an old chip that you've avoided the modern vDIMM-sensitive memory controllers on newer Intel chips.

 

[soccerballtux]

no.

I actually doubled drive current on mine because when using 4 sticks of ram, problems that didn't have with 2 sticks.

I don't expect will have problems.

timings will be fine. at most just instability. no damage

 

[Oachkatzl]

thank you for your answers.
if i would have killed the memory controller then it wouldn't work with my old RAMs, would it?
Also, is it possible that the RAM voltage kills the RAM after two days running just fine?
i mean it would be a big coincidence that the RAMs fail at the exact moment that i change the timings and it's caused by the unchanged voltage.
And these RAMs are made for 1.65V.. how could i possible fry them with 1.6V? :O

info update:
i remember now that i changed the timings because my PC, when started the first time, ran 3-5 seconds and then turned off again. Then it started again (without me doing anything) and everything worked fine. maybe that's a hint?

also, when i try the RAMs and after they don't work i put my old working RAMs back in, my motherboard tells me
"Overclocking failed! Please enter Setup to re-configure your system"
in the post even though everything is set to auto!
i think my motherboard is doing some kind of failsafe because my RAMs don't work and it doesn't have something to do with overclocking.

 

[Ed1]

thank you for your answers.
if i would have killed the memory controller then it wouldn't work with my old RAMs, would it?
Also, is it possible that the RAM voltage kills the RAM after two days running just fine?
i mean it would be a big coincidence that the RAMs fail at the exact moment that i change the timings and it's caused by the unchanged voltage.
And these RAMs are made for 1.65V.. how could i possible fry them with 1.6V? :O

info update:
i remember now that i changed the timings because my PC, when started the first time, ran 3-5 seconds and then turned off again. Then it started again (without me doing anything) and everything worked fine. maybe that's a hint?

also, when i try the RAMs and after they don't work i put my old working RAMs back in, my motherboard tells me
"Overclocking failed! Please enter Setup to re-configure your system"
in the post even though everything is set to auto!
i think my motherboard is doing some kind of failsafe because my RAMs don't work and it doesn't have something to do with overclocking.

try this , put old ram in , shut down PS , remove bios battery and power plug from wall (hit power switch on case a few times) .
now plug everything back up after like 15min or so with no power .
Enter bios and set timings loose , shutdown system and replace you ram (try 2 sticks first) and see how that boots .

 

[Oachkatzl]

Okay, i solved the problem.
I put my old RAM into the motherboard and overclocked the FSB from 333Mhz to 400Mhz and changed the RAM-voltage to 1.65V.
After that my motherboard automatically changed the RAM multiplier and was running it at 1066Mhz.
This solved my issue, maybe this helps someone with a similar problem.

Also thanks for the help everyone!

 

[DrMrLordX]

Glad you got it working. And no, you probably did 0 damage to your memory controller. Those old non-integrated memory controllers on the motherboard's Northbridge are built like tanks. It's hard to take out one of those.

With Nehalem and beyond, it's different.

 

[Oachkatzl]

Glad you got it working. And no, you probably did 0 damage to your memory controller. Those old non-integrated memory controllers on the motherboard's Northbridge are built like tanks. It's hard to take out one of those.

With Nehalem and beyond, it's different.

yeah im very happy i got it running again.. i think i was lucky in the first place that i had my pc overclocked and so the RAM worked when i put it in the first time. probably just would have sent it back otherwise and maybe even bought a new motherboard/CPU.
but now i can use this ancient mill for another year or two with its impenetrable memory controller ! =D