FYI: Crucial has admitted there is a problem with their PC2700 (512MB only?) and nForce2 boards

[BillGates]

I just got an MSI K7N2-L nForce2 board and had it working great with Crucial PC2100 (2x256).

I got my order of 2 512MB sticks of PC2700 from Crucial in the mail today and started to re-run my benchmarks to see what kind of difference I would see. Halfway through the first game of 3DMark2001 the PC froze and I was forced to reboot.

I rebooted and decided to check my email and surf for a while first...PC rebooted 3 times on it's own at random. At that point I thought maybe the OS (WinXP Pro SP1) had a problem with the RAM, even though I just reformatted after putting in my new mobo and CPU. I started copying files to be backed up and had 2 more spontaneous reboots...getting VERY frustrated.

I did some research at MSI's forum and found that some had been having similar problems. One moderator posted that he had called Crucial and was told that they are aware of a problem with their PC2700 and nForce2 boards and that they were looking into it. Great.

I decided to call and the tech I spoke with also confirmed the issue. I forgot to ask whether it is limited to 512MB sticks or if it is all of their PC2700.

Please do not flame me for letting this info out if you currently have an nForce2/Crucial rig working properly, I am just passing the info along to prospective buyers.... you might want to wait a bit before picking up RAM from Crucial. Crucial even pulled the PC2700 sticks from the page for my motherboard and only offer PC2100 and one PC3200. I suspect the same might be true of all nForce2 chipsets.

 

[metalmania]

Luckily I use the Samsung 512M PC2700 from Newegg.

 

[BillGates]

Yep, Samsung is one of the manufacturers that seems to work fine with the boards. I got sick of all the screwing around and went and bought 2 512 sticks of PC2700 from a local retailer. I probably spent $50 more than if I had ordered it online, but I'm tired of waiting around.

 

[mechBgon]

There are MSI nForce2 boards floating around with engineering BIOSes too. Does it seem to be an MSI-specific problem? I have an email in with Crucial to hear this firsthand, or else I'll call my inside Crucial rep if I don't hear from them over the weekend.

edit: also, in your own case, were you running the memory out-of-sync with the CPU? That's not a good idea for getting good system performance from nForce2.

 

[First]

I stress tested some PC3200 Crucial memory (256MB) with the A7N8X and 8RDA+ with no issues.

I'm not really surprised that the MSI K7N2-L had issues with PC2700 Crucial, as MSI boards can be pretty sensitive to memory types/configurations (not really sure why).

More likely than not Crucial got a bad batch of chips (either Winbond or Samsung I'm guessing). I doubt the PCB is to blame.

 

[BillGates]

Well, here's how my search went.

I checked at the MSI forums and found the following thread:

MSI Board >> Searched for Crucial

That led me to this thread at a general nForce forum:

Only the last post is really related to this

At that point I was concerned and called Crucial direct and the rep I spoke with confirmed that there is an issue with their PC2700 and nForce2 boards. Perhaps it is only a recent batch of PC2700....I didn't press for details.

 

[BillGates]

Here is some even better info from the nForce board.... The issue is not MSI-specific.

Big thread regarding this

Abit user reporting the same issue

 

[mechBgon]

So what did the rep suggest, do they have "fixed" 512Mb modules to replace the affected ones? Did they need codes off the modules to get it handled for you?

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
So what did the rep suggest, do they have "fixed" 512Mb modules to replace the affected ones? Did they need codes off the modules to get it handled for you?

He basically said that they are looking into the issue and that I can RMA the RAM and get my money back .... others on the boards I linked above noted that they have gotten credit towards PC3200. (It's too bad they didn't give us a hookup for wasting our time and doing an even swap of the PC3200 for the "bad" PC2700. )

 

[mechBgon]

Dang, I bought my modules from Googlegear, I wonder if Crucial minds handling it directly for me. Regardless, I'm not excited about paying an extra $45 per module ( x 3 modules) for PC3200 when I don't expect to need anything past PC2700 speeds.

 

[Heretik]

Yeah, I had trouble getting 2 x 512MB sticks working in my A7N8X Deluxe. I did two RMA's to Newegg thinking maybe it was just a bad batch, then bought directly from Crucial only to find out it still wouldn't work. I had to back the mem bus down to 133 just to get it to run stable. I called Crucial and the tech didn't offer any extra information, but once I told him what motherboard it was on, he immediately offered me a refund.

Ended up buying 2 x 512MB PC3200 sticks of Corsair from Newegg (I know it's overkill considering I rarely overclock, but I got tired of messing around and just wanted something that would work!). Everything running great now.

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Dang, I bought my modules from Googlegear, I wonder if Crucial minds handling it directly for me. Regardless, I'm not excited about paying an extra $45 per module ( x 3 modules) for PC3200 when I don't expect to need anything past PC2700 speeds.

The posters on one of the above boards said you have 2 options if you are affected by this issue:

Here is what the crucial techs informed me.
If purchased through Crucial Direct:
1) A credit will be applied and you can purchase Pc3200 memory for the difference.
If purchased through third party:
1) Only an exact replacment will be sent but it will not solve your issues. To truly resolve your problems you will need to contact your vendor if you require a credit or return if even at all possible.
-lgestle

 

[dionx]

i just ordered a 512MB stick of PC2700 Crucial from the CNetPC.com website i saw in the hot deals forum. so would this not work with my Asus A7N8X deluxe if i got 2 sticks? i wanted to dual memory with 1GB total using these sticks. anyone who bought sticks from there have this problem?

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: dionx
i just ordered a 512MB stick of PC2700 Crucial from the CNetPC.com website i saw in the hot deals forum. so would this not work with my Asus A7N8X deluxe if i got 2 sticks? i wanted to dual memory with 1GB total using these sticks. anyone who bought sticks from there have this problem?

It's hard to say but I think the issues are there whether you run one or two. I got 2 512 sticks to run the dual channel config and ran into the same problems if I used the slots on my board that basically disabled dual channel. You will probably be in the same boat as everybody else, but please post if that is not the case.

 

[dionx]

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: dionx
i just ordered a 512MB stick of PC2700 Crucial from the CNetPC.com website i saw in the hot deals forum. so would this not work with my Asus A7N8X deluxe if i got 2 sticks? i wanted to dual memory with 1GB total using these sticks. anyone who bought sticks from there have this problem?

It's hard to say but I think the issues are there whether you run one or two. I got 2 512 sticks to run the dual channel config and ran into the same problems if I used the slots on my board that basically disabled dual channel. You will probably be in the same boat as everybody else, but please post if that is not the case.

i dont think i will be the exception. would can i do with this stick of ram? can i somehow get credit from crucial themselves towards a PC3200 512MB stick? or will i have to return this at CNetPC.com and subject to a restocking fee? or am i just stuck with it and have to get rid of it myself?

 

[mechBgon]

I'm running three 512Mb Crucial PC2700 modules, but only at PC2100 speeds due to my AthlonXP 1700+. If I had a CPU that ran at 166MHz bus, I could really put the system through the wringer and see what's what, but I can't afford one for a while. This is a bummer, particularly if I have to deal with Googlegear instead of Crucial themselves

edit: I think I need a hug

 

[Insane3D]

So their PC3200 works ok huh? Is that the awesome CL3 stuff?

 

[pcmax]

Well that bites, I'm glad I didn't order another 512mb crucial to do dual channel DDR on the A7N8X I just brought home. Maybe I'll see what it can do with (2) crucial pc2100 256mb sticks and my XP1700 T-bred B in the wifes case before I swap out my A7V333R.

 

[SpideyCU]

Man...maybe I should go for the cheap Kingston RAM instead of the Crucial. I'm waiting to pounce in the next week or two, but this certainly makes me wonder. I just really hope it isn't one of those "misunderstandings", but, since Crucial is doing what they're doing, I guess it's for real.

 

[mechBgon]

I wonder if a BIOS update could address this.

 

[jrhvball]

I can confirm that the 512mb Crucial PC2700 sticks are incompatible with the nForce2 motherboards. I had two sticks, one from Crucial.com and one from Newegg.com and I called Crucial and confirmed with them that their sticks of 512mb 2700 were having problems with nForce motherboards. Both Crucial and Newegg have agreed to RMA both of my sticks since they were originally on the compatibility list but have since been removed. I have decided to go with two 256mb sticks of Samsung PC3200 memory since most people I have spoken with have had the best luck compatibilty wise with the Samsung memory and getting it to run at specs. With the Crucial, I could only get my system to FSB150 stable (with one or both sticks in place) and it wouldn't even come close to the rated FSB 166.

btw, my system specs are: MSI K7N2-L, Athlon XP1800 TBredA, 512mb PC2700 Crucial (1stick)(soon to be 2*256 on Monday when my Samsung mem arrives), Thermalright SLK-800A w/80mm YS Tech Adjustable Fan, Albatron GF4 Ti4200P w/128mb, 40GB 7200RPM Barracuda IV HD, Pac Digi 40*16*48 CDR/RW, Delta 12x DVD, Enlight 420W PS, Maxtop CSX-147-KBF Window Case w/5 80mm case fans, Logitech MX700 cordless mouse, MS Internet Keyboard, and HPA4331 21" CRT.

I'm not sure if the Crucial PC3200 is having problems, but in general Crucial makes awesome RAM, it's just too bad the 512mb sticks of 2700 are having problems with nForce2 boards. I believe that the 256mb sticks of the PC2700 are ok with nForce2 boards though.

 

[mechBgon]

Thanks for the report jrhvball and welcome to the Forums

Thinking about this, I recall that Crucial 256Mb sticks are single-sided these days (chips on just one side) whereas my 512Mb modules are double-sided (chips on both surfaces). If you go through the Crucial configurator to the 8RDA+ or the A7N8X-Deluxe, for example, and click the Chipset Info link, you see Crucial saying that the chipset supports only three banks of RAM, which would mean one double-sided DIMM plus one single-sided, or three single-sided DIMMs. That contradicts my 8RDA+'s manual, which states that up to three double-sided DIMMs may be used. Rummaging through my collection of PDF files here, I see the MSI K7NG-2L also states up to three DS DIMMs. Asus isn't specific about the A7N8X in their manual about the double-sided DIMMs but says the board supports modules up to 1Gb apiece x 3 modules.

But then the question arises: why is it just the PC2700 module? Are the 512Mb Crucial PC2100 and PC3200 modules single-sided, or what? Crucial has clearly gotten caught with their pants down, somehow


UPDATE: confirmed, at least some Crucial PC3200 is indeed single-sided: photos at EnvyNews showing the RAM's unpopulated backside from a top-down view.