G.Skill DDR2-1066 - can't get to run at 1066

[imported_jklobo]

I'm sure this is something that will be easy. It's been a long time since I've done a ground up build, the last time was socket 754 when things seemed more clear cut. So I'm getting my feet wet here.

I just put together these items running Vista Ultimate 64 bit, powered by a PP&C Silencer 500:

ASRock A780GXE/128M cooled by Artic Freezer 64 Pro
Phenom 9750
G.Skill DDR2-1066 (F2-8500CL5D-4GBPQ)


I can't for the life of me figure out why the RAM will not run at 1066. It POST's, boots, will sit idle forever, and then BSOD's under any sort of load.

If I manually set the DDR clock at 533 and leave all of the other memory related settings to 'Auto' I get the BSOD.
If I manually set the voltage to 2.02, and the timings to 5-6-6-18, I get the BSOD.

I've run memtest86+ with these settings (533,2.02, 5-6-6-18) and it reports tons of errors during test 5. But here is the kicker, memtest86+ reports timings that are much more aggressive than are set manually. I think they were 5-4-3-12, maybe slightly different but I could tell they were much more aggressive than I had set. That said, when I set the DDR clock to 400, the timings report correctly and memtest86+ reports no errors after running overnight.

Now the memory voltage is rated for 2.0~2.1 and two options fit the bill in the BIOS. 2.02 and 2.08 (next is 2.14). I've read that bumping the voltage may be necessary, even bumping the HT/NB voltage (read this on G.Skill's forum, posted by their staff).

So for now I'm running at DDR2-800.

What do you guys think? Am I a newb or what? Any ideas would be great.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Most likely it is your CPU, not your memory. Memtest it at DDR800 and see what it does. Disable Legacy USB Support while running Memtest.

EDIT: Specifically, I mean it is a limitation of the AMD memory controller. Some people get Phenom's to run at 1066. Most can't however.

 

[imported_jklobo]

I ran the test at DDR800 without problems, and memtest reports the correct timings, I almost RMA'd the memory before doing that.

Would the AMD memory controller be the reason for memtest reporting the more aggressive timings than I've actually set?

If there isn't anything to be done (or very little chance of anything working), I'll wait for Phenom 2 prices to drop a little and pick one up.

 

[Yellowbeard]

If the timings are being reported wrong it could be your utility so make sure you have the latest version of Memtest: www.memtest.org

And, not slamming on AMD at all but I am not hearing that Phenom II is hitting 1066 consistently yet so you may want to wait it out a bit. Your current CPU with DDR800 and tight timings should be suitable until you can verify a Phenom II is going to get you to the memory frequency you want.

 

[imported_TimBob]

My G.Skill ddr2-1066 was giving me troubles at rated speeds for a while as well. I'm pretty sure it was overheating due to the fact that I'd burn my fingers if I kept it on one of the sticks for more than a few seconds. I picked up an Antec Spot cooler for them and no more issues. Helps keeps my NB cool as well since my board has passive cooling.

Not saying it should be necessary to add cooling to your memory, but that is what I needed to do.