P5N-E SLI causes boot failure with 4 sticks of ram

[Xzeox]

I recently decided to upgrade from 4GB (2x2gb) to 8GB (4x2gb).
I have Windows Vista x64 and I made sure I bought the exact brand of ram that the computer came with. (Mushkin EM2-6400)

When I try to install the 2x2GB sticks of ram, the computer won't boot. It just hangs before the Bios even loads and neither my monitor nor keyboard turn on. But when I remove one of the sticks, (making it 6GB instead of 8GB,) it works fine. It boots and says I have 6GB installed.

I also switched out every stick of ram and tested them in every slot, so I know the ram is not faulty. The computer just fails to boot when I have 4 sticks of memory in, no matter what. 3 sticks works fine. I also flashed my bios to the latest version (1301,) updated to the latest nforce drivers, and still the same problem.
Now ASUS advertised this mb being able to use up to 8GB, so what am I doing wrong?

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Are you overclocking at all? It's common to have to increase voltage to the RAM and/or MCH if you have four sticks present to maintain stability.

 

[nater1]

Wow, I have this exact same problem except I am using G Skill RAM (DDR2 800) with my P5N-E. What's funny is I was running 4 x 1 GB sticks before, and now with the 4 x 2 GB sticks I can't use all 4 slots.

After resetting the BIOS, upgrading the BIOS to the latest version (1301) and manually setting the memory timings, I did manage to get the board to boot into Windows, but it isn't stable. It runs for a short time and then blue screens, or programs mysteriously crash. A few times the blue screen errors were about paging problems (definately memory related), and others the error was about missing an interrupt or TCPIP.sys having problems (not so clear).

I have been Googling a little and did see someone claim that the chipset in this board has problems powering the 4th DIMM. Yes, I was running 4 before, but maybe the 2 GB sticks pull just a little more power to push it over the edge?

Also if you Google "p5n-e dual channel blue screen", there are people with problems using dual channel mode with just two DIMMs. Before you upgraded, did you have the sticks in the A1 and A2 slots, not A1 and B1? (A1 and A2 are both the same color and aren't side by side) It could be a piece of the puzzle.

I still don't get why I was able to run 4 sticks before. I do remember having to update the BIOS to get it to work. Definitely update the BIOS if you haven't.

 

[nater1]

I just wanted to follow up with my previous post. I think I have things stable now. I manually increased the memory voltage so that it is slightly over the manufacturer's spec.

The RAM I'm using is rated for 1.8V, and right now the board is set at 2.053V (or something like that, it increases in weird increments). This may compensate for the board's inability to power all the sticks constantly.

It's been up 2 days straight and I've been doing some intensive gaming sessions without any hiccups. Vista 64 bit seems to be pretty happy with 8 GB. Give it a try.

So in other words... what CoinOperatedBoy said. ^_^

 

[Stump1000]

I have the same board, with 8gb installed.

The only way it will run is with mem volt at 2.42. Everyone says its too high but its been that way for a while. I'm gonna mess around in the bios and see if I can get it to run at a lower voltage.