System Slow when All Four Memory Slots Filled

[tracy383]

All of the sudden, my computer started running so slow that it literally takes 15 minutes to boot into the os. I tested all components and they checked out. I have an intel core 2 duo e6300 and 4x1GB DDR2 PC5300. But when I take out one of the memory sticks, it works fine. I tried all the different sticks in all the different slots. Everything works until all slots are filled. The computer worked fine before and I haven't changed any settings or switched out any components. I tried to reinstall vista, and I tried to use xp instead, but nothing has helped. Even when I just boot from an os disk it takes forever to load that up. If the system starts, it shows both my processors running at 100% all the time. I've heard there can be issues on older boards with using all the slots, but this is a new board and it worked fine the first six months after I built the pc. I'm not sure why it suddenly can't handle all the slots being filled. Could this be a bad board?

 

[Heidfirst]

maybe 1 of the DIMMs is faulty?

 

[tracy383]

I tried each stick individually and they all worked fine. They worked in any slot, and up to three slots being filled (it didn't matter what slots were filled or which sticks I used, it just couldn't be all the slots at once).

 

[o1die]

I'd set the memory timings and voltage manually. I use cas 2.5 and 6-3-3 for timings. Use cpu-z to see what speed your memory is running at. You can also check the manufacturer's website for bios updates. I only flash the bios when absolutely necessary. I've had about 4 bad flashes in 15 years of building systems.

 

[tracy383]

I ran cpu-z and everything looks good. I tried to update the bios before but I can't because when I try to run the upgrade, it says there is an internal error. Every test I've tried checks out. I can't figure out why when all the slots are filled, the processor can't seem to run below 100%.

 

[JimiP]

I'm curious... Are you running Windows XP or Vista? And also, is your OS 32-bit or 64-bit?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Most importantly, what motherboard are we talking about here? The MSI P6N SLI Platinum and -FI have a bug where they run much slower than they are supposed to, when all 4 DDR2 slots are filled. This glitch is fixed in the beta bios.

If this is a different mobo, then I dunno. If it's a 650i chipset, it could be the same glitch.

 

[tracy383]

I am running Vista 64-bit right now. But I have tried Vista 32-bit as well as XP. I didn't think it was an os issue though, because when I install an os from a disk, it is incredibly slow as well. The motherboard is Intel's DG965WH and the processor is Intel's Core? 2 Duo Processor E6300. The memory is 4x1 GB Kingston DDR2 PC5300.