OK, I'm really confused now

[Rik]

Following the saga of getting my main machine repaired (four visits, new graphics card, power supply, motherboard and CPU tried before checking the memory!), I'm left puzzled. Before things went wrong, I'd not paid too much attention to the POST report, but afterwards, I noticed the RAM was reporting as PC2-5300. This seemed odd as the original RAM was rated at 1066MHz, the temporary replacement at 800MHz, and the final replacement is again 1066, marked PC2-8500 on the pack. The original BIOS settings had been lost due to clearing the CMOS.

It's an Asus P5W64 WS Pro motherboard, with an E6700 CPU and, according to Everest, the clock speed is 333MHz with bandwidth of 2666MHz. SIW, otoh, reports a clock of 266MHz, but both agree the FSB is 1066.

I've manually set the DRAM frequency as advised by Scan, the mobo was on auto settings. Their initial recommendation of 1066MHz was unstable and wouldn't boot, so I've dropped it to 800MHz, and the report at POST is PC2-6400.

Is this correct, or am I missing something?

[Glenn]

What does CPU-Z report the speed as? http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

[Steve]

You can also check the voltages required for the ram with CPUID  as auto may be insufficient so run at that 1066 speed.

[Rik]

OK, three screens from CPU-Z

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rik]

and...

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rik]

You can also check the voltages required for the ram with CPUID  as auto may be insufficient so run at that 1066 speed.

Are they enough above, Steve?

[kinmel]

  MB,  CPU and Memory are all 1066FSB,  any other setting is wrong and will impair performance.

Repair is not yet complete, demand a refund.

[Rik]

It's a warranty, Alan.

Are you saying that the PC2-5300 rating I first saw is the correct one for this CPU/MOBO/RAM combination?

The Crucial site seems to suggest that:

# 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Banking:   4 (2 banks of 2)
# Chipset:   Intel 975X
# DDR2 SDRAM Frequencies:   PC2-4200 and PC2-5300
# Error Detection Support:   ECC and non-ECC
# Graphics Support:   Quad PCI Express x16
# Max Component Density:   1024
# Max Unbuffered DDR2 SDRAM:   8192MB
# Module Types Supported:   Unbuffered only
# Supported DRAM Types:   DDR2 SDRAM only

As I said before, the bus speed is being shown as 1066 by Everest & SIW.


Edit: Expansion

[Ray]

Looks OK to me, Rik, from the MB spec here

[kinmel]

It's a warranty, Alan.

Are you saying that the PC2-5300 rating I first saw is the correct one for this CPU/MOBO/RAM comibination?

If I put your MB into Crucial's memory finder it shows "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-8500,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot."*

DDR2-8500's spec is 1066 FSB

Running it at 800 kills it's performance

[Rik]

Thanks, Ray. I'm still puzzled, though between the PC2 speeds (rated at 8500, running at 6400) and the DDR2 speeds given in the spec '    4 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 667/533 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory'.

If 'auto' settings yield PC2-5300, is that what I should let the system run at?

Scan seem, I think to be recommending me to overclock:

I have spoken to Reg and the Ram is the one I suggested as a replacement so the voltage will need to be manually set to 2.1 Volts

You can try dropping the CPU multiplier in the bios to 8 and set the Front Side Bus higher to 400Mhz

Provided the Ram voltage is higher this should be stable, sometimes you may have to increase the CPU voltage as well if you set this and it fails to display

I really don't want to go down that path, I don't feel knowledgeable enough on the subject.

[Rik]

If I put your MB into Crucial's memory finder it shows "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-8500,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot."*

DDR2-8500's spec is 1066 FSB

Running it at 800 kills it's performance

Running it at 1066 kills the machine completely, though, Alan. Plus the voltage scan are suggesting is above the recommended voltage on that link.

But I'm still puzzled by the bit from the spec I quoted above, which suggested the mobo should have PC2-4000 or PC2-5300.

[Ray]

Yet it also says that it's got native DDR2 800 support as well, Rik, my main machine has PC2-6400(DDR2 800) modules and the image below shows the settings it's running at, it sounds as though that's what you may actually have fitted in your MC.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rik]

We seem to have much the same timings, Ray.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Steve]

Without adding to the confusion I wouldn't have thought you'd get to 1066 on that voltage you will need to increase it towards the top end of the range I don't know what the max is on those modules but would have thought 2.0 or 2.1 would be required.

[Rik]

You just did, Steve. I'm beginning to wish I'd made notes of the BIOS settings when the machine was delivered - it used to be so simple to do in the days of LPT1 printers.

Scan have told me to go to 2.1, but the rating seems to say 2.0. OTOH, the BIOS, left to it's own 'auto detect' mode, opts for PC2-5300.

[kinmel]

The provided memory may be incompatible with the motherboard, this often happens with cheap memory modules.

Since the machine is still under warranty they are probably still being made, so ask Scan to confirm the settings used on the machine when retailed.

However, it is not your job to help carry out the repair, it should have been in perfect working order when they hand it back to you.

Having already allowed sufficient time for a competent person to carry out any possible repairs, declare the warranty repair to be unacceptable and demand a full refund within 7 days, else you will use the Small Claims Court

[Steve]

Wish I could remember how to overclock but the bus speed would have to be in the order of 355 with the FSB:Ram ratio of 2:3 to get the ram up to 533

But that would mess up the E6700 I think the default multiplier is 10 which takes us back to 266

[Rik]

It is, which is what's reported, Steve, but I've also seen the 2:3 ration reported, which takes 400 to 266.

TBH, I'm left feeling that I was sold over-specced RAM, as I ordered the machine without any over-clocking, but I just can't remember what speed was being reported before the failure.

[Rik]

The provided memory may be incompatible with the motherboard, this often happens with cheap memory modules.

Since the machine is still under warranty they are probably still being made, so ask Scan to confirm the settings used on the machine when retailed.

However, it is not your job to help carry out the repair, it should have been in perfect working order when they hand it back to you.

Having already allowed sufficient time for a competent person to carry out any possible repairs, declare the warranty repair to be unacceptable and demand a full refund within 7 days, else you will use the Small Claims Court

Scan don't even have a manual, Alan, and don't seem to have any record of over-clocking, so that leaves me wondering, as I mentioned to Steve, whether I was sold over-specced RAM in the first place. I really wish I'd gone through the BIOS and taken a note of all the settings before it failed. 

The Corsair memory is the same spec as the original, the only difference being it's now 2 x 2GB rather than 4 x 1GB.

[kinmel]

A properly set up machine runs at 1:1:1,  any other clock ratio is a bodge.

Scan don't even have a manual, Alan, and don't seem to have any record of over-clocking, so that leaves me wondering, as I mentioned to Steve, whether I was sold over-specced RAM in the first place. I really wish I'd gone through the BIOS and taken a note of all the settings before it failed. 

The Corsair memory is the same spec as the original, the only difference being it's now 2 x 2GB rather than 4 x 1GB.

If the MB, CPU and Memory are within spec then they run at a 1:1:1 ratio of 1066, anything else means a poorly constructed system.

The Crucial website identifies all their memory modules that are known to be compatible with your MB.  If they want to use Corsair then insist it is DDR2-1066 from the list on the Corsair Configurator

[Rik]

This is the unit they've supplied, Alan:

Memory Type
DDR2-1066 (Dominator-8500C5*4GB*SLI)

Size
4GB Kit (2 x 2GB)

Latency
5-5-5-15

Voltage
2.1v

Format
240-pin DIMM

Heat Spreader
Dominator

Which is on the list. I can set the DRAM frequency and voltage, but I can't see any setting to change the clock ratios, so I end up with the same values as Ray. The mobo manual doesn't seem to cover this area at all.

[Steve]

But looking at the part number above from cpuid it is  8500c5 ram should it therefore not run at 1066 if given enough power?

The ratio is set on automatic, is there not a menu listing to set the ram frequency

[Rik]

There is, Steve, but it fell over when I opted for 1066, so I dropped down to 800, which gives me my present situation. There's a separate voltage setting, which is on auto. The DRAM timing is set by SPD.

[Steve]

I would jack up the voltage until its stable ,you can always go high first and come back down and set the timings manually i.e 5-5-5-15. The northbridge voltage may need a tweak also. You have to ask why the memory failed in the first place but it did last a few years.