Inserting RAM Advice

[Shalafi]

Ok, I just bought more RAM and have a quick question.

I picked up 2 2GB and have 2 1GB already installed and wondering if it matters which slots I put them in.

Should I can and just put the 2GB chips in the empty slots
DIMM0 - 1GB
DIMM1 - 1GB
DIMM2 - 2GB
DIMM3 - 2GB
(0,1 run dual channel & 3,4 run dual channel)

or should I swap them out and put the 2GB chips up front?
DIMM0 - 2GB
DIMM1 - 2GB
DIMM2 - 1GB
DIMM3 - 1GB

Or does it matter at all and I'm just over thinking?

[Slott]

forgive me if im wrong on this, but RAM has to be paired. Usually the slots for ram are color coded, with a sequence like

YELLOW
BLACK




YELLOW
BLACK

the two yellow slots should be the same, and the two black slots should be the same.

adding an example:

http://lwsua.vtc.edu.hk/~cim/CMV6110...plus_gli_l.jpg

along the bottom of the page, you see the pairs:

PINK
BLACK


PINK
BLACK

[Fisban]

Slott - that usually is the case

[Norellicus]

Slott is correct.

Thus your configuration will depend on how these paired banks are arranged. The colors don't always match either, sometimes the colors indicate the same "channel" while other times they're meant to guide the person to say "put two sticks in the same color so they're on separate channels". Either way, you want one of each stick in each channel.

You will end up with one of two configurations:

0 - 1GB
1 - 1GB

2 - 2GB
3 - 2GB

In this configuration, the channels are split between the banked pairs.

-or-

0 - 1GB
1 - 2GB

2 - 1GB
3 - 2GB

In this setup, the channels are 1:1 with the bank layout.

In both cases, you have one of each stick in "Channel A" and one of each stick in "Channel B", which facilitates the separate addressing that dual channels offer.

If the frequencies available in each bank differ that may be important as well, undervolting one of the sets will cause it to underperform at best and damage it at worst.

Consult your particular mobo guide for specifics.

[Shalafi]

This was my thought too, however, my manual says different.

The channels are paired in A-B sequence requiring A & B to be filled for dual channel.

DIMM0 = A1
DIMM1 = B1
DIMM2 = A2
DIMM3 = B2

http://images.gittigidiyor.com/2192/...21926118_0.jpg

Does it matter which dual channel set the chips use? Obviously I will pair the sizes, but just curious if the 2GB should be in the first Dual Channel set for better performance, or if it matters at all?

[Norellicus]

Since you're using both sets, it really doesn't, unless again the two channels have different frequency capacities (rarely the case anymore).

As long as each bank supports the type and speed of memory you're putting in you're fine.

[Shalafi]

Excellent, thanks!

[Shalafi]

Ok, new issue, apparently pretty common.

When I insert more than 3GB of RAM I get a BSOD telling me the video driver (atikmdag.sys) is not responding. I've tried toning down my graphics (turn off aero, etc), using only 1 video card, 1 monitor, upgraded my bios, etc but no luck.

Any ideas anyone has I'll gladly try. I have mixed & matched my old ram with new and as long as it is 3GB or less it works fine.

[Norellicus]

Is there an onboard video chipset? It may be attempting to pull a chunk of ram for shared memory and more than 3GB total freaks out some part of that.

See if you can disable it if so.

[Cyn]

32 bit OS?

Also Slott, if that looks like pink to you you may need to check your monitor settings bud.

[Mojo]

flip it, stick it, see ya later bye

[Shalafi]

win7 64-bit

[Cephius]

Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to mix RAM types. Some require different voltages to achieve their optimum timings, and motherboards cannot assign different voltages to different channels. All the RAM in the machine has to run at the exact same speed, timings, and voltage. If the settings for one aren't optimal for the other, problems can arise. The first thing I'd try is removing one of the sets. Have you tried just using the 2x 2GB set?

[Shalafi]

I've tried multiple configurations, even mix and matching sets with the following results
1 x 1GB = OK
2 x 1GB = OK
1 x 2GB = OK
1 x 1GB & 1 x 2GB = OK
2 x 2GB = FAIL
2 x 1GB & 2 x 2GB = FAIL

Anything over 3GB, no matter which RAM sticks I'm using fails. I will double check the on board video (pretty sure I disabled, especially once I got 2nd video card).

[Cephius]

Is your BIOS correctly reporting the amount of RAM you have when you have more than 3GB inserted?

[Cjskater]

1) Run memtest on both 2GB sticks (separately of coarse).

2) Do you overclock? You may need to raise your voltage on the Northbridge, RAM, CPU... or all of them. When I went from 2->4GB I actually had to go down a bit on my overclock. I couldn't get it stable at the same speed no matter how hard I tried.

Even without an overclock you should probably try raising your voltages a bit just to make sure.

Edit: before you mess with voltages check how much each kit of RAM needs. You may have a 1.8v kit and a 2v kit... wouldn't really be wise to run a 1.8v kit at 2.2v though.
Edit 2: fffffffffffff my 700th post was tech support

[Shalafi]

Thanks.

Yes, my BIOS is reporting the correct amount of RAM.

I have a list of things to check now and voltage of RAM is included.

I'll post my tests & results once I complete them

[Shalafi]

My results are as follows:

Checked on-board video - confirmed no on-board video so no conflicts there
Check RAM speeds/voltage - RAM speed is not accessible, set voltage to 1.8v (RAM spec) and no change

I'm running two video cards and thought to try just one so I pulled my main card and put the secondary in the main slot. On boot up my BIOS reported an "Overclocking Failure" and provided options to change settings or proceed with default. I proceeded with the default settings and WIN7 booted. Once up and running I confirmed it sees the full 6GB of RAM, but WIN7 noticed there was no video driver installed proceeded to install it. One installed, WIN7 needs a reboot, again during start up I get BSOD.

So now I'm convinced the issue is the the BIOS forcing some sort of overclock which is causing the video driver to crash which causes WIN7 to BSOD when the video driver times out.

I went through much of my BIOS options last night and was unable to turn off this overclocking. I thought about the driver issue and booted to WIN7 in safe mode, no issue, 6GB detected. I removed the video drivers through Device Manager and rebooted. WIN7 boots, then discovers no video drivers and proceeds to install (which requires reboot and creates BSOD).


Motherboard: Asus M2A-MVP

[Cephius]

Unplug your power supply and pull the CMOS battery off the motherboard. Hit the power button a few times to drain the board of any residue charge. Let it sit for about 5 minutes then put the battery back in and hook it up, that should reset the BIOS completely.

[Cjskater]

My results are as follows:

If resetting BIOS^ doesn't fix it... (it honestly should)

Here's what I think:
Assuming you have a X2 3800-6000+ or whatever... you probably need to raise the vcore. Bring it up to 1.35v for testing purposes. Next raise your NB up to 1.2-1.25v... this may be a good bit depending on what it runs... mine is normally 1.1v or something like that. Then raise your RAM voltage to 1.9 or 1.95. None of these voltages are dangerous.

If it boots run PRIME95 overnight. Make sure its not running too hot before you go to sleep though. If it finds no problems then lower either your NB or CPU vcore. Keep running it till you get the lowest possible voltage for each one. Eventually you can lower your RAM voltage to 1.8 if everything else works.

To check your voltages without booting windows.. it should be shown in the hardware monitoring section.

--------------------

You didn't say anything about memtest results... I'm pretty sure Windows 7 has a built in "memtest" that should at least do its job.

Read #2:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...tics-tool.html