Problems with GA-EP43-DS3L and 2x2GB memory

[darose]

Been having a problem with my brand new GA-EP43-DS3L board in conjunction with the memory I purchased. Memory is pretty plain vanilla DDR2 800. (See Newegg.com - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory and PC2-6400 DDR2 - Mushkin Enhanced) Board works fine with one 2GB stick. But with two sticks the board either loops failing to POST and continually rebooting (when dual channel) or boots but then crashes or freezes the machine (single channel). All components are set at stock settings in the BIOS. (I don't overclock.) I specifically picked this memory because it's pretty basic and standard (1.8v and 5-5-5-18 timings), so I'm actually pretty surprised it's been giving me a problem.

A number of other people seem to be having this problem with this board too. (See: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25...ds3l-post-help and Please help me diagnose my EP45-ds3l Memory problems (getting worse) and Dual channel stability on GA-EP43-DS3L - OCZ Forum) Looks like the problem might have to do with the 2GB sticks, as someone posted a Newegg review pointing out that the problem went away for them when they switched to a 4x1GB configuration. (See review from "Donnie" at Customer Reviews Of GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail)

I've been trading messages back and forth with some Gigabyte support people via the GIGABYTE Service System, but there's been no resolution yet. Most recent update is that they tested the board with a Transcend 2gb x2 kit, but found no problem.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on here and/or a workaround. Anything about this memory that strikes anyone as weird? Any tweak I might be able to make in the BIOS to fix this prob? Board is running fine with one 2GB stick, but I'd hate to just leave the other stick sitting on the shelf.

TIA!

[jrboddie]

Which BIOS version are you using?

[Lsdmeasap]

You have to set trfc to 52-62 for 2x2GB of ram, and you also are going to need to manually add soem MCH core Voltage. 1.1 I think is your default, so try 1.2 and or 1.3

If you still have issues Greg can likely tell you for sure if that ram has been tested in that board, Not so sure it has been but Mushkin makes great products that work superbly in P35 boards. >>>>
Mushkin Support Forums • Index page

Have you tested each stick in a different system or yours by itself with Memtest86+ to be sure you did not geta DOA stick? It happens >>>
http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

[darose]

Originally Posted by jrboddie

which bios version are you using?

f6

[darose]

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

You have to set trfc to 52-62 for 2x2GB of ram, and you also are going to need to manually add soem MCH core Voltage. 1.1 I think is your default, so try 1.2 and or 1.3

Hmmm ... not sure what exactly those mean, but obviously they're BIOS settings. I'll try out those settings when I get a moment.

Just wondering: why should those setting tweaks be necessary? Shouldn't the mem just work at stock settings?

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

If you still have issues Greg can likely tell you for sure if that ram has been tested in that board, Not so sure it has been but Mushkin makes great products that work superbly in P35 boards. >>>>
Mushkin Support Forums • Index page

That was my thinking as well. Mushkin is a reputable brand, so I'm surprised I'm having trouble with it.

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Have you tested each stick in a different system or yours by itself with Memtest86+ to be sure you did not geta DOA stick? It happens >>>
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

I tried testing each stick individually in Memtest, and they seemed fine. I also have booted the box with one stick or the other a few times, and similarly had no problems.

Plus, the fact that other people are reporting similar problems leads me to think the problem isn't my specific memory sticks. (Or specifically with Mushkin.)

[mmoeller]

Maybe a stupid question, but have you tried to increase your DRAM Voltage to 1.9V in BIOS? I don't know your RAM, but usually it is not dangerous to increase up to maybe 2.0V. So perhaps your RAM really needs 1.8V and with the voltage drop it might get only 1.75V if you set 1.8V (default) in the BIOS.

[darose]

Originally Posted by mmoeller

Maybe a stupid question, but have you tried to increase your DRAM Voltage to 1.9V in BIOS? I don't know your RAM, but usually it is not dangerous to increase up to maybe 2.0V. So perhaps your RAM really needs 1.8V and with the voltage drop it might get only 1.75V if you set 1.8V (default) in the BIOS.

I'll try that too. Thanks!


BTW - weird: I'm not getting email notifications about replies, even though I have my defaults and this thread set to notification type "instant email notification". Are the email notifications broken on the forum?

[Lsdmeasap]

Yes, I believe the Forum Notifications is broke

No, ram does not nor should not always "Just work" in many cases yes AUTO will work fine. But not in all. AUTO is for getting started really, after that all settings should be manually set unless you do not know what to set them at.

As for the suggestions I posted above, that is a given "Norm" for 2x2 sticks. And yes without doing those you may always have issues with 2x2. Auto may give to much or not enough of something.

And as suggested above you should also manually set your rams voltage. That Specific Model is ONLY warrantied up to 1.8V but like said above AUTO is likely giving you less. So you should set to 1.9V = +0.1V. You will be fine with .1 over even if it comes out to a full 1.9 as there is no way they can tell should it break. And some boards have a variance that they would consider anyway. And it is VERY unlikely that such low voltage would harm them anyway.

You will Always also have to add some MCH core for 2x2, you will just need to adjust and test to find out how much. But generally not much .1 or .2 will be fine likely

[darose]

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Yes, I believe the Forum Notifications is broke

No, ram does not nor should not always "Just work" in many cases yes AUTO will work fine. But not in all. AUTO is for getting started really, after that all settings should be manually set unless you do not know what to set them at.

As for the suggestions I posted above, that is a given "Norm" for 2x2 sticks. And yes without doing those you may always have issues with 2x2. Auto may give to much or not enough of something.

And as suggested above you should also manually set your rams voltage. That Specific Model is ONLY warrantied up to 1.8V but like said above AUTO is likely giving you less. So you should set to 1.9V = +0.1V. You will be fine with .1 over even if it comes out to a full 1.9 as there is no way they can tell should it break. And some boards have a variance that they would consider anyway. And it is VERY unlikely that such low voltage would harm them anyway.

You will Always also have to add some MCH core for 2x2, you will just need to adjust and test to find out how much. But generally not much .1 or .2 will be fine likely

Thanks much for the suggestions, Lsdmeasap. And yes, this appeared to solve the problem! (w00t!)

trfc was already set to 52. But bumping up the MCH voltage to 1.3 (1.2 was still unstable), along with bumping up the DRAM Voltage to 1.9 seems like it did the trick. After that, the board was able to boot (as dual channel), the mem was able to pass several full passes of memtest, and booted into windows fine afterwards. It's been running great ever since.

Glad that second stick won't go to waste! Can't thank you enough for the help! Much appreciated!!!

[Lsdmeasap]

Glad to see I could help you understand some things, and great to see you are all up and running smoothly now!

Post back anytime!