RAM issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter stupar
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stupar

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Wonder if anyone can help me.

I have a gigabyte mobo with 4GB ram installed in dual channel (2x2gb)
Sometimes it will boot with the full RAM, other times it will beep at me on boot.

When it beeps, if I shut down and remove a stick of RAM it will reboot on 2Gb.

Is there a way to solve this?

The machine is running XP 32 bit so should accept 4GB even though it will only recognise 3.2Gb.

I have done a BIOS update to cover memory compatibility but to no avail.
Now starting to pull my hair out.
 
Memtest is a good way to test.

Gigabyte motherboards usually allow for overclocking, not sure if you are but it might be worth checking the rated voltage on the RAM sticks and seeing that the BIOS is set to give the same voltage. Some motherboards undervolt the RAM by default.

Of course, it could be a defective stick
 
Olly_K said:
Memtest is a good way to test.

Gigabyte motherboards usually allow for overclocking, not sure if you are but it might be worth checking the rated voltage on the RAM sticks and seeing that the BIOS is set to give the same voltage. Some motherboards undervolt the RAM by default.

Of course, it could be a defective stick
Click to expand...

I can switch the ram sticks about running them as separate 2gb setups and they work fine.
The BIOS was set at 1.8V for the RAM. I did step it up to 2.0V but it made no difference.
I can only think that the make of RAM I have is not compatible with the mobo, however saying that I would expect none of it to work if that was the case.
 
yeah...seems like they dont want to run in dual channel mode.

I take it you've got 4 DIMM sockets ? Have you tried different combinations ?

DIMMs 1 and 3, 2 and 4 will run them in dual channel mode, DIMMs 1 and 2, 3 and 4 will run them in single channel mode.

Would also be good to see what CPU/socket you're running. Intel i3/i5/i7 have the memory controller on the CPU which can cause issues with ram too
 
Olly_K said:
yeah...seems like they dont want to run in dual channel mode.

I take it you've got 4 DIMM sockets ? Have you tried different combinations ?

DIMMs 1 and 3, 2 and 4 will run them in dual channel mode, DIMMs 1 and 2, 3 and 4 will run them in single channel mode.

Would also be good to see what CPU/socket you're running. Intel i3/i5/i7 have the memory controller on the CPU which can cause issues with ram too
Click to expand...

I have 4 dimm sockets but 2 are DDR2 and 2 are DDR3
I had the RAM in slots 1 and 3 for dual channel mode.

CPU is Intel quad core Q8300 2.5Ghz in a 775 socket
 
it may well be one of the DIMM sockets then...if possible, can you check to see there's no dirt on the connectors of the DIMM socket ?

Im guessing both sticks work in one socket then and neither work in the other ?
 
Olly_K said:
it may well be one of the DIMM sockets then...if possible, can you check to see there's no dirt on the connectors of the DIMM socket ?

Im guessing both sticks work in one socket then and neither work in the other ?
Click to expand...

Checked that and there doesn't appear to be anything obvious.
Both sticks work independently in either DDR2 slot.

Seriously baffling this one!
 
Right, that makes more sense....is the RAM a matched pair ? Did you buy them together as such ?

It could be that one is rated for a lower speed/latency than the other, which is why it won't boot, but normally un-matched DIMMS run at the lowest speed of the lowest DIMM.

But yeah, its a puzzler !
 
Yep bought them as matched pair.

The brand is Hypertec. Not normally a brand I go for and not a well known one. I normally buy kingston or corsair but they were out of stock when I purchased my RAM.

Oh well, it works on 2gb albeit single channel which is better than nothing at all.

Thanks for your help!
 
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