P5W DH Deluxe - Upgrade to 4GB = Lock/Crash in XP Pro

NightOps

NightOps

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 13, 2004
Messages
1,168
Here's the specs:
Asus P5W DH Deluxe w/ 2704 BIOS
Intel C2D 6420 @ 3.2Ghz
4x 1GB sticks of G.Skill HZ RAM
2x 36GB Raptors in RAID0
2x DVD+/-RW
Sapphire 4850 HD Radeon
Windows XP Pro SP3
RAM voltage is @ 2.0V right now
Timings: 4-4-4-12 @ 800Mhz

I've been running rock-solid stable for about 1 year now on 2x 1GB sticks. When I add the second set, I can get into Windows, but it locks shortly after (within 2 minutes) logging in. I've removed my original sticks and put the 2 new sticks in the original RAM slots, and it works fine. I've even alternated which sticks I'm using. It seems to center around when I have all 4 sticks in. I do not have any other RAM I can test with, and these 4 sticks have all passed (independently) MemTest without any issues ran for about 12 hours each.

I heard of a similar issue with some Corsair RAM, and they talked about raising the NBv and FSB VTT, but I'm not familiar with those, and would to hear from a few others about exactly what I should be pumping those up to.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Might be the board as this board is at least 2 years old now and just might not like the ram. Have you tried 2 sticks of 2gb DDR2??
 
Nope..don't have any around, and don't know of anyone local that has it.

What do you mean by "might not like the ram."? The board supports at least 1066Mhz, and I've had no problems with 2x 1GB sticks of the same RAM. Just curious, wanting to check all angles.
 
just a remark: why would you want to put 4 GB RAM in when XP can never work with 4GB RAM ? it *could* theoretically, but it never does, since a lot of hardware devices "reserve" a direct adress space in the RAM for faster access, thus reducing your total RAM.

you may wanna try with 3GB, as it will probably end up with the same results.

btw, i have the exact same board at home, for about 2 year, and i never had an issue with it. it's a good board :)
 
I'm looking at upgrading to Vista Ultimate or XP Pro x64, both of which support 4GB+. I may also dual-boot it as a hackint0sh, just for fun.

Yeah, I did notice that the mobo recognizes all 4096MB of it, but allocates 896MB, leaving me with 3200MB.
 
I have the same board but with 6gb of ram. 2x2 and 2x1gb

I have a hard time getting my OC to go pass 3.2ghz with all four slot full.
 
Maybe a voltage issue with all 4 slots? Is all the memory standard 1.8V stuff?
 
The G.Skill HZ sticks are for 2.0-2.1V. I've got them @ 2.0V right now.
 
Using four sticks of RAM puts a lot more load on the memory controller in the northbridge. I suggest you try jacking up the NB voltage and see if that helps with stability.
 
I recall reading a lot about that board having issues with 4 GB of ram when it was using all 4 slots. 2 x 2 gb was better.
 
im running all 4 slots with my oc just fine. im still using the 1704 bios since its been rock solid for me for years. hope it all works out for ya.
 
You might need to up the mem voltage with all 4 slots full. Or, at least, I needed to with a P5E-VM HDMI before I sold it.
 
i had ZERO problems running 4x1gb debranded adata sticks-you cant go cheaper tha THAT:D, at 1.8v .But i had to lower the memory speed to the 1:1 divider, i have even been able to work with tRD of 4 at CAS3, CAS 4 DDR2 800Mhz is simply not stable for me at 4x1gb,even with tRD of 5 but i can run CAS3 DDR2 800 tRD of 4 with 2 sticks. i dont believe that the P5W DH has any problem with 4x1gb besides the absolute need to work at lower speeds and sometimes looser timings.

Very few MOBO/memories combos are able to work 4 sticks at rated timings and speeds, some concessions must be made somewhere for the northbridge to be able to handle the stress.

As a first advice i recommend improved airflow over the northbridge, a common measure to enhance estability on the 975X chipset, and maybe restart OC with FSB at 333 Mhz and 1:1 divider until you find your limits. dont think that these memories need high voltage for DDR2 800Mhz operation.
 
AthlonXP said:
Might be the board as this board is at least 2 years old now and just might not like the ram. Have you tried 2 sticks of 2gb DDR2??
Click to expand...

I find it difficult to believe that a motherboard with four DIMM sockets will quibble when they are all in use. (Considering that this motherboard is normally intended for workstation/enthusiast use, that would make it even more unlikely.)

I have an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe (the workstation-class motherboard that your P5W-DH Deluxe replaced in ASUS' lineup card) and until recently I ran it in a mixed-DIMM configuration (two 512 MB and two 256 MB DIMMs, of different speeds). I'm currently running with a pair of 1 GB DIMMs; but I'm considering putting the 256 MB DIMMs back in (going to 2.5 GB) for headroom.
 
geok1ng said:
i had ZERO problems running 4x1gb debranded adata sticks-you cant go cheaper tha THAT:D, at 1.8v .But i had to lower the memory speed to the 1:1 divider, i have even been able to work with tRD of 4 at CAS3, CAS 4 DDR2 800Mhz is simply not stable for me at 4x1gb,even with tRD of 5 but i can run CAS3 DDR2 800 tRD of 4 with 2 sticks. i dont believe that the P5W DH has any problem with 4x1gb besides the absolute need to work at lower speeds and sometimes looser timings.

Very few MOBO/memories combos are able to work 4 sticks at rated timings and speeds, some concessions must be made somewhere for the northbridge to be able to handle the stress.

As a first advice i recommend improved airflow over the northbridge, a common measure to enhance estability on the 975X chipset, and maybe restart OC with FSB at 333 Mhz and 1:1 divider until you find your limits. dont think that these memories need high voltage for DDR2 800Mhz operation.
Click to expand...

True. When I ran a mixed-DIMM setup, though some was rated at DDR400 and some at DDR333, because I overclock the CPU and left the memory settings at audo, my RAM is undercranked (DDR266). It wasn't the mixed DIMMs, though (I'm now running two DDR400-rated Buffalo Select 1 GB DIMMs, and the memory is *still* undercranked at DDR266 (timings at DDR400 are 3-3-3-8)).
 
Hmm...I pumped up the FSB to 2.1V (max for this RAM, supposedly), and pumped NBv up to 1.4V (from Auto). Still locked in Windows. Am I missing something? Should I try to push NBv to 1.5V? What other settings should I try?
 
Did you check the new stick of Ram to see if they are bad?

Run Memtest test with each stick.
 
The ram frequency was too high for the motherboard - set it on 350 instead of 400 Mhz and it should work. Worked in my case.
 
Oddest thing... I could never get it to work. I'm not sure why 400Mhz would be too high..it worked with just 2 sticks in. The second I flip to 4 sticks (of EXACT same RAM), it crashes.

Then I switched to Vista Ultimate...and 0 problems. OS reports 4.00GB (3.2GB available to system...bummer...but not the end of the world).

Basically, problem was never solved in XP Pro, but at least it isn't a problem in Vista. however, I have a new problem. It seems that 3.0Ghz is my wall for my OC in Vista. I try to push 375Mhz to 400Mhz, and it just never boots.
 
Anyone have any further thoughts?
Vista x86 is fine @ 3.0Ghz. 375Mhz FSB, NBv set to Auto. Should I switch to 1.4/1.5????

Also...the memory remap function...should I leave it as disabled or enable it?
 
NightOps said:
Anyone have any further thoughts?
Vista x86 is fine @ 3.0Ghz. 375Mhz FSB, NBv set to Auto. Should I switch to 1.4/1.5????

Also...the memory remap function...should I leave it as disabled or enable it?
Click to expand...

Try disabling it and see if you can boot higher. Might need to bump your NBv.
 
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