Questions w/Gigabyte 790FX-DQ6 and 4x 1GB

[Rammsteiner]

Hello all, my first post here:D.

Been reading a lot but Im a little desperate now. Rig is in my sig btw.

This mobo is doing pretty well however Im wondering if anyone has experience using 4x 1GB modules with this board? At first I had already problems to run it at stock speeds with rated Voltage, but only using 2 modules does work perfectly (tested each kit in different slots as well).

I specially bought this RAM because it has D9GMH IC's. I used 2x 2GB ReaperX before at 14x251, but I wanted 12x293 and the memory synced. However the Reaper's didnt want to so that's why I ordered the Axe's.

I know 4 modules give more stress etc on the memory controller however the need for more Voltage to run rated speeds is quite strange after all.

Still Ive no regret for buying this RAM because I can run the same speed with way better latencies. It went from 5-5-4-12-17 to 4-4-4-10-15 and Max Asynch Latency from 6ns to 4ns. But still I'd love to see the 293Mhz here. I didnt even test if there might be one module not able to run that speed because I first wanted to know if it's possible at all, and if it is so, are there any settings I might have missed which are actually crucial to run high speeds?

Any words on new BIOS's for this board which might increase the possibility or is this really more CPU limited?

Thx in advance all!

[kskjon]

I have a similar problem with the exact same motherboard. You wrote in another thread that your system will boot with 3 modules and that one of your slots are probably damaged.

I'm certain that all my slots are okay, but my system will only boot with one or two modules. Any more than two and it will fail to boot with a series of long beeps. It doesn't matter which two slots I use, and I have run memtest on all modules without any errors. I'm not sure if I should RMA the board or try other memory modules.

Edit: I have the Geil Black Dragon DDR2-800 quad channel kit (4x1GB) and tried both the F3 and F4b bios

[Rammsteiner]

Strange. Well, I can boot up with 4 DIMMs however it just BSOD'd within minutes. Im going to RMA it but first I got to wait for the new mobo which will be here tomorrow.

Though my problem mainly is physical damage (where as it's still strange because with the ReaperX's it did work and with normal sized ones it doesnt).

If I get a RMA Im happy, otherwise well, crap. The board isnt dead, just one DIMM slot.

[kskjon]

Here's what I've tried:

I tried *all* combinations of memory modules and slots, and they all work 100% stable at stock speeds but won't boot with more than two modules at the same time. Three or four modules are no go. Which two modules or which two slots doesn't matter at all.

I'm thinking there may be an incompatibility between the board/bios and the modules, and I've tried contacting Gigabyte support, but haven't heard from them yet.

I'm tempted at getting 4 modules of another brand to see if that cures the problem.

[Rammsteiner]

What sort of BIOS settings for RAM timings did you try? Because using auto isnt always using 'save' values for stability. SPD's are read/programmed wrong.

Try this:
tRFC of 127.5
tRAS of 15
tRC of 20
Command Rate of 2T

Other subtimings around 5 (try Memset to see if you get them tighter and then adjust them after in BIOS). And the primary timings as tCL, tRTC and tRP as your RAM specifies.

[kskjon]

According to my bios, the settings are:

CAS# 5
1T/2T -
TwTr 3T
Trfc 105ns
WRT 6T
PrT 4T
RCT 24T
RtCRW 5T
RtCD 3T
RPT 5T
RAT 18T

and that's also what the SPD says.

I tried setting Trfc to 127.5ms, but that didn't help. It had also reset itself back to 105ns after taking out the modules again, so I'm not sure if the BIOS remembers the settings after a hardware change, or if it resets itself just because it fails boot.

[Cieben]

I love my Gigabyte 790. I think your problem is memory compatability.
My Geil C3s will not work on this board. Bummer. I then bought 4 sticks 1gig of Corsair C4. It's cheaper memory but they work perfectly.

[Spookie]

2x2GB -> trfc -> 192 ns
41GB -> trfc -> 127 ns

MAL -> 7
tRC -> 21 or more

My setting:


mb: DFi Inf Am2 nF4 Sli

http://spookie.lancut.org/pc_hardware/ram/a-data_800/1111cl4-217-4gb.JPG

http://spookie.lancut.org/pc_hardware/ram/a-data_800/foto/calosc_f1.JPG

[kskjon]

I love my Gigabyte 790. I think your problem is memory compatability.
My Geil C3s will not work on this board. Bummer. I then bought 4 sticks 1gig of Corsair C4. It's cheaper memory but they work perfectly.

That's what I suspect as well. I'm thinking of getting some 1066-modules to see if I can get 4x1GB with that. If that works, then all is well, and I can probably sell my old chips to someone else. They seem to work perfectly, just not on this board.

[Cieben]

Kskjon
The Gigabyte web site recommends Kingston only at 1066.
The Corsair they recommend, only runs 2 gig.

[kskjon]

I got a response from Gigabyte this weekend:



Hi,
When running more than one memory the operation depends alot on the individual memory modules used - not all 4 memories can work together. Switching the order of the memories might help. Also note that some memories need more than the standard 1.8V (for DDR2). Check the voltage requirements of your memories and adjust the "DDR2 Voltage Control" setting under M.I.T. in BIOS accordingly. Setting the wrong voltage might damage the memory so check the specifications of the memories before making any changes.

Please note that you need to press CTRL+F1 on the main BIOS menu to see all advanced options.


Best regards,

I've tried upping the memory voltage in increments up to 2.0V and even tried upping the cpu voltage by 0.05V and neither worked at all.

I'll probably try a set of Kingston HyperX-chips once my next pay cheque arrives.

[Rammsteiner]

I got a new board and Im running 4x1GB 251Mhz 4-4-4-12-17-2T, MAL 4ns and tRFC 75ns.

[kskjon]

This is weird. According to memset, one dimm slot is set to 105ns and the other three (only one of them in use) is set to 75ms. BIOS reports 105ms on all.

I don't know if this is a memset bug or a bios bug though.
It could perhaps explain my problems (if they indeed default to 75ns).

Edit: I tried setting the timings manually in bios, and memset now says 105ns for all, so it may actually be a bios bug.

Edit2: I tried manually setting all to 127ns again but still no boot.