4x1gb with Asus P5WDH

A

asmielia

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 10, 2003
Messages
337
Hi,
there have been some great deals on 2x1gb kits all around, so I decided to pick one up to add to my existing 2x1gb in my Asus P5WDH-Deluxe.

The original kit is OCZ Gold PC6400 5-5-5-12
The new kit is OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 PC6400 4-4-4-15

The problem is I can't get any stability out of the system at all with all 4 sticks. Each pair on its own works just fine at the rated speed. As soon as I put the 4 together, I have serious trouble getting into windows and any memory test fails instantly. My system is overclocked, but the ram runs at a 3:2 divider, meaning it should be running stock.

I've tried voltages from 1.8-2.2, MCH voltages 1.55 and 1.65, it doesn't seem to make any difference. Also, it seems that either the motherboard or the RAM doesn't like manual timings, cause as soon as I try manual timings, even with 2 sticks, the system won't even POST. I can downclock the RAM to DDR2-600, and it gives the system more stability, I can get into windows and it seems to be ok. But if fails the memtest within about 3 seconds, so it's definitely not stable enough.

Is this a joke? I can't believe a high end motherboard from a year ago still has trouble with 4 sticks of ram. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
almost all motherboards have issues with 4 sticks in, it's just how severe that varies from chipset to chipset. try dropping the memory ratio down another step, it should stabilize ;)
 
I did some more tests and it seems like if I run my FSB at stock, then the RAM runs fine at DDR2-800. It's only when I overclock that the motherboard gets unstable and then has issues with 4 sticks. That's disappointing. And I can't drop the RAM speed anymore. DDR2-600 is as low as it goes when the FSB is set to 400. And it's not stable at that speed. So looks like I have no choice but to move to 2x2gb.

I did a search on here beforehand and it seemed pretty unanimous that people were saying 4x1gb was fine on most motherboards. I guess when overclocking by 50%, it puts a lot more stress on the motherboard.
 
yeah, at stock, most motherboards should be fine. overclocking though, you have to tweak the memory a lot more to remain stable. just push it a little bit at a time until you've got it stable where you had it before, it shouldn't be impossible. ;)
 
I've got a P5WDH / [email protected] rock solid with 2x1GB OCZ Platinum 800 PC6400 Rev 2 sticks.

Well I added 2 more 1GB sticks of the exact same stuff this last weekend prepping for x64 Vista. It totally Eff'd up my OC. I'm BARELY stable now @ 3.2GHz. I spent 4 hours tweaking ram timings VDIMM, MCH voltages etc. No go. IF it sticks at 3.2GHz, I'll be ok (I ran 1hr of Orthos - need to run 12 hours).

Problem is I REALLY don't wanna fork for 2x2GB sticks when the next DDR3 stuff is coming out in force. I'll never do 4 sticks again though. SUCKS.
 
I've noticed the same issue on my brothers P5WDH. Two sticks run fine at 400x8 but when i put all four in I have to drop it to 356x9(still 1:1). It simply will not go any higher. The new P35 and X38 boards are much-much better at running four sticks.Maybe that is a cheaper option than getting 2x2GB sticks?
 
4 x 1GB completely killed my OC on my Gigabyte and is barely stable at stock. Not giving up 14GHz of CPU speed for 2GB of ram. In the drawer they go.
 
Brahmzy said:
Is this a fact? I'd be real tempted to swap my P5W with a P5K DLX if it were...
Click to expand...


Most definitely! The same cpu and ram runs just fine on my P5K well over 400fsb but has no chance on the P5W. I'm also now running four sticks and quad core at 460fsb(1:1) with absolutely no issues. They might not be any faster than the older chipsets but they have definitely improved
 
DrNick said:
Most definitely! The same cpu and ram runs just fine on my P5K well over 400fsb but has no chance on the P5W. I'm also now running four sticks and quad core at 460fsb(1:1) with absolutely no issues. They might not be any faster than the older chipsets but they have definitely improved
Click to expand...

Oh no. I smell a motherboard purchase coming up for me very soon. Have you experienced and weirdness with the ICH9R, or is that just on the P5K Premium mobos?
 
haha, its a good option compared to buying 2GB sticks and you could sell it to make up some of the money. Its still a great board after all;) I have not had any issues with it but I have read of people having issues with pata drives. I only use sata drives for everything and haven't had any troubles.
 
This thread has made want to tinker with my bros pc again and its currently running prime at 400x8 and its going strong!! I flashed to the latest 2302 bios and have found something very interesting. It seems that when I set the pci and pcie to 33 and 100MHz respectively it will not run at 400fsb with four sticks of ram. However, setting these two to Auto have allowed the board to run at 400fsb with the mem in 1:1 mode and it seems rock solid!! I also set HyperPath to Auto while I was in there. Could you guys try this out? Its very weird but its been on Prime for about two hours now. I'm going to let it run overnight and see how things are in the morning.

Edit- Leave the ram timings on Auto of course and it only seems to work in 1:1 mode. Running the ram slower or faster than the fsb is still a no go
 
DrNick said:
This thread has made want to tinker with my bros pc again and its currently running prime at 400x8 and its going strong!! I flashed to the latest 2302 bios and have found something very interesting. It seems that when I set the pci and pcie to 33 and 100MHz respectively it will not run at 400fsb with four sticks of ram. However, setting these two to Auto have allowed the board to run at 400fsb with the mem in 1:1 mode and it seems rock solid!! I also set HyperPath to Auto while I was in there. Could you guys try this out? Its very weird but its been on Prime for about two hours now. I'm going to let it run overnight and see how things are in the morning.

Edit- Leave the ram timings on Auto of course and it only seems to work in 1:1 mode. Running the ram slower or faster than the fsb is still a no go
Click to expand...

I will try this - I JUST flashed to 2302 as well and have not had time to tweak anything. I've always had PCI @ 33 and PCIE @ 102 - I will try them both @ AUTO and report back here. Somebody on XS said simply flashing to 2302 helped his 4x1 OC out quite a bit - that might be what you're seeing as well.
 
That would make sense but its still a no go when pci/pcie are not on auto. Also a no go if the ram is not 1:1. It had no problems running prime overnight @400x8 so I think im going to leave it like this for him. I'm pretty happy with it now
 
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