Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

[Bopper]

Heya. I have a Q9450 processor 2.66ghz on a Gigabyte GA-X48 DQ6 motherboard. I am currently having trouble with my memory, which is a Mushkin Redline 2*2 GB XP2-8000 (2.1v 5-5-5-15).

Currently I am only able to successfully run memtest86 only if I have:

One stick of normally clocked RAM (which it reports as 800mhz and not 1000mhz)

or

Two sticks of underclocked RAM (at 667mhz instead of the 800 that the BIOS has on auto)

I have checked both memory cards and they work fine individually, but I am unable to get them to run at even their own clock speeds. I have tried changing voltages and nothing seems to work.

The only way to run two sticks at once is to lower the speed of them to 667 mhz. I consulted Mushkin technical support and said I should get a new pair of cards. I am just wondering why BOTH failed to reach their designated clock speeds seperately and only work underclocked when put together.

I am also wondering why my BIOS shows them as 800mhz sticks when they are supposed to be 1000mhz. I will try and get another pair of memory sticks tomorrow and see if the problem is still there. I have tried putting them in different ddr2 slots as well.

[wayout44]

Re: Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

Gigabyte has a bad record with memory/mainboard settings and certainly with a few makes of memory (no other brand mainboard that I use has these days has these wierd probs) but I stopped using Gigabyte mainboards 4yrs ago because of these stupid probs when no other brand has them.

I'm still plagued by their mainboards as I'm a PC builder/repairer and still have to recover them from really stupid probs (I'm very glad that ASUS never went thru with their amaligmation with Gigabyte as I prefer to use ASUS these last few yrs).

[Bopper]

Re: Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

I returned the Mushkin memory and got 2 X 2GB A-Data PC-6400 sticks and still have the same problem. 1 stick works but as soon as I try two I get memtest86 freezes. So as I feared the problem seems to be with the mainboard.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

Mushkin is one of the BEST ram to use with GA boards, and is my personal brand of choice, and what I often suggest others to buy themselves!!

I would suspect you just didnt ever have enough MCH, or settings properly set.

For 2x2GB sets you need to set "Refresh To Act Delay" to at least 52-62, and you need to set your MCH voltages to >>>
+0.10V - +0.125V - +0.150V

And of course you need to manually set the DDR2 Ram voltages to 2.0-2.1V which I would suggest starting with 2.1V. Which is +0.3. You will also need to manually set your FSB/Memory Multiplier to somewhere you can pick 1000 as a choice for your ram multi


As for the speed of 1000.... ALL 1000 or 1066 ram is just 800Mhz ram tested to overclock and be stable at 1000/1066. The user MUST manually set the speed and memory multiplier to use these values

[Bopper]

Re: Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

It turns out the problem wasn't the memory but rather my crossfire config that was causing the crashes. One 4870 card works fine but as soon as I plug in the second windows will freeze a few minutes in. I do not even have to have crossfire turned on for it to freeze. I have a 1000W PSU so I doubt it is that but rather an incompatibility with the gigabyte mainboard.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Trouble with mushkin memory on X48-DQ6

Have you tested each card by itself to be sure one is not DOA?