Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

[dylan0451]

I've bought 2x2gb of this:

Scan Computers UK: 2GB Dane-Elec Celenade Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 6, Retail

yea, i know it's rubbish but there... anyway, it's PC-6400 and rated cas6.

system runs absolutely fine, boots to windows, install programs etc. haven't tried games yet though.

all 4gb is there + recognised by the bios + cpu-z

problem is that occt + orthos either crash or find an error within the first couple of minutes of being run on memory intensive tests - cpu only is fine.

current bios settings are as below,

Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [9]
Fine CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [0.5]
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [400]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00]
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]

Performance Enhance = [Standard]

CAS Latency Time________________ 5
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay_________ 5
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_______5
Precharge Delay (tRAS)__________ 18
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3 [auto]
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 3 [auto]
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 6 [auto]
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 62
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3 [auto]
Static tRead Value_______________ 8 [auto]
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 0 [auto]

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.1V]
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.2V]
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.33750V]

Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Disabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]

other than the standard settings i.e. 5-5-5-18 and 6-6-6-18 and changing 'refresh to act delay' between 52-62 thats all i've tried from stock apart from voltage changes as i'm not quite sure what the ranges should be.

am just going to see if its more stable at a slightly lower fsb, but i'd be grateful if someone could shed some light!

i'm guessing since this was such cheap ram, there's some setting i may need to relax?

cheers for the replies...

[VorLonUK]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

I've bought 2x2gb of this:

Scan Computers UK: 2GB Dane-Elec Celenade Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 6, Retail

yea, i know it's rubbish but there... anyway, it's PC-6400 and rated cas6.

system runs absolutely fine, boots to windows, install programs etc. haven't tried games yet though.

all 4gb is there + recognised by the bios + cpu-z

problem is that occt + orthos either crash or find an error within the first couple of minutes of being run on memory intensive tests - cpu only is fine.

current bios settings are as below,

Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [9]
Fine CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [0.5]
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [400]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00]
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]

Performance Enhance = [Standard]

CAS Latency Time________________ 5
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay_________ 5
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_______5
Precharge Delay (tRAS)__________ 18
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3 [auto]
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 3 [auto]
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 6 [auto]
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 62
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3 [auto]
Static tRead Value_______________ 8 [auto]
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 0 [auto]

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.1V]
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.2V]
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.33750V]

Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Disabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]

other than the standard settings i.e. 5-5-5-18 and 6-6-6-18 and changing 'refresh to act delay' between 52-62 thats all i've tried from stock apart from voltage changes as i'm not quite sure what the ranges should be.

am just going to see if its more stable at a slightly lower fsb, but i'd be grateful if someone could shed some light!

i'm guessing since this was such cheap ram, there's some setting i may need to relax?

cheers for the replies...

With "orthos" or Prime95 etc you are stressing the whole PC as such. Have you tried Memtest just to see how the RAM is behaving moreso on its own?

[dylan0451]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

i must sort memtest out and find something to boot it onto...

system sems more stable at a slightly reduced fsb of 390, but that still leaves me scratching my head as to why!

is there a later version of memtest?

[arctia]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

I may be wrong, but if your RAM says CAS 6, shouldn't you change CAS Latency to 6 instead of 5?

[VorLonUK]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

I've just done a double take at your setup.

You don't say what CPU you are using, yet you are using a 400Mhz Cpu host Freq and a multiplier of 9.
That Could suggest you are already overclocking your sytem to 3.6Ghz!

It should be at 266Mhz for a 1066Mhz FSB CPU
or 333Mhz for a 1333Mhz FSB CPU
for Intel Cpu's that is.

I'm starting to think you may have overclocked your setup from the outset. Can you post your specs, ie Motherboard and CPU, so we can see exactly whats going on.

If you were say using an Intel E8400 (3Ghz) CPU with a 1333Mhz FSB, your setup should be:-

CPU Host Freq = 333
CPU clock ratio = 9 ie (9 x333.xx = 3000Mhz aka 3Ghz)
System memory multiplier = 2.40 ie (2.4 x 333.xx = 800mhz aka your DDR rate)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

Ya, Newest Memset is here >>>
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

If you are using a P35 or later board you HAVE to use the above 2.01 version, older versions are not compatible

Test your ram one stick at a time at stock timings, speed, and voltages before you do anything you could have gotten DOA stick.

Then if it passes try your settings again with all ram in, and test with memtest so you are sure it is the ram and not your CPU or other settings

Full specs would help alot as well

[dylan0451]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

hey there guys,

the board is a p35/ds3l with the f8 bios

processor is an E7200 9.5 multi

as said above, yes i have overclocked the system, its at about 3.7ghz @ 390 fsb ram divider is set at 1:1 so the ram is slightly underclocked hence why i've tightened the timings from cas 6 down to 5

cpu-z timings table reports ram timings as 3-3-3-9 @200fsb, 4-4-4-12@266fsb and 5-5-5-18@400fsb

thats what made me wonder if the 'cas6' was a manufacturers typo or something?!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

Could be, since the SPD says 555-18. That is the JEDEC specified amount that DDR2 must meet at 1.8V

So it should do 555-15 or better at 1.9V. Could have been a typo, or they just know it is a little unstable at CAS5

[VorLonUK]

Re: Help! - trouble with cheap ram (surprised?)

hey there guys,

the board is a p35/ds3l with the f8 bios

processor is an E7200 9.5 multi

as said above, yes i have overclocked the system, its at about 3.7ghz @ 390 fsb ram divider is set at 1:1 so the ram is slightly underclocked hence why i've tightened the timings from cas 6 down to 5

cpu-z timings table reports ram timings as 3-3-3-9 @200fsb, 4-4-4-12@266fsb and 5-5-5-18@400fsb

thats what made me wonder if the 'cas6' was a manufacturers typo or something?!

I couldn't find anything in the post in regard to Overclocking - so i assumed you were having problems at setting up cheap memory at stock.