GA-EG45M-DS2H with 8GB PC2-6400?

[Mawak]

Hi all,

I am just new to this forum; finally found this with references on the Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H motherboard!
I have a problem with installing memory on it. Let me tell you what I did:

A few weeks ago I assembled a new PC to be used as a server, based on the following:
MB: Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H
Proc: Intel Q8200
PSU: Antec 380W Earthwatts 80 Plus
Harddisk: 2x Samsung Spinpoint 1TB in Raid-1
Video: Integrated G45

Initially I had 4G RAM installed (2x2GB): Kingston ValueRAM KVR800D2E5K2/4G. After some time I experienced spontaneous Reboots, BSOD and Video freezing with artefacts on the screen. Some testing pointed to the RAM. When I removed one module of RAM the PC became stable, so I thougth at the moment this Kingston RAM was bad.
So I got me some other RAM with comparable specs: OCZ Gold OCZ2G8004GK. Again 2x 2GB.
After installing these 2 Banks the PC was instable again! This could not be a coincidence. So I disassembled the PC and reassembled. After some extensive testing with memtest, Orthos and Everest the PC seemed stable again with either the OCZ OR the Kingston RAM. After all the Ram was just fine. So you might wonder by now what's the problem?

Since I bought the extra RAM I wanted to use it for this Server system on which I had installed Windows Server 2008 64-bit.
Inserting both the 4GB Kingston and the 4GB OCZ did not boot my system anymore. I cannot even get into the BIOS. Removing either 4G restores the stable situation again.

But I want to use the full 8GB while I have it now !
I read in the specs that the MB supports up to 16GB, so that should be no problem. Note that the 2x4GB are both PC2-6400 (800Mhz) DDR2, albeit from different brands.
I have the F2 version BIOS at the moment. I Noticed that the newer version on the Gigabyte site F3 has "Enhanced memory compatibility."
Does this solve my startup problem with 8GB? I am a bit scary to flash my BIOS. If its not necessary I'd rather leave it alone.

Does anyone have experience with 8Gig on this MB?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EG45M-DS2H with 8GB PC2-6400?

Well for starters you should not mix sets of ram as they have different chips in them, and would need different timings and voltages.

What I can suggest that you possibly did not try is this. For 4GB or more you need to add MCH Voltage if your BIOS offers this, if not you may be in trouble. You will also need to manually set tRFC (Refresh to Act Delay) to 52-62 for 4GB, 54-68 for 8GB.

And I would also be setting Performance Enhance on Standard as well.

I am not so sure if that PSU Will be able to handle a quad and 4-8GB of ram, had you thought of this? Just wondering as it seems a bit small

[Mawak]

Re: GA-EG45M-DS2H with 8GB PC2-6400?

Thanks Lsdmeasap!
I will try your suggestions on the MCH voltage and the tRFC as soon as I can. In the meantime I am running this server with
- the Kingston 2 x 2GB modules (PC2-6400)
- Crucial 2 x 1GB modules (PC2-5300)

In total 6GB. Against your instruction of different brands and speeds, although this seems stable now. Maybe with the standard settings this is just about the max that it can take...

About the PSU, I did consider the 380W as being a little poor, but on the other hand I have no Graphics card since I use the internal on board G45 video. This machine will be just a server, not a game machine. I did some calculations on this and 380W should be enough.

Thanks anyway for thinking along and I will be back with my findings!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EG45M-DS2H with 8GB PC2-6400?

If you start having issues I would be thinking of getting rid of one of the sets, if you need more then 4GB then you should at least get the same brand and timings/speed/voltages for best chance of them working together.

Ya, let me know how you get along with the above suggestions, they should help

[LCP]

Re: GA-EG45M-DS2H with 8GB PC2-6400?

Stupid question... are your RAMs installed in such a way: one type in slots 1 & 3 (the yellow slots), and the other type in slots 2 & 4? Then it should be okay, in theory at least when it comes to dual-channel configuration.

Try bumping up the RAM voltage also, and set the timings for all to match the slowest RAM.

F3 and F4 BIOS have improved and more flexible memory timing controls. Maybe it will help you solve your problems.