EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

[Vcore]

I am having trouble getting my system stable using the dual channel ram on my EP45-DS3L motherboard. System is not overclocked.

In single channel 2x2G, have run Prime95 - blend (24Hrs) and RAM passes memtest (together and both individually). However in dual channel the system will freeze during normal use, about 5-15 mins in prime - blend and memtest.

BIOS setting of note is MCH core has to be set to 1.05V for system to be stable in single channel. Have tried voltages from 0.95 to 1.3 and no luck apart from 1.05. No voltage is stable for dual channel.

I have tried slots 1&3 and 2&4.

My RAM(both sticks) is Kingston KVR800D2N5/2G set in BIOS to 1.9 (BIOS indicates 1.85V)

Is not being able to raise my MCH core common? Will this affect my dual channel config? And will this prevent me from any overclocking in the future?

Any ideas?

Thanks :)

[profJim]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Some 2x2GB memory kits will only run with MCH Core = 1.05 volts.
Have you tried to get your system stable running with 667MHz memory speeds?
I've seen quite a few threads where value ram was the cause of the problems. The most probable causes are:

• Bios configuration errors
• Incompatible mobo/ram combination
• Faulty memory or motherboard.

Follow the recommendations in this post to get your system setup properly at stock settings. Do not skip any steps. We need a detailed list of your hardware list in your forum signature. If you continue to have problems, you will need to fill out the generic bios template for your mobo and post the settings, along with the screen-shot that is described in the post..
Have you loaded Optimized bios settings before making any bios changes?
Which bios version is your system running?
Are all of your components new?

Can you borrow another set of ram to test with?
This will help determine if your motherboard is faulty.
Your best bet will be to buy some moderate or higher quality ram for your system.
G.Skill and Crucial are very popular brands used by forum members.

Let us know you're progressing, we're here to help you.
Good luck!

**edit** You did a good job with your forum signature.

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

thanks for the response Jim.

System has been working fine until i recently added a 2nd RAM stick. I optimized the BIOS after adding ram, still unstable. I then flashed the BIOS (from F6 to F10) and optimized still unstable.

I have not tried to run my RAM at 667MHz, will give that a go.

First I will post my BIOS settings.

Not sure if I can borrow some RAM (might buy some non value RAM after more testing). Both sticks pass memtest86+ (>6Hrs)

Thanks again

:)

[Chike]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Have you tried each stick in the slot it will be used at alone?
Set Performance Enhance to standard, and see if you can set DRAM Voltage so that PC Health Status shows 1.9v.

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

I have tried each stick one at a time in slot one and system is stable. Chike are you suggesting that i install one stick in slot 3 and the others unpopulated?


<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CBrendan%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cms ohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:script; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} span.tftextlink {mso-style-name:tftextlink;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> My Bios Settings: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L rev 1 (BIOS F10); E7200 Core2Duo 2 <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9 X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: 0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.53GHz (266x9.5)

Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Disabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 266 MHz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: 100

Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 800mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: 0ps

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [Standard]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: [Auto]
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800 800
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................: 5 5
tRCD ...........................................: 5 5
tRP..............................................: 5 5
tRAS............................................: 18 15 << Have tried both 18 & 15, no change>>

Advanced Timing Control [Press Enter]
tRRD...........................................: 3 [Auto]
tWTR..........................................: 10 <o:p></o:p>
tWR............................................: 6 [Auto]
tRFC...........................................: 52 [Auto]
tRTP...........................................: 3 [Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) .............: 0

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................: 10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................: 0 [Auto]
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 5 [Auto]
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8 [Auto]
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............: [Auto]
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............: [Auto]

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................: 10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................: 0 [Auto]
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 5 [Auto]
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8 [Auto]
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............: [Auto]
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............: [Auto]<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>
PC Health Status<o:p></o:p>

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Currently PC Health indicates ~1.85 for DRAM Voltage, will raise to get 1.9V

Thanks

:)

[Chike]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

I have tried each stick one at a time in slot one and system is stable. Chike are you suggesting that i install one stick in slot 3 and the others unpopulated?

Exactly, preferrably the one you are going to put there, also you may try slots 2 & 4 in the same way.
It is not impossible that a slot is faulty and not the ram.

I see you have a very low VID too, these may be pushed to 3.8GHz :-)

[Psycho101]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Yep, an M0 stepping E7xxx should clock well, even with a higher VID.

I have an E7300 M0 on the way in the next few days, so we'll see....

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Thanks Chike, I intend to raise my DRAM Voltage for PC Health to indicate 1.9 V, then I will do further testing of slots 2 to 4 with a single stick of RAM. I will then try a lower RAM MHZ to 667 as profJim recommended.

With BIOS Vcore set to normal 1.05v, CPU-Z shows Core Voltage of 1.008v, is this to low for stock speed?

[Chike]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

With BIOS Vcore set to normal 1.05v, CPU-Z shows Core Voltage of 1.008v, is this to low for stock speed?

Nope, it is exactly what CPU-Z shows me at stock settings too.

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Will the MCH core of 1.05V effect any future overclocking?

And would any major performance difference between single channel RAM @800Mhz(2x2G) and dual channel @667Mhz(2x2G) be noticed?

[Sunburn74]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

MCh vcore is very important to overclocking especially with quads. Its not a perfectly linear thing, but in general you need a certain vcore in order to get high overclocks stable. Once you exceed about 440 fsb, your mch vcore needs to be in the 1.3 range but under 1.4.

You should also realize that sometimes mch ref and mch/dram ref, going up one degradation for both can bring amazing stability. There's a thread about how to set ref settings from easytune into the bios floating about. Its very useful.

[Vcore]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Have done some changes and testing.

Raised DRAM Voltage to 1.92V (PC Health now reads 1.9)

Tested Slots 3 and 4 with a single stick, both pass memtest86+ and Prime - Blend >2Hrs with optimized bios settings and MCH core @ 1.05V (MCH core @ 1.10V = system freeze)

Installed RAM in slots 1 and 3 optimized bios and applied settings posted earlier.

Started testing, failed Prime after 15 mins (system freeze) tried prime again system freeze after 5 mins :(

Left RAM in Dual Channel config and applied some further BIOS changes, main one being RAM speed to 667Mhz (266 x 2.5A). (Note I have also corrected/updated my current BIOS config.

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5 Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:script; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.tftextlink {mso-style-name:tftextlink;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> My Bios Settings: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L rev 1.0 (BIOS F10); E7200 Core2Duo 2 <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9 X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: 0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.53GHz (266x9.5)

Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Disabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 266 MHz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: 100

Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 800mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: 0ps

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [Standard]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: [Auto] <<< currently set to 2.5A>>>
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800 800 <<< currently reads 800 667>>>
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................: 5 5
tRCD ...........................................: 5 5
tRP..............................................: 5 5
tRAS............................................: 18 15

Advanced Timing Control [Press Enter]
tRRD...........................................: 3 [Auto]
tWTR...................3......................: 10 <o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p></o:p>
Motherboard


Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
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]<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>
PC Health Status<o:p></o:p>



Started testing again, ran memtest (1,2,4&5) all passed. Currently running prime - blend and stable, no system freeze, no errors after nearly 2hrs. I will continue to run, but considering i could only get prime to run for up to 15 mins previously in Dual Channel this current set up is getting better.


Many thanks for all the advice given :)


Still early in the test phase but seems system can only handle 667 Ram speed in Dual channel (800 in single) and a MCH core of 1.05v in single and dual channel. (Would this be the board the ram or the combo of the 2.....)



Any further advice on my BIOS settings would be appreciated.


(sunburn, I will also look for the mch ref thread)


Thanks




<o:p></o:p>

[Chike]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

Not a big deal, 667 should be fine at 266FSB, but timings are for 800 and can be improved, even by simply leaving them on auto.

Save a BIOS profile(F11 in BIOS main screen) you can reload in the future(F12).

I would still give DDR-800 another go with MCH Core 1.0v or 0.95v.

[profJim]

Re: EP45-DS3L Dual Ch. RAM Issue

It's good to see that you're making progress.

HPET Support…………………………………….: Enabled
HPET Mode………………………………….…….: 32-bit mode

According to my mobo user manual, HPET Support is ONLY available when running the Vista operating system.
I don't know if having HPET enabled under XP is causing your memory problems.

Chike's advice is right on the money.
If you don't want to o/c your cpu, but want to see how much higher your memory can run, there are several options:
281 FSB x 9.0 = 2.529 MHz (cpu) and 281 x 2.5 = 702 MHz (memory)
298 FSB x 8.5 = 2.533 MHz (cpu) and 298 x 2.5 = 745 MHz (memory)

There are more options available where you overclock your cpu slightly, and this will gradually raise your memory speeds.
Using your current 9.5 cpu multiplier, every 10MHz increase in CPU Host Frequency will:

• increase your cpu speed by 95MHz
• increase your memory speed by 25MHz (10 x 2.50 memory multiplier)

Naturally you will need to repeat your full stability tests at each step. Some minor voltage tweaks and possibly memory timings might have to be made, depending on how high you overclock.