Faulty RAM slot? GA-MA790X-UD4P

[Bluerob]

When I build this machine it only had 2 RAM modules, each module is a 2GB for a total of 4 GBs, and the system was rock stable. A couple of days ago bought another pair of RAM sticks (same brand, model, specs, etc) installed them and problems started, I thought, Oh well one of the new sticks of RAM is faulty (wont be the first time) but to my surprise after checking each RAM stick all of them seem OK. After different test I got to the conclusion that the culprit is not the RAM itself but the slot 4 on my MOBO.

I search the forum for similar problems but could not find any solution that applies. Hopefully some one can help me resolve this matter.

The SPECS:

MOBO GA-MA790X-UD4P
BIOS F7
PHENOM 940
750W PSU
OCZ DDR2 PC2 8500 2GB (4)
WIN7 OS

Thanks in advance.

Rob.

[Pottypete]

Hi,
Is your win 7 32bit or 64 bit edition?
If it is the 32bit edition it will only see 4g maximum due to windows limitation!
If it is the 64 bit Have you set the memory in the bios?
A little bit more voltage on the memory may be required for 4 slots usage,
F9a bios update is available here,.http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=3038
Cheers

[R_N_B]

Sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your new ram - could you expand as to what the problem actually is please. I am assuming that you are having the odd BSOD thing going on. But you know what they say about assumption being the mother of all "$£%$""@       So a bit more information might make the solution that much quicker to emerge.

[Bluerob]

Hi,
Is your win 7 32bit or 64 bit edition?
If it is the 32bit edition it will only see 4g maximum due to windows limitation!
If it is the 64 bit Have you set the memory in the bios?
A little bit more voltage on the memory may be required for 4 slots usage,
F9a bios update is available here,.http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=3038
Cheers

Thanks Pete for the quick reply. My OS is 64 bit so its should handle the RAM nicely.
I was going to answer yes to the question about setting the RAm correctly in the BIOS, but for some reason I`m doing something wrong. The manual settings that I manually established were  2.0 volts, a multiplier of 5.33x if I remember correct, that leads to a 1066mhz, and the 7,7,20 timings.
For some reason this settings were causing the problems. I set everything to AUTO on the BIOS and according to Windows Memory Diagnostic tool everything is fine now.
So the system should be stable now, tho I`m not sure how the AUTO settings ended up adjusting the RAM.  CPUZ definitely is not giving the accurate readings.

[Bluerob]

Sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your new ram - could you expand as to what the problem actually is please. I am assuming that you are having the odd BSOD thing going on. But you know what they say about assumption being the mother of all "$£%$""@       So a bit more information might make the solution that much quicker to emerge.

Thanks RNB, you hit right on the nail....occasional BSOD`s is correct. And for me and for sure as for the rest of the people around this kind of forums is very frustrating to build a new rig and have awkward glitches all around.

I discovered 2 things so far. The manual RAM settings on the BIOS were causing (apparently) the issues. I`m running on AUTO setting at the moment and according to the memory diag. tool, the system is stable.....we`ll see if I`m BSOD free user

On the other hand I`m unsure if AUTO is the best way to go...my CPUZ does not give accurate readings on the matter and AMD Overdrive does not work since I moved to Win 7.

Any tricks or settings you might recommend?

Thanks.

[R_N_B]

Look CPU-z is accurate depending on what version you are using. Download a very handy application that Felix wrote called Memset. http://www.tweakers.fr/download/MemSet41.zip that will certainly give you an accurate picture of what your ram is doing. You will be able to set your timings in windows to test. Once you do have your optimal settings then go back to the bios and set them there.

[Bluerob]

Look CPU-z is accurate depending on what version you are using. Download a very handy application that Felix wrote called Memset. http://www.tweakers.fr/download/MemSet41.zip that will certainly give you an accurate picture of what your ram is doing. You will be able to set your timings in windows to test. Once you do have your optimal settings then go back to the bios and set them there.

Thanks again RNB...I`ll check that Memset