Mem problems & Gigabyte motherboard.

[Bahadir]

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this problem before. In short, Windows XP will either blue screen, or randomly reboot the PC, whenever I stick in 2 matching pairs of RAM in TWO slots. I have tried 512MB pairs and 1GB pairs of Hynix RAM. If I down clock the RAM to 166MHz (instead of 200MHz), windows will be stable for a few more minutes. If I have one stick in ONE slot only, the system is rock stable.

I have put the 2 sticks on another board (SIS chipset) and the system is rock stable. My question is does it look like a motherboard problem? THe motherboard is a Gigabyte 8I848PL.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8I848P-L.htm

I have sent an email to Gigabyte 4 days ago, and they still havent replied.

Should I return the motherboard back to the shop where I purchased it from? Its almost 2 years old.

Bahadir.

 

[Deathlike2]

Is the memory double sided? If it is, it is more likely to have problems running @ 200MHz on certain mobos/cpus. If that isn't the case, you may want to raise the voltage on the memory. The default on most DDR is around 2.5 and 2.6, so you may want to raise it .1 volt more for stability reasons (.2 at most). You may also want to use Memtest86 to test the memory.

 

[Bahadir]

Yep, it is double sided. As far as I can tell, the manual states that you may put 2 double sided DIMMS in the memory slots and should work no problem.
I have tried memtest although one stick at a time (to save time), and they both came up ok.
I have also raised the voltage by 0.1V in the BIOS, and that helps it somewhat, but still BSODs are 5 minutes of idling.

 

[Deathlike2]

Well, I don't know what to tell you. Even though double sided RAM is OK according to the manual, single sided RAM doesn't give as many problems... you are better off using it in the other system if this mobo has problems.

 

[Altcon]

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this problem before. In short, Windows XP will either blue screen, or randomly reboot the PC, whenever I stick in 2 matching pairs of RAM in TWO slots. I have tried 512MB pairs and 1GB pairs of Hynix RAM. If I down clock the RAM to 166MHz (instead of 200MHz), windows will be stable for a few more minutes. If I have one stick in ONE slot only, the system is rock stable.

I have put the 2 sticks on another board (SIS chipset) and the system is rock stable. My question is does it look like a motherboard problem? THe motherboard is a Gigabyte 8I848PL.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8I848P-L.htm

I have sent an email to Gigabyte 4 days ago, and they still havent replied.

Should I return the motherboard back to the shop where I purchased it from? Its almost 2 years old.

Bahadir.

Basic steps:

1)update bios to latest revision
2)is it dual channel? if so try using both sticks in the same channel and see what happens
3)run memtest with each stick - then try combining in different slots
4)check the memory timings in the bios and try to run by speed (should be default setting)
5)check for bloated capacitators on the board

after you find the working combo (if there is one), then you're set.
If all the sticks are good and the mobo clearly supports dual sided ram- then you should call the shop, talk to their tech support and probably RMA it. Gigabyte boards come with a three year warranty AFAIK.

 

[Bahadir]

thanks for the replies.
Altcon,
1) I have updated the bios to the latest. Made no difference.
2)It is single channel only.
3)done that, no errors when I tried running on one slot at a time - running in 2nd slot or 3rd slot would not work.
4)Mem settings are set to default in BIOS. Set by SPD.
5)None are bad as far as I can tell but it does make a "chirping" or squeeling noise when the CPU is loaded on and off at 100%.

I have RMAed the board after taking it back to the shop. They agreed to send it back but its gonna take a couple of months to get it back