Memory Problems With My ASUS Motherboard

[kflo01]

I have a ASUS M3A76-CM Motherboard with a AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 940 Processor on board.

I have been running 8 GIG's of ram for a few years then about 4 months ago when booting and sometimes within 5 minutes or so of logging into my pc I would get the blue screen of death. If it made it past the first 5 or so minutes it was rock solid. Anyhow it comes to find out I was having memory issues.

So I took all the ram out and put them back in 1 by 1 I had 4 total chips of ram. Once I got to 4 gigs it was fine but at 6 gig's (3 chips) it would freeze up at the windows logo when booting and it would not post at all, no needs no screen, nothing! if I put ram in all 4 slots.
Thinking some of the memory was bad I purchased new 2 new sticks. It doesnt matter what combo of the memory I use in what slots. Once I try to go over 4 gigs it will not work.

The memory I am using is all the same brand SUPER TALENT STT DDR2-800 PC6400 2G/128x8 CL6

Any ideas? Is my motherboard going bad? Is there something I can configure within the BIOS to fix this? I did update to the latest BIOS and still get the problem.
My system was running sweet at 8 GIGs now at 4 it making gaming near impossible.

OS is Windows 7 Pro 64 bit video card is ATI Radeon HD 4850

Full system specs below if needed:

Host name: BESTRIGV3
IP-address: 192.168.1.7
User name: BESTRIGV3\Kenny
Description:
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (version 6.1.7600; build 7600)
Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Version: 6.1.7600
Build: 7600
Install date: 12/30/2011 4:22:12 PM
Windows product ID: 00371-839-2050806-85431
Model: System Product Name
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. (version: 0705; date: 5/19/2009)
Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 0705
Date: 5/19/2009
Serial number: System Serial Number
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. (M3A76-CM; version: Rev X.0x)
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Product: M3A76-CM
Version: Rev X.0x
Chassis: Desktop
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 940 Processor (architecture: x64; 3000 MHz)
Name: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 940 Processor
Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
Max clock speed: 3000 MHz
Architecture: x64
Level 2 cache size: 2048 KB
Socket type: AM2
Version: Model 4, Stepping 2
Physical memory: 8.0 GB
Memory slot: 2.0 GB (BANK0; form factor: DIMM; memory type: DDR-2)
Capacity: 2.0 GB
Device locator: DIMM0
Bank label: BANK0
Form factor: DIMM
Memory type: DDR-2
Manufacturer: Manufacturer0
Speed: 800 ns
Max capacity: 8.0 GB
Memory slot: 2.0 GB (BANK1; form factor: DIMM; memory type: DDR-2)
Capacity: 2.0 GB
Device locator: DIMM1
Bank label: BANK1
Form factor: DIMM
Memory type: DDR-2
Manufacturer: Manufacturer1
Speed: 800 ns
Max capacity: 8.0 GB
Memory slot: 2.0 GB (BANK2; form factor: DIMM; memory type: DDR-2)
Capacity: 2.0 GB
Device locator: DIMM2
Bank label: BANK2
Form factor: DIMM
Memory type: DDR-2
Manufacturer: Manufacturer2
Speed: 800 ns
Max capacity: 8.0 GB
Memory slot: 2.0 GB (BANK3; form factor: DIMM; memory type: DDR-2)
Capacity: 2.0 GB
Device locator: DIMM3
Bank label: BANK3
Form factor: DIMM
Memory type: DDR-2
Manufacturer: Manufacturer3
Speed: 800 ns
Max capacity: 8.0 GB
Disk: Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device (465.8 GB)
Caption: Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device
Size: 465.8 GB
Manufacturer: (Standard disk drives)
Interface type: IDE
Media type: Fixed hard disk media
Bytes per sector: 512
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 60801
Sectors: 976768065
Tracks: 15504255
Disk: ST3320620AS ATA Device (298.1 GB)
Caption: ST3320620AS ATA Device
Size: 298.1 GB
Manufacturer: (Standard disk drives)
Interface type: IDE
Media type: Fixed hard disk media
Bytes per sector: 512
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 38913
Sectors: 625137345
Tracks: 9922815
Disk: WD 10EAVS External USB Device (931.5 GB)
Caption: WD 10EAVS External USB Device
Size: 931.5 GB
Manufacturer: (Standard disk drives)
Interface type: USB
Media type: External hard disk media
Bytes per sector: 512
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 121601
Sectors: 1953520065
Tracks: 31008255
Logical drive: C: (Local Fixed Disk; size: 298.1 GB; free space: 276.2 GB; file system: NTFS)
Name: C:
Description: Local Fixed Disk
Size: 298.1 GB
Free space: 276.2 GB
File system: NTFS
Serial number: 9C14AF0D
Logical drive: D: (Local Fixed Disk; size: 465.8 GB; free space: 55.6 GB; file system: NTFS)
Name: D:
Description: Local Fixed Disk
Size: 465.8 GB
Free space: 55.6 GB
File system: NTFS
Serial number: 6ADCE11F
Logical drive: E: (CD-ROM Disc; size: 4.3 GB; free space: 0.0 Bytes; file system: CDFS)
Name: E:
Description: CD-ROM Disc
Size: 4.3 GB
Free space: 0.0 Bytes
File system: CDFS
Serial number: 0201281D
Logical drive: F: (CD-ROM Disc)
Name: F:
Description: CD-ROM Disc
Size:
Free space:
File system:
Serial number:
Logical drive: G: (Local Fixed Disk; size: 931.5 GB; free space: 758.0 GB; file system: NTFS)
Name: G:
Description: Local Fixed Disk
Size: 931.5 GB
Free space: 758.0 GB
File system: NTFS
Serial number: A8990990
CD-ROM: SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SM-348B ATA Device (CD Writer)
Name: SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SM-348B ATA Device
Media type: CD Writer
Manufacturer: (Standard CD-ROM drives)
Drive: F:
CD-ROM: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS40 ATA Device (DVD Writer)
Name: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS40 ATA Device
Media type: DVD Writer
Manufacturer: (Standard CD-ROM drives)
Drive: E:
Video: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1) (1440x900x32b)
Name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1)
Current horizontal resolution: 1440
Current vertical resolution: 900
Current bits per pixel: 32
Current refresh rate: 59 Hz

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Run Memtest86+

Do you have another motherboard you can test the sticks in?

 

[kflo01]

No I dont have another board to test the memory on BUT it doesnt matter which of the memory I use it does the same thing.

any 2 chips in any 4 slots works fine. When I go above 2 chips it doesnt work.

 

[trents]

Sounds like a motherboard issue or maybe the Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) of the CPU has gotten weak over time. So you don't have another motherboard to test with but do you have another AM2+ CPU?

 

[||Console||]

did you try upping the voltage ?

 

[kflo01]

Thats actually a good idea (upping the voltage. Let me see if that makes a difference. Only thing is why foe 3 years did it work on he current voltage then all of a sudden decide not to work.

trents- I dont have another CPU combo to try.

 

[RGone]

why foe 3 years did it work on he current voltage then all of a sudden decide not to work. = Because it is now beginning to fail. Everything eventually fails, even ram.

 

[Johan45]

I have been running 8 GIG's of ram for a few years then about 4 months ago when booting and sometimes within 5 minutes or so of logging into my pc I would get the blue screen of death. If it made it past the first 5 or so minutes it was rock solid.

You never mentioned your PSU like what make model and size. This "warming" up period I like to call it can sometimes indicate a failing PSU.

 

[trents]

^Good suggestion, Johan45. Yes, it could be a failing PSU and adding more memory pushes it over the edge of what it can still supply juice wise. Worth checking out if OP has access to another PSU. Clearly it's not the memory itself as OP says it still happens when he swaps out modules. It is, rather, amount of memory that seems to cause the problem.

 

[storm-chaser]

IMC failing over time is an interesting theory, but I doubt it. I would start with resetting your bios settings to default or pull the CMOS battery (if you are confident you can reconfigure all the settings properly on reboot).

My bet is on your motherboard is causing these problems. That perticular board is known to have memory deficiencies and problems. The board cannot run DDR2 1066 in dual channel mode, only single channel. Obviously the lesser speed memory such as yours should run fine but still not a good mark for the board.

 

[kflo01]

Came home today. Tried to play with some voltage settings. That didnt work.
Then I tired unplugging my 2nd hard drive and the dvd-rw drive to see if it would give some wattage back to the PSU to power the additional memory and that didnt work.
Then put a new CMOS battery and that didnt work either.
This board is discontinued so I can buy it from a retailer and its not on ebay right now. What board wouls be compatiable withmy cpu and memory I can get that is comparable or a upgrade at a low price?