Problem hitting 133 with RDRam

[durrem]

Ok, I'm having a small problem with my memory. I have a 1.8a on a P4T-E (with -13 ICS chips) with the stock heat sink. For my memory, I have 4 sticks of 256MB Samsung 16 device RDRAM. Now, I can run it no problem at 130 FSB 100% fine. When I go to 133 it runs fine also, but if I reboot the computer only 992 MB of memory of the 1024 I have is detected in the BIOS. It still runs stable as far as I can tell, it's just missing 32 MB of memory. If I just run any 2 of the 4 sticks I can do 133 no problem.

Anyone have any ideas on this problem. I'm thinking that the rimms are heating each other up when they are run in pairs, so this is a heating problem, which is consistent with the fact that the whole 1024 MB are detected when the computer first starts up. My case runs pretty cool, 26 C as I type this. I have a Antec sx635 with 2 sunon 39cfm fans in, and one out, along with the Antec power supply and a pci fan under the video card (out). I use rounded ide cables.

Anyway, any help or advice I could get would be appreciated.

Thanks
durrem

 

[weasel]

you may have a bad stick, have you tried them one at a time? with it reading 32mb lower you could have a bad chip or two on a stick. does the board actully support 1024?

 

[CyberFed]

I've heard, that the more physical ram sticks you have the harder it is to o/c....im getting a p4t-e mobo w/ 2 256 sticks of Samsung 16 device memory delivered tomorrow (my new baby) i'll see how high i can get it up to and let you know...oh yea its 1.6Ghz Northwood. Just a question since you have my mobo what chip do you have and how high have you got it and what do use to cool it, i have a swiftech mcx 478 and i wanna get it up as high as possible.

 

[durrem]

Well, I'm not sure if it is a bad stick. As I said, I can run each any two of the four sticks at 133 consistently, and it doesn't drop 32MB of memory on any of the pairs (it is RDRAM, so I have to use it in pairs, not singly). Honestly, if one of the vets would come on and say "yeah, if you have a bad chip, one of the problems you can have is you lose some of your memory," I would be happy just to know that that was the problem. It's just that I've never heard of this problem.

The board supports 2 GB, acording to the manual.

CyberFed, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I can't get to 133 with four sticks, but I can with two just because I have to many sticks in my system.

WRT cooling it, I just use the stock heat sink, with some AS3. I just pealed off the black thermal pad that was on the heat sink, cleaned up with a Qtip and some isopropyl alcohol, and spread the AS3 with an old credit card. As I stated, the CPU is a 1.8A (1.8 Ghz Northwood), which runs stable at 130 fsb (2340 Mhz), but has problems when I put in all the memory at 133 fsb (2.4 Ghz). I haven't really pushed it over 2.4, but the CPU might be able to go higher. The highest I've seen the temperature get was 45 C after a few hours of Medal of Honor, Allied Assault. It would probably be lower with a decent heat sink.

A couple of things about the P4T-E; watch out for the POS probe software that comes with it. From what I've heard in the ASUS MB forum, it reads about 10 C above what the BIOS shows. I DLed something else to get my temperatures. The other think that I've heard is that you need to have the good memory clock chips to get good results from this board. They are little black chips right next to the memory sockets. If they say ICS9212-13 you are in good shape. If they say ICS9212-03 that's bad. The 03 chips don't overclock over 120 or something like that.

 

[Clockers]

I have the same problem with the Abit TH7-II Raid board. I can run 1 Gig of ram if I run the bus at 100Mhz, but it will crash if I change it to 133Mhz. Two chips will run at 133Mhz very stable but four chips will only post 992MB of ram instead of 1024MB. I'm still looking for a solution.

 

[VaTechHokies]

Cyberfed--
I set up my rig the other day w/ 2.0, P4T-E (with the good 9212-13 ICS chips), swiftech mcx 478, ASIII and am having no problems at 133 FSB while maintaining good cooling. I am using MBM5 which is reporting about 29C during normal use and about 40C during stress testing or gaming. Like durrem said, stay away from Asus probe and download MBM5. Asus probe was reporting 20+ degrees higher than what the bios and MBM5 were saying.

Back to your quesiton. I assume the 1.8 heats up about the same as the 2.0. I don't htink you'll have any problems w/ heat. I am waiting on a new dvd drive, but once I get that Im goign to push it even higher and see what I get.

 

[jdmcnudgent]

try 86ing 2 of the sticks of ram, and then try again. also, i read that the samsung single sided sticks of 128 overclock the best, but you have 256 sticks. you might want to get a new mobo, because when you get to 133 you will be stuck, or will you, read the owners manual, and i believe that if you use the jumper switches, you will be able to run this board at 150 fsb, which will equal 2400 my friend, and a great overclock for that board and cpu.