Mobo hates more than one stick of ram..

miffywiffy · **Mobo hates more than one stick of ram.. -** 04-21-2012, 15:46 | posts: 370

Finally figured out the problem after so long as it seems to work for like a week and then decide it wants to restart itself and then after a few times of doing that not wanting to boot. It's just seemed so random I couldn't work out what was wrong, however switching ram and putting one stick in, then two and then one and in different places, it hates more than one stick.

Just wondering what the fault would be, if it's fixable or if I have to get a new mobo?

---TK--- · 04-21-2012, 15:59 | posts: 14,700 | Location: New Jersey, USA

fill out all your specs, no way anybody can help you without that bro

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 16:01 | posts: 370

It's just an asus Formula IV but the ram all tests fine on memtest. It's weird because I've been having random crashes for a year or so with it and it was always under load. I assumed it was the PSU but I changed it, assumed it was the memory but changed. It has to be the mobo not liking more than one stick of ram cause it never happens with only one and it doesn't matter where I put it.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 16:35 | posts: 370

I'm just gonna get a single slot of ram

Should there be any compatibly issues with that?

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Single Channel Module (CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10) [CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 16:51 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

Try HyperPi, any NB or RAM issues will show up. I rely on it when OC'ing my NB, hasn't failed me yet.

If you're reduced to single channel you're gonna lose half your memory bandwidth so would pay to be absolutely sure that's your problem....

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 17:01 | posts: 370

What I don't get is if I turn my PC off for a day and then try to boot with 4 sticks, it'll be fine until it randomly crashes and it'll boot up again and be fine for a day or so and do it again. Then once it's doing it enough it'll give up and only accept one stick or it wont even post....

I don't get it and I don't get why it was fine for a year and then for the second year it's been giving me these problems until the point it has gotten so bad.

I would by a new mobo but if it doesn't fix the issue then I've wasted loads. Problem is I can't find the fault, I would use that software but it doesn't boot atm, will it find issues with just one stick in?

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 17:05 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

^Yeah.

It'd be great if you could fill out your specs....

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 17:11 | posts: 370

Asus Formula IV (tried a few different BIOS)
1090T AMD CPU (Not got a second board to test but it seems fine with one slot of ram)
8 GB 4 x 2GB Corsair Dominator something (doesn't matter what ram I use)
6970crossfire (doesn't help taking out one GPU or switching them)
Corsair 950watt PSU
2 x 320GB HDD in Raid 0 (doesn't matter what HDD I plug in)

All the hardware seems to work fine on my other PC.

All it leaves is the mobo really.

Will one stick of ram really hurt performance? Doesn't seem to make a difference In games before they crash and tell me I haven't got enough memory lol.

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 17:19 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by miffywiffy

All the hardware seems to work fine on my other PC.

Did you have all that hardware installed on a different motherboard without issue?

Quote:

Originally Posted by miffywiffy

Will one stick of ram really hurt performance? Doesn't seem to make a difference In games before they crash and tell me I haven't got enough memory lol.

Yeah it'll hurt performance but I can't say exactly how much. Prob won't affect your gaming a whole lot though.

When you get low memory errors how much installed ram does Windows see?

vavyn · 04-21-2012, 17:31 | posts: 87

Try to reset cmos.

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 17:43 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

Btw I think Corsair has lifetime warranty...

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 18:19 | posts: 370

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

Did you have all that hardware installed on a different motherboard without issue?

Yeah it'll hurt performance but I can't say exactly how much. Prob won't affect your gaming a whole lot though.

When you get low memory errors how much installed ram does Windows see?

2GB but that's cause I'm only using one stick.

I've tried all my hardware without errors on my other PC so it has to be mobo.

I'll just get one stick of ram as it's the cheaper option than getting a new mobo that is good.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 18:23 | posts: 370

Tried the cmos thing but doesn't help.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 18:51 | posts: 370

I tried every setting I can on that Hyper PI thing but nothing is flagging up, seems to be finishing fine.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 19:36 | posts: 370

Hmm messing around with the BIOS (always let it handle it auto) I just set the memory to 1600mhz (as advertised) as the mobo downclocks it to 1333 and then it warned about some voltage thing and I ignored it lol.

Seems to work now and the voltage says 1.65 on the Dram.

Is that fine?

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 19:39 | posts: 370

That setting is allowing it to boot up with 4GB ram (2 sticks) but not 4 sticks (8GB).

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 19:45 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

Yeh 1,.65v is OK although you should be able to drop it lower...to maybe 1.55v....

Try these settings 9-9-9-27 2T

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 19:48 | posts: 370

The sticker on the ram says 1.67volts.

But I have 3 sticks working now but Dram is 1.75...

Pill Monster · 04-21-2012, 19:50 | posts: 20,464 | Location: NZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by miffywiffy

The sticker on the ram says 1.67volts.

But I have 3 sticks working now but Dram is 1.75...

Whoa - that's far too high, drop it back to 1.65v or you'll risk frying your ram.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 20:07 | posts: 370

Hmm set BIOs to default and now it's working with all four sticks....

I have no idea what is happening when it wasn't before, I bet it crashes in couple of days and doesn't boot up again.

miffywiffy · 04-21-2012, 22:46 | posts: 370

Think I found the problem as one stick of ram seems to be causing the problem. It's weird cus it tested fine and seemed to work fine for so long but both pcs seem to hate it now and not even boot with it. Got my PC working fine now without it, just hope it really does turn out to be the problem...