Stange results
 

Hello.

I did a stress test with the prime 95 v.24.14 to check my ram and had stange results.

Here is my material:

MB: Asus P4P800-Deluxe (with last bios revision)
CPU: Intel P4 2.6C (800MHz FSB)
RAM: 2x Kingmax 512Mb DDR400 MPWC22D-38KT3R
2x Kingston 512mB DDR400 KVR400X64C25
GC: ATI 9800
Power: LC-Power 550W
HD: IMB/Hitachi deskstar 120Mb

I launched the torture test and had directely the message "FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4"
It was strange because my computer is not overclocked and all specs of the RAM are corrects (2.5 3 3 8 timing, 2.65V, turbo disabled and Hyper path disabled)

I tried only with the two Kingston RAM (slot 2 and 4) and results are OK after 3hours of test. I tried also with the 2 Kingmax only and obtain the same results (slot 2 and 4). I change the 2 Kingmax to the slot 1 and 3 and same results. So my conclusion is that the 4 RAM are ok.

But why the problem occurs only when the 4 RAM are present?
I checked the voltage with EVEREST and every thing seems to be stable with all configuation of RAM (CPU voltage@1.52V +3.3@3.39V +12@11.92V).

Difference between Kingston and Kingmax RAM is that normal voltage is 2.5V for the KM and 2.6V for the KS. So I plugged the 2 KS to the 2 slots closer to the CPU and the 2 KM to the further slots. This configuration is not remcomanded by Asus but now it works!!! Asus datasheets recommand to use same memory for slots 1-3 and 2-4 but you don't need to use the same at all (in my case KM of KS in slots 1-3 and KS or KM in slot 2-4). I changed bios settings (2.5 3 3 7, turbo mode) and it still working (tested around 9hours).

It's very stange. Has someone any idea about these results?

I'm sorry I have some problems with my keyboard. I said it's STRANGE!!! :whistle:

It is your motherboard that are crap!!! :squash: :rant:

I have the same in my server I use 2 Corsair 256Mb PC3200 and 2 corsair PC3500 256Mb sticks

When I run the server with just 2 sticks, it run as it should (400Mhz at the RAM), when I use all 4 it will only run at 320MHz. I have talked to Asus about this and they can't help with this motherboard as it is discountinued...

Alot of people on Asus forum have strange problems with this motherboard :sad:

I asked Asus about my problem and they told me to reset the Bios (unplug the PSU, remove the battery and move the jumper from 1-2 to 2-3) and reconfigure the bios. Now it works with standard placement of my 4 RAMs :banana:
So try to do this. Maybe it will work for you too.

that seams a pointless request removeing cmos battery is just like shorting pin 2 to pin 3....

Glad it seems sorted. In event of problems it is often a good idea to get latest motherboard bios by download and flash to it in case prob was fixed.

Also would have been interesting if you could characterise the working / not working scenarios in terms of measured memory throughput in Memtest 86 PLUS. Just out of interest of course.

My MB has the lastest bios (V19). The problem I had is written in my first post.
To resume the situation, I have 4x 512MB dual channel RAM (2x Kingston and 2x Kingmax value ram). Kingmax in slots 1 and 3, Kingston in slots 2 and 4. When I launched the torture test (nothing was o/c and timming were manually well set at 2.5-4-4-8) it made an error after few seconds. I moved the RAM is this configuration: Kinston in slot 1 and 3, kingmax in slot 2 and 4. result: same error.

I moved the RAM is this configuration: Kinston in slot 1 and 2, kingmax in slot 3 and 4 (it is not recomanded by asus) but after that it was working.

I reset the bios (like described in last post) moved Kinston in slot 1 and 3, kingmax in slot 2 and 4. result: now it works. When I say it works, it means that torture test made no error during more than 10 hours of test. So my conclusion is that the reset made really something good but I don't know why.