A7V880 "Ram R/W Test Failed" w/ 4x512mb Kingston

[VinylVengeance]

I will first admit that I am not too familiar with the Dual Channel memory and the configuration involved. I bought 2 kits of the Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/1G 2x512mb ValueRAM since it was on the website as approved memory for this board. So I have a total of 4 Sticks, all identical. I can run the computer fine with just the two blue slots filled with 2 512's. In the BIOS, all the memory info is set to default values under the Northbridge VIA KT880 Configuration screen. When I put in the next two chips and into the black slots, the BIOS give an error when doing the memtest. "RAM R/W Test Failed. Press F1 to continue." When I go into the BIOS the System Info screen reports 2GB of RAM, but if I continue I don't want to cause my system to be unstable or damage the mobo/RAM. I don't know if I need to manually configure the DDR settings in BIOS or what. I don't even know what SDRAM Bank Interleave, Precharge to Active(Trp), Active to Precharge(Tras), Active to CMD(Trcd), REF to ACT/REF to REF(Trcfc), or DRAM Command Rate even are or what to configure them as. I have tried switching the CAS Latency back and forth between 2.5 and 3, but I know this memory is 3. I also have tried switching from Dual Channel mode to Single Channel and back to auto, all with same results. Anyone have any suggestions? I honestly don't know what else to do. I would hate for a whole gig of memory to go to waste.

My Config:
AMD Athlon XP 3200 Barton Core
A7V880
ATI Sapphire Radeon 9600XT 128mb
Maxtor 250gb ATA/133
Western Digital 250gb ATA/100
THERMALTAKE Silent Purepower W0014RU ATX 480W Power Supply

 

[KGB]

Vinyl,

Welcome to the Forums! :beer:

Alot of Asus boards tend to undervolt the RAM.
What does your BIOS report as VDIMM?

Try cranking it up by 0.1V and see if it fixes your problem.

Let us know.

 

[VinylVengeance]

I had the DDR Reference Voltage in the BIOS set to Auto. I also tried manually setting it to 2.55V. The data sheet on the RAM says 2.6V. I guess It should be okay to crank it up to the next available option which is 2.65V. Is that what you mean? Because I don't see any other options or readouts in the BIOS for showing or changing the memory Voltage.

 

[KGB]

Yes, that's what I mean.
I would even try 2.7.

Get back to us.

 

[VinylVengeance]

I will certainly let you know. I will try it first thing when I get home from work.

 

[VinylVengeance]

Oddly enough swappinf out the sticks causes no difference. I also ran memtest and it give all errors anytime it tests over 1700mb. It also only reads that much when the BIOS tests the memory. That last slot doesnt seem bad though cause memtest gave no errors when i just ran three sticks, swapping the third between the last two slots. If i run everything in single channel mode with 3 sticks, everything tests fine. But as soon as I add the 4th, single or dual it errors out. I did try upping the voltage up to 2.75V even with no success. Even tried to set it to 3-3-6/3-3-7 and even tried it down at 333mhz. No luck. I also updated my mobo bios to the lates version 1009. Any other ideas?

 

[Alaska]

One of the problems with buying "value" RAM is that the manufacturer may change the chips that are used on the DIMMs.

According to the table on the Asus website this memory will work in all 4 slots of your motherboard:

512MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A NA KINGSTON DS D328DIB-50

and these memories will not work with 4 sticks on your motherboard:

512MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A NA Hynix DS HY5DU56822BT-D43
512MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A NA Infineon DS HYB25D256809BT-5B

These all have the same Kingston part number but use different chips.

I hope this helps.

 

[VinylVengeance]

Yeah I saw that in the documentation that came with the Mobo. I didnt see the chips that were on my memory listed, so I wasnt sure.

 

[VinylVengeance]

Yeah I have been running 1gb in dual channel mode all weekend and it seems pretty stable. It must just be the motherboard not able to accept 4 sticks. Anyone know if Asus fixes these sorts of compatibility issues with future BIOS updates? Or can I simply assume i'm screwed when it comes to using my other gig of memory sticks?