The Duke

I was reading another thread where someone (it was PC eye if I remember correctly,) brought up how some Asus motherboards had issues with OCZ brand memory. I tried going through the asus.com website to find if they address this or have any recommendations for certain memory brands, but that place is worse than reading stereo instructions.

I was wondering if anyone could give me any specifics on what types of problems occur with OCZ memory, if any.

Are the problems specific to certain motherboard models?

Are the problems specific to certain memory speeds?

Are they just minor glitches that can be fixed, or major issues that mean having to buy a different brand of memory?

Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks,

PC eye

http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/...s/Default.aspx

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...w.kingston.com

http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/advisor/

http://configurator.ocztechnology.co...d=108&mfrid=12

The above links are memory selectors provided by each brand. Upon selecting Asus models the OCZ compatability wizard points to value ram only on many Asus models. The problems you probably heard about where from those who bought perfomance memory that wasn't compatable with certain Asus boards.

The Duke

Thank you for the links.

One thing I don't quite get though, for the motherboards that I checked (MSI Neo-F, Gigabyte 965P-DS3, Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Asus P5N32,) the OCZ website only recommended PC2-4200 value RAM. Even Mushkin and Corsair, while making it up to 800Mhz memory, wouldn't go with any more than 1G even though, the MSI motherboard for example, should be able to take 2G. Kingston was the only RAM that would recommend up to 2G of value RAM at PC2-6400 for all of the motherboards I checked, which kind of makes me wonder if that manufacturer has actually tested each motherboard...or is Kingston RAM that much more superior than the others?

Another thing that doesn't quite make sense to me is where does someone use high value premium RAM? I mean, from what I gather, an Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard is pretty good, and yet these manufacturers are only recommending value RAM, some, like OCZ, at a pretty slow speed as well and yet the websites have article after article about the latest and greatest in memory.

How does one know if their motherboard can handle high end RAM, when the manufacturers are only recommending value RAM?

I know motherboards can be tweaked to work with certain timings and voltages, but don't the websites take that into account when recommending RAM for certain motherboards?


Thanks,

Cromewell

Almost any motherboard can handle high end RAM, the possible exceptions are OEM boards from Dell, HP, Compaq, etc that don't allow you to modify vdimm, RAM timings and what not. The RAM should work with those boards anyway but you wont get the rated performance out of it. I'm using 'unsupported' RAM with my gigabyte board and aside from some inital boot trouble (needed a BIOS update) it works great.

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PC eye

I've seen articles where 1gb of Corsair xms series ram was compared to 1gb of the value ram and the performance levels were the same except for some minor differences when gaming. A good deal of the time I have to suspect that the extra "hype" about high end memory is strictly marketing. I run 2gb of Kingston Value Ram here and game at the same levels as with the Corsair xms series memory previously installed. The real key is finding the best memory for the specific board you are running. Some times the value memory turns out to be the better value.

InFlames_44

Well i have the M2n-e. And Ocz pc6400
I can tell you from first hand that it does have problems from the start.. i had to flash bios to a revised version.
Even now it does not run as stable as i would like it to..Also it does not allow me to overclock .

It has to do with Ram voltages on the boards...i think its only the AM2 boards , correct me if im wrong, Thats all ive really heard of.

Im looking at getting the DFI board..much better choice

If you want to pick up a Asus board and ram, Ive heard good things about Corsair and Their boards...just make sure the Ram voltages can be supported by the board.
Unlike my M2n-e board supports up to 1.9v ..my ram is 2.1

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The Duke

When using RAM with a higher voltage and different timings then the motherboard has specified, are you changing the voltage and timing of the RAM to make it work, or altering the motherboard to accept the RAM the way it is, or both?

Are there websites that one can go and find out about higher end RAM and how they work with certain motherboards, or is it more of a trial and error type of thing?

The reason I bring all this up, I was planning on getting a motherboard with a P965 chipset which should support, according to the motherboard specs, 2G of DDR2 800Mhz RAM. (Originally I was only going to put in 1G of 800Mhz RAM but now I will probably put in 2G.) However, in reading up on a few different P965 motherboards, the general concensus seems to be that anyone running 800Mhz memory has had nothing but problems with that chipset, no matter the manufacturer. Usually the person could get 1G to work, but 2G was just a big headache. MSI motherboards especially, if I remember correctly, had problems even with 1G of 800Mhz.

A problem I have, given a pretty limited knowledge regarding computers, is to know whether or not the people writing their reviews of a product know that much more than me, but think they do. Is the reason they were having so many problems because of the product or because they didn't know how to work with it?


Thanks,

Cromewell

Usually the RAM will run when you stick it in the board and you just want to change the settings so the RAM runs at the settings on the packaging, in the few cases where it doesn't you need to update the BIOS or bump up the voltage to make it work. So both

DDR2 800 has problems with the 965 boards out there because very rarely do you see 1.8V (standard) RAM. Very close to, if not all, DDR2-800 RAM runs at 1.9V or more and the 965 boards were having problems with it. BIOS updates should be out for them all now to fix this problem. Also, I think RAM manufacturers are shipping RAM with safe SPD settings now.

__________________

You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here.

I must plug a couple comics because they are good :D:
www.ctrlaltdel-online.com
www.userfriendly.org

The Duke

Cool...I think I got it now.

If one is dealing with a higher voltage RAM on a P965 board, and a BIOS update is necessary or the voltage needs to be raised, does this cause any heat issues? (Just for clarification, a BIOS update just allows the motherboard to recognize something automatically that it wouldn't recognize before, correct? ie. RAM that has a higher voltage than what the motherboard supports)

Also, are BIOS updates specific for certain brands of memory, or are they just specific to voltage? For example, if you have 2 different brands of memory, both of which run at 2.1V but have the same timing, would each brand have to have it's own BIOS update or would it be the same for both?


Thanks,

Cromewell

Yes, AFAIK all the 965P boards out there have a BIOS update to correct the RAM problem. You only need 1 BIOS update.

__________________

You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here.

I must plug a couple comics because they are good :D:
www.ctrlaltdel-online.com
www.userfriendly.org