On Board Motherboard Ram Poll

[subtle]

Hi all,

Something has just come to mind......

I have been building systems for a number of years now and there is one problem which I seem to come up against more than any other, from browsing various forums it seems I am not alone.

We all know the point where we buy a new mobo and rush home to build the new system only to find out that the damn thing won't post.

With my last 3 boards gigabyte ds3, asus commando and abit ip35 the only reason for this has been memory compatability or incompatability as it should be known.....

Now I have a number of different types or ram which I have acquired since I first game up against this problem. However even with a selection of about 4 different types of dimms I still cannot get the damn abit board to post. (I admit this board may well be dead).

That however is besides the point. If manufacturers provided a small amount of onboard ram(8mb or so) simply so that builders can ensure that the mobo is not dead and if necessary then get into the bios to set memory voltages and timings manually it would reduce the amount of time and stress we have to go through to try to get the damn thing to work, and ultimately to stop people needed to RMA the board.

In principal it would also seem a good idea to stick a cheap onboard vga on high end boards for the same testing purposes. I know these already come on cheap boards but most peeps on this forum I guess would probably not use them for there lack of overclockability.

What do people think, is the memory thing even possible?

 

[Newf]

Boards are good when they ship.
If you can't/won't buy compatible ram, well who's fault is that?

 

[subtle]

meh thats a naive reply imo.

there are thousands of different brands and types of dimms mobo makes should ensure "general" compatability with the boards they release.

Some of the RAM they state is compatabkle with their boards can be esoteric and quite difficult to get hold of.

Why should I have to buy a new stick of RAM every time I buy a motherboard.

At least try and offer a productive answer, there are too many silicon snobs on this board, they should think about removing the heatsink from up their arses before they reply.

The forums are supposed to be about the sharing of ideas rememebr.

Or would you like another"rate my system/how big is my cock/let me suck your cock etc etc " post

 

[rammedstein]

i'd love this, but there needs to be a hardwired switch to turn these features off too so once you say, stick in more ram, or a video card they will be technically removed from your system.

 

[apache_lives]

Hi all,

Something has just come to mind......

I have been building systems for a number of years now and there is one problem which I seem to come up against more than any other, from browsing various forums it seems I am not alone.

We all know the point where we buy a new mobo and rush home to build the new system only to find out that the damn thing won't post.

With my last 3 boards gigabyte ds3, asus commando and abit ip35 the only reason for this has been memory compatability or incompatability as it should be known.....

Now I have a number of different types or ram which I have acquired since I first game up against this problem. However even with a selection of about 4 different types of dimms I still cannot get the damn abit board to post. (I admit this board may well be dead).

That however is besides the point. If manufacturers provided a small amount of onboard ram(8mb or so) simply so that builders can ensure that the mobo is not dead and if necessary then get into the bios to set memory voltages and timings manually it would reduce the amount of time and stress we have to go through to try to get the damn thing to work, and ultimately to stop people needed to RMA the board.

In principal it would also seem a good idea to stick a cheap onboard vga on high end boards for the same testing purposes. I know these already come on cheap boards but most peeps on this forum I guess would probably not use them for there lack of overclockability.

What do people think, is the memory thing even possible?

pfffttt cheap ram = problems
expensive (overclocking) ram + noob = problems

8mb onboard ram is just asking for problems - failure, issues when overclocking, incompatibility.

 

[merlin3791]

Yes its possible and its here now. This Asus board has DDR3 built in, check it out.

www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/05/computex_2007_day_1/page5.html

 

[subtle]

Err how can it be incompatable? It's onboard so guaranteed to work....

As the previous poster states have a switch to turn it off in bios, much like on board audio, I don't see any problems there.

I guess your one of those goys who thinks anboard lan, onboard disk controllers and onboard audio is bad too cos it takes way the "purity" of building a system.

I think the manufacturers have proved that such things can be added to motherboards with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Major_Trouble]

I could see how useful it would be. How about you could then change the rams function in the BIOS later to be available for some other function like Vistas ReadyBoost memory, be added / used for onboard graphics ram or some sort of system / BIOS cache .

The only problem I see is most boards won't even boot to the BIOS without any ram. :?

 

[apache_lives]

Err how can it be incompatable? It's onboard so guaranteed to work....

As the previous poster states have a switch to turn it off in bios, much like on board audio, I don't see any problems there.

I guess your one of those goys who thinks anboard lan, onboard disk controllers and onboard audio is bad too cos it takes way the "purity" of building a system.

I think the manufacturers have proved that such things can be added to motherboards with no problems whatsoever.

Incompatible with other memory etc - these babys work in dual channel etc

 

[apache_lives]

Yes its possible and its here now. This Asus board has DDR3 built in, check it out.

www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/05/computex_2007_day_1/page5.html

Thats a different story - thats all the ram you can have for that setup etc, id hate to have a ram module go bad - a waste of a whole board, and ASUS will cop alot from this me thinks.

 

[MrMr]

I wish I had some on-board ram when I bought my Giga 965P-S3.
Would have saved me a tun of trouble with my OCZ @ 2.1v.
I had to buy a stick that ran @ 1.8V to boot my system just so I could raise the voltage in bios to 2.1. A good idea as long as it can be disabled.

 

[Major_Trouble]

That's sort of my point. You buy it then disable when you have the proper ram in. Why not use it for something else to.

 

[MrMr]

Hmmm...... That's probablly because you were lucky enough to get a board shipped with the F4 bios and not the F2. :roll:

 

[Major_Trouble]

I have been toying with the idea of a ram drive for some time but...

Flash ram drive = expensive
ddr ram = volatile

So I've kept away. However technology is advancing and I am sure before long it will be viable for enthusiasts who crave performance at a price close to a Raptor.

 

[TheRodent]

On the subject of the original post i agree it would be helpful if motherboards had onboard ram to diagnose faults. Simply where a voltage boost is needed to use certain RAM which can not be effected until the system boots. - cycle
The problem is this RAM would not be able to sit on the main bus and just adds complexity to a board

As for Robson technology, the onboard flash memory on intels new centrino bundle. I was wondering if that would be available under linux for a more sensible usage than Vista. It appears robson technology functions using software drivers - might be possible.

The RAM disk looks pretty similar to the Gigabyte I-RAM disk. (uses standard DDR RAM and a battery for power off data storage )

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=427438

 

[Newf]

...Now I have a number of different types or ram which I have acquired since I first game up against this problem. However even with a selection of about 4 different types of dimms I still cannot get the damn abit board to post. (I admit this board may well be dead).

So either you fried your motherboard, or you have 4 types of DDR2 memory that does not meet the boot spec. This is not a how big is mine issue. Buy RAM that works with your motherboard. If you want to play OC God, then you pay. Life goes on...

 

[TheRodent]

Is it me or did you just miss the point, Newf

 

[Newf]

Oh, it could well be that I missed the point.
As you said, added complexity adds cost. Computers are a very cost competitive business. I admit that the original P965 motherboards were very picky about 1.8v 5-5-5-12 ram in order to even boot, but many higher spec products would emulate that.
Anyone that wants to OC needs to know what they are doing.
Many here at this forum encourage folks who don't know better to do things they are really not ready to.
Complaining that SOME of the compatible ram is hard to come by when most are easy is a cop out.
For an OEM to add a small amount of "boot ram" to make installers feel better is absurd.
Building your own computer has its hazards. Live with it.
Buy a Dell if you can't hack it.
If you want to overclock, and buy ram that won't boot because the OC specs and the price is too compelling, well too bad.
Pretty soon we will be asking the Feds to step in and fix this atrocity...

 

[aomdmm]

FYI people, everyone in general who doesn't do this.... READ the post before responding... don't skim, don't scan... READ it...


The point here has nothing to do with OC, Newf. Like the OP said, its stupid to have to buy new RAM every time you buy a new mobo when a more or less simple (in theory at least) way of solving it is viable. On board RAM enough to boot to bios would definitely solve this and would make things a lot easier...


But then where would the excess money that keeps going into RAM go, companies would wind up losing money on the repetitive purchase of RAM...

 

[runswindows95]

Actually, it would be a good idea.

 

[lordaardvark2]

If it comes with RAM then its included in the price, and although I love the current prices of mobos, I wouldn't mind them being cheaper by NOT having things I don't really need. You're buying RAM anyway, why do you want their cheap/worthless stuff?