Hi all,

First of all - Hello

I used Tom's article about how to build a high end gaming machine and here I am now - Asus Extreme MB running (currently) 2x1 GB RA - Crucial Ballistix, Zalman cooler and 2x8800gtx running SLI mode naturally

I chose XP 64bit over Vista for all the normal reasons, plus I wanted to install 4GB RAM and I wanted the operating system to recognise it all, and yes I know that even on gaming you would be hard pushed to use all 4 GB but we all want to p*ss further than the next guy dont we?!

The problem that I had been getting was a blue screen and computer shutdown when running 4 meg RAM on XP pro 64bit. I went down to 2 GB and re-installed XP pro 64bit - which seems to have resolved the problem for now. So can anyone offer me any advice as to what might be causing the problem - your help would be much appreciated.

PS. I am not 'experienced' in these things - i think it is a miracle or good luck that I managed to get the PC running in the first place!

G

I'd raise the ddr2 voltage to specs for 4 sticks of ram.

Asus Extreme as in Asus Striker Extreme?

There is a hotfix for this, just do a search and you'll find it. Install hot fix, powerdown, add 4th stick, (you should be running ok on up to 3). Reboot, and voila it works. You'll go insane trying to fix it any other way, I tried about 10,000 things.

Akhilles - Yes Asus Striker Extreme.

Rusmurf - Are we tlaking Microsoft hotfix? What search string should I use - hotfix is a nightmare to find this sort of stuff!? I prefer to go down this route first before increasing ddr2 power.

Thanks

G

G

Ive found a hotfix (KB929777) but it is for Vista?????

Yes, that update applies to Vista:

SYMPTOMS
When you try to install Windows Vista, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:
STOP 0x0000000A (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
This problem occurs if the following conditions are true: • The computer uses more than 3 GB of RAM.
• The computer uses a storage system that is running the Storport miniport driver.
• The computer uses a controller that uses 32-bit direct memory access (DMA).

Yep - so no good for XP! So iis there a fix for XP?

Try raising the voltage per your rams manufacturer. I had to raise mine to 2.0 volts.

Done that just now Turtle - increased voltage to 2.2v as per manufacturers settings. Stuck the other 2x1GB RAM and now when I start it it wont boot - comes up with saying its missing a Wins 32 file (cant remember exact error message), I have removed 1 of the sticks (currently running 3GB), and all is ok. Any ideas why it wint take the last 1 GB???

One thing I can think of is a BIOS setting that allows PME on the memory controller. Its called different things on different motherboards and some (like my freebie ECS) don't seem to have it at all. This sounds like it might be in the right general direction because you seem to be running into a barrier between 3GB and 4GB that shouldn't be there with a 64-bit OS. Also, running 3 sticks is probably forcing dual channel OFF so if you can't resolve your issue you might just want to stick to 2GB. From experience I know that some AMD setups default to lower memory speed when 4 sticks are being used (S939 Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe). If your board should be doing this but isn't it could be causing a problem. Make sure your BIOS are up to date. Thats about all I can think of at the moment that hasn't been mentioned.

-mcg

Whats PME and where do I find it on an Asus mobo?

This is really starting to do my head in now - I remeber a while ago changing the OS/2 DRAM to >64MB in bios and I have just read up on it and found out that this was not the correct setting so reverted back to original setting thinking that was the problem but no - it wont get passes the boot logo screen now when 4x1GB RAM is installed. ASUS website not particularly helpful as there is a broken URL link when you want to report a problem to them!

Any ideas anyone?

G

The 4 gig is showing up in Windows, correct? I ask becuase you need to enable 'memory remapping' in your BIOS to make this happen. It's under 'chipset' on my Asus board. Or did XP ever boot at all with all 4 gigs installed?

I don't ever recall any PME setting on Asus boards, maybe that's the same as 'memory remapping?

If anyone tells you that you need to enable PAE to do this that would be incorrect. That was only for 32 bit systems and no longer works on XP sp1 and above, IIRC.

Assuming that's set properly I can only tell you that I get some odd problems running 4 gig on my system. I'm running Vista 64 though. I suspect there are still some issues with some drivers on 4 gig systems, even on 64 bit. In my case sound is messed up after a warm boot.

Can you boot to 'safe mode' with all four sticks in?

PME is Physical Memory Extension I think... I might be getting that completely wrong but I thought that I'd seen that on some motherboard. I'm relatively sure its the same thing as memory remapping I just didn't know what it was called on an Asus. I hate how motherboard makers all find different names for the same features because it confuses people. Anyhow, whatever its called, make sure its on.

-mcg

Did you enabled memory remap feature in your BIOS? I personally have Vista 64 bit and I had to enable it. It didn't prevent me from booting tough, but just in case, give it a try. It'll make possible to your 64-bit OS to use more then 3GB. On a dual-boot like me, it'll also top your 32-bit OS at 2GB, because it "remap" the memory adress above 2GB to higher then 4GB, above what a 32-bit OS can access, but not a 64-bit one.