Dual Channel Stopped Working..

[JETTGEAR]

I need your expertise. I have (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 Geil ram and i installed it to my mobo to make it dual channel, my mobo is Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L by the way. It's been working for months then suddenly i heard beeps like 5 or maybe 6 times. I unseated all components and put it all back together and when i tried it again, the dual channel won't work anymore. What i did was i put the ram together and it is working fine but in single channel, when i tried splitting them together to make it dual, it won't boot. I tried installing the ram to the other two ram slot and it worked but only in single. In other words, it won't work if they are seated apart (dual) but will work if seated next to each other but in single channel. The ram slots have two colors, black and yellow. Please help, do i have a faulty mobo? or ram perhaps? I ordered a couple of the same ram and would like to have 4 gb. Please any input?

 

[WazzaUK]

check memory with http://http://www.memtest86.com/

move memory sticks around too - just to make sure if mobo fooked.........

 

[grieve]

Your RAM needs to be installed in slot 1/3 and 2/4 in order for dual channel to work on a GA-P35-DS3L.

Use slot 1/3 and test ram with memtest...
if it fails
Use slot 2/4 and test ram with memtest...

Then narrow it down to 1 stick... rinse/repeat

 

[grieve]

If you buy more RAM to replace what you have...
refer to this guide
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/MemorySupport/motherboard_memory_ga-p35-ds3l_1.0.pdf

 

[JETTGEAR]

Okay, I used slot 1/3 before and yesterday when i boot up vista it froze and then i rebooted and it won't work anymore, i took the battery out of the mobo and clear cmos and i tried it again, there were some beeps, if i am not mistaken 5 or 6 beeps then i tried 2/4 but it didn't work either. it will only work if i use 1/2 or 3/4 not 1/3 nor 2/4.

 

[Shadow703793]

Try upping the voltage a little. And also see if the CMOS battery is dead. I had to replace the battery on my P35-DS3L a week after I got it.

 

[JETTGEAR]

Okay i tried all the suggestions but to no avail, the darn thing still won't work. Here are the problems i have, the only slots that are working are slots 1/2 thus making it a single channel. If i put the other stick to slot 3 (1/3 for dual) it won't even boot up. it was turned on but nothing on the screen. I couldn't even use memtest. For some reason, only slot 1/2 are working. whenever i make a combination of 1/3, 2/4 etc. it won't boot. It will just beep continously or nothing at all but it was on. I even tried other set of rams. The ram i am using in in the list of approved for my mobo. It was working a-ok for months but suddenly, i stopped working on dual channels yesterday. Any input? Please help. Is my mobo busted? Thanks!

 

[Xtreeme]

what voltage does the ram need? Start with one stick if you can, set the volts to manufacturer spec and then shut down and install other in the slot. See if it works now. Also its posible your mobo is setting too aggresive timings. My Biostar T550 likes to do that, by default it sets it way to aggresive.

test ram in another rig if you can. If it passes, and after all the above Id RMA the mobo.

 

[JETTGEAR]

Well, the ram have a voltage range of 1.8V - 2.2V and i tried your suggestions. It will only work on slots 1 & 2. I tried different ram and still the same. I tested my ram to a different rig and it passed with flying colors.

 

[SpinachEater]

You said previously that the 1/2 or 3/4 configuration works but after that you said only 1/2 works...does 3/4 work together? Just trying to clarify if you lost only dual channel funcionality or a slot functionality all together.

Have you noticed anything else go haywire with the mobo? Either way though it sounds like the mobo has one foot in the grave. If you can get dual channel from another system with the same RAM then you can put a safe bet on your board being the issue. I vote dead MOBO.

 

[MarkRead644]

If it is any consolation, I have the 965P-DS4 and it refused to work from Day 1 with Geil in Dual mode. I ran it for 6 months in Single mode (Slots1/2) and benchmarked and O/C the boll*x off of it and it ran fine and not NOTICEABLY slower !!!. I even tried some Corsair PC6400 in Dual Mode but it would not play. Today I installed some Crucial PC8500 and Dual mode works fine. I have only tried 1/3 slots but it is running at 932 MHz on the DDR2 with loose timings for 1033 MHz and 2.2 volts....

 

[Xtreeme]

I bet its the other timings getting him. Use everest and read the other Important timings. There are like 10 and they are key to stablilty! Ive seen it first hand on my Biostar T550 picking those timings up wrong. The common 4 listed arent all that can make it act odd and if the mobo reads the spd wrong its setting the wrong timings on auto setting.

 

[MarkRead644]

Where abouts in Everest are the other timings? I can only find the SPDs...