Help, added ram and now...

[Ben_1979]

Hi there,

I had 2x512mb GEIL ddr sdram pc3200 in dual channel on my Asus P4C800e-Deluxe mobo. (CL: 2-6-3-3)

I thought of adding ram instead of buying new, so I buyed 2x1gb GEIL ddr sdram pc3200 also for dual channel. (2.5-6-3-3)

So I tested them alone and they worked fine (sound did aswell), but when I tested them together, everything but the sound works great.

Both bios and vista tells me that I have 3072mb of ram, and in control panel and the hardware windows, doesnt show any issue.


I have deleted and reinstalled newer version of sound drivers (KX) for my Soundblaster Live! 5.1 platinum, but same problem. Whenever a sound should play it sounds just like "titititititititittitititi".

What can I do?, how to fix this?... the modules are corrected installed as it tell me to in the mobo manual, and the mobo takes even more ram, so this shouldnt be a problem either.

All 4 are same frequency, same brand, etc... etc..., and they work (with sound ok) when they got installed each pair separated, but when all 4, then the sound gets "tititititititititi"

Please help me.

Thanks in advance.
-Beni-

 

[swifty_morgan]

Don't install the 2 512 sticks. First thing it's going to do is kill performance. Secondly, the 2 1gig sticks.... Make sure they are in the right slots to work in dual channel mode. Everything should be fine. If not, when rebooting go into the bios and select run optimized system configuration.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Forgot.. the sound thing. What video card are you running.....?...................... also, in the bios, find the entry for your sound codecs and try turning it off. look in the control panel under sound and seek out what hardware is running for it. try selecting the one for your sound card as default.

 

[Ben_1979]

Thanks for reply, but...

I want 3gig running!, thats why I buyed 2x1gig + 2x512 that I had.

They are installed correctly in dual channel, the 1gigs are in the first channel and the 512mb in the second channel (as in the manual)
Im running it in optimized aswell.

For the sound, I use the soundblaster Live 5.1 platinum.. (and in bios the integrated soundcard in mobo is disabled).

Everything is as it should, so Its strange that it doenst work... My guess is that sound and ram are using same irq, and there may lay the problem.

by the way... why will the 2x512 kill performance, when they are pretty the same cas latency than the 2x1gig, same brand, and same frequency?, running at same voltage, etc...?

Lets say that the 2x512 instead of running at 2.5-6-3-3 instead of 2-6-3-3 (thats not that big difference).

by the way... I run sisoft sandra to check mems, and... with a boost in bios of 20% performance (my 2.8ghz runs @ 3.3ghz)

with only 1024 installed (2x512) the results are: Dual, 160.1Mhz, 3:2, 2-4-4-8
with all... 3072 installed the results are: Dual, 160.1Mhz, 3:2, 2-4-4-8

(so there is no difference).

With 2048 installed (2x1024) the results are: Dual, 160.1 Mhz, 3:2, 2.5-4-4-8.

 

[blacksci]

Matching diffrent ram sizes is not recommended buy hardware vendors, or microsoft, sorry man, some people luck out and it works, but most have some issue or another.

 

[Ben_1979]

I did ask GEIL tech support and they didnt say anything about that.

They tell me to uninstall the card, power up the pc to set the configuration without card, and then install it again, if possible in another slot. (if not possible then on same slot).

The problem they suggest is the same I was thinking about, and it is the sharing irq may be the conflict.

Im going to do this now, and will comment here later.

Thanks anyways.

 

[BustedSony]

I did ask GEIL tech support and they didnt say anything about that.

They tell me to uninstall the card, power up the pc to set the configuration without card, and then install it again, if possible in another slot. (if not possible then on same slot).

The problem they suggest is the same I was thinking about, and it is the sharing irq may be the conflict.

Im going to do this now, and will comment here later.

Thanks anyways.

It's perfectly ok to mix different sizes of memory - if it works, it works.

The audio problem is almost nothing to do with adding the memory, but as the GEIL repsresentative suggested, a resource conflict may have occured (not an IRQ conflict so much, IRQ's can be shared in most cases) Do exactly as the GEIL rep suggests. Maybe another card could be moved, or serial port disabled temporarily.

 

[Ben_1979]

I changed place for the soundcard, but having problems trying to install the LiveDrvUni-Pack Drivers from creative. (it says I dont have a soundblaster card installed!) <-- checked on web, and this may be because of a conflict.

and when I try to add hardware manually, and make the choice for Creative Labs-KX project, it only appears KX models.

(I had KX drivers before, for the simple reason that I do record with cubase sometimes, and with the original creative drivers its a pain in the ass... so, I may change to kx, as soon as the problem is fixed).

 

[homerdog]

Matching diffrent ram sizes is not recommended buy hardware vendors, or microsoft, sorry man, some people luck out and it works, but most have some issue or another.

There's nothing wrong with mixing different size RAM sticks as long as they are in the right slots for dual channel operation. Mixing sticks with different timings and voltage requirements can cause problems, but there doesn't seem to be any issues in the OP's case.

 

[kamel5547]

Matching diffrent ram sizes is not recommended buy hardware vendors, or microsoft, sorry man, some people luck out and it works, but most have some issue or another.

Funny, HP sells servers with mixed memory sizes... not to mention desktops and laptops. I'm fairly certain there is absolutely no issue, especially since I've never had one. The only potential pitfall is (potential) degradation of performance if you go from dual channel to single chanel or to a memory with slower timings or that runs at a slower speed (i.e. mixing DDR 3200 with DDR 2700 etc.).

I say potential because if you really need more ram odds are overall performance will be enhanced simply as you will read from the hard drive less frequently, which likely will provide a greater overall benefit than any of the performance issues.

 

[Ben_1979]

I almost got it once (after 20-30 reboots and bios tweaking and uninstall and installing sound drivers).

But suddenly when it worked I checked on system and it was only showing 2048mb and sound was ok (but in sisoft sandra it told me that I had 4 ram modules (2x512 + 2x1024).

So I did a restart to check in bios again, and there was 3072, then... back to windows and checked and it was 3071 (thats ok), but when I checked the sound, was again the stutter continuing noise.

Im getting tired of this!... Both pair of rams are connected in dual, and are designed specifically for this. all 4 are pc3200, 400mhz, etc.. (same voltage, timings are almost same (check my posting over)).

Any more ideas??

 

[Ben_1979]

Ok, I turned to the mobo integrated soundcard, and its working!

But... this mean, its my soundblaster live! 5.1 platinum that are in conflict! (even I tried changing it from one pci slot to another twice).

So, I guess, if I buy a new soundcard, I will get same problem!, unless its an extern one?

Arrrrgghhhh.... lets think people!!... this should be fixed!

 

[BustedSony]

Ok, I turned to the mobo integrated soundcard, and its working!

But... this mean, its my soundblaster live! 5.1 platinum that are in conflict! (even I tried changing it from one pci slot to another twice).

So, I guess, if I buy a new soundcard, I will get same problem!, unless its an extern one?

Arrrrgghhhh.... lets think people!!... this should be fixed!

I've had problems with a soundblaster refusing to install properly. It would even cause the system to fail to boot, or freeze dring operation. One thing that may help is to install the card in another computer, where resource mapping has to be changed to work in that system, then putting it back into the target computer.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Did you try going into the device manager and uninstalling the card....... reboot and let windows find the hardware ?

try guru3d. They have drivers there that work............think that's where I found mine............... ?

Still don't know what video card you have. If it's one of the newer ati cards you have to go into the cointrol panel and disable the ati stuff and select the SB audio.

Or you can go into ad/remove and uninstall the ati codecs.

 

[Ben_1979]

Hi and thanks for the answers,

- This morning I couldnt boot my pc... when windows was almost open, it appeared an error box, saying something about the memory page. (I removed the soundcard and it worked)

- BustedSony: Dont have any other computer to do that, wouldnt it be another way?

- swifty_morgan: Yes I unistalled in device manager, and windows installed it again after reboot, but same problem.

about the drivers, well I used the last stable from KX-project, and tried aswell with the original creative LiveUniDrv (latest for my card and vista).

My video card is an Ati Radeon 9800Pro... you telling me that the newer ones has sound? didnt know.


Why is this a video card problem anyways??... I mean, before adding ram the sound was ok!, even when tested with only the new ram modules. The problem is when together... and only with my soundcard, not with the mobo integrated sound.

 

[BustedSony]

Hi and thanks for the answers,

-the original creative LiveUniDrv (latest for my card and vista).

My video card is an Ati Radeon 9800Pro... you telling me that the newer ones has sound? didnt know.


Why is this a video card problem anyways??... I mean, before adding ram the sound was ok!, even when tested with only the new ram modules. The problem is when together... and only with my soundcard, not with the mobo integrated sound.

Because newer ATI video cards, either 1900 or 2900 onwards (forget which), have built-in Hi-def audio on the HDMI output which frequently conflicts with other audio devices. Also if the hi-def driver is not installed quite frequently no audio will work at all. I'm having that issue on the very computer I'm writing this on now. I lost Realtek onboard audio after replacing the previous Nvidia 6600 with an ATI 3870.

Yes it still sounds like a memory mapping issue between the Creative card and system ram. Have you tried toggling memory remapping in BIOS? (If it's on, turn it off, and vice-versa.)

 

[Ben_1979]

Dont see where I can do this toggling memory mapping in bios. any idea where it should be? (asus p4c800e-deluxe)

 

[BustedSony]

Dont see where I can do this toggling memory mapping in bios. any idea where it should be? (asus p4c800e-deluxe)

I didn't notice that it was such an old motherboard. it was made before using more than 4 gigs of memory on a 64-bit system was commonplace. The age of the MB might be contributing to the memory/installation problem.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Did you try increasing the voltage to the memory at all ?

 

[Ben_1979]

Hi there,

BustedSony: the mobo is old yes, I dont use the 64-bit vista, cause Im not sure this is the way things are going to go... but I may be wrong.

The P4C800e-deluxe is prepared for 4x184-pin DDR up to 4GB memory. Supports PC3200/2700/2100 unbuffered ECC or non-ECC DDR DIMMs

Has Hyper-Threading Technology... the chipset: Intel 875P MCH (features the Intel Performance Acceleration Technology), and Intel ICH5R.

It have Front Side Bus (FSB): 800/533/400 Mhz.

My rams are all pc3200, 400mhz. So they should work without a problem. In fact Im running without a problem now! (just without the SB card), but works great with the mobo integrated sound.

in fact, with 1gb ram, I've been running Vista Ultimate (one year before it was official, and when released I got a original version, and never had a problem or blue screen).. until now, with this issue.

And I play heavy games aswell as rendering with 3dsmax and vray, making music in cubase with several audio tracks, and video editing on premiere or vegas 8. + lots of photoshop (Im a designer).

In fact I built a new Core2duo for a 1000 euro (with 19" widescreen cheap screen (140 euro), and mouse/keyboard logitech for 60 euro), the rest was inside the cabinet (800 euro) and my machine was lots faster and overall better!

My friends cant believe it when they see it!



swifty_morgan: No I didnt, should I? (dont think so). I just put the mobo to 20% better performante (auto-mode) my 2.8ghz @ 3.36ghz., but It doesnt change anything if I run it plain without any % increase.

 

[homerdog]

@Ben_1979: When is the last time you updated the BIOS?

You might want to look at the manual which can be found here. Pay special attention to sections 2.6.2 and 4.4.5.

 

[Ben_1979]

I have the latest bios available, checked 2 days ago.

I have the manual, I'll check later, and will see what it is. Thanks

 

[Ben_1979]

Well, the 2.6.2: refers to Expansion card... thats not DIMM Modules, but PCI Expansion slots, so I can install further hardware.

I dont going that way, cause I have all the pci free (unless 1 for the soundcard), the video is in the AGP 8x, and I dont use the wi-fi card and slot either. The only problem is that my graphic card + Zalman fanless cooling system is big, and only gives me the oportunity to use the soundcard on the last 3 pci (and I tested all of them, but nothing).


Then its 4.4.5: explains about the bios, but the IRQ, says: when set to [Available], the specific IRQ is free for use of PCI/PnP devices. When set to [Reserved], the IRQ is reserved for legacy ISA devices. Configuration options: [Available] [Reserved]

I have all of them in Available, cause I dont use any ISA device. (soundcard is PCI.. maybe also PnP?, and the graphic is AGP.

So if I set [Reserved] on any of them, I will get more issues, cause I will limit bios to find available IRQ's


I think, thats what all this says, If Im wrong... please correct me, an enlight me!

 

[homerdog]

Is "Plug and Play OS" on or off?

Damn that's an old motherboard

 

[Ben_1979]

Plug and Play is now Off, but anyways, I tried both ways, and installed the card with each. (in On, it tries to find itself the drivers, but then I've to try to update and all that).

Yes its old... from 2003? buyed it just when it came out, aswell as the Radeon 9800pro (xt hadnt been released yet)... believe me it works wonders!, and I've read that this mobo were very much sought by overclockers, etc...

The day I upgrade completely, this will fit my homemade Mame + PC Games! or.. as a server for 3dsmax rendering. (or both? hehe)