DFI LanParty RAM Issue

liquidb

Hi All,

I recently built a gaming PC with a little help from savemejeebus (cheers dude!) and I have one issue that I'm hoping someone with a DFI LanParty nf4 SLI-D motherboard would have encountered. I bought 3 sticks of TwinMos Speed Premium (512Mb) RAM (the last 3 on komplett.ie) and it seems that I cannot use the 3rd stick. No matter where I install it to, I get the "beeps of death" and a no go on booting up! So far I have 2 of the sticks on the first yellow slot, & the first orange slot because I also cannot get dual channel support with this RAM which is another story!! Has anyone came across this problem before? Will I have to buy a 4th stick of 512 Speed Premium or should I flog my 3rd stick and buy two more sticks?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Or indeed is it a BIOS update I need?

Cheers...

WizZard

You should be running at least the 623-3 BIOS.
That RAM is cheap. Why people pair an expensive overclocking board with cheap RAM I'll never know.
To get Dual channel you should have the sticks in the matching colour slots. (2 in yellow, OR two in Orange).
I don't think you can run Dual Channel with 3 sticks of RAM.

Check out www.dfi-street.com for all your DFI tech support needs.

liquidb

Cheers for your response wizZard, i'll download the latest BIOS for the motherboard...as for the "cheap" RAM...with the X850XT and the AMD64 3700+ etc... money was a little tight and I heard that this RAM was good..Maybe I'll just flog the lot and go without food for a month and buy different RAM...Any suggestions?

Cheers again...

WizZard

Understood about the money issue, but you've got to understand that this board is THE best out there, and can really only shine if paired with top quality RAM.

As it happens, if you check out the FS Computer/Hardware there may be RAM ideal for this board available
Or failing that any OCZ (non-Value) RAM is generally very, very good with this board.

savemejebus

have to take some responsibility for the ram choice, I was helping liquidb and having read on overclockers forums that the speed premium bh5 ram was good with the DFI board so I suggested it instead of normal generic twinmos ram (I don't think he'll be overclocking the board for a while)

WizZard, do you think that the quality of the ram is the reason that it' won't run in dual channel (we tried the orange slots first (2 sticks only), then the yellow but the machine starts, shows the winxp screen then restarts). It will boot perfectly with one stick in slot 2 and in single channel with sticks in slot 1&2 but not with sticks in 2& 4 or 1& 3.

WizZard

Are you sure it's BH5??? BH5 needs volts, lots of them IIRC.
I don't know the RAM but TwinMOS has always been cheap in my experience.

I stand corrected if it works good with the DFI.

Have you used the memtest in the BIOS? Update the BIOS first before you try to do anything. Rev E CPU's need the newer BIOS. Some do work with the original, but you are advised to go for the newer one.
Use the orange slots for BH5 memory.

WizZard

What PSU have you? And are you sure they're BH-5 and not CH-5?

liquidb

Yeah they are BH-5
....

My PSU is ThermalTake PurePower 580w...

Will update BIOS and let you know what happens..

Ta for the help!!

WizZard

DId you buy them as a matched pair, or in singles?

liquidb

3 single sticks...Does that matter?

NutJob

you need to buy a matched pair or its a hit and miss affair

liquidb

Got it working in dual channel with a BIOS update...So I guess a hit this time

...now just to figure out what to do with the spare 512...mmmm

Cheers for the help...