Memory Problem with P5Q Turbo

After my Gigabyte motherboard died I replaced it with a P5Q Turbo and
everything worked fine. The problem I am fighting is when I try to
replace the 2 1GB G.Skill memory modules with 2 2 GB memory modules.
With either Corsair or G.Skill memory they will not boot at 1066 speed
and will crash Memtest as soon as I start testing the memory. The old
memory still works fine at 1066 and no crashes in Memtest.
I tried two different groups of Corsair memory and made sure when I got
the G.Skill memory that it was on the QVL for the board.
Could the problem be a power supply problem, even if it does not seem
likely as everything works fine with 2GB of memory? Or should I change
the memory voltage from auto to 2.0 or 2.1 or ...?
Thanks for any ideas. I have been fighting this problem for weeks
replacing the memory to see if it was bad.

Michael W. Ryder wrote:
After my Gigabyte motherboard died I replaced it with a P5Q Turbo and
everything worked fine. The problem I am fighting is when I try to
replace the 2 1GB G.Skill memory modules with 2 2 GB memory modules.
With either Corsair or G.Skill memory they will not boot at 1066 speed
and will crash Memtest as soon as I start testing the memory. The old
memory still works fine at 1066 and no crashes in Memtest.
I tried two different groups of Corsair memory and made sure when I got
the G.Skill memory that it was on the QVL for the board.
Could the problem be a power supply problem, even if it does not seem
likely as everything works fine with 2GB of memory? Or should I change
the memory voltage from auto to 2.0 or 2.1 or ...?
Thanks for any ideas. I have been fighting this problem for weeks
replacing the memory to see if it was bad.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us

If you look at the BIOS release notes:

"Version 0303

Description P5Q TURBO BIOS

1. Enhance the compatibility with certain memory."

I'd be checking the BIOS version first.

Before flash upgrading the BIOS, put the memory that works, back in
the computer. You don't want a crash in the middle of updating.

I have a computer with a similar problem - 1GB sticks stable as can
be, 2GB sticks throw errors. I know the problem is not the RAM,
and it is a lack of refinement in the BIOS. But the manufacturer
stopped doing BIOS releases long ago, so I don't expect it to be
fixed. There were problems when 2GB modules first came out, with
respect to "tuning" in the BIOS, and such differences exist to
this day. My 2x2GB kit is sitting in my junk room now.

Paul

Paul wrote:
Michael W. Ryder wrote:
After my Gigabyte motherboard died I replaced it with a P5Q Turbo and
everything worked fine. The problem I am fighting is when I try to
replace the 2 1GB G.Skill memory modules with 2 2 GB memory modules.
With either Corsair or G.Skill memory they will not boot at 1066 speed
and will crash Memtest as soon as I start testing the memory. The old
memory still works fine at 1066 and no crashes in Memtest.
I tried two different groups of Corsair memory and made sure when I
got the G.Skill memory that it was on the QVL for the board.
Could the problem be a power supply problem, even if it does not seem
likely as everything works fine with 2GB of memory? Or should I
change the memory voltage from auto to 2.0 or 2.1 or ...?
Thanks for any ideas. I have been fighting this problem for weeks
replacing the memory to see if it was bad.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us


If you look at the BIOS release notes:

"Version 0303

Description P5Q TURBO BIOS

1. Enhance the compatibility with certain memory."

I'd be checking the BIOS version first.

Before flash upgrading the BIOS, put the memory that works, back in
the computer. You don't want a crash in the middle of updating.

I have a computer with a similar problem - 1GB sticks stable as can
be, 2GB sticks throw errors. I know the problem is not the RAM,
and it is a lack of refinement in the BIOS. But the manufacturer
stopped doing BIOS releases long ago, so I don't expect it to be
fixed. There were problems when 2GB modules first came out, with
respect to "tuning" in the BIOS, and such differences exist to
this day. My 2x2GB kit is sitting in my junk room now.

Paul

I haven't had to update a BIOS since my P2B-S and that was because I had
upgraded to an 850 MHz processor that was not available when the board
was released. I assumed, probably wrongly, that memory on their QVL
when the board was released would work without having to jump through a
bunch of hoops. I will try updating the BIOS tonight and see if that
helps with the problems.
The fact that I had identical symptoms with the Gigabyte board before it
died seemed to point to a problem with the memory at first, but after
replacing the board and the memory I still have the same problem.

Paul wrote:
Michael W. Ryder wrote:
After my Gigabyte motherboard died I replaced it with a P5Q Turbo and
everything worked fine. The problem I am fighting is when I try to
replace the 2 1GB G.Skill memory modules with 2 2 GB memory modules.
With either Corsair or G.Skill memory they will not boot at 1066 speed
and will crash Memtest as soon as I start testing the memory. The old
memory still works fine at 1066 and no crashes in Memtest.
I tried two different groups of Corsair memory and made sure when I
got the G.Skill memory that it was on the QVL for the board.
Could the problem be a power supply problem, even if it does not seem
likely as everything works fine with 2GB of memory? Or should I
change the memory voltage from auto to 2.0 or 2.1 or ...?
Thanks for any ideas. I have been fighting this problem for weeks
replacing the memory to see if it was bad.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us


If you look at the BIOS release notes:

"Version 0303

Description P5Q TURBO BIOS

1. Enhance the compatibility with certain memory."

I'd be checking the BIOS version first.

Before flash upgrading the BIOS, put the memory that works, back in
the computer. You don't want a crash in the middle of updating.

I have a computer with a similar problem - 1GB sticks stable as can
be, 2GB sticks throw errors. I know the problem is not the RAM,
and it is a lack of refinement in the BIOS. But the manufacturer
stopped doing BIOS releases long ago, so I don't expect it to be
fixed. There were problems when 2GB modules first came out, with
respect to "tuning" in the BIOS, and such differences exist to
this day. My 2x2GB kit is sitting in my junk room now.

Paul

Unfortunately updating the BIOS did not change anything at all. I can
only boot the 2GB memory at 1066 speed by setting it in the BIOS and it
still crashes very early in Memtest. The 1GB memory has none of these
problems.
Other things I have tried is placing 1 2GB memory module in slot 1 and
one in slot 4 with no change in behavior. Also manually raising the
memory voltage to 2.1 volts had no effect on the problem.
One would think that a motherboard designed for 4 x 4GB memory modules
would be able to handle 2 x 2GB memory with no problems. I am running
out of things to try as I don't think the problem is the motherboard or
chipset as my Gigabyte board with a P35 chipset exhibited the same
problems before dying.

Michael W. Ryder wrote:
Paul wrote:
Michael W. Ryder wrote:
After my Gigabyte motherboard died I replaced it with a P5Q Turbo and
everything worked fine. The problem I am fighting is when I try to
replace the 2 1GB G.Skill memory modules with 2 2 GB memory modules.
With either Corsair or G.Skill memory they will not boot at 1066
speed and will crash Memtest as soon as I start testing the memory.
The old memory still works fine at 1066 and no crashes in Memtest.
I tried two different groups of Corsair memory and made sure when I
got the G.Skill memory that it was on the QVL for the board.
Could the problem be a power supply problem, even if it does not seem
likely as everything works fine with 2GB of memory? Or should I
change the memory voltage from auto to 2.0 or 2.1 or ...?
Thanks for any ideas. I have been fighting this problem for weeks
replacing the memory to see if it was bad.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us


If you look at the BIOS release notes:

"Version 0303
Description P5Q TURBO BIOS

1. Enhance the compatibility with certain memory."

I'd be checking the BIOS version first.

Before flash upgrading the BIOS, put the memory that works, back in
the computer. You don't want a crash in the middle of updating.

I have a computer with a similar problem - 1GB sticks stable as can
be, 2GB sticks throw errors. I know the problem is not the RAM,
and it is a lack of refinement in the BIOS. But the manufacturer
stopped doing BIOS releases long ago, so I don't expect it to be
fixed. There were problems when 2GB modules first came out, with
respect to "tuning" in the BIOS, and such differences exist to
this day. My 2x2GB kit is sitting in my junk room now.

Paul

Unfortunately updating the BIOS did not change anything at all. I can
only boot the 2GB memory at 1066 speed by setting it in the BIOS and it
still crashes very early in Memtest. The 1GB memory has none of these
problems.
Other things I have tried is placing 1 2GB memory module in slot 1 and
one in slot 4 with no change in behavior. Also manually raising the
memory voltage to 2.1 volts had no effect on the problem.
One would think that a motherboard designed for 4 x 4GB memory modules
would be able to handle 2 x 2GB memory with no problems. I am running
out of things to try as I don't think the problem is the motherboard or
chipset as my Gigabyte board with a P35 chipset exhibited the same
problems before dying.

Have you tried just one 1066 stick at a time ?

What brand of chips are on the module ? (I don't track "problematic"
memory chips, but perhaps there are some out there known to be
trouble.)

If you Google the module part number, has trouble been reported with
those sticks before ? What is the reputation like in the Newegg
reviews ?

With regard to voltage, you can adjust either way and see what happens.
If you go too high, modules can get hot, and heat can increase the
error rate. If you go too low, the board might not POST.

What happens at DDR2-800 settings ?

When you set 1066 in the BIOS, did you leave all the memory timing
at Auto ? Are you sure the values being used, are the correct
ones for 1066 ?

While you can use programs like CPUZ, to verify the BIOS is doing the
right things with memory timings, if your new memory is throwing errors,
then it would be dangerous to boot into Windows.

Paul