2gb RAM OK but 4gb = BSOD

[christophero]

Hi guys!

Ok so I've finally narrowed down my bsod's (at startup) to the following face: One stick of 2gb RAM works perfectly, but when running with 2 times 2gb it fails.

The bsod's show up at startup, just at the windows-logo. It doesn't always fail but most often after cold boots - after being shutdown and idle for about a day.

I'm sure both memories are ok via Memory Diagnostic tool and by running them one at a time.

I am quite confused on how to tackle this problem, ideas are most welcome.

I'm running:

• MK Asus P5KPL SEATX, G31/ICH7, S775
• CPU Core 2 Quad Q94002,66GHz/6MB/1333MHz/S775
• OCZ 4GB Gold XTC DDR2Kit PC2-8500, 1066MHz

OS is Windows 7 RTM 32-bit, and yes I'm aware it will only support 3,5gb ram but from what I understand it should not cause these troubles, correct?

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi guys!

Ok so I've finally narrowed down my bsod's (at startup) to the following face: One stick of 2gb RAM works perfectly, but when running with 2 times 2gb it fails.

The bsod's show up at startup, just at the windows-logo. It doesn't always fail but most often after cold boots - after being shutdown and idle for about a day.

I'm sure both memories are ok via Memory Diagnostic tool and by running them one at a time.

I am quite confused on how to tackle this problem, ideas are most welcome.

I'm running:

• MK Asus P5KPL SEATX, G31/ICH7, S775
• CPU Core 2 Quad Q94002,66GHz/6MB/1333MHz/S775
• OCZ 4GB Gold XTC DDR2Kit PC2-8500, 1066MHz

OS is Windows 7 RTM 32-bit, and yes I'm aware it will only support 3,5gb ram but from what I understand it should not cause these troubles, correct?

Chris

can you go into c:\windows\minidump, zip the dump file (*.dmp) and upload it to us for debugging.

Let us know if you need any help with this

Ken

 

[christophero]

I could do this but I'll tell you right away that I've had several different bsod's, which I previously uploaded to another forum and they blamed the downloaded OS and other things that did obviously not cause the problem since I now know the issue has some relation to the RAM.

I'll upload the dump files at next bsod.

 

[torrentg]

Raise the ram voltage in the motherboard bios. Especially since it's OCZ. They need more voltage man!

This page says 2.1v. You can go slightly higher, safely, if needed. 2.2v and 2.25 alright.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_gold_edition_4gb_dual_channel

Yours is probably set at only 1.8v right now.

And go to that "other" forum and tell 'em who's best! lol

 

[christophero]

Raise the ram voltage in the motherboard bios. Especially since it's OCZ. They need more voltage man!

This page says 2.1v. You can go slightly higher, safely, if needed. 2.2v and 2.25 alright.

OCZ Technology | Products | Memory | OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Gold Edition 4GB Dual Channel

Yours is probably set at only 1.8v right now.

And go to that "other" forum and tell 'em who's best! lol

When googling around I came about this solution also, but when in BIOS changing the voltage to 2.1 (yes I have probably 1.8 now, set by auto) caused the digits to turn red, and since that would be an indicator of a dangerous change I did not have the guts to change it.

But is it safe? Is there not any risk that I'll burn the memories?

 

[torrentg]

It is completely safe. It's actually worse for you right now at 1.8 with that memory, as far as "safe." You ram is begging for more power.

Do not worry about the red. You have performance memory that it is critical for you to adjust to.

Make it 2.1 or 2.15 and you will be happy.

Enjoy! This kind of change is even more necessary since you have more than one stick.

Refer to this from the OCZ page I showed you:

"**OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.15V without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty."

 

[christophero]

I switched it to 2.1V and first boot was OK, time to wait and see if it helps. I'll get back on that.

Meanwhile, do I need to crank up the Mhz aswell? It's currently set to auto.

 

[torrentg]

You did the right thing. Your bsod are a thing of the past, unless you come upon any new issues.

No, leave the mHz alone. Auto should be fine. Again, refer to the page from OCZ. That has all the correct info you can place into your bios settings, if you wish. Match the timings in your bios to what is on the page (5-6-6-18).

On a side note, I have OCZ Platinum DDR memory. DDR default voltage is 2.5v. I'm running at 2.8v and I plan to up that to 3.0v to see if I can get a better CPU overclock.

Reference for my memory in case you're curious:

OCZ Technology | Products | Memory | OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Platinum XTC

If you want to see your memory bandwidth, from a command prompt, type

winsat mem and hit enter.

 

[silentcontrol]

Funny, I had the same problem too. My computer kept crashing when I added another RAM stick @ the 2nd slot. Of course I bought the same model of RAM, so that rules out hardware incompatibility. My PC crashes whenever these 3 are in use:

- utorrent
- Yahoo! Messenger
- 1TB WD external hard drive plugged in

What I did was, I reformatted my PC with 4GB of RAM (two 2GB sticks) and the problem went away instantly.

This happened in 64-bit RC. I'm using retail now.

Anyway, I'll check this solution out just to make sure that mine gets enough voltages. Thanks for the help.

 

[torrentg]

Yeah. OCZ being performance memory and geared towards gamers, enthusiasts and overclockers, their memory simply needs more power. It is designed like this purposely.

Many motherboards, regardless of memory brand in use, require a bump up in voltage when all the ram slots are occupied by ram sticks and in use. It's just how it goes.

Silent, do you know the specs and maker of your memory?

 

[silentcontrol]

According to cpu-z, it's a Transcend DDR2 JM800QLU-2G PC2-6400 (400 MHz).

 

[torrentg]

That's actually 800 mhz memory. PC2-6400 means that.

Here is the datasheet on your exact model. Do not change any voltages. The modules are intended to run at 1.7v to 1.9v. The standard 1.8v is perfect.

http://www.transcendusa.com/support/dlcenter/jetram/product/Pdf/JM800QLU-2G_2980-S.pdf

 

[silentcontrol]

oh, i see. alright thanks for the information.

 

[frolix22]

Thanks to torrentg for the information in this thread. I am using 4x1GB OCZ RAM at the moment and am waiting for my Windows 7 disk to arrive in the post. I shall keep this thread in mind when I install.

 

[christophero]

Unfortunately, it worked perfectly (after switching RAM Voltage to 2.1V) at first boot. Yey I thought, used the PC for a while and then shut it down. Let it be for a 24 hrs something and then rebooted - now I get a new type of bsod (this kind I have not recieved before, good or bad I do not know). Bsod is as follows:

c000021a { Fatal System Error }
The initial session process or system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x00000000 (0xC0000221 0x001003a8)
The system has been shut down

Darn. I force power off, reboot, choose "Launch windows normally" instead of "Launch system repair" and everything works just fine. The previous bsod's also behaved in this way, after reboot all is ok. That's the most confusing part.

 

[torrentg]

From what I read when I briefly checked on that error, it seems like it is possible it's due to an incorrect or faulty driver on the system.

I know this is for XP, but codes generally mean same thing or very similar in nature.

"This problem may occur if you install an inappropriate driver for your hardware"

"STOP: C0000221 unknown hard error" or "STOP: C0000221 STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH" error message occurs

Seems software related, not hardware.

 

[torrentg]

Post a mindump so we can look at it. Upload to Rapidshare.

C:\Windows\Minidump

 

[torrentg]

I was just checking this out and again, although this is older and XP mostly, seems lots of people had issues with DVD drive.

Annoyances.org - c0000221 Unknown hard error /ntdll.dll (Windows XP Discussion Forum)

Anyhow, it's not a bad thing to also check that all your Windows files are intact and the correct versions. Open an elevated command prompt and run this command if you wish:

sfc /scannow

Do you know your bios version? The latest seems to be P5KPL 0703 BIOS

 

[christophero]

I will asap do the following:​

1. Disconnect my DVD-drive to locate whether it is the cause of any of the problems. Also I will disconnect my card reader, which I reconnected after successful boot after ram voltage switch.
2. Post a minidump when I recieve next bsod (however the last bsod, saved no minidump file even though I have that option checked, so the only dumpfile I have is about a month old, and it is a different "kind" of bsod, prior to the voltage change.)
3. Check my windows files with sfc /scannow

I have already:

1. Updated BIOS to the latest version
2. Updated all drivers for all hardware including chipset and such, this was however pre the last install (since then I have formatted and some drivers might now be out of date), however that did not seem to solve the problem so I'm figuring there's no need for it now.

 

[christophero]

The sfc /scannow resulted in the following:
"Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations."