[SOLVED] I have 2 systems

[McFroggit]

Hello i have 2 motherboards one with i7 920 and other one with amd a10 7800 apu but my concern is that x58 board has 2 ram slots malfunctioning and my a88x board has everything working i wonder is changing from i7 920 worth to amd a10 7800 with working ram slots on board


amd a10 7800 apu
GA-F2A88X-D3H Rev 3.0

Intel I7 920
GA-EX58-UD3R rev 1,6

 

[larkspur]

Well the i7-920 is a much more powerful CPU than the A10 7800. It can also be OCed very effectively by increasing the BCLK. Most will do 3.5ghz. The D0 stepping i7-920 will often hit 4ghz. Your x58 is definitely a bit weird with 4 RAM slots. Normally the i7-920 will use triple-channels with three or six RAM sticks. It will also do dual-channels with 2 or four sticks. Since you have two slots that are not functional you might still be able to get dual-channel running using two sticks but it totally depends on which two slots are bad.

Here is a link to the motherboard's manual: https://download1.gigabyte.com/File..._1.6_e.pdf?v=e24f694009d034c8774de469c43dd01c

On page 16 it specifies which slots to install two sticks into to enable dual-channel. There are two options: Slot DDR3_1 and slot DDR3_4 will give you dual channel. Or slot DDR3_1 and slot DDR3_2 will also give you dual channel. Pay attention to the diagram in the manual as the numbering of the slots is VERY confusing. If you can get dual-channel working with that board then you are good to go. Triple channel would be ideal, but as you say with 2 out of 4 dead slots you wouldn't be able to.

Depending on what you are doing with your system, you might not notice any difference between the i7-920 and the A10 7800. For instance, if you are gaming and you have a very weak dedicated GPU, you probably won't notice any difference. But a more powerful GPU will perform better with the i7-920.

Anyway, figure out which RAM slots are "bad". Sometimes this can be a result of bent/broken pins not making a good connection with the CPU in the CPU socket so you might investigate that. However, if you are able to get the i7-920 working with dual-channel RAM, that would be perfectly fine and will easily beat the A10 7800 in performance.

 

[McFroggit]

Well the i7-920 is a much more powerful CPU than the A10 7800. It can also be OCed very effectively by increasing the BCLK. Most will do 3.5ghz. The D0 stepping i7-920 will often hit 4ghz. Your x58 is definitely a bit weird with 4 RAM slots. Normally the i7-920 will use triple-channels with three or six RAM sticks. It will also do dual-channels with 2 or four sticks. Since you have two slots that are not functional you might still be able to get dual-channel running using two sticks but it totally depends on which two slots are bad.

Here is a link to the motherboard's manual: https://download1.gigabyte.com/File..._1.6_e.pdf?v=e24f694009d034c8774de469c43dd01c

On page 16 it specifies which slots to install two sticks into to enable dual-channel. There are two options: Slot DDR3_1 and slot DDR3_4 will give you dual channel. Or slot DDR3_1 and slot DDR3_2 will also give you dual channel. Pay attention to the diagram in the manual as the numbering of the slots is VERY confusing. If you can get dual-channel working with that board then you are good to go. Triple channel would be ideal, but as you say with 2 out of 4 dead slots you wouldn't be able to.

Depending on what you are doing with your system, you might not notice any difference between the i7-920 and the A10 7800. For instance, if you are gaming and you have a very weak dedicated GPU, you probably won't notice any difference. But a more powerful GPU will perform better with the i7-920.

Anyway, figure out which RAM slots are "bad". Sometimes this can be a result of bent/broken pins not making a good connection with the CPU in the CPU socket so you might investigate that. However, if you are able to get the i7-920 working with dual-channel RAM, that would be perfectly fine and will easily beat the A10 7800 in performance.

i have right now i7 system with dual channel 6gb one 4gb an one 2 gb and i havent taken cpu out since i bought it

 

[McFroggit]

and bios shows ram capacity decdects it but dosen show its enabled

 

[larkspur]

Well you are mixing RAM densities. How do you know that two of the slots don't work? Do you have access to other sticks of RAM? Ideally you'd be running three sticks of RAM. Each stick 4gb. 4gb x 3 sticks = 12gb total RAM in triple-channel configuration.

Typically when you run mixed RAM sticks (e.g. one 4gb stick and one 2gb stick) the system will default to single channel operation. That is true for both the i7-920 and the A10 7800. If you run CPU-z and go to the "memory" tab it will say whether it is in single channel or dual channel.

 

[McFroggit]

Well you are mixing RAM densities. How do you know that two of the slots don't work? Do you have access to other sticks of RAM? Ideally you'd be running three sticks of RAM. Each stick 4gb. 4gb x 3 sticks = 12gb total RAM in triple-channel configuration.

Typically when you run mixed RAM sticks (e.g. one 4gb stick and one 2gb stick) the system will default to single channel operation. That is true for both the i7-920 and the A10 7800. If you run CPU-z and go to the "memory" tab it will say whether it is in single channel or dual channel.

they say dual channel but i have like whole kit of 2gb 4x kvr kingston memory and if i put them all in they still would only show instead 4gb not 8gb

 

[larkspur]

Since all four sticks don't seem to work in your mobo, can you try installing three of your 2gb sticks in slot DDR3_1, DDR3_2, and DDR3_4 slots? Again, pay very close attention to the diagram on page 16 of the manual - the RAM slots are labelled in a very confusing way (DDR3_1 is the closest slot to the CPU. DDR3_2 is the third-closest slot from the CPU. DDR3_4 is the slot that is furthest from the CPU). That is how your mobo wants you to install three sticks. That would give you 6gb total RAM in triple-channel (which appears to be the best you can get with that mobo and the RAM sticks that you currently have).

What are you using the PC for? Gaming? What is your GPU?

 

[McFroggit]

Since all four sticks don't seem to work in your mobo, can you try installing three of your 2gb sticks in slot DDR3_1, DDR3_2, and DDR3_4 slots? Again, pay very close attention to the diagram on page 16 of the manual - the RAM slots are labelled in a very confusing way (DDR3_1 is the closest slot to the CPU. DDR3_2 is the third-closest slot from the CPU. DDR3_4 is the slot that is furthest from the CPU). That is how your mobo wants you to install three sticks. That would give you 6gb total RAM in triple-channel (which appears to be the best you can get with that mobo and the RAM sticks that you currently have).

What are you using the PC for? Gaming? What is your GPU?

gtx 750 ti for gaming and listening music for heavier games i have msi laptop but i like to play valorant with desktop since i have been used desktop past 14 years

 

[larkspur]

gtx 750 ti for gaming and listening music for heavier games i have msi laptop but i like to play valorant with desktop since i have been used desktop past 14 years

I doubt you'd see much difference with either platform with Valorant though I feel the i7 system will still beat it even with only 6gb of RAM. Another configuration you might try on your x58 board: Try putting two 2gb sticks in: one stick in DDR3_1 and one stick in DDR3_2. Then try putting that 4gb stick that you have in DDR3_4. That might get you a total of 8gb on the i7 system. As I recall those boards were sometimes capable of running "FlexMemory" configuration to allow a mix of RAM densities. Anyway, worth a shot.

 

[McFroggit]

I doubt you'd see much difference with either platform with Valorant though I feel the i7 system will still beat it even with only 6gb of RAM. Another configuration you might try on your x58 board: Try putting two 2gb sticks in: one stick in DDR3_1 and one stick in DDR3_2. Then try putting that 4gb stick that you have in DDR3_4. That might get you a total of 8gb on the i7 system. As I recall those boards were sometimes capable of running "FlexMemory" configuration to allow a mix of RAM densities. Anyway, worth a shot.

bypassed dram check but another problem hardware reserved 4 gb and bios shows them but arent enabled