Is my ram supported? (Asus QVL says not)

[Moondrinker]

Hi. . I was juuust going to unpackage my ram when i thought i might check if they were fully supported by my motherboard. So i downloaded the manual and checked the QVL. It seems that only a few RAM's are supported for this board running in CL5 at 1066mhz and not my Crucial Ballistix..

I have a P5K Pro motherboard and some Crucial Ballistix 2x1024 CL5 (PC2-8500) 240DIMM.

But does this mean that the mobo can't run them?

Best regards!

 

[badge]

It can mean ASUS didn't test your RAM and consequently include it in the QVL list. A lot of RAM not included on that list falls into that category.

Stick your MB in Crucial's configurator (should have done this in the first place).

http://crucial.com/

 

[major53]

Moondrinker qvl list is only the ram they were able to test with it.I have never bought the ram that is on any motherboard list.and have never had any problem with the ram I buy.as long as the motherboard supports the voltage of ram (if you look at my spec's you will see I have 4 gig g-skill 800 and they were not on the qvl list and I knew they weren't on list and still bought them)if your motherboard support 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 volt ram I would check that.it is alo important that the ram is the same!no mismatch ram.hope this helps you.

 

[Moondrinker]

Thanks Major 53. hmm they are running at 2.2v so does this mean that the P5K Pro motherboard dosn't support these rams? If that is true, how can i check that some other in the same price range would? GA-p35-DS3R comes to my head but i don't know if it supports 2.2volts.

Cheers.

 

[sailer]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but it seems that you have not yet tried the ram in your motherboard, that the ram is still in its package. If so, the only way you'll know anything for sure is to install it and see what happens. Also, when the computer is first starting, go into the BIOS and make sure the ram voltage is set at 2.2V, A lot of motherboards have a default setting of 1.8V.

On the other hand, you also posted that you did install the ram and its running at 2.2V. If that is the case, your motherboard does support the ram as it is and there's no further need to worry.

 

[Moondrinker]

I havn't installed them yet, since i do not have the motherboard yet. I might have misunderstood some information but i belive i read that they were running at a speed of 2.2volts. But this can be the max at which they can run at. I am not certain.

But thank you for the tip of adjusting the volts.

 

[night_wolf_in]

no, it means not supported. n as stated. QVL are the tested rams. meaning, ull never go wrong with them if u buy them. BUT, if u buy non-QVL then u taking a risk.

 

[sailer]

@ Moondrinker - Ok, now I understand. One other thing to note, the Crucial ram is not running at 2.2V. but is rated to run run at 1066 while running at 2.2V. This Crucial ram, and that of a few other companies, is really 800 ram that is factory overclocked with a higher voltage of 2.2V to reach 1066. The main difference between factory 800 ram and factory 1066 ram is that the 1066 is guarenteed to run at the overclocked speed while if you buy 800 ram and try to overclock it to 1066, its hit or miss. On motherboards which don't allow raising the ram voltage above 1.8V (typically OEM motherboards), the ram defaults back to the standard 800 speed.

The voltage is a thing to look for when looking at ram. Generally speaking, if its rated speed is at 1.8V-1.9V, its not factory overclocked. When you see ram that has a rated speed with 2.2V, its factory overclocked.

 

[Moondrinker]

Ok. Erhm. So, if i have a motherboard that supports 1.8v would i be able to raise the volt to 2.2 and should i do so right away. Or is this option only aviable if the BIOS setting allows it?

What is an OEM motherboard?

Alternative to the P5K Pro could be a MSI p35 NeoFR2 instead. I get my case tomorrow and then i have all my parts except the motherboard and CPU (darn CPU! totally sold out in Denmark).

The reason why i am a little bit ahead is that i didn't really research on this part, and i want to look at my pretty ram! but i don't want to open the box if i can't use them.

 

[sailer]

Raising the voltage on the ram should normally be done right away. Otherwise you will not get the speed that you paid for. The ram should work at default value (1.8V), but it would run at 800, not 1066. Note: sometimes you will have to initially set up the computer at default values and then change the values to what you desire later. Setting the ram voltage is done through BIOS. I don't know any other way to do it, though there might be some utility that I'm unaware of.

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufactor. This usually means a computer that you bought in a store, such as a Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. Some OEMs do permit changing the BIOS, but they are high price gaming machines like Alienware, Northwest Falcon, Voodoo, etc. In any case, this will not apply with the motherboard that you are buying separately.

I can't recommend either motherboard that you list as being better than the other. Someone else might know that specific information. Another generality; the more expensive motherboards are usually more feature rich and/or allow more tuning of the BIOS. Whether you will use the features or not is something only you can know.

 

[badge]

I'm not sure ASUS would list Crucial Ballistic brand as tested and placed on a QVL list on any of their MB's. Perhaps they test Micron chips (and others) at face value instead of branded versions.

 

[Moondrinker]

Ok, Thanks a lot Sailer! That was really helpful!
Now i will just unpackage my ram. . . and. . . . . ohhh, they are so pretty!
Really, thanks a lot!

 

[vagetaqtd]

Don't Worry, Crucial Ballistixs works fine with any P5k, just set the timings and voltage to their ratings and you should be fine. I have mine running at 1020mhz 4-4-4-12 2.2v.

These rams are crazy.

 

[Moondrinker]

Neat, thanks!

 

[warmaster]

Not to hijack this topic...

but my RAM is supported on my p5n32-e SLI. And my games (only games) have been crashing like crazy!
Is this the problem?

Thanks!

 

[sailer]

Not to hijack this topic...

but my RAM is supported on my p5n32-e SLI. And my games (only games) have been crashing like crazy!
Is this the problem?

Thanks!

A lot of possibilities. You might have a dead stick of ram, or you might not have the voltages set high enough in the BIOS for the ram or the CPU. Voltage that is too low is a common cause for crashes. Another possible problem is the video card crashing out. I've had that happen in the past. A computer might run fine with 2D applications, but crash when 3D games start. Even an underpowered PSU can cause this, by providing enough power for running the screen and simple word processing, but not enough to support the video card when a game starts to make it work hard and draw extra power.

 

[warmaster]

A lot of possibilities. You might have a dead stick of ram, or you might not have the voltages set high enough in the BIOS for the ram or the CPU. Voltage that is too low is a common cause for crashes. Another possible problem is the video card crashing out. I've had that happen in the past. A computer might run fine with 2D applications, but crash when 3D games start. Even an underpowered PSU can cause this, by providing enough power for running the screen and simple word processing, but not enough to support the video card when a game starts to make it work hard and draw extra power.

Wow...you know what? "Rise of Nations" runs fine! And lots of my old games do to!
But to the less expensive solutions:
How do I check my voltage? Increase it?
I have a 750w PSU


CPU: Q6600
GPU MSI 7900GS