P4M800Pro-M & DDR2 RAM Problem

[I-Am-He]

I just installed my new P4M800Pro-M v2 Core 3 duo (e6300) last week and the only problems I've had so far, is that there is an intermitting freezing on boot ups and reboots, and when I installed 2 1GB sticks of DDR2, it would not go past the splash screen but when I reversed the sticks it booted right up. I'm hoping that the intermitting boot freezing has to do with that I had the IDE Cables in wrong when I installed the OS back on. I'm planning to do a clean install this weekend.

There is a question I'd like to ask and if this is not the right forum please correct me. I wish to put a AGP Video Card card on this board and I have no idea which cards are compatible with it. I am not a gamer, all I am looking for is an inexpensive card that will make my PC compatible with the Vista specs.

Thank You,
I-Am-He

 

[DBMaster]

Thank you all in advance for the insights and and hard to find info that you have provided. I , too, purchased the afore mentioned motherboard from Fry's. Now I have two nearly built and useless computers down.
One computer uses DDR2 1GB PC2-4200 memory by Patriot. The computer uses DDR PC3200 memory by Kinston. I When both computers are powered on, the CPU fan spins, the CD/DVD access light comes on, but no beep sounds and no image appears in the monitor. I don't know if my motherboards are Rev 1 or 2.

Hey, Jet007, can you take a picture of the CPU pinouts or use a diagram to illustrate the pinouts you are talking about? I think I understand what you are describing.

It is a relief to finally have an idea of what is wrong with these systems. I bought the boards last year to make new computers for my nephews, but it has been about six months now and I have yet to get the things to work, even after taking them apart and reassembling them. I think I will have to have some choice words with my local Fry's manager about selling combos that do not work.

Thanks again forum!

RWB

 

[georg1040]

Ok, I read this thread before I bought two blocks of DDR2 RAM for my ECS P4M800PRO-M Version 2 and I use this Board in combination with a Pentium D 820 2,8 Ghz CPU. And this works fine.
But actually I was worried, cause it seemed this motherboard has enormous trouble with 2 Gig of DDR2.
Till that moment I used an older 512 MB DDR1 RAM module and it worked fine. I purchased this two modules of "Kingston KVR533D2N4 /1G" DDR2 which has each one , 1 Gig. I unplugged all cables off, Put off the power-button on the backside and opened my PC. I pulled out the DDR1 512 MB und first ONLY plugged in one DDR2 module. I restarted my PC, it booted up, said "update ok" and everything ok - windows started. I could read 1 Gig under the windows system information window. Then I turned off the pc again and plugged in the second DDR2 module. Same again: It said "update.. ok" and now everything just works finde. And I just only use a 300 W Power-adapter for my PC, so I think it isnt that , which causes this problem. I hope I could help everybody who has this trash board. Just buy exactly this model of Kingston RAM Modules and you won't have any problems. Not with booting nor with using.

 

[DBMaster]

Thank you for the info and update. To offer more info on my setup, my motherboards came with a CPU bundle. It is the Intel Celeron D Processor 326, LGA775 2.3 GHZ, 256K cache, 533 MHz FSB. One board uses 512MB DDR of memory and the other one uses 1GB DDR2. I will try the Kinston memory you recommended and see if it works.

Thanks again.

RWB

 

[georg1040]

Ehm, yeah but be warned, that it will be too a risk, because you can't mix any different RAM-Types, so it will be no wonder when you get trouble using two different brands. And you have too to be sure, that your RAM have the same Mhz. This RAM I recommended is a 533 Mhz RAM type.
And keep in mind, that I use both blocks of the same type and same brand, same model. By using different RAM types you never know.
So don't mix them with the older RAM and just use the new ones.
By the way: Today I got my first energy problems (as I said I'm
using a 300 W power adapter) . So I think it's time to change to a
stronger power adapter. Don't be worried that's no problem of the
RAM, the RAM just takes more energy than the older one and I use
an outdated power-adapter. Why I know it's an energy problem?
Cause if I start with connected power cable to the CD-ROM
the PC has trouble booting up, . If I start without a connected cable
to the CD-ROM it's no problem to boot up as before. And when I connect any things that take energy, like USB devices, it has too problems booting up. So an exact power problem. So be sure to buy a stronger power-adapter. When I bought my Mainboard my reseller said, it will be a problem even to run the CPU with such a power-adapter I have.
But I ran the CPU (it's not that fast without enough power, but ok),
And now I got in the better RAM modules, so it was just a matter of time, till my power-adapter will not be enough strong for my configuration.

 

[Zorg]

I tried to read the whole thread but it was too painful. I have one question, can anyone say Frisbee :?:

 

[lotr_junkie]

I have been reading these posts and wanted to coment on my experience with the P4M800PRO-M V.2 mobo, which I bought at Frys with a Core 2 Duo 6400 back in January I think. Anyway, I tried booting with the bare minimum and got no POST, only a couple of beeps - I don't remember the pattern anymore or what they indicated. I tried reseating the processor and triple checked everything, and finally took it back for a replacement. While there I noticed another mobo sitting in the return pile - I wasn't the only one! The next one was the same, so I took back both the mobo and the processor for exchange. This time they had no unopened P4M800PRO-M's so I agreed to take an opened box mobo that they had tested as working fine. This one finally worked, no problems. I hooked up everything else and it has worked great. I run dual channel Kingston DDR 400, 2-512MB, 500W Ultra Power Supply, ATI Radeon 1600x Pro AGP 512MB video card, 2 320GB Seagate SATA drives, an IDE and a USB drive, a video capture card and a Linksys Wireless adapter. So in my case, the board seems to work fine once you find one that actually works!

I am thinking of updating to US Modular Dual Channel 2048MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) that is on sale at Buy.com. Has anyone had experience using this with their mobo?

 

[georg1040]

@lotr_junkie Keep in mind, that you're using now DDR1 RAM ! This board works absoloutely fine with DDR1, but when you're beginning to think about DDR2 the troubles start. You can be lucky if you get 1 gig DDR2
to work, if you get two modules of DDR2 to work you should be the most lucky human on earth. I would suggest just to buy 2 of my recommended DDR2 modules, cause 80% of hardware you want to use with this mobo doesn't work. (except graphic card and PCI-cards..)
If you have the possebility only to get it work you should be lucky. Things like "dual channel" will be nothing more than a dream with this mobo. As I said an absoloutely trashboard. I don't know exactly if there do exist extra "dual channel" RAM modules , but if so, don't try it. As I said before I'm running two modules of normal DDR2 Kingston RAM (for the exact model number look above) and everything works. Don't know if this is now dual channel or if the mobo supports dualchannel or something, but if it's an especial exotic experiment I wouldn't try. As I said: Be happy if it works with normal RAM..

 

[lotr_junkie]

georg1040 - It sounded like you didn't have any trouble with your 2 1gig sticks of Kingston DDR2, although it sounded like you anticipated problems (and who wouldn't with this board...) The DDR2 memory on sale is US Modular, and I have not heard much about them, so I know it would be a risk to try to buy them. As for the "dual channel", it isn't anything exotic. I thought that just meant that the two sticks are identical for the motherboards that take advantage of that to give you extra speed. I don't even remember what this one has to say about it. The DDR1 memory I have now is dual channel as well; I just want to upgrade to 2 gigs at some point. It is nice to know from others what has actually worked, and I might just buy what you have. However, unless I can find a sale it is hard for me to justify upgrading right now, since everything I have runs okay. But faster is always nicer!

 

[georg1040]

Yeah, I'm running the DDR2 2 gig now for 3 days and still no problems. Except my energy problem, but that's my fault, I will have to buy a
stronger power adapter, or live without a cd-rom drive lol. I exactly had
never any problems with upgrading to the new RAM modules, but I worried cause others had, so I expected that my motherboard won't be an exception. But I think those RAM modules I recommended will work
on every ECS P4M800PRO-M V.2 mobo. By the way my Bios is a Version of 2006 (don't know if its standard cause I already got it with that version of my reseller) We should together collect as much information as possible, so we know what works with this mobo. And I'm happy that those RAM modules work and I hope everybody can use them without risk, cause 2 gig RAM is a very pretty thing on such a trashboard.
LOL read the manual.. one entry in the RAM compatible module information guide in the 1 gig section? (another Kingston module but with Infineon chips) That's a joke, I think they want kidding us.. So if we don't get the info from the manufaturer, we can only help ourselves. Anyway I thought, if Kingston RAM is recommended, maybe my model I purchased will work too. And I'm glad it does.
Faster is always nicer, I share your opinion. In the next days I will run 3D Demos and 64k demos, scene demos and so on, just to find out what's in now. To test out the boundaries. So I will get too information of stability under extreme performance operations. (and this code is.. believe me lol)

 

[DBMaster]

I will try the Kingston memory. Turns out that my mother boards are version 1.0. Is that better or worse? It has been more than 3 months since I purchased the boards so I doubt if I can get Fry's to exchange the board. I suppose I will have to try the manufacturer , ECS, if the Kingston memory doesn't work.

Thanks,

RWB

 

[georg1040]

I don't know , but as vers 2 has a newer better platine design I guess that 2 is better, but let's hope it will run too on vers 1.
By the way: I ended my tests and it's absoloutely stable under extreme situations.

Check out this: http://www.theprodukkt.com/debris/

This demo loads 560 Megabyte(!) in the
RAM modules because the complete 3D graphics are compressed
in 137 kiloByte(!). Yes it's the sin to compress the graphics in those
scenes.. (warning this program won't even start if you have an outdated graphic card)


- minimum:
* p4 2ghz or athlon 2000+ (with sse)
* 512mb ram
* ps2.0 capable graphics card with 128mb vram
* directx 9.0c

- recommended:
* core2duo or athlon x2 with >=2.4ghz
* 1024mb ram
* geforce 7600/radeon x1600 or better with 256mb vram

I ran this programm and it's still very stable and no problems.
So as you can see 1024 RAM is recommended and everything just works
fine with Pentium D 820 2,8 Ghz , ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB,
and the 2 gig Kingston RAM.
So I think more performance operations than this need not to be tested. (this demos in the scene are especially programmed to "show" what your PC really can and what's not) It's too a good value to test your graphic card
I think my card is the minimum requirement... Kingston rules..

 

[MysteriousStranger]

I have been through four ECS P4M800PRO-M v2.0 boards. The first board came from Fry's with a Pentium D 915 combo. After barely getting Windows XP sp2 installed, I would get random reboots. After changing everything from PSU to RAM (PC2100, PC2700 only DDR), I exchanged the MOBO for another model. This one too randomly rebooted, but if I manually set the RAM at the lowest clock it would not reboot as much. I noticed this with all DDR modules. After one last ditch effort, I returned it (thanks to Fry's) for a third board. Having little to no hope, I installed all my components [Antec 350 Watt PSU, 768 DDR RAM (Kingston 512 RAM and another brand of 256 RAM), Sony DVD+/-RW and same CPU] and everything worked flawlessly. I was able to play games (Jedi Acadamy .. again) even with the onboard video (no graphics card installed). After three months, the network port stopped working as did a USB port that my mouse was attached to. Moved to another port to keep mouse working and installed a NIC. All's well for a while and then it was the return of the random reboots. I was fine for three months with the third board. I RMA'd it to ECS and got the board I am using now. Unfortunately, it random reboots too. I may not be able to finish this post, but so far, so good. I changed RAM to Samsung dual-channel PC3200, even though the board doesn't support the advantages (speed increase) of dual-channel RAM. I still get the random reboots. I have the latest BIOS 12-14-2006 installed. Funny, the board came with an older BIOS from ECS. I ran a memtest from HCI systems. You have to run it for a long period of time. It found errors, but it doesn't mean they are RAM errors. I know the RAM is good, since the ones I'm using now came straight from my Dell that never had issues. The PC2100 RAM worked fine in the third MOBO (until it tanked as stated earlier). This forth board is a tease, since it mostly works. I used the default BIOS, but have just made changes. I know it won't remain stable since the memtest failed. The memtest mentions it may a problem with the MOBO and not your RAM. It recommends using one chip and run the test again. If it fails, it is most likely the MOBO. I am absolutely convinced it's the MOBO. If you luck out and get a good one (few and far between) your system may be stable for a while. I will end up purchasing a different MOBO over trying the DDR2 Kingston model recommended. I have never tested with DDR2, but I bought a stick for board number three. I never opened it because it worked well (for three months). I returned that DDR2 RAM unopened. There is a problem with this board. I may try to RMA it again and go for board number 5, since I am glutton for punishment. It's not the PSU. The one I have is new and has all the recommended amperage per rail as ECS tech support suggested. I did every bit of trouble-shooting recommended by them as well as my own. Being a BSEE has its advantages. Regardless, www.hcidesign.com has a nice memory tester that works in Windows and can aid in identifying the problem. It won't solve it though. I never received the BSOD on any of the four MOBOs. It just restarts like you hit the reset button. And as I did return two boards to Fry's, they had a stack of these (14, I counted) as returns. I only received new boxed editions when I got mine. The results I know will be for me to buy another brand of MOBO for my Pentium D 915. Just thought that I would chime in. I originally got my board in Sept. of 2006 and now it's May 2007. Faulty hardware must be swapped out. Much time, forum reading, trouble-shooting and contact with ECS was put into this.

 

[freshazzburu]

Until the 8th, Fry's has this mobo in a combo deal with the E4300 for 129.99. Just a heads up.

It serves as a good upgrade path for those with AGP and DDR400 ram. Later when money is saved (or whatever reason the upgrade is on hold), a new mobo, RAM, and graphics card can be purchased and the upgrade is complete.

I've read lot of reviews about this board - all of them have problems when using SATA drives and DDR2 RAM. For all the reviews I've read about using it with PATA drives and DDR RAM, they seem to have minimal problems.

 

[georg1040]

I searched now for some information on my recommended RAM modules.

This is the official product site from kingston for this model:

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/PartsInfo.asp?ktcpartno=KVR533D2N4/1G

Anf if you click on search you can choose a lot of mobos. I think,
that this should be a possebility to check out if your mobo is compatible with this RAm. And the RAM modules I recommended are listed.
Check out this:

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/modelsinfo.asp?SysID=26721&mfr=EliteGroup+%28ECS%29&model=P4M800PRO&Sys=26721-EliteGroup+%28ECS%29-P4M800PRO-M+Motherboards&distributor=0&submit1=Search

I think that are all RAM-Modules by Kingston which can be used with
this mobo. And on this site you find my purchased RAM modules..
I only claim how it seems to me, I hope I am right? I don't speak English
that well to judge about. They write on the site, that you can even use
two kingston 2 gig DDR2 modules, so you would reach 4 gig RAM !
I'm very excited if my recommended modules will work for you, so please reply when anyone of you suceeded.

 

[DBMaster]

I tried the Kingston memory in the P4M800Pro-M, but to no avail. The system did not respond. My motherboards are v1.0. So far I have tried Corsair 1GB DDR2, Kingston 1GB DDR2, PQI 512MB DDR and a couple of others. Nothing works. Yesterday I went to Fry's to get credit on their "Low Price Guarantee" because Saturday I bought the Kingston memory and paid full price. Sunday it was on sale for nearly $30 less. I applied the credit toward two motherboards by Abit. The guy in Customer Service and the guys in the motherboard section all said the same thing: They wouldn't put the ECS motherboards that they sale in any system. Further, they know that people buy the boards only because of the great price of the CPU bundles, but they can only suggest that a buyer purchase a different choice of motherboard. I think they should suggest a little louder. Cause I sure didn't get the message at first!

I will put the new boards in and let you know what happens. I also will try to return the boards to ECS. (Their website still needs work.) LOLuck.

RWB

 

[MrScientist]

I switched my 1.5GB DDR RAM in my P4M800Pro-M478 with 2GB DDR2 RAM on a Vista Business machine that had been running fine. I did not get reboots, but did get lock-ups. Interestingly, I was able to use the machine via Remote Desktop without any problem with the DDR2 in. After switching memory sticks exhaustively, I put the DDR back in and am now getting lock-ups with that and am having problems with Remote Desktop as well. Has anyone tried reinstalling their software after switching from DDR to DDR2 or has everyone just done the switch with in-place software? Does anyone think this is worth the 2 hours it takes Vista to load to try? I'm going to try it anyway this weekend (at least a repair installation) and report back.

Update
I manually set the speed of the DDR2 to 400 mHz and actually everything has been running fine for months. I was even able to get about a 10% stable OC out of my system with this setup. The downside is the RAM is running about 25% slower than it should be. The upside is my system is working.

I ordered 2GB of OCZ DDR2 (good rebate) and will try them this week to see if it's just my cheapo Kingston RAM that was making it not work.

 

[skankis]

Basically when it comes down to it, return the board, get your money back, and get a DIFFERENT new one. :roll:

Thank god I found this thread. Thanks to all who have posted here!!! I have been messing with problems after upgrading from a 5 year old system. I have replaced the ram, power supply, cpu, hard drive, and disconnected the cd drive only to pinpoint it down to the mobo.
I bought this mobo from Fry's as well. It was bought a couple months ago in Palo Alto (bay area) and now that I'm living three hours away its going to be a big pain to try and return it. After 80 dollars spent on trying to diagnose the problem and a couple months of not being able to make music(composing box) I'm glad to finally have this crap figured out. :lol:

 

[blunc]

sorry to hear you had so many problems with your setup, I guess not everyone has figured out that buying cheap Fry's "bundles" is a crap shoot...particuarly regarding ECS mobos...there's a reason that they "give away" those mobos with a processor.

I got lucky with the one I got, it still runs and I was able to put a D945 in it without it crapping out.

 

[solarstar]

Well I have a ECS P4M800PRO-M V2.0 flashed as an ECS P4M800PRO-M v1.0a that I got off EBay (Lucky me) running a Pentium D 820 2.8 Ghz running about 47-49 C temp idle and runs about 64 C under a load. BTW I have 3 case fans (loud SOBs). I am currently running 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 memory module 1066MHz
BL2KIT12864AA1065 http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=C23A7ED2A5CA7304 the mother board is set to "auto" in the bois for memory speed and it runs this memory at 533MHz. I can set it in the bios to 666MHz but it black screens on startup and only way I found to have the system boot up successfully is to power on the machine while hold the ESC key. I am sure I could pull the bios battery to get the memory speed to default back to auto but that would require time. I am going to test over clocking the ram well let me corrrectly phase this. I am going to try and over clock the MotherBoard to actually run the ram close to it's designed speed. This ram is reported to run best at 2.2V. The default setting in the bios is "Normal" that doesn't help me one bit. From what I read "normal" is 1.8V so I am going to set the bios to 666MHz and +0.4V if it is an option. I am wondering if I should flash the bios. If it is not broke don't fix it!? Some may be wondering why I purchased darm PC8500 1066MHz ram specifically for this board. Because A.) I was getting memory reference errors in various programs, B.) I ran the windows memory diag utility (bootable on CD-ROM) from microsoft and recieved a few errors, C.) I was a fool and thought this memory scan page http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/ was more reliable them looking at the manufacture's PDF for the ECS P4M800PRO-M v1.0a mother board. For some reason this online scan listed that this mother board could support PC8500. WHICH technically it CAN it will just run and a much much slower speed like 533MHz, and finally D.) The price is to low to pass up. I got HOSED btw bought for $134.98 and now it is $109 shipped. http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=106066&t=525359&highlight=Ballistix+2GB

I was previous running (2 x 512MB) PC2700 333MHz DDR Kingston ValueRAM KVR333X64C25/512.

[Update/Edit] 6-2-07 It seems that the Ballistix ram is made to run at 667MHz but in the bios it lists 666MHz as a manual setting however when the machine boots to the post screen if it does without black screening it lists the detected speed as 667MHz so.. I have tried all combos of voltage ranging from +0.1 to +0.35 and still no luck booting so I am done giving up and letting the mother board do what ever it wants with all settings to auto and running 533MHz. Unless someone knows of some specific settings. Also I am going to flash the bios to V2.0 latest version see if that helps.

 

[emhdoc]

So, I purchased a P4M800PRO-M (v.2) mainly becuase, I wanted to extend the life of my DDR and AGP video cards.

From the start, I experienced random BSODs and reboots. I thought, well, maybe it is becuase, I have a matched set of DDR RAM, pulled one out, still had the problem. Borrowed some DDR2 RAM (533) in two sticks of 512Mb. Still had the same problem.

Okay, fine, I have a problem mobo. Skipped the Kingston VR DDR2-533 and got a 1Gb stick of Kingston VR DDR-667. Plan on upgrading anyway now. Still had BSODs. Thought to tweak and manually set almost everything in the BIOS - still nothing.

In getting ready for the upgrade, I sold my AGP video card, ATI Radeon x1600 512Mb, and switched to the on-board VGA (64Mb). I had one BSOD when I first made the switch, and have started to climb back up to 2-3 reboots per day (which is down from my 4-5 reboots).

No clue what the issue - I am running a Pentium D 930 in this and saw earlier where they "weren't" supported. So that may contribute to the problem. On board video sucks and can bearly support Vista. Oh well, only a few more days before I upgrade.

I've also flashed the bios to the 4/26/07 version (after the video pull), so that may also help some - not really...

 

[GBBakke]

Ok guys, I'm going to get straight to the point here. I am a fool for buying this mobo without checking stuff out first. I am running a P4 dual core 3.4 with two 300 gig SATA drives, Radeon X1950 Saphire 512 Meg graphics, and... you get the picture. I've spent a lot of money on my machine and am now kicking myself for buying a crappy motherboard, what was I thinking!

I have installed 2 brand new PC4200 1gb memory chips that have tested fine, and it shows up as 1gb, so I took one chip out, and it showed up as 512 Meg. Same with the other chip in either slot, WHY!!!??? I tested these chips in another machine and they showed up as 2048 meg!

And here's my other dilema, I installed a RAID 0 array and cannot, no matter what, install Win XP. I've tried everything. So now I have ended up with 2gb DDR1 400 in there that I had lying around, and my OS installed on a single SATA instead of the RAID 0 I wanted, all because of the mobo.

So, the solution my friends, is to buy a new board me thinks. Never mind fannying around with different brands of RAM etc, the board is pants and it should be smashed (And I will do this just for a laugh when I get a new board installed!)

 

[RaverRabbit]

Ok first of all i dont know how retarded most of you are but if any of you bothered to READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL inside it where it talks about the bridge chipsets is says on a side note and i will quote ahem
P4M800PRO chipset can only support mixed 1024/512/256/
128/64Mb x8/16 DDR2 SDRAMs or mixed 1024/512/256/128/
64Mb x8/16 DDR SDRAMs.

MIXED RAM MODULES......NO 2x512 NO 2X1 GB
You must use two different sized modules for the board to work correctly and will only be able to run at 2GB if you buy ONE 2GB ram module is what it means simply put! Next time you people have problems with ram......read the friggin manual before you freak out youll find that the manual can solve most of your problems if you bother to read it!

 

[MrScientist]

RaverRabbit, although I'm sure we all appreciate your information, there's not need to be so hostile and demeaning while presenting it. True, it is stated in the manual that the RAM should be "mixed," but I'm wondering what the true definition of "mixed" actually is? This is because subsequently in the manual it states...
"You must install at least one module in any of the four slots. Each module can be installed
with 256 MB to 1 GB of memory; total support memory capacity is 2 GB."

Mind you, I'm using a P4M800PRO-M478, so this may differ from the P4M800PRO-M. However, this clearly says that you cannot, in fact, use a 2 GB stick, "each module" only supports "256 MB to 1 GB." This is why I'm confused about the definition of "mixed." If the memory has to be mixed, so the only way to get 2 GB is to use a 2 GB stick and at the same time you can only use up to a 1 GB stick, there is a paradox. It seems the definition of "mixed" you are presenting is not correct. I did a quick search for a true definition, but lost my patience. If anyone can define what exactly "mixed RAM" is to clear up this issue, that would be fantastic.

 

[Dakaill]

Hi People.

I've managed my problem in a different way.

I have a mobo P4M800Pro-M v. 1.0, Intel Pentiun D 935 3.2 GHz and 2 packs of Kingston KVR533D2N4/1G working fine.

However, I had to UNDERCLOCK the DRAM clock.

The 1st time I changed the DRAM clock from "AUTO" to "533", but the problem kept happening.

And, in the 2nd try, I UNDERCLOCK the DRAM clock to "400". The problem has gone.

I couldn't notice any diference between the performance and now I can play many games without problem.


I hope you all can try it and have the same luck I had.