P5G41T-M LX Motherboard Memory Upgrade -- Kingston KVR13N9S8/4 Compatible?

[nathan_clarke]

Hi,

I am trying to upgrade my P5G41T-M LX motherboard from 4GB to 8GB. It currently has one 4GB DIMM (Strontium SRT4G86U1-H9M) and the other DIMM slot is spare. I could not source another DIMM part for the spare slot, so I bought a pair of 4GB Kingston DIMMs, KVR13N9S8/4, as a replacement. I checked all the specs and as far as I can tell they all match -- DDR3 1333MHz PC3-10600 240-pin DIMMs, each made up of eight 512MB SDRAM chips -- so they should be compatible, shouldn't they?

In any case, when I plugged them in (taking the usual precautions against static discharge), the PC would not boot. I tried again using just one Kingston DIMM (and again using the other) in one slot, but PC still would not boot.

I have not yet tried upgrading the BIOS. Will do later today.

Can anyone confirm whether or not these DIMMs should work in my motherboard?

If it matters, my CPU is Intel E5700 Pentium Dual Core -- LGA775, 3GHz

Thanks in advance.

Nathan

 

[brispuss]

Kingston memory part number KVR13N9S8/4 is not compatible with the P5G41T-M LX owing to use of higher density memory chips.

Recommend getting 2 x 4 GB dual channel kit instead where the modules are guaranteed to be compatible with each. Individual modules (not from the same dual channel kit) may not work together due to variances in modules characteristics.

Some compatible memory, including 2 x 4 GB dual channel kits (note that memory rated at higher than 1066 MHz will be down clocked automatically to match system compatible frequency of 1066 MHz) -

Avexir - AVD3U13330904G-2SW 2 x 4 GB @ 1333 MHz


Compatible Crucial memory

G.Skill 2 x 4 GB @ 1333 MHz

G.Skill 2 x 4 GB @ 1333 MHz

No compatible Kingston memory found (at this time).

 

[nathan_clarke]

Hi Brispuss. Thanks for your quick reply.

Based on further research, I think the key point in your answer is "owing to use of higher density memory chips". The more technical term for "higher density" is "single rank". Although it is not stated in my motherboard's user manual, I believe the P5G41T-M LX does not support single rank modules; it only supports modules with rank of 2 or more (i.e. lower density SDRAM). See the reply from
kingstonhq in this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2240856/kingston-memory-problem-asus-motherboard.html.

It is difficult to find specs on the rank of any particular DIMM, but I managed to find the datasheet for the KVR13N9S8/4 and it is indeed single rank (denoted 1Rx8). So, I guess I've blown 100 bucks on RAM that I can't use because of a detail that is not advertised by the module retailer, nor in the motherboard specs. Spewing!

Thanks for the help. Hopefully this post might enlighten/warn other readers.

Cheers,
Nathan

 

[brispuss]

The "higher density" memory chips referred to above means that memory chips with 4 Gb (or higher) density are not compatible in this case. The P5G41T-M LX only supports up to 2 Gb density memory chips.

Single or dual rank is, to a degree, not necessarily an accurate means of determining compatibility, it is more to do with memory chip architecture and density.

 

[nathan_clarke]

But the Strontium part, SRT4G86U1-H9M, which works fine in my motherboard, also has eight 4Gb density chips [UNTRUE, SEE CORRECTION BELOW], same as the Kingston KVR13N9S8/4 -- which is one of the reasons I thought that the Kingston parts would be compatible.

 

[nathan_clarke]

Correction: The SRT4G86U1-H9M has sixteen 2Gb chips, so maybe density is the issue, as you say.

 

[nathan_clarke]

brispuss,

I am able to source a G.Skill 2 x 4 GB @ 1333 MHz part, F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL (see http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-10666cl9d-8gbxl-), which is very similar to parts you recommended, but I can't find any details on what chips they use, so not sure if they'll be compatible for density. Can you suggest how I might find out?

Thanks again.
Nathan

 

[brispuss]

Generally details of memory chips used in G.Skill modules are difficult to find. The best way is probably by Googling the part number.

I'll have a look a bit later as I'm going out shortly for awhile.

 

[brispuss]

From this link, each module has 16 memory chips.

Each module is 4 GB capacity ≡ 4 GB x 8 (bits) ≡ 32 Gb.

Therefore each memory chip has a capacity of 32 Gb ÷ 16 (memory chips) ≡ 2 Gb.

So this 2 x 4 GB G.Skill memory part number F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL is compatible with the Asus P5G41T-M LX!

 

[nathan_clarke]

Hey, great find Brispuss. (Wish I knew how you found it.) Thanks very much for that, I really appreciate your help. If the post you've referenced is accurate, then the F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL must indeed use 2Gb SDRAMs and should be compatible with my system.

I've also managed to source some F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT modules, so I have a couple of options now.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[brispuss]

You're welcome, and good luck!

 

[Michael_649]

Thanks for the great answers Brispuss, you've saved me a lot of trouble. I was googling RAM for this very motherboard, and I came across your posts. I had no idea about the RAM module capacity thing.

 

[nathan_clarke]

Michael, I'm glad this discussion has been helpful to you. For the record, I looked further into using the F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL parts and found one or two sites that suggested that they actually have 8 memory chips (sorry, I didn't record the specific sites), contrary to what was suggested in the link that Brispuss found. I also sourced them on ebay and contacted the seller who replied saying simply that they are NOT compatible with the P5G41T-M LX motherboard. So in the end I managed to purchase a second-hand pair of F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT modules for $20 off ebay, which are working fine.

 

[vyrydy]

Hi!

Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333 Mhz CL9 Performance Desktop Memory Kit is compatible with P5G41T-M LX Motherboard. Ordered from Amazon.
I upgraded my mom's computer and works well!