parts arrived today... hit a road block... help

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That motherboard by default supports 1.8v ddr2 memory as with most ddr2 motherboards. When adding more than one stick, ajustments may have to be made in the bios according to your memory specifications if your memory is not the standard 1.8v. There are other people here in this forum that are can tell help with these settings, but generally you would have to change the voltage and timing settings.
 
I don't have the book for that motherboard in front of me, but not all motherboards need to have memory in both "red" or in both "yellow" to work in dual channel.

I have an msi board here with purple and green slots. For dual channel to work, I need a stick in both the right slots, ( one green, one purple), for it to work.

The "watts" isn't what you need......... it's amps. Look at the side of the power supply. Under 12v it should give you a number. If it's less than 26 or 28, it's probably a weak spot and can be causing your problem.

Some power supply's have 2 12v rails, and will have 2 seperate ampere ratings under them.

I don't know what model thermaltake you have, so I don't know what the rating is.

Formating without fixing the problem is only going to be aggravating for you, you know.
 
asvcs: The manual says it supports up to 4gb 1.8v ddr2 800... i checked around in the BIOS and didn't see anything that jumped out at me to adjust the voltage for the RAM, only to increase it for OC'ing (it had step system of +.1V, +.2V, etc).

Swifty_morgan: when i was putting the PC together, i checked the mobo manual to make sure I was putting the RAM in the slots to use the dual channel setup... it follows the matching color scheme thing.

Also,
17-153-052-03.jpg

I take it from your post, the voltages are far insufficient.
 
Under MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T) is where you go to adust memory voltage and timings in the bios. There are two areas there. One is DDR Overvoltage Control, and System Memory Multiplier (SPD). This is in section 2-9 page 49 of your motherboard manual. But before you mess with it you need to know the voltage and timing specs for your memory. Thats as far as I will go for information on the memory. I don't do the over clocking thing with memory, but there are other people here that do. Hopefully they'll jump in the thread and give you more advice.

About your power supply. Thermaltake don't make bad power supplies. There are better ones out there, but it is no means a piece of crap either. Unless it is actually a bad power supply, I think it will be fine for your system. The other guy could be right about a bad rail, but its looks like there enough power for your system to me. Although it never hurts to have more than you need.
 
asvcs: thanks for the info.

I checked the newegg.com customer reviews on my memory, and there were multiple people who said they had to downclock to 667 or change the voltage to 1.9v to get more than one stick to work. I tried both, and still no luck. I think i'm going to return this memory and get Gigabyte-approved memory.

As far as the PSU goes, are you sure 500w and that voltage that i posted is enough power?
 
asvcs: thanks for the info.
:?: :?: :?:
Despite the focus on all these other issues, I think you are overlooking one obvious: RAM. Usually failure to display video is a function of RAM, assuming your gpu is good. ....try another stick of RAM, perhaps of a lower clock speed, eg DDR2 667
QFT
 
Yeh its a fucka aint it. I had some odd POSTs when i built my first rig, according to standards AMI bios codes, it was supposed to be video adapter, and with a known good video adapter it was still beepin' away. It was memory, I don't know wht all BIOS writers don't agree on a certain set of codes...😎
 
RTFM :!: An earlier post mentioned checking the manual for order to populate RAM sockets. Some motherboards are very fussy.

Mike.

Thanks buddy, but I did that a loooooong time ago.

And this is nowhere near my first PC. First one in 5 years, sure, but not first by a long shot 😉
 
Yes, I think that power supply would be fine.

About the memory. Did you check the spec's on the memory and try setting the spec's up the same in your bios? If it does'nt work you can always reset the bios back to its defaults.

Reply to other people: Yes dimm 1 and 3 or dimm 2 and 4 should be populated on this paticular motherboard to get dual channel mode. But just because the board won't post using dimm 2 and 4 does not mean its a bad motherboard. Especially if the memory is non-standard ( 1.8v), and non-standard timings, which he has not listed exactly what it is yet. I have seen this many times on non-standard memory, ( will post with one stick and not two). Sometimes a bios update fix's this also, but the board being a new model, I doubt if they have an update yet.

About the QVL lists. Manufactures only test a few model's and brands, so other memory will work also. There is only a hand full of major memory manufactures out there, and all the memory companys buy from them. They re-program the memory, put there logo on it, put there heat spreader on it, and sell it under there own name.
 
About the QVL lists. Manufactures only test a few model's and brands, so other memory will work also. There is only a hand full of major memory manufactures out there, and all the memory companys buy from them. They re-program the memory, put there logo on it, put there heat spreader on it, and sell it under there own name.
Not entirely true. It depends on the manufacturer, some are quite diligent in maintaining and updating their lists. And it is also true that sometimes there are products listed on the QVL that still don't work. Then again, some m/b's have very specific requirements re: voltages and latency, and some chips just won't work, and are not going to be on the list. Think back to the P965 release, which had very specific RAM parameters, and which became even more specific, depending on the manufacturer. Then changed again, as BIOS updates were released. The QVL, while only a guideline, is still a starting point for compatibility, as witnessed in the instant circumstance.

mike99: Thanks for actually reading the thread and acknowledging my contribution. Others are apparently oblivious (whilst carrying on about CPU fans, psu's, etc.).

To the OP: Five years in computing might as well be light years. Good night.
 
Madmurph,
I will agree to some of what you said and the QVL list is a good starting point. But I was just trying to point out that the QVL list are limited to choices of what they say will work in there motherboard, and the manufactures don't take out the time to test every dimm out there. But yes they periodically come out with a bios update for memory compatibility. That there other brands with standard voltages and timings that work just fine and dandy that is not on the QVL list. I also was just trying to point out because alot of people are unaware of this is most memory companies i.e Corsair, ocz, geil, mushkin, patriot, etc, do not manufacture memory chips them selves. They buy them from samsung, micron, elpedia,etc. That is all.
 
Manufacturers certainly dont spend much time testing RAM. I have even had to return a pair of corsair sticks which caused a very similar problem. Problems booting which resulted from a fault with one of them. Booted ok with only one module ( on a dual channel 965 board ).
 
OK well, since I'm not extremely fluent in memory timings and voltages I am going to RMA my G.Skill RAM and I have Kingston HyperX RAM (on the list of approved RAM) in the mail. Also, I RMA'd the motherboard and ordered a new one which should be here tomorrow.

I bought a new 600w OCZ power supply and that's in the mail too, but won't be here until wednesday... so I'm going to put the new motherboard and RAM in and see if it all works with the 500w Thermaltake PSU, and if it does i'll just return the OCZ PSU.

QUESTION: If the mobo gave me the "power error" warning beeps while I was trying to install windows (with 1 stick of RAM), doesn't that mean the PSU is too weak?

Also, could someone explain to me why my computer would post with one stick of ram in slot #3, but when I put the 2nd stick in slot #1 it wouldn't? (or, slot #4, and #2 respectively). i understand timing and voltages are an issue, but why does it work with one in there and whenyou put the 2nd one in, it doesn't work? p.s. this is why I concluded the left 2 slots were dead... even starting with 1 stick in #1 or #2 it wouldn't post.
 
Ah yes, nothing like new information. I would keep the OCZ 600W PSU. Its aways better to have more than what you need in power, and you'll be more prepared for future upgrades.

Just curious, but did you already send the old motherboard and memory back yet? If not, you could test the new memory and PSU with the old motherboard, which would narrow down the exact issue. I for one would like to hear what you find out.
 
No I haven't sent out the motherboard yet. I was going to send it out today at lunch but couldn't get out of the office. Now that you suggest it, I think I'll try the new memory with the old motherboard. I think I will RMA the TT PSU and keep the 600w OCZ because you make a good point about upgrades, etc.

The thing I'm curious about, however, is that the motherboard gave me the "power error" beep while I was installing windows... I thought 500w would be enough for a basic setup... its not like I have 4 hard drives or dual vcards or anything.
 
Well this is kind of why I made the statement about new information in my last reply. If you got a beep code pointing at the power supply, then the power supply has in issue, and could be why the memory would not work correctly, because of improper voltage going to the components, all kinds of weird things can happen.
That power supply has enough power to do the job, but its possible that it is a bad new power supply. Although I personally have never seen a DOA new Thermaltake power supply. Everyone we have sold and installed has worked perfectly.