[RilleL]

Spec:

Vista 32-bit Home Premium
Cooler Master Cosmos Silver 850W

Q6700 2.67MHz
Asus striker 2 formula, nForce-780i SLI
XFX GF 9800GX2
Corsair Dominator TWIN2X85 2x1GB
WD Raptor X
Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional

My PC was pre-built and shipped with 2GB RAM but i wanted more than that, so i bought another pair of identical Corsair Dominator set.
I figured it was easy right? Just plug those two in my PC and i should have 4GB.
That's when i discovered the horrifying world of 4x1 RAM sticks...
My PC froze everwhere. And i mean everywhere. From the startup windows logo to desktop. Hell, it even froze once when i initiated windows safety mode...

Apparently with more sticks = up the vdimm and less timmings.
I looked at what others have done and changed my vdimm to 2.2v and 5-5-5-15-1T (4 sticks = 1T right?)
Unfortunately my PC auto-restarted before even getting to the windows logo. And 2.2v was the most recommended vdimm settings...
I tried 2.1v and 2.0v and that didn't turn out well. So i changed it to 2.3v and imagine my surprise when it worked!
After 10min though my PC died. After rebooting it again i read that it apparently had overheated... -.-

So do you guys have any idea on how i should solved this? At this point I don't give a crap about overclocking anymore, i just want a functioning PC with 4GB RAM.
Is the problem really vdimm and timming? Should i just keep testing between 2.2-2.3v?
If 2.2v doesn't work and 2.3v is overheating, then anything in between can't be much better either right?...

I should mention that 2GB works perfectly. At least everything besides my Sound Card but that shouldn't be a RAM problem...

 

[linderman]

alot of the time you have to increase your northbridge voltage a tweak to run four sticks of ram

I would not go any more than 2.1 volts on the ram and you dont need to loose timings

where you overclocked at the time of adding 4 sticks of ram ????


if so / then most likely thats your problem >>>> you have to start from scratch on overclocking when you go to 4 sticks

two sticks overclocks alot easier and higher >>>>> four sticks can be done too; but its finickier thats all

 

[linderman]

reset and clear your cmos / then up your vdimm to 2.1 volts / then up your northbridge voltage by .025volts at first >>>>> watch your system board temps with sensorsview pro

 

[sobeit]

one other possibility is that you are running vista 32 home premium. You will not get the use of 4 gigs of ram. You will only be able to use 3 gigs.

Some 32 bit systems will become unstable when adding more than 3 gigs of ram.

The only way you can have a functioning pc thats using 4 gigs of ram is to have a 64 bit cpu/motherboard and a 64 bit operating system.

 

[RilleL]

where you overclocked at the time of adding 4 sticks of ram ????

No, i started from scratch. I wrote in my first post that i don't give a crap about overclocking anymore, i just want to have 4GB ram (even though i'll be using only 3).

one other possibility is that you are running vista 32 home premium. You will not get the use of 4 gigs of ram. You will only be able to use 3 gigs.

Some 32 bit systems will become unstable when adding more than 3 gigs of ram.

The only way you can have a functioning pc thats using 4 gigs of ram is to have a 64 bit cpu/motherboard and a 64 bit operating system.

I'm well aware of that i can only use about 3GB.
But i want dual channel, so 4GB is the way to go, even if i waste 1GB.

 

[sobeit]

Some 32 bit systems will become unstable when adding more than 3 gigs of ram...


...But i want dual channel, so 4GB is the way to go, even if i waste 1GB.

you could have went with [email protected] for the dual channel. No waste this way

 

[linderman]

you cant get 1T with DDR2 memory ?????????? 2T is the best you will get

 

[linderman]

the memory you are using is not listed as compatible for your board ? in fact the 780chipset is under going some rather fussy confrontations with memory >>>>

here are the sticks proven to work with your board ????

http://tools.corsairmemory.com/retailer/product_results.aspx?rid=46710&id=468365

 

[linderman]

crucial has a wide range of memory sticks proven & guaranteed to work with your board

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Striker II Formula