Trouble ... Never ending

Soldato
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i recently requested an RMA for some GSKILL HZ PC4000 (2GB) memory, i recieved the replacement memory very quickly, however the same problem persists.
The original problem was that the computer would lockup while loading up if i
ran the memory at anything more than DDR333 (166Mhz), now i have recieved the replacement memory i still cant set the memory any faster than DDR333.
The rest of my computer spec is as follows:

Sapphire Pure Innovation Motherboard
X1800XT 512mb Graphics card
Creative Soundblaster XFI Extreme
200Gb Maxtor Diamondmax 10 HDD

Any further help would be appreciated. Thanks

Could it be something else is broken not the memory?
 
Man of Honour
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I'd suggest looking towards the motherboard, the other components are unlikely to affect your Ram in any way. What is your CPU? There may be some bios option needing switched on/off or you may need to update the bios if you haven't already done so.
 
Soldato
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there is no update for my mobo.. i dont think


i changed this after a few weeks of the gskill being in.

if i disable cool and quiet i got into windows.. then it would jus restart as soon as everyhting loaded up.

now i can enable cool and quiet... get into windows.. but it just restarts within a minute.. if the memory is set any higher than 166mhz
 
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Soldato
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It may well be a mobo thing I'm afraid! As you can see, I have this board and tbh it has been nothing but trouble for me :(

To start with, all RAM slots died (this was confirmed in the RMA), MemTest giving literally 10,000+ errors per 512 stick. This board seriously undervolted the CPU as well - set to 1.4V it would give about 1.35V :confused:! My new one (now with different RAM) works, but it is virtually impossible to overclock, unstable after even a little tinkering. I also thought that it was the RAM to start with, which is why I changed it. Also, it freqently gives errors where the BIOS attempts to read from an illegal mem address or something. WOE IS THIS MOBO!

Anyhow, my advice would be to attempt to get an RMA on it and if you can get a replacement, sell it immediately! Buy a DFI.
 
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Soldato
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i have no reciept for it.. got all the box and stuff... dont know why i have no receipt or email order. ive kept eveything else except this.... and its borked.. typical

it wont of wrecked any of my other hardware will it?

i mean i seriously running the mem slow to get the computer stable

166mhz.... 3 4 4 8 at 2T... not even 1:1 as it restarts in random places.

im seriously annoyed... :( .. more upset really
 
Soldato
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I doubt it will have done any damage.

That's bad luck about the reciept ... you could still auction it as an untested item and get some money back maybe.

Seriously though, I would go for a DFI (not only are they cheaper for what you get but they actually work!) - the only reason I got that one was that I support ATI (the small guy :)). As I RMAed the RAM first, thinking that it would more than likely be the cheap RAM I bought, it was too late to then get a refund on the board :(

I know what you mean - I was gutted too! Last time I buy Sapphire tbh.

Good luck!
 
Soldato
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There would be no trouble between the ATI gfx and the nForce chipset, you just wouldn't be able to go CrossFire in the future (if ever you wanted to) and obviously, SLI is ruled out.

The DFI I was looking at (before I discovered I couldn't have my money back) was the DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D. The DFI CrossFire board isn't meant to be that good (I've heard) but I'm not sure about the other options - worth making a different thread about it to get some ideas.
 
Soldato
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yeh i have...

well ive emailed sapphire/ati/gskill about my issue.. see what is said before i buy...

but i think it looks like ill be dipping into my vision m savings for me new mobo on monday :( sooo close to that vision M too.

did you send your mem back too?? what was your original problem? was it the memory speed like me.. or was it something else?
 
Soldato
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This build has been cursed for me from the start :(. Firstly, the PSU was faulty, so I had to get that replaced. Then when I put everything together, it was working fine for about 2 days and then suddenly just wouldn't boot. Whichever mem stick I used, whether in dual or single and in any slot, the mobo was giving errors in MemTest. So, I returned the RAM and got some decent stuff (Corsair XMS) - but it still didn't work. Now the mobo is RMAed, I am in my present situation - struggling to keep it stable LINKAGE

For the RMA business, I e-mailed Sapphire, who told me that it wasn't their problem, contact the seller. I contacted the seller, who told me to get in touch with Sapphire... :mad:!

Seriously, if I were to be buying now, I wouldn't touch Sapphire with a barge pole.
 
Soldato
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:(

you say you flashed the bios.... ive never updated the bios ( i aint got a floppy drive)

but i didnt think there was an update for the bios for this? mine is like september or november 2005 i think
 
Soldato
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That is the newer BIOS. Both of my boards came with the previous version.

They still haven't sorted out the monitoring issues too (although they've had long enough) - every time you load 7/10 monitoring programs, it will crash the PC.

ROFL this is turning into an A.N.Other hates Sapphire rant :p







(although I do :mad:!)
 
Soldato
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I haven't really got enough money atm (just bought a Xerox monitor - which, following my good luck, turns out to have dead pixels - although it is very nice :)). I may do in the summer, not sure really - I'll see if prices drop a bit on S 939 when the AM2 boards come out.
 
Soldato
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I have 2 gig or Corsair XMS (the 4th down on the Corsair page on the OcUK site). This is running at 2-3-3-6 @ 2.75V :p (without a problem at stock).

With the X2, the 2 gig of RAM and the new monitor, games play a treat - aa and all settings on max.
 
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