Help to diagnose

[Neba]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you guys would help me to diagnose my problem.

I have an asus p4c800-e deluxe, a 2.4c, and 512 (2x256) OCZ pc3700 gold edition running in dual channel. I have been running for months on a mild overclock of 2.8.. making my memory run at 470 (235 fsb). It was all great.

Then, I decided to buy another gig of memory (2x512).. I looked into it, and my motherboard should be able to run two pairs of memory in dual channel.. as long as I have my 256's in either slots a1 and b1.. or a2 and b2. witht the 512's paired in the opposite. So I went ahead and bought a pair of OCZ pc4000 gold edition (not being able to find 3700, so I went with one step up, figuring it should be able to handle the underclock).

Now here's the problem. At a fsb of 200 (400mhz ddr), all 1.5 gigs will run in dual channel and be happy... but I want to run at 2.8 (235 fsb) like I have been for months. With just my old 512 it will work.. but it won't work with either all 1.5 gigs, or even just the 1 gig.

On the sticker, the memory says its pc4000, capable of 2-3-3-8 timings.. but even with worse timing, I cant seem to get it up to 470 mhz. So I would assume the memory I got just somehow slipped through QA and actually can't hold itself up... but just in case I thought I should ask around at a few forums. Also, if you guys know, what voltage is it supposed to require to hit 500 mhz?

thanks for your time.

-Neba

[TheLostSwede]

Neba,

The problem is that the 2 kits are programmed totally different and on top of that, they probably aren't made of the same IC's. Have you tested what the 2X512 kit overclocks to without mixing them with the 2X256?

[Neba]

Actually, they work together all four sticks (2x256, and 2x512) quite well at 400 mhz.. Its just the new sticks crap out at higher speeds than this.. and the new sticks even by themselves crap out at higher speeds. I looked it up, and my motherboard should be fine with two completely different pairs of ram as long as each pair is matched and all four are capable of the same speeds.

But, none of the above matters. I found the problem.. which was something you wouldn't be able to help me with from the information I provided you. The memory I bought turned out to be "VX", or voltage extreme.. which requires 3.3 volts to run at its designed speed. And I, having a p4c800-e can only put up to 2.85 volts into my memory.. which presents a problem.

Thanks for responding.

-Neba

[Nosferatu]

Maybe this would help? http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_ddr_booster_diagnostic_device. Though it would take up 1 DIMM slot so you might be best just using the 2x512MB.

[Neba]

Actually, I was thinking of taking a lsightly more risky route with a volt-mod.

-Neba

[TheLostSwede]

May people have voltmodded this board before with success. If you'd like, i can try to find you a guide on how to do it.

[Neba]

No, thats alright.. I've got decent googling skills and from the four guides that I have now (1 is slightly different than the others).. all I need that I don't have is a 50K ohm variable resisitor. I'm getting it tomorrow morning when the store opens.. and volt mod my board before I go to work. Last night I upped my cooling solution, so it should all be good. Thanks for the offers though.

-Neba