The Next Challenge: Vista x64 Crashes When Running With 4 Gig of RAM

Firstly, thanks for all of the help and assistance with the installation questions. Here's the next problem :

My system does not want to run with 4 gigs of RAM. Since upgrading to the 64 bit version of Vista, I have not been able to get it to run using more than 2 gigs. When the full 4 gigs are installed, it will stall during the load up process, or only operate for a few minutes before locking up, which will then need a manual restart/reboot.

Just to rule out the possibility of a bad stick of memory, I have swapped the four sticks out/around, ran the memory test, and everything comes out fine. However, when the full load of 4 gigs is installed, the same thing happens - system crash. I've also installed all of the latest drivers and BIOS, but this seems to have no effect either.

Now, I'm not sure if this is a Vista problem, motherboard/RAM incompatibility issue, or what? I have consulted the motherboard manual to see if I could learn anything about the situation, but it's mostly incomprehensible to my non-techie brain.

Any ideas regarding direction in solving this issue would be most appreciated. :D

Sorry, here's my stuff:

3 x Western Digital 500GB Caviar SE16 SATA II 300 7200rpm 16MB cache Hard Disk Drive in RAID 5 array
2 x OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1024) Gold Edition Memory DDR3 1066MHz PC3-8500 CL 7-7-7-21 Dual Channel Gold Layered XTC Heatspreader
XFX GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI
Asus motherboard P5E3 LGA775 Intel X38 DDR3 ATX
Intel CPU Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 95W Energy Efficient 2.4GHz

Have you installed SP1 yet?

Yes.

Well that rules Kb92977 out.

Is anything showing in your error logs?

Just spoted this on the OCZ forums:- ASUS P5E3 premium random freezing...solved? - OCZ Forum

It might be worth trying the settings mentioned and seeing if that helps.

Thanks, Zero! I will be checking that out later. Unfortunately it's now time to go to work.

Hi!

I have installed a total of 3 machines who all had similar problems, my last issue was solved by installing SP1 but there are other solutions as well:

Put the first stick in slot one and the second stick in slot three donig so enables dual channal. Now go in you BIOS and LOWER the frequency of your memory (As the some motherboards have diff frequencies they work on you should check what frequencies it support before changing them)

For example i changed mine from 800Mhz to 667Mhz and away were the bluescreens! This is caused if i translate it (correctly) due to the latency that the memory needs in order to enable dual channal.

Then by all means i should work. If by any chance your getting the famous "IRQL_IS_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" Bsod the you should try and change the frequency even lower... it's a bit of experimenting but it worked for me.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip, Shadowfly!

I'm at work at the moment, but that will give me something to try when I get home. I have managed to do a bit of research on the problem and it seems that it stems mostly from the motherboard. The OCZ site has plenty of info on the problem, but no direct answers for my exact specifications.

Anyway, at least we know that it isn't a Vista x64 problem.

If only the ASUS and OCZ forums were as helpful as you nice people here . . .

After all of the research and hassle that I have undergone it seems that my motherboard is the main problem here. The P5E3 vanilla board that I own is a wonky piece of **** that has 4 dim slots that should at least accomodate 4 x 1 gig sticks of RAM. I'm no techie and I really hate messing around with this stuff. It seems it would simply be easier to invest in a better motherboard - one that is proven to work - and skip the hassle.

Any suggestions for a proven motherboard that can reliably handle 4 gig or more?

How much do you want to spend? What do you need on it?

Well, let's see . . .

I'm not flush with cash, but price really isn't an issue when it comes to reliability and peace of mind. My main thing is that I want to run a fairly good gaming rig - one that can handle plenty of processing power, enough gigs of RAM, and whatever else I need to have fun while playing at maximum specs.

Mind you, I don't want to land anything on Mars or compute some sort of astronomical equations. My wife has her expensive hobby and this is mine - I want to claw some cash back!

Any suggestions for a bomb-proof motherboard will be much appreciated.

IMHO Gigabyte take a lot of beating as rocksolid work horses, from my observations of this site ASUS and Abit users have 90% of the problems.

z3r010 said:

IMHO Gigabyte take a lot of beating as rocksolid work horses, from my observations of this site ASUS and Abit users have 90% of the problems.

Click to expand...

Gigabyte motherboards/components ARE very good, but like Vista itself, ASUS boards' bad rep is undeserved, and remains my first choice for both motherboards and accessories alike.

Now, if you want to discuss rubbish components, then look no further than Abit, MSI or FoxConn.

But then again, I do also believe that it depends heavily upon any given configuration. For absolute best results, if you're using a Gigabyte motherboard, then as far as possible, you should use Gigabyte accessories for graphics or other addons. Likewise, if you use Asus, then stick with Asus as far as possible. This is how I've been building computers for the past 15 years or so, and I've yet to encounter a scenario where this policy does not result in a stable computer.

Using a ramshackle blend of parts from various manufacturers is looking for trouble.

Dzomlija your post could not be closer to the bullseye.

I myselft have had fantastic luck with Intel equipment.

Gigabyte is great, in fact I just brought home a G31 board of theirs for testing.

Only 2 RAM slots though. i haven had time to check how big a stick I can put in each. I'm guessing 4 gigs total.

My DQ35JO Intel MB is rated for 8 gigs. I run 3 and and fly with the best of em with X64 ultimate.

I do love ASUS Video cards. My card has been going strong for 2 years and plays everything I throw at it.

I put a Zalman cooler on it. It was running fine without it but Zalman sent them to me so all the systems in the house got one.

Oh, the lessons learned in life. How was I to know that building my own machine would get so complicated? It makes sense, though, to stick with matching components and what-not.

I suppose I could just start from scratch and give this machine to the kids. Live and learn.

Either mess with your memory timings and voltage until you get it stable, or eBay the ram you have and buy 2x 2gig sticks, dumping the lot and starting again is a little severe.

Wise words, Zero. I was well into my beers and just about ready for bed when I posted that last response. It's all good experience in the end and I've learned much throughout all of this. In my haste I did not consider the 2 x 2 gig option. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Also, I'd like to add that this has probably been one of the best forums I've participated in recently. Well done, people!

Yeah as Zero said try tweaking the Voltage and Timings i.e Increase the Voltage by a bit and loosen the timings(latency). Then check if the crashes still occur.