4x 1GB memory related problem

Well I bought 4x 1GB of 1066mhz RAM off eBay and they were running fine with no problem at all and passed tests. However my pc restarted twice yesterday randomly without any blue screens or anything and even when it comes back on it doesn't say Windows encountered an error or anything like the sort.

I have bumped up the NB voltage to 1.35V since yesterday and I haven't encountered any problems today.

What I want to know is if it's just too much stress on the board or what? The NB chip also seems to be running quite hot as when I put my hand over it I really do feel the heat (not burning but not exactly comfortable to keep my hand on for a long time, just picture putting your hand on your radiator when it's winter).

Would it help if I got a P43 board or 2x 2GB instead?

Im sure its fine, if your really worried then you could replace the nb cooler. Running four sticks of ram usually needs a bit of a volt boost to the nb. I wouldnt be too concerned.

If the nb gets scalding hot then maybe consider changing the cooler.

Well I'm not too worried with my mobo burning up or something but it's just annoying to have my pc suddenly restart on me lol.

It's weird though, I have gone through quite a few sets of RAM just to see which ones could work and oddly enough (with 1.35V on NB) 2x 1GB OCZ Reaper 800mhz + 2x 1GB Crucial Ballistix 800mhz, 4x 1GB Corsair XMS2 800mhz and another set of 4x 1GB Corsair Dominator 1066mhz (2 matched pairs) all seemed to work in pairs on 1000mhz but then when all 4 sticks were put in they always had some sort of problem, BSOD or not being able to boot or errors during stress testing.

I guess the current sticks I got were the lucky ones as all 4 sticks seemed to be matching and all have the same serial number.

Adding more voltage to the MCH for 4 sticks is normal :)
The extra 'wear' on a tiny amount like that would be so small it would be practically immeasurable. Don't worry about it :)

Oh, it's just I rarely see stuff about people adding voltage to the NB to stabilize RAM. So I guess with the other RAM I could have just upped the NB voltage and it would have been stable? I ended up buying them and putting them in other pcs/reselling them back on eBay because I thought there was a problem with compatibility lol. Stupid me...

Yeah, if you have a search on here for MCH / Northbridge you'll find me harping on about the voltage increase needed so often on the MCH :D. Some boards and memory are better than others, but it's commonplace now if using 4 sticks :)

It's probably rarely mentioned because not many people fully populate a board with RAM these days, but prefer to stick to 'kit' based solutions.

Update:

I got some Crucial Ballistix Tracers (2x 2GB) and they are stabily OC'ed at 1076Mhz. I resetted NB voltage to auto and Memory Voltage to 2.0V but every now and then (at least a few times on that day) the computer would automatically restart. This was when I had just installed W7 as I got the CD and my RAM on the same day.

I upped the memory voltage to 2.1v and it was still resetting so I had upped the NB voltage to 1.35v again and now it's no longer resetting.

Is it my motherboard or do 2x 2GB sticks also require this much voltage? Because with 2x 1GB sticks my computer never resetted. Or maybe it's to do with installing W7? Although I doubt an OS would affect it at all.

EDIT: Also, the crucial ballistix tracers run quite hot after a while, should I limit the overclock to 1.8-1.9v or something? I got a Corsair Dominator RAM cooler but my gay P35 MSI motherboard has "mis-aligned" RAM slots so I can't quite put it on properly.

What are you running your fsb at?

I found I'm stable at
356fsb
memory ratio 1:1 (so running at 356)
north bridge voltage left on auto
cpu voltage bumped up . . . ummm . . . one notch

MSI p35 neo2 fr
e6600 @ 3.2ghz
4x1gb ocz reaper pc2-6400, 3-4-4-15

ps I've found the p35 north bridge gets toasty to the touch, I did have a 40mm fan strapped to it at one point, but the led's blew and made a nasty smell constantly.
now I've got a 92mm fan just under it (mainly to blow of the back of my 9800gtx but also draws air across the north bridge)

It's at 269 FSB and the memory is running at a 2:1 ratio with the CPU. Gonna knock down my memory voltage to 2.0v and see if it is stable and if it restarts.

Have you tried using a fan to blow at the ram and perhaps also the northbridge?
I have had issue with ram temperature when running anything higher than 2V VDIMM even with 2 sticks. If you have 4 sticks at 2V without sufficient cooling will definitely cause some sort of crash after when doing something that stress the ram significantly.

And with a E5300 the effect of running ram at 2:1 is not really that beneficial that you might as well run 3:2 and run everything at 1.8V.

I'm glad I found this thread as I've just been considering doubling my RAM from 2 x 1GB to 4 x 1GB. I've made a note to increase the voltage if I get restart issues.