Nephew of Doom = motherboard replacement advice needed

[jim]

Ah, it was your cousin, the other jim.

scaryjim ≠ snootjim

/adds to the fail.

Now you're slagging me off in threads I haven't even posted in

[mycarsavw]

Meh, you Jims all look the same

[Lapis]

Anyway, in a desparate attempt to balance out the "thread of fail"...

I've just found this ECS GeForce 8100 mobo on Dabs for only £37.11 including delivery! If you haven't made your purchase already, buy this one

Well, I went ahead and purchased this one. However, there doesn't seem to be any way to set my DRAM voltage to the 2.1v that my OCZ memory is designed to run at - the section for this just has four set options up to 2.02v.

The previous newphew'd mobo had the option to raise the voltage in steps, and was rather easy to set to 2.1v.

Any ideas as to what to do here?

[Lapis]

Mobo simply will not boot with the RAM set to 1066, and the voltage @ the max I can find in this BIOS (2.02v).

Please tell me there is a way to set the voltage higher - this board was so emphatically recommended that I jumped on the deal. Don't tell me I've gone and acted on a rec that isn't suitable for my RAM...

Has to be me, I'm sure.

Cheers for any help,

Jessica =)

[Pob255]

Try running it at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8v (which is JEDEC specifications for pc2-6400) that should work.
Once you've got into windows download and run CPUZ, look at the SPD tab to find the settings for the memory at 1066mhz
Try setting the timeings and voltage manually at the numbers given for 1066mhz

[Lapis]

Thanks Pob. Turns out that one stick will boot with the settings you describe but the other simply wont budge alone or together, in either slot combination.

Initially, the PC would boot with default RAM timings, then, after adjusting to 1066 settings, I'd get the ol' constant beeping and black screen - now the PC has even given up beeping at me when the stick in question is used.

I suppose I have to conclude that I now have a bad stick of RAM. It was working perfectly yesterday, in so much as it only complained when driven at 1066 and (I assume) not enough voltage. Now, nothing, which would make it the first stick of RAM that has ever died in my arms, as it were. Lucky possibly.

Still curious as to the voltage adjustments possible with this mobo - the only options appear to be four seemingly arbitrary settings up to 2.02v and that's yer lot. Bit disappointing compared to the previous mobo and frustrating - seeing as this RAM is only guaranteed to run at spec @ 2.1v.

Thanks again for the help,

Jessica =)

[Pob255]

Try the non-working stick in the other computer and try the working one in the other slot on this new motherboard.

To rule out ether a bad memory slot or a bad memory stick.
RMA the thing that's not working.

[scaryjim]

Hi Jess, many apologies if my enthisiasm has led you astray.

The JEDEC specified voltage for DDR2 is only 1.8V and the max recommended is 1.9V, so the motherboard is using settings well within spec. I take it you've tried just setting everything to auto in the BIOS and then running CPU-Z to see what clock and timings the memory is actually run at?