Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi & Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC8500

I recently built a PC for a freind from scan parts and was wondering if anyone can help with the only outstanding issue I have with the PC.

The PC uses:
* Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi mobo (LN16879)
* 2 sets of 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8500 (1066) [4 GB total] (LN15484)
* Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, 775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB CPU (LN17245)

It all works good BUT I am not having luck getting the memory to run at 1066 speed, instead I am having to leave it on 800 speed. It seems to me that a lot of people like this combo of mobo & RAM and do seem to get the RAM working at 1066 (at least people in america who do) but I can't seem to get it to work at 1066.

I asked on this forum about it: (search google for "Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8500 (1066) & Abit IN9 32X-MAX") (sorry I can't post url's yet) but then I realized that this was a US board and they may have different boards. I tried various bios upgrades (might have been for US boards only perhaps) and tweaking but in he end have revertd back to my v1.0 bios and setting mem speed to 800.

Does anyone else have this motherboard and this memory (in UK) and have it working at 1066 mem speed? If so PLEASE can you tell me the settings you use (bios version, bios settings etc) or can anyone throw some light on the situation?

Ta ;)

Hi mate,
I have had a problem with an Asus MB and the same memory. Mine will not run more than 711 with 4 DIMMs in and, at 800 with only two. I have ordered 2x 2GB (TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX) and will be selling the Dominator PC8500 as it is a waste of money.

lxtwin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lxtwin

Hi mate,
I have had a problem with an Asus MB and the same memory. Mine will not run more than 711 with 4 DIMMs in and, at 800 with only two. I have ordered 2x 2GB (TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX) and will be selling the Dominator PC8500 as it is a waste of money.

lxtwin

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The speed drop when using 4DIMMS has nothing to do with your RAM. Selling the dominator and replacing it with something else wont change that.

I take your point but the motherboard documentation quotes 4 DIMMs PC6400. Asus say:
"
You can use 4 DIMM's of PC2-6400 run at 800MHz or 2*2G memory. Striker Extreme can support 8GB memory at most."

But 4 DIMM's will only run at 711MHz, so why would you buy more expensive PC8500 (£150 per 2GB) memory when it is running like PC6400 (or slower)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lxtwin

But 4 DIMM's will only run at 711MHz, so why would you buy more expensive PC8500 (£150 per 2GB) memory when it is running like PC6400 (or slower)?

---

For more headroom when overclocking.
PC8500 is not an official standard. Its purely for overclocking at the moment. If the board can't reach that speed, it doesn't mean anything is wrong with it, simply that your RAM can go higher than the motherboard allows.

4 DIMMS also often requires a boost in NB voltage.

TBH the only boards I've seen that consistently handle 4 high-speed DIMMs without fuss are P965/P35 based, maybe 975X too.

However, while you may not get a high clockspeed on the RAM, often you can bring the timings down quite a lot. Just don't expect things like 1T with 4 sticks.

Hi Boogle,
I raised some of the voltages to this:

Memory Voltage: 2.2v
1.2V HT: 1.25v
NB Core Voltage: 1.5v
SB Core Voltage: 1.55v
CPU VTT Voltage: 1.25v
TCL: 5
TRCD: 5
TRP: 5
TRAS: 18
Command Per Clock: 2
TRC: 24

and it still did not work at 800MHz. You are defiantly right about the other chipsets as I put my four DIMM's in my Intel MB at work and they worked at 800MHz no problem. How comes our MB's often have a problem with 4 DIMM's at 800MHz when systems like this have 16 slots running at 667MHz.

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/rack/x3850/specs.html

or

12 slots also at 667MHz

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/rack/x3650/specs.html

Is 667MHz just a very stable speed?

lxtwin

Well for me there is no trouble running the four 1GB sticks at 800MHz (that worked instantly after fitting them with no setup needed). Its just in the Scan description under tech specs it says the mobo supports 533/800/1066 mem speeds so I was assuming I could get it to run at 1066. I know on the official Abit site it quotes 800Mhz as the highest supported 'stable/offical' speed but that it supports higher settings.

The annoying thing is that to me it seems that there are different bios's for the US and UK version of the board (right?) and the US (Version 1.2 Beta 6) is used successfully by the US guys on their boards to get a stable 1066MHz without crashes. I don't think I tried the newish UK v1.2 bios so I might give that a go and hope the settings menu in the bios is more flexable in its values.

If anyone has the Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi motherboard & any amount of Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC8500 1066MHz memory (UK versions) and has 1066Hz running please let me know, I am so positive it is possible (needs a lot of experimenting) I am just hoping someone else will have had the exact same problem and already know the solution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slymoon

The annoying thing is that to me it seems that there are different bios's for the US and UK version of the board (right?) and the US (Version 1.2 Beta 6) is used successfully by the US guys on their boards to get a stable 1066MHz without crashes.

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No, the US & UK (& indeed other markets) use the same BIOS'.

You might find this an interesting article about the effect of different RAM speeds on 680i
http://www.realworldbenchmarks.com/a...php?cat=&id=55

lxtwin: Xeon/Workstation systems use buffered memory (or even FB-DIMMS) which removes a great deal of addressing/refreshing load off of the chipset. However, this means not only slower speeds, but also higher latency.

Thanx BUFF, interesting link.
I just worked out that the bios is in fact the same type accross all boarders.
I think I will just had to try the 1.2 FINAL bios from Abit UK site and see if that works stable at 1066MHz (or keep at 800MHz if no better) if not then I guess only further improvement of the bios will do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slymoon

I recently built a PC for a freind from scan parts and was wondering if anyone can help with the only outstanding issue I have with the PC.

The PC uses:
* Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi mobo (LN16879)
* 2 sets of 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8500 (1066) [4 GB total] (LN15484)
* Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, 775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB CPU (LN17245)

It all works good BUT I am not having luck getting the memory to run at 1066 speed, instead I am having to leave it on 800 speed. It seems to me that a lot of people like this combo of mobo & RAM and do seem to get the RAM working at 1066 (at least people in america who do) but I can't seem to get it to work at 1066.

I asked on this forum about it: (search google for "Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8500 (1066) & Abit IN9 32X-MAX") (sorry I can't post url's yet) but then I realized that this was a US board and they may have different boards. I tried various bios upgrades (might have been for US boards only perhaps) and tweaking but in he end have revertd back to my v1.0 bios and setting mem speed to 800.

Does anyone else have this motherboard and this memory (in UK) and have it working at 1066 mem speed? If so PLEASE can you tell me the settings you use (bios version, bios settings etc) or can anyone throw some light on the situation?

Ta ;)

---

hi i have the abit ix38 and 2 gb Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator ram PC8500 runs at 816mhz . so all i did was overclock my intel q6600 i got the ram to run at 1064mhz

OK - I have fixed this issue since writing this post.

I simply waited for the next UK bios update (from abit UK website) which was not out at the time.
I downloaded m622a13.zip (bios v1.3) and applied it and it worked perfectly, just reset the bios then applied "optimal setting" type option and it showed 1066 as the mem speed in the bios (and that was without cpu overclocking I believe) and also shows as 1066 in all windows software (e.g PC Wizard).

There has been another bios releaese (v1.4) on the abit UK webste since I did the 1.3 update but I have not tried appling the v1.4 yet (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

My friend is now ultra happy about his PC and gets wicked gaming ^_^

thanks to everyone for advice.

14 gets good feedback but if it ain't broke ...

Hey there Slymoon,

Glad you got it running. I have the same setup as you, but my memory speed is running at 533mhz. Do you mind letting me know what settings in uGuru you have so I can match to them? Can you run the RAM at 1066mhz or is it some multiplier happening at 533?

Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slamdunk

Hey there Slymoon,

Glad you got it running. I have the same setup as you, but my memory speed is running at 533mhz. Do you mind letting me know what settings in uGuru you have so I can match to them? Can you run the RAM at 1066mhz or is it some multiplier happening at 533?

Thanks!

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Yours is running fine (i think) its ddr, times it by 2 and you get 1066, always double it :).

Cool cheers for that - I figured it was something like that. Seemed stable enough, i gave it a good test with 3dMark06 for a few hours without any problems. I am re-installing Vista though, and get the dreaded BSOD. Read on other forums you have to remove 2 of the 4gB, apply all updates etc than re-install.

Don't suppose anyone has read of a way of doing this within Windows XP? ie. Apply the Vista update without removing the RAM? I have my machine dual booting...

-message removed-

I have 4gB running stable at 533mhz. Is this really the fastest this RAM will go? My 3dMark performance has dropped 500 points and Vista Performance RAM speed from 5.4 to 4.8!

I'm afraid of cranking the RAM speed to high - will it blow them? Can I run it at 1066?

it is running at 1066, it could perhaps go higher but pc8500 isnt even an official rating of speed so all they do is make sure it can be overclocked too 1066 normally. Just make sure you dont go over the rated voltages and iot will be fine, 2.1v i think is the limit(check the box etc)/

Hi there,

The Memory DD2 Speed in the BIOS is set to 533. NIB Strap CPU As PSD1066. The Estimated DD2 Data Rate is 533.3 - which I'm guessing is half what it should be?

Can I safely try bumping up the speed to 1066 and test it WITHOUT damaging the RAM? Is the only way to damage the RAM to increase the voltage higher than what it's rated at?

Thanks!

well 533x2= 1066 so you are running it at the correct speeds, there shouldnt really be a need to up it further but id suggest lowering timings of the ram first as that could be affecting it. Well there is a chance of damaging it from overclocking but its reduced considerably if the volts are not increased over the rated, since its designed to take the heat created from that volt. Depending on the maker of the ram then the warranty could be void by overclocking and by changing volt, corsair allow overclocking as long as you dont put voltages above the rated but they allow 5% +- the difference because al;ot of motherboards dont give out 100% correct and dont have the option for say 2.1.

Hope this helped,

hello i have the Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi with C2Extreme 3.0Ghz and i constantly face this problem i cant setup my pc with 8Gb ram.I dont mind the cost i just want to buy ram 8Gb total (4 dimmms of 2Gb each) but i want a solution that works i ve tried bios releases other rams(kingston, princeton) the unit keeps hitting blue screens.with certain memory modules i manage to work i mean to boot Win Vista 64bit but this happens only with 2 dimms of 1Gb each.i have never managed to work it with 4 dimms of 2Gb each(800Mhz).can you give me a solution?i am willing to OC it but i don't know the right voltages for the dimms.i am considering corsair as i see you prefer all these dimms.Pls if someone can help me.

you might want to go to the MAX forum on http://forum.abit-usa.com as there will be more IN9 32X users there.
if you don't have your RAM voltage right that could be the problem plus with 4 DIMMs you probably need to increase the mch voltage a bit.

Hi guys, my first post here. I use this motherboard and I want to know if you think this RAM would work for it?

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

It would not let me post the link because I am so new LOL! You can view it at newegg and it is 109 after mail in rebate.

Hmmm...I can see after reading other posts that it should work fine with the most recent BIOS update.

Hi Mad Cow, yer that ram should work fine with your board. i have the same board with 4x1GB of pc2 8500 dominator ram and all the sticks work fine at 1066. I had heard that overclocking with 4 sticks is limited to 1066...is there any truth in that or was i mislead? can anyone shed any light? i cant try it at the min cuz my processors coolant leaked on my graphics card and now its dead so my rig is out of action until i can get a new card.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lxtwin

Hi Boogle,
I raised some of the voltages to this:

Memory Voltage: 2.2v
1.2V HT: 1.25v
NB Core Voltage: 1.5v
SB Core Voltage: 1.55v
CPU VTT Voltage: 1.25v
TCL: 5
TRCD: 5
TRP: 5
TRAS: 18
Command Per Clock: 2
TRC: 24

and it still did not work at 800MHz. You are defiantly right about the other chipsets as I put my four DIMM's in my Intel MB at work and they worked at 800MHz no problem. How comes our MB's often have a problem with 4 DIMM's at 800MHz when systems like this have 16 slots running at 667MHz.

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/rack/x3850/specs.html

or

12 slots also at 667MHz

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/rack/x3650/specs.html

Is 667MHz just a very stable speed?

lxtwin

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Hi ,

Those timings are they completely right. ?? Double check as you might be able to run 5-5-5-15 or 4-4-4-12 with them @ 1066mhz. It might be struggleing to sustain 1066mhz @ 5-5-5-18. :)
I agree , when buying ram its safer to buy 6400 and just OC it if you want a 1066mhz mem system. Its a rated memory , cheaper and just as efficient.

I had this board prior to my current setup with an 8GB OCZ set. I also experienced problems , but it was my ram would not run. My fix was to overclock the memory to 1066mhz to make it stable ... go figure ....... but it worked a treat. So the board is capable of running at this speed.

Best of luck

McT :mrgreen: