Why was I told this, when it isn't true?

[AD-15]

hello,

When I finally made an order for a PC I've been waiting for for a very long time, from Scan, I specified all the specs, and requested an Asus P35 board, which I ENSURED was 1066 compatible (natively). Scan put a quote together for me, with this board, and the build was started. However, half way through, there was a clearance issue with the hardware, and the board was changed. Because it was on a tight schedule, they changed it to a different board they chose themselves, and sent me an email. The board was the Abit IP-35 Pro. I've heard it was a better board, so I was happy, except for one thing. The item title on scan's site had 'DDR2 667/800' written in it, no 1066. So I immediately checked to see whether it would NATIVELY support 1066, like the Asus. Nothing on the net about 1066, so, worried, I asked Scan. I was told yes, it does natively support 1066.

When I got it, I had problems from the start. It was running at 800, not 1066. So I started posting and emailing while I was on holiday, I got help from here (as I'm sure those of you who so kindly helped me will know) on how to resolve it. Scan took a little longer, but the end result was the same. The board did not appear to natively support 1066. Why did I think this? Because it looked like I had to go through a lot of different things to get the RAM to run at it's rated speed. However, I remained optimistic, and actually asked Scan via email and telephone. The answer? No, the board does not natively support 1066, as I was specifically told by Scan. So, basically, I was lied to.

I only went through with the order as Scan had previously earned my trust as an extremely excellent retailer. Why should this have happened?

Alot of you, rightly I'm sure, think what I'm saying is silly, and the problem can easily be worked around by the solutions given by so many on this site. However, the fact remains that I paid for a 1066 board, and that's not what I received. Furthermore, I was not told the truth regarding the matter. All I can really say, despite the advice tech support gave me on working around the problem, is that I'm extremely disappointed, and I will think twice before ever doing this sort of thing again.

[peterb]

I presume you have taken this up with Scan's CS? Did you specify that the board had to be 1066 capable when you placed the order (although that my be impleied when you asked when the the second board was substituted). Do you have copies of the emails?

[Tetras]

Abit stick to specs and don't specify support for *anything* that is not official, as an example the Asus 939 motherboards once listed support for Opteron 939 CPUs but as this was not official you wouldn't find any mention of that for Abit 939 boards (even though they did work fine).

I see no reason why the IP35-Pro wouldn't support 1066 just like any of the Asus P35 boards but it wouldn't be official and will default to 800 Mhz (many other boards do this, 800 is the last official DDR2 spec).

Scan haven't "lied" to you, it should work but it won't be automatically supported by the BIOS, you'll have to manually change it and raise the memory voltage to the RAMs requirement but you'd prolly find the same behaviour with the Asus P5K boards.

If by definition native is that the board supports it out of the box then you haven't been lied to, it doesn't require a BIOS update or anything of that kind but... it won't just boot up with it at 1066.

[Clunk]

I keep pointing you at the last link in my sig.

There is officially no such thing as 1066Mhz RAM, unofficially there is though.

The RAM will never run automatically at 1066Mhz on ANY motherboard, instead, it will run at the fastest official specification that exists for DDR2 which is 800Mhz (PC2-6400).

[AD-15]

hello,

I have seen on the Asus MB I originally ordered, the Bios simply allows you to select DDR2 1066. On the Abit which doesn't natively support it like the Asus, it doesn't.

Simply put, as I have checked on the net, the Asus has an offiicial feature allowing native DDR2 1066 support.

By the way, can I possibly transfer this to the SCAN forum, I made it here by mistake. Should I just post it again there?

[markbrown83]

hello,

When I finally made an order for a PC I've been waiting for for a very long time, from Scan, I specified all the specs, and requested an Asus P35 board, which I ENSURED was 1066 compatible (natively). Scan put a quote together for me, with this board, and the build was started. However, half way through, there was a clearance issue with the hardware, and the board was changed. Because it was on a tight schedule, they changed it to a different board they chose themselves, and sent me an email. The board was the Abit IP-35 Pro. I've heard it was a better board, so I was happy, except for one thing. The item title on scan's site had 'DDR2 667/800' written in it, no 1066. So I immediately checked to see whether it would NATIVELY support 1066, like the Asus. Nothing on the net about 1066, so, worried, I asked Scan. I was told yes, it does natively support 1066.

When I got it, I had problems from the start. It was running at 800, not 1066. So I started posting and emailing while I was on holiday, I got help from here (as I'm sure those of you who so kindly helped me will know) on how to resolve it. Scan took a little longer, but the end result was the same. The board did not appear to natively support 1066. Why did I think this? Because it looked like I had to go through a lot of different things to get the RAM to run at it's rated speed. However, I remained optimistic, and actually asked Scan via email and telephone. The answer? No, the board does not natively support 1066, as I was specifically told by Scan. So, basically, I was lied to.

I only went through with the order as Scan had previously earned my trust as an extremely excellent retailer. Why should this have happened?

Alot of you, rightly I'm sure, think what I'm saying is silly, and the problem can easily be worked around by the solutions given by so many on this site. However, the fact remains that I paid for a 1066 board, and that's not what I received. Furthermore, I was not told the truth regarding the matter. All I can really say, despite the advice tech support gave me on working around the problem, is that I'm extremely disappointed, and I will think twice before ever doing this sort of thing again.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, I mistakingly posted it in the hardware forum

What processor are you running?

Also check this out - 3rd paragraph... it does support 1066 memory:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/477

Hope this helps...

Mark

[Tetras]

Afaik it doesn't allow you to just set 1066 in the BIOS, you have to use dividers and calculate the FSB/DRAM ratio. It works just fine (and does exactly the same thing as the Asus behind the scenes) but the BIOS isn't set up in the same way, you aren't overclocking by adjusting it.

If you have a CPU of 1066 FSB that is running at stock (266 FSB) then you'll want an FSB/DRAM ratio of 1:2 (533 DDR2 = 1066 effective frequency) and that is it.

[markbrown83]

The article says it is supported unofficially, however, I believe there is a beta version currently out which may allow the board to officially support 1066 ram.

Also, make sure it is running the latest version of bios, that is currently BIOS ID 11:

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/downl...ET_TYPE=LGA775

Hope this helps...

Don't go accusing Scan without looking into the matter fully. I have spent 5 minutes looking and I have found that it is supported.

[Fraz]

It's supported. I only had to change two settings on my version 1.0 IP35 Pro BIOS to get my ram to run at 1066 MHz from totally stock settings. One was raise the voltage to the number printed on the RAM packet, and one was switching the cpu:dram divider from 1:1 to 1:2 to move from 533 to 1066 MHz.

What's the fuss?

[Fraz]

I guess you could mean that if the RAM had EPP, then why didn't the board pick it up? I think that's still an nVidia chipset thing...

[AD-15]

hello,

Yes, you had to change the settings for the divider, that means it's not natively supported. In addition, tech support told me it is NOT natively supported. The max speed NATIVELY supported is 800 according to the specs from Abit too.

[markbrown83]

hello,

Yes, you had to change the settings for the divider, that means it's not natively supported. In addition, tech support told me it is NOT natively supported. The max speed NATIVELY supported is 800 according to the specs from Abit too.

From what I have read you have yourself a really good board. Ok, it doesn't support 1066 natively, however, it does support it. You can get the Ram set at 1066. The chances are, when a new bios version comes out it will allow native support.

I bought ram for my mobo, and it needed set manually in the bios in order to support its 4-4-4-12 timings, even though it natively supports 800Mhz Ram.

Change the settings in your bios, if it supports it and no problems then problem solved?!!

[Tetras]

In addition, tech support told me it is NOT natively supported. The max speed NATIVELY supported is 800 according to the specs from Abit too.

As I and others explained in your other thread you are getting hung up on a definition here, no P35 motherboard either officially supports 1066 memory or will automatically configure at those settings (apart from boards with EPP but that is an nvidia thing).

The reasons for this are two-fold, one is that JEDEC, the memory standards organisation doesn't officially recognise 1066 Mhz memory and the other is Intel don't declare support for it with the P35 chipset. In addition to that many motherboards don't set aggressive frequencies for memory on boot because at the default voltage (1.8v) that many set, it can prevent you from booting up at all.

Yes you may be able to set memory in the Asus BIOS at 667/800/1066 but behind the scenes all it is doing, is setting a divider, exactly the same thing as what the Abit does. At the end of the day both of those boards can operate 100% reliably at that frequency without any modification (no BIOS updates etc), right out of the box. When you purchase a motherboard you should expect to have to do some kind of BIOS configuration, the fact that many boards automatically configure the CPU and memory speed is besides the point (and a handy convenience) but you should always expect to have to set it up yourself.

Many people will consider native to be the board supports it, out of the box, without any modification or BIOS update. With those criteria the Abit natively supports 1066 memory and the tech was right to recommend it. Had he or she recommended an Intel 975X board like the Abit AW9D-MAX then that cannot operate memory at 1066 Mhz and you would be right to complain they gave you a bad recommendation.

Even Asus do not declare official support for 1066 memory, read this:

* The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800MHz. Tuned by ASUS Super Memspeed Technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz

http://www.asus.com.tw/products4.asp...11&l3=534&l4=0

Ok Abit don't give it a funny name like "super memspeed technology" but you are configuring the divider and voltage exactly the same as you would have to do with the Asus.

The same will apply for the 45nm Penryn CPUs, all Intel P35 boards claim native support but many of them (if not all) are likely to require a BIOS update to automatically configure, yet they claim "native" support. That is because the base design of the board will support them, as does the Abit with 1066 memory...

[SHare]

I think the problem is the first guy at Scan told the customer it would run at that speed assuming that he was tech savvy enough to know what running RAM at 1066 involved, the later members of staff have said no as they probably dont have the time, nor the knowledge range for each and every board to talk him through how it should be done.

I think you'll either have to run it at 800 or wait til a BIOS update, or more likely, Intel slightly revise their chipsets to automatically set it at the new higher rates.

[NightshadowUK]

On both boards you have to set options in the BIOS, neither will automatically recognize PC8500 memory but both support it. I'm not seeing a problem?

[Saracen]

......

By the way, can I possibly transfer this to the SCAN forum, I made it here by mistake. Should I just post it again there?

Moved as requested, and the two threads merged.