ASUS P5B & KINGSTON KHX6400D2/1G HYPERX PC6400 800 recognised as PC2-5300!

[retroborg]

Hello,
I recently bought a new Mother Board (ASUS P5B) & Core 2 Duo 6600 @ 2.4GHZ:

ASUS P5B:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1178&modelmenu=1

I installed the following Ram:
KINGSTON KHX6400D2/1G HYPERX 1GB PC6400 800MHZ
http://www.e-shop.gr/show_per.phtml?id=PER.554789

But, when the system boots up, at the American Megatrends Bios DOS screen, the memory is recognized as:
PC2-5300 667MHz and not PC2-6400 800MHZ!

I updated the Bios to 1007 from here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5B

But the same problem persists!

I read in the manual:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5B


Due to chipset limitation, DDR2-800 with CL=4 will be downgraded to run at DDR2-667 by default setting. If you want to operate with lower latency, adjust the memory timing manually.

Some old-version DDR2-800/667 DIMMs, may not match Intel's On-Die-Termination (ODT) requirement and will automatically downgrade to run at DDR2-533. If this happens, contact your memory vendor to check the ODT value.


I can’t find any section on the BIOS menu where I could adjust the memory tiomings manually?!
But this specific Kingston RAM is mentioned as CL5, with timings:5-5-5-15, so this shouldn’t be happening!?

Also, in the manual, at the P5B Premium Series M/B Qualified Vendors List (QVL) DD2-800MHZ capability, Kingston 1GB DDR2-800MHZ is listed, but not my specific KINGSTON KHX6400D2/1G HYPERX 1GB PC6400 800MHZ model.

Is there any solution to this problem or should I change the brand of the RAM or even the M/B?
Please, any help will be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[BigDid]

... But, when the system boots up, at the American Megatrends Bios DOS screen, the memory is recognized as:
PC2-5300 667MHz and not PC2-6400 800MHZ!
Hi,

You Mb is driving your RAM via SPD (or specific settings)

I updated the Bios to 1007 from here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5B

Did ASUS states this new bios had improvements regarding your problem? If not maybe not needed

I can’t find any section on the BIOS menu where I could adjust the memory timings manually?!
But this specific Kingston RAM is mentioned as CL5, with timings:5-5-5-15, so this shouldn’t be happening!?
You may have overread, these manuals may not be clear to read/understand, there is always a section for setting the ram timings and speed.

Is there any solution to this problem or should I change the brand of the RAM or even the M/B?
Please, any help will be highly appreciated!

I don't have that MB so wait till someone having an ASUS can give help. In the meantime make a search for your problem like "ASUS P5B & KINGSTON KHX6400D2" on google and/or search hardware forums; I'm sure you'll find valuable tips.

Did

[retroborg]

OK, so It was in the Advanced, "JumperFree Configuration", you can set the DRAM frequency to DDR-800MHZ, 889MHZ, even up to 1066MHZ!

Also, I disabled the spd in the Chipset/Northbridge menu and set the DRAM CL=5. (It was all ready CL=5 by default)

But, there are a few other fields in this menu, which I’m not familiar with:

Memory Remap Feature = [Disabled]
Configure DRAM Timing by SPD = [Disabled]
DRAM CAS# Latency = [5]
DRAM RAS# Precharge = [6 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay = [6 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM RAS# Activate to Precharge = [15 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM Write Recovery Time = [6 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM TRFC = [42 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM TRRD = [10]
RANK Write To Read Delay = [10]
Read To Precharge Delay = [10]
Write To Precharge Delay = [10]
Static Read Control = [Auto]
Initiate Graphic Adapter PEG/PCI

REG Port Configuration
REG Force x 1 = [Disabled]

But since I’m not sure what they’re used for, I left them as they are.


But, shouldn't it be:
DRAM CAS# Latency = [5]
DRAM RAS# Precharge = [5 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay = [5 DRAM Clocks]
DRAM RAS# Activate to Precharge = [15 DRAM Clocks]

In order to achieve the factory Timings: 5-5-5-15 of this specific Kingston RAM?

What do you suggest?

Also in the Jumperfree menu, there is this field:

AI Tuning = [Auto]
If set to manual, you can change the CPU frequency/voltage, PCI frequency, etc…

Thanks in advance.

[jeffy]

By now, you might have probably found out the answer:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/P5B-amp-KINGSTON-KHX6400D2-1G-HYPERX-PC6400-PC5300-ftopict221026.html

[retroborg]

OK, so I disabled SPD and set the right timings: 5,5,5,15 and in the Advanced, "Jumper Free Configuration", I set the DRAM frequency to DDR-800MHZ, so when the system boots up, (at the American Megatrends Bios DOS screen), the memory is indeed recognized as:
PC2-6400 800MHZ and not PC2-5300 667MHz.

But I noticed that when I use CPU-Z 1.38, in the “SPD” field, the two DDR-2 modules are recognised as PC2-5300 (333MHZ)?
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8996/spdhs7.png

Where as in the “Memory” field, the frequency and timings are right: 400MHZ, timings: 5,5,5,15
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/7451/memoryuu7.png

Also, the ASUS P5B-E P965 M/B uses an ICH8R Southbridge chipset, but CPU-Z 1.38 recognizes it as ICH8?
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/7080/mainboardsw0.png

Is there anything wrong with my Bios setting that leads CPU-Z in wrongfully recognizing the memory type & chipset?

Thanks in advance.

[dancho]

there is a new version CPU-Z 1.39,
try it...http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/CPU-Z.shtml

[retroborg]

I think this is what's causing PC-Z not to recognize the RAM type properly:

Sometimes if you buy fast ram that hasn’t yet got a Jedec specification, the SPD will show it as the highest previous rated type. So, for example, lets say that pc2-6400 hadn’t yet been formally approved as a spec, then even ram that was rated to run at pc2-6400 would still carry pc2-5300 in its SPD.

Well, the new version CPU-Z 1.39 recognizes the ICH8R Southbridge chipset, but it still says pc2-5300 instead of PC2-6400.

[Inventive Software]

Run SANDRA through a series of RAM benchmarks, and if the speeds are consistent with PC2-6400 RAM you have 6400 RAM, and not, as is reported, 5300 RAM.

[taz291819]

Don't worry about what CPU-Z says in the SPD timings. It says the same thing for my Buffalo Firestix PC-6400. You have your timings correct in bios, so you're good to go.

One thing to mention about the P5B Deluxe (I have the same motherboard), the instructions about setting up dual-channel RAM isn't very clear. Make sure the two sticks of ram are in the two yellow slots (A1, B1). If you just put them in channel A slots (A1, A2), it'll run in single-channel mode.

[retroborg]

I have the P5B-E M/B not the deluxe, but yes the same goes for this one as far as setting up the RAM in Dual Channel. It took me a couple of tries to set it up in dual channel mode right.

Thanks.

[The Scientist]

But, when the system boots up, at the American Megatrends Bios DOS screen

so when the system boots up, (at the American Megatrends Bios DOS screen)It's not DOS ;)