New Build No video...

[casey]

This will be my third build this week and everyone but this one went easy. The only problem I had putting this together was with the I/O shiels and the MB lining up with the holes for the standoffs. I always try the setup before installing anything so when I finished hooking up the power switch I installed the video card and hooked it up. All the lights and fans came on but there was no video. I then tried another PCIe express video card with the same results. I then took out one of the sticks of ram and when that didn't help changed to different ram altogether. This is an AM2 board so I can't try another CPU or put this cpu in another board, Anybody have any ideas of what to do next. I was thinking of taking out the I/O shield so the board would lay more natural..

[casey]

Okay, I got video by clearing the cmos. Now to take a break and work on this later...

[casey]

My problem seems to be the PC6400 memory.When I try and run with the faster ram I get no video. Right now I have two 512 meg sticks in that is slower then the two 1 gig sticks of the PC6400 and I am installing XP. I just might wait until I see how this runs and if I can find out why the faster ram doesn't work I'll install Vista. Every time I change ram I must clear the cmos to get it to boot. Well at least it's running..

[mylanta]

Larry,
What is the board and what are the ram sticks you are having troubles with...did you check to see withy the mobo mfgr site that the ram is compatible. You may be looking at speed and it is totally another reason such as density or ecc.

[casey]

The Motherboard is Abit KN9-SLI and i didn't check witht the MB mfg to see if the memory is compatible but the board says it will run PC6400. As for if it is compatible the PC5400 that I am running now is OCZ and that's the same asthe PC6400. I was trying to figure out how to set the values manually but am afraid if I set them while I have the PC5400 in I will harm the PC5400 but since the video doesn't work on the PC6400 I can't get into the Cmos to change the values while running PC6400.
I'll play with it this afternoon..

[mylanta]

OK well speed means little with regards to compatibility. Density is# 1 ecc is # 2 cas latency is # 3 and then finbally speed. I have seen ram from the same model but different batches not work. No problem buying from Newegg or others but I always first check Crucial, Corsair or Kingston configurators. The bargains you are getting on Ocz, are probably not compatiuble with this board which is why you are going through this.
I have noticed that the further we get into ddr ram, the more compatibility problems occur.
Abit site is useless and ocz site does not show the model number which would stop me right there.
Crucial has it:
http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartspecs.Asp?mtbpoid=4FB203FFA5CA7304&WSMD=KN9+SLI&WSPN=BL12864AA804
I notice that all the Crucial ram is 2.2 volts. The Ocz I see is 2.1 and where they do not list this model, I cannot help but wonder if that's the problem.

[casey]

From the Abit site:



OCZ Technology is committed to bringing to market the highest quality, highest performing computer products possible. Our unrelenting endeavor to design and manufacture only the very best PC components has established OCZ Technology as one of the primary providers of premium computer products to discriminating PC enthusiasts. At OCZ Technology we work extremely close with ABIT to ensure highest performance, quality and reliability products are brought to our customers.
http://www.ocztechnology.com (http://www.ocztechnology.com/)

[mylanta]

From the Abit site:



OCZ Technology is committed to bringing to market the highest quality, highest performing computer products possible. Our unrelenting endeavor to design and manufacture only the very best PC components has established OCZ Technology as one of the primary providers of premium computer products to discriminating PC enthusiasts. At OCZ Technology we work extremely close with ABIT to ensure highest performance, quality and reliability products are brought to our customers.
http://www.ocztechnology.com (http://www.ocztechnology.com/)


Great but then why doesn't OCZ have this mobo listed when the others do and how does that alter the different voltage which might actually be the problem.

[casey]

Rich, I don't know much about ram but I doubt that .1 v is going to make any difference. I doubt if you have a power supply or motherboard that can hold that tolerance. To me the lower voltage is probably to create less heat.If you check the slower memory sticks you will see the voltage a lot higher. If you check reviews on OCZ memory you will see it is compatible with Corsair. I just might have bad memory but more then likely there is a setting that I don't know that will allow this memory to work. I intend to try and get an answer from Abit or OCZ as in the meantime I will run the OCZ PC5400 which is sailing along quite nicely... Temperature holding in the 80's,

[casey]

OCZ EL DDR2 PC2-6400 / 800 MHz / Enhanced Latency / Platinum XTC Edition
To fill the growing demand for DDR2, the first member of the Platinum XTC family is the PC2-6400 EL Platinum XTC edition; OCZ specifically developed these modules for the extreme gamer and overclocker to give high end Intel based systems that extra performance edge that is demanded by today’s hard core gamers and enthusiasts.
The new OCZ PC2-6400 Platinum Edition utilizes the latest OCZ heatspreader design. XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) Heatspreaders allow increased ventilation and heat dissipation due to an innovative honeycomb design providing more direct access to the actual memory ICs.
As part of the award winning OCZ Platinum DDR2 series, the PC2-6400 Platinum XTC edition is built with leading edge technology designed and qualified with special selection of premium components to maximize performance in even the most demanding computing environments. At DDR2-800, these modules turn out heart-pounding 4-5-4 timings with flawless performance and stability.
OCZ PC2-6400 products are 100% hand-tested to ensure compliance with stringent quality standards. In addition, each member of the OCZ Platinum XTC family is backed by an industry-leading lifetime warranty, toll-free technical support and the exclusive EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) coverage.
With its ultra-fast performance, high quality and reliability, the OCZ PC2-6400 Platinum XTC edition is a perfect memory upgrade for today’s memory-hungry Intel platforms.

* XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) heatspreaders optimize the thermal management of memory modules by promoting greater airflow by means of micro-convection throughout what is usually the dead air space inside conventional heatspreader designs. In this manner, build-up of heat is avoided and thermal dissipation of the memory components is offloaded more efficiently through the honeycomb design. At the same time, mechanical stability is maintained.
**OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.

OCZ / Products / Memory / OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Enhanced Latency XTC
OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Enhanced Latency XTC

[mylanta]

Larry,
I am not questioning the quality of Ocz ram, I am just saying there are other factors and the .1 v can make a difference, though you may be able to change settings in mobo to accomodate that.

[casey]

I might have found my problem with the memory. I'll have to look into it further .

1. The AM2 socket Athlon 64 single-cores can only use DDR2-667 at the present time without overclocking. The X2s can use DDR2-800. However, you could use DDR2-800 with a single-core A64 to overclock it. You can also use DDR2-1066 and faster to overclock too. That has all to do with the board's supported memory multipliers and the LDT speeds than the CPU.

[mylanta]

well that sounds pretty cut and dry with maybe a bios update down the road to cure that?