RAM/Mobo compatibility

[kentuckyser]

I'm looking to get the new ASUS P5K Wi-Fi board with either G-Skill HZ or Crucial Ballistic Tracer memory. Just wondering if both of these types of RAM will work in the P5K.

Links:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131182

Crucial: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148070

G.Skill: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231065

[minsonngo]

Yep should work fine.



If you want to be on the safe side. Get one from the QVL: http://usa.asus.com/100/download/pro...46/1646_10.pdf

[Mr.Ferrari]

These new boards are being a bit finicky in some cases, but still not even close to being as bad as with the first 965p boards. This is to be expected as the boards and bios just released.

The voltages the memories run at is kinda high, so I can't gurantee that they will boot on first attempt.

As minsonngo stated, if you want to be on the safe side, stick to QVL and Corsair XMS or Valueselect.

[kentuckyser]

I am planning on overclocking modestly to around 3.0 ghz. Should I still use the Corsair ram?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Which processor?

[kentuckyser]

E6600 with a Thermalright Ultra-120/120mm fan.
8800GTX Superclocked
NZXT Zero Case

I need a stable PC with Wi-Fi option on the mobo. Primary use for gaming and AutoCAD workstation. I want 4 GB of RAM so I can upgrade to a 64-bit operating system when AutoCAD releases a version that is 64-bit compatible. For now I will use XP/SP2.

I've heard good things about the Crucial Ballistix RAM.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Well..if its a stable platform your looking for..overclocking would be a step backwards . The Corsairs have been proven stable and will easily overclock to your desired 3ghz, they won't even reach their full DDR2 800 speeds.

[kentuckyser]

I probably don't "need" the overclock, but I've heard the C2D's are so easily overclocked I might as well get the best performance I can as long as I don't compromise the system. 3.0 Ghz was just an arbitrary number I threw out there,...I'd be happy with a simple 2.7 Ghz, if it's unstable then I won't overclock.

Does the Corsair RAM have SPD? I currently have an Intel D975XBX2 with G.Skill HZ Ram, but it was finicky at first because the G.Skill requires 2.1-2.2V and the Intel mobo recommends 1.8-1.9V RAM. I was planning on RMA'ing this board and RAM and getting the P5K or something else.

[Mr.Ferrari]

All memory has SPD. But the motherboard may or may not recognize it properly. In which case they go to preset JEDEC defaults, that being 1.8-1.9v.

Did the G.Skill HZ ram boot on the intel motherboard at all? If it did, all you have to do is go into the bios and physically change the ram voltage.

That is also why the Corsair was suggested. The DDR2 800 5-5-5 kit will easily overclock to your needs, and it boots at 1.8-1.9v.

[kentuckyser]

The G.Skill booted with 4 GB upon first putting the build together....installed Windows fine, ran perfect. Then, I tried upping the FSB without touching voltages to about 2.6 Ghz....and the computer wouldn't even POST into the BIOS. After that, it wouldn't boot with all 4 sticks in, had to remove 2 sticks. Spoke to Intel tech support and they advised that the memory didn't have SPD, and they had no idea why it was running at DDR2-667 instead of DDR2-800...now I know that the CPU caused that. I have since reset the BIOS and overclocked the G.Skill to DDR2-800 with 2.12 volts, and it seems to run fine, except the fact that I get unusual CPU Usage spikes while just idling in Windows. I made another thread on it. Nothing unusual installed, not even anti-virus yet...and when the spike happens there isn't a certain process that uses a lot of memory....just a weird spike and mouse lag every 30 seconds or so that slows down the entire PC. If music is playing it will skip much like a CD skips.

[kmillerusaf]

Sounds like an unstable system to me that may be caused by your overclocking. I would wait for an expert to reply but that's just my girst thought

[Mr.Ferrari]

Originally Posted by kentuckyser The G.Skill booted with 4 GB upon first putting the build together....installed Windows fine, ran perfect. Then, I tried upping the FSB without touching voltages to about 2.6 Ghz....and the computer wouldn't even POST into the BIOS. After that, it wouldn't boot with all 4 sticks in, had to remove 2 sticks. Spoke to Intel tech support and they advised that the memory didn't have SPD, and they had no idea why it was running at DDR2-667 instead of DDR2-800...now I know that the CPU caused that. I have since reset the BIOS and overclocked the G.Skill to DDR2-800 with 2.12 volts, and it seems to run fine, except the fact that I get unusual CPU Usage spikes while just idling in Windows. I made another thread on it. Nothing unusual installed, not even anti-virus yet...and when the spike happens there isn't a certain process that uses a lot of memory....just a weird spike and mouse lag every 30 seconds or so that slows down the entire PC. If music is playing it will skip much like a CD skips.

Even if you have high speed memory, most motherboard will boot the memory at a lower speed such as DDR2 533 or 667. Thats normal. You have to physically set the 800 sometimes.

Did you just raise the divider and set the memory to DDR2 800, or did you overclock the CPU with the memory?

[kentuckyser]

I just raised the divider and set the memory to DDR2 800 and raised the voltage to the memory.