Welcome guest. Before posting on our computer help forum, you must register. Click here it's easy and free.

Author Topic: RAM Chipset Compatibility  (Read 2490 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Loder

    Topic Starter


    Rookie

    Thanked: 2
    RAM Chipset Compatibility
    « on: November 05, 2010, 11:01:36 PM »
    I recently purchased some DDR3-1333 non-ECC unbuffered 1.5V Dual Channel RAM to go with the motherboard I was buying. Here are the two products:
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131647
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

    So, on to my question. As you can see, that motherboard uses the AMD 870 chipset. On G.Skill's product page for this RAM, that particular Chipset does not seem to be supported, while chipsets above and below it seem to be. Here is the link:

    http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=97

    I have tried this with a single stick at a time, I have tried clearing the CMOS, there are no beep codes, everything spins up, and the motherboard's "DIMM LED" lights up. According to the manual, that means incompatible RAM.

    One of the weirdest things about all this is that even the RAM models that ARE listed as supported in the MOBO manual do NOT list the AMD 870 chipset as "supported" on G.Skill's product pages for those models. I was unable to find a single kit of RAM from G.Skill that says it supports that chipset, even though ASUS's manual seems to have picked a few and labeled them as compatible for whatever reason.

    Personally, I have never come across the idea of RAM not being supported for a particular chipset. I have always simply matched up the critical industry standards like speed, ECC or non-ECC, voltages, and all that stuff.

    Basically, can anyone explain to me why this particular RAM is not supported? Is there anything I can do? This may be a stretch, but what if I borrowed a compatible stick and went into the BIOS and set the RAM settings to exactly the specifications of my sticks, then powered off and swapped my sticks in? Does this not even make sense? (I'm grasping at straws here).

    If there is some other factor that I am missing, I would love to learn about it.

    Of course, any help would be GREATLY appreciated, especially since this is a build for my parents, and I would feel pretty awful if I were to find out that I bought completely incompatible RAM for them and wasted their money. I hope I don't have to tell them they have to pay a restocking fee.

    Thanks a lot to anyone who takes the time to give me a hand!

    patio

    • Moderator


    • Genius
    • Maud' Dib
    • Thanked: 1769
      • Yes
    • Experience: Beginner
    • OS: Windows 7
    Re: RAM Chipset Compatibility
    « Reply #1 on: November 06, 2010, 06:51:20 AM »
    ASUS MBoard manuals have 2=3 pages with a list of Preferred Vendor RAM listings....
    This means ASUS has physically tested that brand and speed and made sure it works...

    Choose a product from their list.
    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "