2GB of Kingston DDR400 in P4S800D-E?

[Musty]

Hi All,

I have a P4S800D-E with 1GB of DDR 400 RAM. Specifically I have 2x512MB of Kingston model # KVR400X64C3A/512. This all works great, but I want to upgrade to 2GB usnig the same type of memory. Only problem is that the QVL shows that only 1 module in 1 DIMM is "supported". See the link below:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4s800d-e-d/overview.HTM
(see bottom of page)

I have a whole pair and it works fine (despite QVL saying only 1 DIMM is "supported"). I understand that the QVL only shows what has been tested but the columns A, B, C almost sounds more like "supports" rather than tested. Has anyone used 4 DIMMs on this board with success? I really want to stick with the same RAM for all 4 DIMMs. Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Musty

 

[Paul]

Hi All,

I have a P4S800D-E with 1GB of DDR 400 RAM. Specifically I have 2x512MB =
of Kingston model # KVR400X64C3A/512. This all works great, but I want =
to upgrade to 2GB usnig the same type of memory. Only problem is that =
the QVL shows that only 1 module in 1 DIMM is "supported". See the link =
below:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4s800d-e-d/overview.HTM
(see bottom of page)

I have a whole pair and it works fine (despite QVL saying only 1 DIMM is =
"supported"). I understand that the QVL only shows what has been tested =
but the columns A, B, C almost sounds more like "supports" rather than =
tested. Has anyone used 4 DIMMs on this board with success? I really =
want to stick with the same RAM for all 4 DIMMs. Any =
comments/suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Musty

There don't seem to be any warnings here. Maybe you can contact
Kingston tech support, and see if they know of any problems with
4x of those modules ? (Try asking the Kingston tech, what he/she
thinks of the Asus QVL.)

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/modelsinfo.asp?SysID=17730&distributor=0&submit1=Search

It is hard to say exactly what the Asus list means. It is presumably
determined by testing, but who knows what caused the failure. SPD
programming ? BIOS problem ? Module electrical design ? We know it
isn't the chips, because other modules with D43's on them work. Since
the list doesn't say what the sample size was, it could be only four
sticks of the ram were available for the test.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Musty]

Thanks Paul.

One thing I noticed is that on the Kingston website they say that memory
modules must be "ordered and installed in pairs". Is for real, or are they
just trying to sell more memory? For example, the part called
KVR400X64C3AK2/1G is 2X512 and there is also one called KVR400X64C3A/512
(single 512MB DIMM). When I first put together my system I bought two
instances of KVR400X64C3A/512 instead of the 1Gb "kit" and it works
perfectly.

I want to add 1GB, but I dont want to pay the premium on the "kit" ($14
extra with shipping on NewEgg). What exactly am I getting from the "kit"??
Are the memories "matched"? As long as they can meet JEDEC DDR400 spec at
CAS 3, I would imagine that buying the "kit" is just a marketing gimmick.

Thanks
Musty

 

[Paul]

Thanks Paul.

One thing I noticed is that on the Kingston website they say that memory
modules must be "ordered and installed in pairs". Is for real, or are they
just trying to sell more memory? For example, the part called
KVR400X64C3AK2/1G is 2X512 and there is also one called KVR400X64C3A/512
(single 512MB DIMM). When I first put together my system I bought two
instances of KVR400X64C3A/512 instead of the 1Gb "kit" and it works
perfectly.

I want to add 1GB, but I dont want to pay the premium on the "kit" ($14
extra with shipping on NewEgg). What exactly am I getting from the "kit"??
Are the memories "matched"? As long as they can meet JEDEC DDR400 spec at
CAS 3, I would imagine that buying the "kit" is just a marketing gimmick.

Thanks
Musty

I've noticed as a rule, that the premium on kits has dropped to about
$3 or so, so perhaps you should shop around. (In fact, my search
below did better than that.)

With Valueram type products, there can be more than one supplier
(sometimes two or three manufacturers make modules that have the
same Kingston sticker on them). This means if you buy single sticks,
you could get a different brand of memory on the two sticks. The kit
will contain visually identical sticks, for whatever that is worth.
As you can see from the following data, there is no difference in
"official" price:

The Kingston MSRP for the kit is $199:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/PartsInfo.asp?ktcpartno=KVR400X64C3AK2/1G

The Kingston MSRP for a single stick is $100:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/PartsInfo.asp?ktcpartno=KVR400X64C3A/512

You should be able to get a better deal, somewhere. Kingston has
a "where to buy" link and you can check these vendors:

http://www.kingston.com/wheretobuy/usa.asp#online

HTH,
Paul