Ballistix Performance Memory

[JackNoir]

My August Sirs,

I have two matched Corsair 1GB memories and I have just received two matched Ballistic 1GB memories to fill my slots in a nVidia MOBO.   The details are:

    Corsair = CM2X1024                            DDR2-6400 800MHZ 1.90V 5-5-5-12

    Balistic = BL2KIT 12864AA80A PC2 DDR2-6400 800MHZ 2.00V 4-4-4-12

The problem:

 I only see 2864 MB no mater what the configuration of the 4 memories. 

Bios  saysI have  4 GB of memories. 

The Maximum Memory switch is off, some control freak put that one into Windows huh?  

Windows memory tester (say what you will its a test) recognized all 4 memories and gave no errors. 

It is not a systemic MOBO  voltage problem, all though the Corsair's are 1.9 volts, because my machine is running  normally at this moment with just the twin  Ballistic memories.

Everything snaps in good and works as advertised  when not mixed with the other brand..

The MOBO is a peach and the slots and surrounding circuit board are in good shape.

My questions right now are:

  1.  Does the 2864 MB reading indicate that I have a double sided card problem and half the chips are being read?  Hard to believe, the numbers wrong and the Corsair looks dbl sided too.

  2.  Can we find the guy who invented the Maximum Memory Switch?

  3.  Could there be a voltage conflict when all the memories are in place?  I have tried all the ways to arrange them. and any combination including all 4 memories gives the same 2864 MB.

  4. How should I proceed?

Regards,

Jack Noir

[Jody21]

first you should know no one will support this officially because the dimms arnt matched. tyhats just the way it is. ddr was always meant to use matched sets (from the design stage). making maters worse in your situation is that the voltages and timings are different. yes the corsair will run at the voltages and timings that the ballistix will and vice-versa but runniong them together will be a tricky bit. likely you may end up in some sort of compatibility mode. but thats not your problem seeing only 2.8G. you havent specified where and what was reading the 2.8G. I suspect it was windows. if the BIOS reads 4G your good to go. run memtest+ and make sure you have no errors. if the BIOS sees 4G then it is a software problem. I dont know exactly what the max memory switch does offhand. i have a good guess. but here is the bottome line. 32 bit OS cannot see more than 3.5G ram. it is an OS limitation. youer soulition is to use a 64 bit OS. too many factors in chips from different manufacurers like chip density, latency, voltages cause too many problems thats why they always say use the same dimms (sorry no conspiracy this time). doesnt mean it wont work, its just more complicated than its worth. and you will probably still be running in SOME SORT of a compatibility mode in the end. bad as as it sounds replace one set with an identical set in other words ditch the corsair or the ballistix and get all matched dimms OR run in single channel and you you should be fine.

[JackNoir · Accepted solution]

My August Sir,

Oh.

Thank you for your candor and time to answer.  Maybe, unofficially, you should start a FAEQ (frequently ask embarrassing questions).

So my next stop is the order department.

Again, thanks for your time.

Jack Noir

[Jody21]

No reason to be embarrased. last time i ordered ram i had to do several hours of research myself. things are so complicated these days, and things change so fast. made worse is often things are poorly documented, or documented using different terminology. not everyone has time to stay on top of technology, thats why we have forums like these. I have learned much from places like these, and when you can maybe you help others too. Good luck with the new ram

[JackNoir]

My Aughst Sir,

you said:

             "first you should know no one will support this officially "

So I assumed that the question was an embarassment to the officials :-)

Have a good one

Jack Noir