Just built a new system

EP45-ds3l
Q6600
Gigabyte's HD4850
4gigs DDR2 1066 PC2-8500 (g.skill ocz)

I have it up and running, but I can only get single channel memory to work.

As expected, the board has 4 memory sockets in 2 banks. I've tried the following combinations of memory

DDR2_1 DDR_2 DDR2_3 DDR2_4 STATUS
X 0 0 0 Loads (just 2 gigs)
0 X 0 0 Loads (just 2 gigs)
X X 0 0 Loads (4 gigs but single channel)
X 0 X 0 No post
0 X X 0 No post
0 X 0 X No post
0 0 X 0 No post
0 0 0 X No post
0 0 X X No post

My guess is I'm looking at a bad bank? Anyone confirm? Am I missing something? If it were really bad, would some of those configurations (4th from the top) still boot, but only see 2 gigs?

Since your board will detect either of the dimms it seems your dimms are fine. It's not impossible to have a bad bank. I'm wondering about voltage and timings first though. Try something very conservative like 5-5-5-18 @ 800MHz and 1.8V with dimms in DDR2_1 and DDR2_3.

Am I correct that you ahve two different brands of memory? As stupid as it sounds, it could be an issue in dual channel.

I am having exactly the same problem. System is unstable on any settings if the memory is dual channel. I am having a wonderful one-email-per-day discussion with Gigabyte about this, plus the fact that I can't successfully return from standby, even if I put both DIMMs in Channel 0. I just flashed to Bios F7, but haven't tested dual channel yet (still working on the damn standby problem). I'm beginning to think there is a fundamental problem with this board (h/w, firmware, bios). I want to find a resolution to both these problems or I am going to RMA this board, get an Asus, and try again.

Gigabyte GA-P45-DS3L BIOS F7
E7200 Core2Duo 2.53Ghz 1066Mhz FSB 3MB L2
SuperTalent 2x2G DDR2-800 PC6400 CL 5-5-5-15 (T800UX4GC5)
Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200 32mb HD
EVGA 8800GT 512MB Superclocked Edition
Ultra X-connect X2 550-watt
Vista x64 SP1

Yes, its the same brand of memory. Bought as a 'kit'

Unfortunately, things seem to be deteriorating. The machine now just constantly resets before post.

On for a second (lights/fans) no beeps.

Turns off.

1 second later, turns back on. This time with a very quick beep (almost immediately), HDD starts to spin etc but only lasts ~ 4 seconds before shutting off and repeating the whole process.

Same thing happens whether memory is in or not.

If i unplug the 4pin power to the CPU the machine doesn't constantly reset, just sits there, no beeps.

I'm using the standard voltage of the mobo (ie I never changed it). I've tried clearing the cmos--no change.

Just bought the P43-D3SL


E6600
XFX 8800GT
4GB DDR2 - Patriot 6400 (2GB X 2)

I can get it a 2GB stick to run but not 4GB in dual channel

I've tried the following combinations of memory

DDR2_1 DDR_2 DDR2_3 DDR2_4 STATUS
X 0 0 0 Loads (2 gigs)
X 0 X 0 no post
X X 0 0 Will Try tonight

I am going to play with the voltage and timings tonight as well.

mxcrowe - I agree, I am thinking that this might be a fundamental problem with these types of boards: P45/P43

Not to get too off topic but what boards would you guys be looking to get instead? I'd like to keep the rest of my stuff (I'm guessing its good)

4 gigs pc8500 (1066) and the Q6600, HD 4850.

At this point, I'm not going to RMA the board just because it won't run dual channel. I looked at a lot of benchmarks and it just doesn't make enough difference to warrant the hassle of changing mobos. Maybe they'll fix it with a BIOS update. Make sure you have all the latest BIOS and driver updates - I think the latest rev for everything is 7/21/08.
Also, after you flash, make sure you set everything to optimal defaults and run it at stock before you change any settings. The only thing I changed is the DRAM voltage, which I set to 2.1v as per spec. F7 bios still wants to set it at 1.8v. I haven't really looked for a replacement board yet, but will let you know if I do go that route, which I will if I can't get it to come out of standby reliably.
Guys, send your inputs to Gigabyte via their website interface. With enough people seeing the same problem, maybe they'll get some techs to address the 4gb dual channel issue.

I had issues with my corsair dimms. Rated at 1.9v, wont post unless 2.1v

@Crowe. I thought the exact same thing. I was fine with single channel, but the problem quickly got worse .

I'm looking at Asus' P5Q and just eating a 15% restocking fee.

I really dont think I will RMA it either because I love having the 6 sata connections and 8 USB ports. The board layout is outstanding IMO and it fits my needs perfectly. I dont care for RAID, Crossfire or Firewire, so the board is an obvious choice. To have dual channel would be nice. Right now, I want stability and so far it has been okay with one 2GB stick of PQI.

@xrosseyed - I actually was going to get that Asus P5Q board if they had it in stock at the local Fry's over here but they didnt have it and I didnt feel like ordering it off of newegg. That board looks just as nice though and people dont seem to have too much trouble with it by the sounds of it.

Yep, ordered the p5q last night. Time to pack the ds3l back up and send it back. Good luck with your boards!

let me eat my words off the bat..I did return the Gigabyte P43 board. The BIOS is just way too buggy to work with or tolerate. I thought I had stability until I made a very simple BIOS change unrelated to voltage or timings and the thing goes into its infinite loop. That was the last draw.

I exchanged it for a MSI P45 Neo -F mobo. one bios flash later....solid stability.

I typically like gigabyte but right now, I just need a stable pc without breaking my budget.

good luck guys

Gigabytes site has a couple of updates in the bios section for this motherboard and one of them mentions it's about memory compatibilty...

I'm also asking about this in another thread I just started as I just got my new pc built yesterday and now want to know about updating the bios and what to do etc etc...

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] s#t1780054

I'm having the same problem with the P43-D3SL and Mushkin DDR2 800 memory. ( http://www.mushkin.com/doc/product [...] asp?id=564 ) I haven't verified yet that the board will run with 2 sticks in single-channel mode, but I bet that's what I'll see. It runs fine with 1 stick, but does the BIOS boot loop dance with 2 in dual channel. Annoying. Hope they'll fix this soon.

If anyone's got any fix/workaround, please post.

Just so you know, my board worked for about 12 hours (with 2 sticks running in single channel) but soon after that it would ONLY do the boot loop dance, no matter what memory configuration I used (or even none at all).

The just recently released bios f7 which addresses some memory issues. Maybe that will fix it? My new board comes tomorrow. I'm going to use the exact same components and see if the boot loop was in fact the board's fault. (Pretty sure it is).