You guys getting tired of my p965 questions yet? So again...doing some reading around the web someone has mentioned on neweggs review of the Intel P965 motherboard that it is incompatible with DDR2 with a voltage above 1.8. If this is the case then it's not compatible with any of the DDR2-800 modules, or at least that I could find. I read Bit-Tech's article about DDR2 for the core 2's but it did not mention the voltage, plus they used the 975 chipset. I have the Crucial Ballistix but the specs say it uses 2.1v. hmmm. If I need to send this back I have to obtain an RMA in the next few days as my return period is closing fast. Doh!
Sure enough!!! not that this info is easy to find. http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/lt/lt_mem.htm WTF!!! Why come out with a support for 800MHz RAM if nobody has 1.8v Ram. I'm leaning towards sending this MB back. Can anyone tell me if the other 965 boards (giga-byte or a-bit) support anything over 1.8v?
The board isnt incompatible with ram which runs over 1.8. The DS4 seems to boot at 1.8v which is sometimes not enough for some modules to work properly. Not sure whether this is resolved with manual voltage selection or not (as with the CAS issue on the DS3) This seems to be a board issue rather than a chipset one.
From what I gathered, I don't think Intel's Bios is feature rich so I wouldn't hold my breath on custom voltages. There wasn't any mention of it in the manual. The thing is I wanted to buy Ram once and be done with it, and I still don't want to have to buy faster Ram down the road. So what I buy now is what I'm going to keep. The only option is to go down to DDR-667 since that's all I can find with 1.8v. But honestly would I even notice a difference between 800 and 667 if I get faster timings? Also Intel's RAM specs require the SPD feature. Is this something built into most modules or something special?
Nevermind. I decided to send everything back and wait it out. Seems like a lot of people are having issues with DDR2 voltages not only with Intel boards but with some others as well. http://forums.anandtech.com/message...eyword=&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear All of a sudden AMD isn't looking so bad again. But perhpse I'll see if the new Apple Desktops have a descent video card. I may do a dual boot and get my conroe that way.
