DFI Admits 5Volt Vdimm Problem

[Duke Raoul]

Guys just because other people haven't seen topboys problems it doesn't mean they don't exist. I've never seen the earth from space, but i'm not gonna start saying it's not round. I've been having the same problem as him and i'm just glad he's sorting it out for all the DFI/OCZ users. I bought my OCZ gold because and i quote from the OCZ website

'OCZ VX Gold Edition memory modules are rated to handle up to an incredible 3.5V without invalidating the OCZ Lifetime Warranty so that performance enthusiasts can tweak their systems without worry. Leave it to OCZ to design the ultimate high performance memory that thrives under high voltage'

I bought the DFI board because it's advertised to supply that 3.5 volts. If the 4volt jumper doesn't work they should stop advertising it. It's no good buying something then ready in the small print 'using this product might blow your cpu/ram up' is it now.

thanks Topboy for doing your best, i'll be following your progress.

[FedExpress]

Guys just because other people haven't seen topboys problems it doesn't mean they don't exist. I've never seen the earth from space, but i'm not gonna start saying it's not round. I've been having the same problem as him and i'm just glad he's sorting it out for all the DFI/OCZ users. I bought my OCZ gold because and i quote from the OCZ website

'OCZ VX Gold Edition memory modules are rated to handle up to an incredible 3.5V without invalidating the OCZ Lifetime Warranty so that performance enthusiasts can tweak their systems without worry. Leave it to OCZ to design the ultimate high performance memory that thrives under high voltage'

I bought the DFI board because it's advertised to supply that 3.5 volts. If the 4volt jumper doesn't work they should stop advertising it. It's no good buying something then ready in the small print 'using this product might blow your cpu/ram up' is it now.

thanks Topboy for doing your best, i'll be following your progress.

If the 4V jumper can not "work" , I also agree that DFI should be responsible for this ... But how do you define "work" since there is no DDR I chip and K8 CPU can gurantee working voltage above 2.8V ? The problem is that OCZ takes the RISK business and use memory chip that is not rated @ 3.5V to make their 3.5V module ( it's not even Tested yet , LOL) ... Since the DRAM chip is not tested and spec @ 3.5V from winbond , OCZ need to be responsible for this kind of dangerous spec in their module ... Unless OCZ can show us the evidence that if there is memory chip that is gurantee to work under 3.5V , it will be dead in DFI NF4 5V Jumper mode ... Well , I think it's impossible to prove this , period and for the future , there will be DDR2 rated @ 1.8V only ...

[topboy]

FedExpress

Could you tell us all which memory company you work for so we know what information you are using please

Topboy

[Snafu]

I don't think this thread is meant to bash DFI but more to spread word about a potential issue.

In looking at a few reviews of this board there are a few that note the 1.5-4v vdimm as a plus. One even saying:

Just imagine if you invest in some of OCZ's VX Gold 4000 memory that touts 2-2-2-5 at DDR500! That memory seems custom made for this board and it's 2.5-4.0V memory voltage range.

No warning about the potential risk of running 3.2-4v through your ram.

Again this is not meant to bash DFI but more to point out that advertising is a potent animal unless it is balanced fairly.

I wasn't looking for a board and never really read any reviews on it until now. It is a very impressive board and DFI is definitely on my short list the next time around.

It will be interesting to see what DFI finds.

[Popcicle]

My feelings as well muzz.

That was the reasoning behind my earlier post.

You still have that same Lady Friend? hehe.

Makes me wonder about the UTT chips huh?


Peace,
Pops.

[FedExpress]

FedExpress

Could you tell us all which memory company you work for so we know what information you are using please

Topboy

I am working in the memory module pcb design company , usually we design and sell the pcb to our customer ... In order to design a good quality pcb for all kinds of memory chip , we must know all the memory chip available that our customer use to produce their product ... That's why I can tell you that NO DDR I chip currently available that gurantee 3.5V working voltage ...

[topboy]

FedExpress

Could you tell us all which memory company you work for so we know what information you are using please

Topboy

I am working in the memory module pcb design company , usually we design and sell the pcb to our customer ... In order to design a good quality pcb for all kinds of memory chip , we must know all the memory chip available that our customer use to produce their product ... That's why I can tell you that NO DDR I chip currently available that gurantee 3.5V working voltage ...

Can you post what company you work for, PM me if you dont want to post in the forum.

This way i can look at their web site with the information you are using and get a better picture of what technical specs you are referring to.

Im a micro electronics engineer myself as well and would like to see the technical papers you are referring to.


Topboy

[FedExpress]

FedExpress

Could you tell us all which memory company you work for so we know what information you are using please

Topboy

I am working in the memory module pcb design company , usually we design and sell the pcb to our customer ... In order to design a good quality pcb for all kinds of memory chip , we must know all the memory chip available that our customer use to produce their product ... That's why I can tell you that NO DDR I chip currently available that gurantee 3.5V working voltage ...

Can you post what company you work for, PM me if you dont want to post in the forum.

This way i can look at their web site with the information you are using and get a better picture of what technical specs you are referring to.

Im a micro electronics engineer myself as well and would like to see the technical papers you are referring to.


Topboy

I am working for module pcb design company , not the module maker ... If you want to know what's the common working voltage for DDR I chip , you should look at DRAM chip website , not the module pcb design company ....

Since your are a micro electronics engineer , I think it's what you should known of how to use google and find lots of DRAM chip datasheet in the internet !!!

If you want to look at memory pcb layout file , here is some example for you to reference :

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semi...gDDRmodule.htm

Just download the board file , it's cadence design system allegro board file format ... You can find free allegro viewer around the internet ...

If you want to look at memory chip datasheet about the working voltage , you can just check samgsung , psc , nanya , promos , infenion , micron , elpedia website for more detail information ...

[topboy]

Thanks for the info Fedex i will go find that information......

Whats this google thing you mentioned......

Topboy

[Donkeypunch-_-]

Uh, for your information, if OCZ claims that those speeds are acceptable, then they should be acceptable through them and they will warrant your RAM no problems. Yeah you can say they take "the RISK business" but so what. It doesn't matter if the board killed your RAM. You ran the RAM within specs, therefore, if it does kill your RAM, they should RMA the modules as they wouldn't know what kind of board and crap you had. All you have to say is that it was running fine at 3.2V then one blew up. (or 2 depending on the situation) RMA'd.

Also, saying that no ram chips are rated over 2.8V is fine. I'm still wondering how to get decent overclocks then. I guess performance RAM is for idiots that like to waste money.

Now for Topboy being mad, the most that he should be getting mad at is DFI for not accurately supplying up to 4.0V w/o problems (or so the rumors have said).

Besides that, it is supposed to go to 3.3V without that jumper right? (I don't own the board....yet) That's .1 under your ram's top rated spec's. In theory, you should be able to max out your rig completely without ever worrying about voiding your RAM's warranty because you are running them at their rated spec. The 2.8V info provided by FedEx comes into play here. If in fact no ram chips are rated over 2.8V, then I would expect anything rated over that to have a lifetime that is alot shorter than 2.8V rated RAM. But who cares....it's warrantied for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. The only possible problem would be paying for shipping over and over to RMA. Which leads me to my next point:

Think of it as buying a performance car. You buy a fast car, you pay for the most expensive gas, oil, parts, etc. That expensive car that you just paid off isn't actually paid off...expect maintenance spending.

Now you have 1 year (is that their warranty period?) to break as many DFI boards as you can running the "unsafe 4v" setting. Unless they specifically say that they do not recommend blah blah and that it would void the warranty, then it shouldn't. Maybe after a couple blown boards DFI might refund you (doubtful) or give you a newer board seeing as how you keep blowing out the one that you have, but who knows?

If it fried your CPU...then you should probably blame DFI...then again, you can't until they have specifically claimed responsibility. If that was the case, they should, in theory, pay for ruined parts; but we all know that's not going to happen.

[topboy]

Just for information......

It wasnt my ram that died...it was the board....ram is just fine.....got it in a msi board at the moment working great

Topboy

[Duke Raoul]

3.2 volts without the jumper. which is under spec for VX4000, which is supposed to run at 3.3.

So without the jumper you might not getting it running at it's rated speed.

Topboy, as far as you know, are cold boot issues a 'warning sign' things will go badly wrong? i.e if i continue to run my VXVX4000 at 3.3 with the 4V jumper, i can expect it to blow/fry my SD?

[topboy]

3.2 volts without the jumper. which is under spec for VX4000, which is supposed to run at 3.3.

So without the jumper you might not getting it running at it's rated speed.

Topboy, as far as you know, are cold boot issues a 'warning sign' things will go badly wrong? i.e if i continue to run my VXVX4000 at 3.3 with the 4V jumper, i can expect it to blow/fry my SD?

Well I would recommend getting off the 4 volts jumper for 1. This could lead to problems. The cold boot issues are beeing tested along with the reason why RAM is dying in these boards. This is being tested by the engineers from companies involved.

Until they come out with a fix get off the 4 volt jumper, and move back to stock settings to be on the safe side.

Its better to run at 200 FSB and lower volts for 2 or 4 weeks than to potentially fry your system.

Just my 2 cents, and this is what i have done.

Topboy

[eva2000]

Alex, as long as you keep the J17 jumper in its 3.3v position you should be fine. I toasted my 3200 Gold this last week, and was only running 3.2 through it, but I had my board in the 5v position. I had been running it there since I reviewed the board a couple months ago. It ran fine with my TCCD stuff, but it did not take very long to toast my BH-5.
.

ouch sorry to here.. i had my 3200 Gold running 3.4-3.6v via 5v jumper for ages no probs so far but switched back to 3.3v jumper now once i heard about this

[Athlon64@2.6GHz]

I am not understand what is 5v jumper and 3.3v jumper ??

does this thread talking about setting of the JP17 from 1-2 to 2-3 may cause motherboard or RAM damage??

could anyone explain for me? I am currently using 3200VX. if I set jp17 to 2-3, the mobo can not boot up by press power button once, I need to press many time to boot it up. with 1-2, no problems.