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EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2001 3:23 pm
by capsndave
I have been reading the forum feature on cache and it reads that theMVP3G5,with 2MB cache can cache 512MB of system memory.<br><br>I have asked EPOX and they say that the max mem' for the G5 is 384MB (3 x 128MB). With the current price of memory it would be nice to increase this.<br><br>Has anyone successfully loaded 256MB DIMMS into this board?<br><br>Is it possible and how?<br><br>Thanks<br><br>D <p></p><i></i>

EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2001 5:54 pm
by georgep1
I had two 256 MB sticks of Crucial PC133 SDRAM in my G5 for awhile. Sandells has 768 in his I believe. <p></p><i></i>

Re: EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2001 10:31 pm
by io333
mammory! where! where! oh, nevermind, this is just a geek hangout. i forgot <p></p><i></i>

Re: EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 1:06 pm
by capsndave
Thanks very much George. I'll give that a try. I almost bought a 256Mb stick earlier in year, but I asked Epox what the board would accept and was told in no uncertain terms that 133Mb per slot was the limit. This surprised me, but it was enough for me to shy off, especially since the price was much higher than it is now. At £20 or less for 256 it's a must.<br>Thanks for the mammory io333. -How many times has that been quoted?? <p></p><i></i>

768MB in my G5

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2001 6:00 am
by Sandells
hi there,<br><br>yep, you are right george. i am running 3x256mb modules of pc133 from <a href=http://www.overclockers.co.uk>www.overclockers.co.uk</a>. i am using the PQI sticks and having no problems at all. i also have managed to enable the 256mb graphics aperture size in my bios and it doesnt hang the system. if anyone wants the modded bios then e-mail me at steves1977uk@hotmail.com.<br><br>Steve <p></p><i></i>

Re: 768MB in my G5

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2001 3:03 pm
by io333
if the crucial mammory calculator at <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.crucial.com">www.crucial.com</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> will list a stick for you, then it should work. It took the longest time for them to list a 256 stick for my VA503+, but they finally did a few months ago and I bought it and it works -- albiet only in one slot, and only if there is another stick of something next to it. My board is also not supposed to be able to use modern 256meg sticks, but there it is. I'm running with most of my settings maxed too & at CAS2, 4way interleave & get 185 Sandra with only 100FSB.<br><br>Crucial r0x <p></p><i></i>

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:02 pm
by Guest
I just came across this old thread and I went ahead and bought some PQI 256 meg pc133 sticks from newegg that I assumed would work on my system. I was running 384 megs (3x128) and i took one of those sticks out and replaced it with the 256 meg stick. At startup my computer still only recognizes 384 megs total instead of the 512 that it should be now. The other Ram is generic I believe, it is also pc133 stuff. Just wondering if anyone that has experience with this can tell me what I did wrong, if there are any bios settings I need to change or whether I just bought the wrong RAM. Hopefully people are still reading these forums. you can email me at darbykidd@hotmail.com also Thanks

Here is the memory I bought: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820141205

Here are my system specs.
Epox mvp3g5
k6-3+450@567 (5.5x103)
geforce 2ti/450
win xp pro

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 4:04 pm
by Jim
Sandells, GeorgeP1, and io333, all know a whole lot more about this sort of thing than I do. Unfortunately they seldom post here these days. Epox is generally not supposed to be fussy about Ram; but if you are using "Single Sided" Ram, (all the chips on one side of the stick), that is probably your problem. It is quite common for Super 7s to only recognize a 256 Single Sided as a 128. Double Sided Low Density is what you need. Hope that helps.

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 4:29 pm
by sylvan2626
I think that the problem is the memory module that you purchased. I've seen more and more memory module producers state in the last few years that their PC133 modules are no longer backward compatible with PC100 (K-Byte and PNY for starters).

Your PC is reading the 256MB module as 128MB (has to do with single-sided versus double-sided memory modules). You should be able to return the module to the vendor.

Some module vendors still offer PC133 modules that are backward compatiable with PC100. See this Crucial Memory webpage: http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts. ... 2&tabid=AM
That webpage is from their Crucial Memory Advisor and is for the EP-MVP3G2 motherboard. Their 256MB module should work on the EP-MVP3G5, since the only difference is in the board's L2 cache.

I have several EPoX SS7 motherboards (EP-MVP3G-M, EP-MVP3C2, EP-MVP3G2, EP-MVP3G5 -- not all are installed, some in storage awaiting their turn). The EP-MVP3G2 board definitely can recognize 256MB modules (if I'm not mistaken, one of my storage EP-MVP3G2 boards has 640MB installed on it).

Also, looks as if that model number may be incomplete on the PQI module:

MS3856UOE-T28 (32x8)
MS3856UOE-T68 (16x8)
MS3856UOE-T66 (16x16)

Also, be sure to put the 256MB module in DIMM0.

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 7:00 pm
by smoke
I was using 640MB pc133 (2x256MB + 1x128MB) without problems, currently back down to 2x256MB because I needed the 128 for something else. As others have mentioned, you need a double sided 256MB DIMM (8 chips per side).

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 11:50 pm
by darbykidd2
Thanks for the help guys I really appreciate it. I should've asked before I bought. That crucial stuff sure isn't cheap, maybe I shouldn't worry about increasing my RAM anymore. My computer does really good with 384 megs but I figured the more the better. Any suggestions on a good amount to put in? thanks.

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:51 am
by Jim
I am not sure about the best amount to use. I have used both 512, and 768; but the machines were different enough that it is comparing apples to oranges to say which is best. This I can tell you, the ram does not have to be "Crucial". Micron, Infineon, Hynix, and others will work. The Epox board is not picky about Ram, any reasonably decent double sided low density will do. "Crucial" is supposed to be the best, if you are into "pushing" the ram re timing for speed.

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 1:32 pm
by sylvan2626
WinXP is a memory hog, but your system's performance will let you know if more memory is needed (if you are using large databases or have slower screen loading when many windows are open, etc.).

XP will run OK with 256MB if you are not hitting the OS hard. 384MB will work better, and 512MB even better.

You can always check Task Manager to see how much free memory you have.

Re: EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:01 pm
by jose_luis_gomez_bas
Hi capsndave,

I've just seen your post. What I told you Epox support is right. They told you about 384MB memory support because some revisions of EP-MVP3G5 don't support 3 modules of 256MB.

I've got two EP-MVP3G5 motherboards since 2004, one is revision 1.1 and another one 1.4. I can install 3 Kingston modules 256MB double side in the rev 1.1 working perfectly. I tried the same memory configuration in the revision 1.4, it doesn't work because after reading the memory the system restarts in loops constantly. It's the maximum working memory configuration 2x256MB + 1x128MB=640MB. Both motherboards have got the last official BIOS, AGP ATI Radeon 9800SE 256MB DDR, Windows 7 Professional with SP1.

Not always is a newer motherboard revision better, you look at the Asus P5A rev 1.06. It works extremely slow with K6-III+ processors, I've got one, I checked that was right. It's the revision 1.04 which works fine with K6-III+.

Do somebody know what's the difference between EP-MVP3G5 rev 1.1 and 1.4?.

Re: EPoX MVP3G5 memmory

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 3:47 pm
by jose_luis_gomez_bas
Hi capsndave,

Also I've already checked the cache/memory performance in my EP-MVP3G5 rev 1.1, K6-III/475@500 and Windows 7 Professional. I used Sisoft Sandra 2010 Sp3, that's the version when Windows 7 has been released also I checked the time to load Windows 7 until the main screen appears.

The results are:

768MB Sdram,
Windows load 2min 46s
Cache/Memory speed 129MB/s

512MB Sdram,
Windows load 2min 59s
Cache/Memory speed 76MB/s

384MB Sdram,
Windows load 2min 26s
Cache/Memory speed 274MB/s

As you can see the best option is 384MB, Windows 7 starts working from 256MB, less memory doesn't allow the system to start.
The slowest option is 512MB even though all memory is cacheable. Windows 7 needs more time to load and the cache memory speed is the slowest one. I don't know why that.

I think all Super 7 motherboards with MVP3 chipset could be similar behaviour. I'll check what happens with Aladdin V chipset in an Asus P5A rev 1.06 and 1MB cache and the same configuration.