Asus G2S - Win XP/Vista - Memory 2g / 4gb conclusions

Hi all,

I've had my G2S for a month now and it has been a pain in the backside :-(

Today I finally figured out why: I bought it with 4gb of mem(2x2gb). If I remove ONE stick of ram(getting 2gb) - Vista runs perfect and flawless + Win XP works perfect(detetcs GFX card etc).

Summary XP:
-------------
With ONE 2gb or 2x1gb memory sticks you got no probs installing XP on this machine, just follow the guides available(on ASUS forum and other places)

With 4gb you get a resource conflict with the first PCI-E device - and that is the Geforce 8600M. So you can't install the GFX adapter. What I have gathered is that this is due to a limitation of the BIOS in conjunction with the Santa Rosa chipset, that disables memory remapping and gives you a resource conflict. I've heard that samsung and other brands have fixed this.

Summary Vista:
---------------
Boots and looks normal with 4gb. BUT will behave strange - you'll get periodic hiccups(pooter stops responing for a while) and strange behavior when using GFX intensive apps. I have tried the following memory configs:

1gb + 1gb = OK
1gb + 2gb = Probs
2gb + 1gb = Probs - ie the order of sticks doesn't matter
2gb = OK (one stick)
2gb + 2gb = Probs(no XP, strange Vista).

I have downloaded Bios 2.08 and installed all the latest drivers and patches.

Now I run the machine with one 2gb stick(the one under the keyboard) - waiting for a fix from Asus.

Please, give your opionions and advices!

Best regards,

Lars Siden

Sweden

 

Did everyone know this already?

Do anyone run G2S with more than 2gb memory?

//Lz

 

I run mine with 1 stick of stock 1gig under keyb and 1 2gig stick in bottom slot it is a Transend ddr2 667 and all works perfect, no hangs stutters or problems.

 

x3) Great! Then there is hope I thought that maybe I got the wrong memory modules - but since it runs just fine with ONE of my new 2gb modules - then there shouldn't be any configuration errors(at least I thought so).

I bought a "kingston" module - recommended from a memory selector online.

http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=331116

Kingston ValueR DDR2 SO-DIMM 2048MB CL5 Non-ECC,1.8V,256Mx64,200p DDR2 PC2-5300

Same package and config as original memory!

I wonder if I have broken chipset drivers or something... there are no Bios settings for mem?

U run Vista?

Thx!

//Lazze

 

Maybe, just maybe - I solved it!

I ran the machine with one 2gb stick. Booted Vista - reinstalled latest PM965 drivers from Intel. Deleted the NVidia driver/device.

Added the second stick.

Vista booted and detected SVGA gfx, I re-installed the latest ASUS Nvidia driver. Rebooted. And after that I've been playing Quake 4 for 20 minutes without any hiccups or errors!

// Lazze

 

Still minor hiccups(like 1 sec) - Looked at the performance and resource center, something was scanning my files... can windows defender "lag" the computer so much that the mouse "jumps abit"?

//Lz

 

If the "second stick" you added was a 2gig stick it WILL cause issues.
Just use a 1 + 2 gig setup (no turbo bs) and it should be good.

 

X3) Thx! I'll give it a go!

// Lazze

 

1gb + 2gb did not work at all for me!

2gb + 2gb seems fine now - after reinstalling gfx & chipset(again). Have run Nvidia GFX demos for 4 hours now without any probs.

Can recommend: www.nzone.com

nvidia->demos

//Lz

 

There is a thread here for G1s which suggested Kingston is flaky on it. So we figured probably same for G2s and bought 1- 2GB Patriot stick from newegg which no one has complained about.

It's husband's computer, not mine, but he put the 2GB in the underside panel of the computer (don't know where all the slots are).

It has worked just fine surfing the net and playing F.E.A.R. for the last week. One additional point. F.E.A.R. with 2GB couldn't even get min frame rates about 25. With the 3GB it is just fine (min 42, average 63, max 114). This is with the out-of-the-box Vista and just a minor amount of removing obvious bloatware from startup.

 

charlotte) Thansk! Now my pooter is working just fine! After uninstallning the GFX card and reinstalled chipset drivers etc.... It seems like the resource/memory-remapping for the 8600M is very shaky - but once its working it seems to be okey!

The G2S is listed on the Kingston site as suitable - Toms Hardware has praised Kingston lately so I don't know if they are worse than any else

regards,

Lars Siden