P45 Neo3-FR memory problem / questions

Question

Hello all
My old motherboard just died on me so yesterday I upgraded to a P45 Neo3-FR with an Intel E8500.  Problem is that I can't get it to boot up with my old memory (4 x 1Gb modules as below).  Most of the time the PC doesn't do anything, no screen, no post, but occasionally some weird characters at the top of the screen.  I have put in some old DDR2 RAM and the system starts up OK.  I bought this board as the MSI spec page says it supports 1066 memory.
Questions,
1) Is there any chance of getting this memory working in the board?
2) If so, how?
3) If not, what should I replace it with?
4) Do I need to touch the 2 jumpers to change the FSB.  I left them on default and everything "seems" to be working OK but I guess I should be setting them to 333 for my CPU?
5) I have installed 2 system fans on the MB connectors.  The fans are spinning but the speeds are not being reported in the BIOS.  Any ideas?
6) Is there a comprehensive setup guide for this board anywhere on this forum?  There was an excellent one for my old MSI board and I'm not finding the manual to be much help to be honest.
Thanks very much (in advance) for any help with all this.
P.S.  I don-t know what BIOS version the board came with.  I will check it when I get home.
Intel E8500
P45 Neo3-FR (PCB 1.0)
4Gb Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF
ASUS 8800GTX
Zalman 460W PSU

Answer 1

Quote
I bought this board as the MSI spec page says it supports 1066 memory.
Note that is says "1066* (OC)" on the product page.  The Intel P45 Chipset does not natively support DDR2-1066 memory modules.
This is the datasheet for your Corsair Memory modules:
http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF.pdf
As you can see, these modules are essentially DDR2-800 modules and that DDR2-1066 @2.1-2.2V is an overclocking rating that requires non-standard voltage settings.  Those OC Settings are pre-programmed into the SPD Chips of your memory modules via an EPP-Profile which is essentially an overclocking profile which is for NVIDIA Chipset boards, not for Intel Chipset boards.  Even if the BIOS is able to notice the DDR2-1066 EPP profile and decides to AUTO-memory frequency to 1066 MHz, it is not able to raise the memory voltage accordingly (it can't, because as I said, EPP Profile Information and settings parameters are for NVIDIA Chipset.)
Do you see now, why your system won't boot?
Try this:
- try one of the factory overclocked Corsair stick alone
If that works, lower memory frequency to DDR2-800 in BIOS and check again, if the system will boot with four sticks (you may have to raise memory voltage slightly.
If that fails, put in one of your DDR2-800 sticks, then set FSB/DRAM Ratio to 1:1, save an exit and then try again with your factory overclocked modules.