GSkill F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL+Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3_iSSD Rev 1.0+Intel i7-3770 @ 3.40GH

[gbmatth]

Hello,
I have just tried this 32GB (GSkill F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL) Memory in my Z68XP-UD3_iSSD motherboard, with an Intel i7-3770 (not K), Antec 750W PS, et. al., and I am getting repeated errors in MemTest. The motherboard Bios is updated to latest U1a.

This existing MB/CPU was previously running fine with two sets of GSkill F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL, for a total of 4X4GB =16GB, running at 1866 under the XMP Profile 1 with no adjustments to voltages or timings. That setup passed extensive MemTest testing, so I am assuming that the 4 memory slots and the memory controller are good.

I have cleared the bios, loaded optimized defaults, set the memory profile to to XMP, and incrementally increased QPI/VTT to 1.2v, with Dram voltage increased to 1.6v, and I am still getting early and repeated errors in every run of MemTest.
Here are the specifics of my most recent testing setup:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3_iSSD Rev 1.0
MB Bios: U1a 07/12/2012 Bios ID: 8A21AG0N
Processor: Intel i7-3770 @ 3.40GHz S-spec : SR0PK
Memory : GSkill F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL

Bios Settings:
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.152
QPI/VTT Voltage ????............. 1.200V [1.05V is stock (and XMP) setting]
DRAM Voltage ????................ 1.608V [1.50 is stock (and XMP) setting]

Channel A and Channel B Timing Settings (as set by XMP)

##Channel A and B Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ..................... 10
tRCD ....................................... 10
tRP ......................................... 10
tRAS ....................................... 30
##Channel A and B Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ 40
tRRD ....................................... 5
tWTR ...................................... 6
tWR ........................................12
tWTP ..................................... 24
tWL ........................... ............. 8
tRFC .................................... 208
tRTP ........................................ 6
tFAW ...................................... 24
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 2
tRW Stability Level.........?????..3
twR Stability Level?????????. 3
tREFI???????????.???? 6240
tREFIX9???? ??????????.. 54
tRRDR????????????????? 1
tRRDD????????????????? 3
tWWDR???????????????? 3
tWWDD???????????????? 3
tRWDRDD??????????????. 3
tWRDRDD??????????????.. 1
tRWSR????????????????.. 3
tRRSR?????????????????. 4
tWWSR????????????????. 4

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for getting this memory to work in my setup. The memory appears to work two at a time (no immediate MemTest errors), but I have not tested it extensively in that configuration, since it is of no value to me if not working at 1600 for 32GB. Does anyone have experience with a working 32GB Kit (4X8GB) with this specific Gigabyte motherboard?
Thanks for your help.

[Tradesman]

Might try tRRD 6 tWTR 7 tRTP 7 tRFC 255

[gbmatth]

New settings MemTest Results

OK - Cleared Bios and tried the tRRD 6 tWTR 7 tRTP 7 tRFC 255 adjustment to the XMP1 Profile settings. Started at XMP1 voltages (VTT 1.05 and Dram 1.50), and have incrementally increased both. This results in early memtest failures at all combinations up to and including 1.154 and 1.60. I really don't want to go over 10% overvoltage on either setting as a long-term solution. Are there any other thoughts on settings?

P.S. I ran the memory (MemTest) at stock speed (1333) and voltages (No XMP Profile) after clearing bios, etc. and got two errors in almost two complete cycles of MemTest. I am defnitely not an expert, but this suggests to me that there is either a problem with my memory kit or else the XMP Profile voltages can never work on my motherboard for this 32GB kit.
Any suggestions for next steps?
Thanks for your help.

[Tradesman]

Might want to try 4-5 passes of Memtest on each stick individually to see if you have a bad stick, otherwise might try taking the VCCSA up to 1.12

[gbmatth]

OK, thanks will start the single stick testing with XMP1, and each in it's respective slot. Is there a better 32GB Kit for this motherboard/CPU combo? I haven't found many references to success with this.

[Tradesman]

While the Z68s were 'rated' to 32GB few had much of any testing done at 32GB, there weren't many 32GB sets even available until the 3rd gen CPUs came out and by then the Z77 was out and the Z68 was sort of abandoned in favor of the 77, so they never really developed the BIOS...could try with the same voltages and kick up the OC to help the CPU pull a little better

[gbmatth]

More Test Results

I have followed up with additional testing, and can report that any two modules, in any combination of DIMM slots (dual channel or single channel) will successfully complete 5 passes of MemTest when run at XMP1 Profile settings (no voltage increases). So, 16GB will run at 1600MHz in any combination. 32GB fails at any speed (1333) or (1600), and at XMP1 with any voltage increases that I am willing to try. After the XMP1 single channel (16GB) run results, I also tried 24GB, and got errors.
My conclusion at this time is that my GSkill memory kit is fine, and the XMP1 Profile would probably work fine in a Z77 motherboard. I am waiting for some suggestions from Gigabyte, including an answer to what 32GB memory kits have been tested successfully in my Z68 motherboard.

My single channel testing (2X8GB) raises a MemTest question - why does MemTest show "Dual Channel" when I have memory in Dimm1+Dimm2 or in Dimm3+Dimm4. The two memory channels are set up normally, as Dimm1+Dimm3 and Dimm2+Dimm4, so I would not expect MemTest 86+ Ver 4.20 to show "dual channel" when I have the two memory modules in the single channel mode. Is this just due to MemTest not having yet been updated to address Ivy Bridge architecture?

[Tradesman]

Might be a problem w/either the mobo or the MC in the CPU

[gbmatth]

Update

OK - So I have gotten some responses from Gigabyte TS, resulting most recently in their suggestion to test with the former Award F10 Bios. I reverted from the UEFI U1a bios, reset, set to optimal defaults, re-booted to my MemTest cd, and got errors in Test 2,4 , and 6 in Pass 0, at different memory addresses, before shutting down and trying XMP Profile. Not surprisingly, very similar early failures, but different addresses.

One unexpected result -
Page 1 of the F10 Bios shows exactly what is expected at 1333 and XMP 1600 settings. Memory at 1337.76 and at 1605.12 with BCLK at 100.32.

However, Memtest 86+ Ver 4.20 gives 614MHz (DDR3-1228) and 737MHz (DDR3-1474) with BCLK at 92MHz. I used two different copies of the MemTest CD to check that I hadn't somehow picked up a different one.
I was getting 672.6MHz (DDR3-1345.2) and 807.2MHz (DDR3-1614.56) at BCLK 100.9 in Memtest when I was using the UEFI Bios.

I do not recall seeing this BCLK difference between the Bios reading and Memtest when using the F10 Bios previously. Any idea why I'm seeing it now? Is it an IVY Bridge issue with Memtest, or does it mean something? I have not booted to any drive yet due to the memory errors, so I have not looked at CPUZ or other benchmarks. I assume the bios readings are correct? Note: I'm sure that the 16GB of 1866 that I ran previously didn't show this difference.

Some of my random thoughts - please tell me if I'm thinking incorrectly...
I suppose I could tear my other rig apart, and put my 2500K back on this MB, but it would only be for testing, so a real pain. My understanding is that Sandy Bridge is only guarunteed for 1333, so, if I couldn't get the 32GB kit to run at 1600, I wouldn't be able to confirm it as a MB problem. If it did work, it wouldn't necessarily prove an i7-3770 memory controller problem, due to the MB/IVY Bridge bios "maturity" unknowns.
The only definitive outcome would seem to be if the 32GB Kit does NOT run at 1333 on the MB/2500k combination - that would pretty clearly indicate a motherboard/bios problem for 32GB. I'm still waiting to hear back from Gigabyte on a specific tested and approved approved 32GB Kit for this motherboard. The modules in this kit run fine at 1600 in any combination of 16GB.

I'm not sure what the next steps are. Any ideas? Is there any "best" way for me to test to isolate the problem between the motherboard and the CPU memory controller?

[Tradesman]

Have a feeliing it's either mobo or CPU, but obviously could be the sticks. I'd try them on the other rig, the 2500K (most 2500Ks I should say) can run 32GB up to 2133, anyway I've built quite a few 2500K rigs on P67, Z68 and Z77 mobos and they could all run 32GB, often took setting the sticks up manually as very few of the mobo BIOSs are really ready for 32GB and XMP...Not sure what OC you are running the 2500K at,, but I'd 4-4.2 anyway and make sure you have the latest BIOS on the mobo.

[gbmatth]

Update

OK- I decided to put the 2500k on my GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 Rev1.0 with Bios F13 (latest Award Bios).
Bios reset, optimized defaults, CD Boot, Memory at default 1333 with all 32GB. Immediate errors in Memtest Test 3, Pass 0. All voltages are at nominal.

Same Bios reset, et al. , but load XMP Profile. Memory at 1600, 32GB. Errors in Test 4 Pass 0. Voltages set by XMP are nominal, so no surprise here.

Bios reset, Memory at 1333. QPI/VTT=1.08, Dram v=1.56. Errors Pass 0, Test 3.

Currently running the above voltages with the XMP Profile (1600) modified with the timings settings changes that you had recommended.

I can run an 8GB F3-17000CL-8GBXL kit on this MB/CPU @2133.
Gigabyte had me revert from their UEFI bios back to the Award on my Z68XP-UD3, so I don't think updating this Z68MX to the latest (UEFI) will do anything for this 32GB problem.

I don't have any other Z68 or Z77 MB's to work with right now. I would try my Asus to get something other than Gigabyte, but it's only a B75 for an unRAID server, and it would only do 1333.

The one thing that I did notice in the (automatic) advanced memory timings was that the IO Memory Latency was at 2 for channel A, but at 1 for channel B. This was on both motherboards. Is this normal? I tried reversing the memory "pairs" that I had arbitrarily defined in my 4x8GB Kit, and both Channel A and B now are automatically set to 1 after the reset. (?)

I'll try some more combinations, but I don't want to overvolt anything just trying to get this kit to run.

My purpose in buying it was to use it on my i7-3770 GA-Z68XP-UD3_iSSD setup for video editing, etc. Can you tell me if there is a better GSkill 32GB Kit for this combination?
Do I need to move on to a newer Z77 and get something from their 32GB memory QVL, or should I wait a bit for the 32GB Kits/MB bios to become more mainstream ?

[Tradesman]

All I can really do is give my opinion, and it won't match up with everybody else, with some it will and others it won't. But here's my 2 cents, I'd go with a Z77......I mainly build upper mid and high end systems for my customers (gamers, business, independents, government entities) and I never really got into the Z68, when it came out I was already building a number of P67s (loved em) and was actually beta testing a board based on the original chipset for the Z77 - the Z68 offered a couple of 'advantages' over the P67 - using the CPU integrated video (I prefer dicrete graphics cards as most I deal with want more powerful graphics that is offered from on-board) and the add on cache by using a small SSD (to me that was sort of a waste of money (can basically equal what that provides with a RAM Drive and proper system setup or use a SSD as the primary drive running the OS and primary apps) or even better still using a RAM Drive and a pair of SSDs in RAID (which is a common approach I use in building)....So the I built a few Z68's (of which I think all of them were retired or replaced within about 5-6 months - most going to Z77 and in some cases sort of 'dropping' back to a P67 and using the same CPU. With the fairly quick intro of the Z77 the Z68s sort of got orphaned, and haven't gotten much attention towards upgrading via BIOS...might also note the SSD cache add on wasn't included in the Z77. To a degree I almost think it wan't much more than a gimmick they added on to the base P67, to see if it would get attention and to be a stop gap as the Z77 chipset was taking longer than was expected and the 3rd gen CPUs were also a bit slow on the release

I like the Z77 a little better than the P67 for it's additional higher end support for third gen CPUs and higher end DRAM (which is CPU driven) the Sandy Bridge CPUs like the 25/26/2700K pretty much top out at 32GB of 2133 - a few can exceed that, but they are the odd ball exceptionally strong CPUs. The 77 allows for higher end DRAM, often may have more SATA III ports (helpful with multiple SSDs, but no real help for optical or mechanical drives (those can't even hit the SATA II levels, even if they are sold as SATA III devices)...

Feel like I'm rambling, sorry bout that, and it was probably more than 2 cents (maybe 3-4 )