Stability problem 790i ultra sli + F3-16000CL9D-4GBTD

[nowwhatnapster]

Model of the motherboard: XFX nForce? 790I 3-Way SLI..... MB-N790-IUL9
Model of the memory: G.Skill 2x2GB (4GB)..... F3-16000CL9D-4GBTD
Model of the CPU: Intel Q9550

Problem: System locks up under mild stress. (I have stopped the crashing but I want a GSkill tech to approve of my fix) Here is what I did.

Bios default had the memory at these settings:

tRAS: AUTO, tRCD: AUTO, tRP: AUTO, tCL:AUTO, CMD: 1
1333mhz
voltage: 1.5v

I proceeded to change the default bios settings to these:

tRAS: 24, tRCD: 9, tRP: 9, tCL:9, CMD: 2
1600mhz
voltage: 1.65v

At this point, i was experiencing system lockups while playing some FPS games.

I ran MemTest86+ and verified i was receving memory errors.
I removed one memory module and re-ran the test, It received errors,
I repeated the test with the other module, it received errors.
I bumped the voltage to 1.7, ran solid for 18hrs, at which point, i stopped the test, because I needed to use my PC.

Is it ok to be running the ram at 1.7v? Am I voiding warranty by doing this. Would you recommend I try something else or is this satisfactory?

Lastly, separate question, I will eventually be upgrading to 8GB of system memory, when windows 7 is released. Will your memory work in an 8GB configuration? Will I just have to try it to find out?

[Tradesman]

On the 1.7, this is just an opinion but believe it should be OK, Gskill will be in in the morning and can provide a definitive answer.

Other thoughts, if you want to try and drop back to the 1.65, you could leave your other settings as is, and up the NB voltage a bit, that will give the MC a little more juice and help provide stability.

Another possible to stabilize at 1.65 would be to raise to tRFC a bit, maybe in the vicinity of 68 if not already there

Also, depending on what your running at, if at stock speed, might kick in a slight OC, say if FSB is at 1333 (stock) kick it up to 1366 or more (it goes up to 1600) .....and.....depending on what your vCore is raise it a bit to compensate for the OC.

And, do you have the latest BIOS - P08, I believe

[GSKILL TECH]

FSB should be at 1600 at least for DDR3-1600. Since you are underclocking the memory, you could probably lower the timings to 7-8-7-21 and see if that will stabilize. Or try 1T and get the lowest timings.

1.7V is fine, but check PC Health Status to see actual voltage. The motherboard may not be supplying enough actual voltage.

8GB should be no problem with this motherboard. You will simply need to do some BIOS tuning.

Have fun, should be able to make this setup quite fast.
GSKILL SUPPORT

[nowwhatnapster]

Just thought I would put this post to rest.

I solved all my issues by changing the nForce SPP voltage to 1.4v up from 1.3 or 1.35 (whatever stock voltage is)

I was able to put the ram back to normal 1.5v with appropriate timings 9-9-9-24-2T

Only issues I am experiencing these days is that my mobo will reset the bios settings during a soft restart and occasionally a hard restart. It's an easy fix: Open up bios and up the voltage of the SPP to get the system to boot.

Ram's running nice and strong. Good product!

[GSKILL TECH]

Hmm, very odd that you have do to that sometimes.. Make sure you have the latest BIOS for the motherboard.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH