Asus M4A87TD/USB3

[forest.peterson]

I am also considering the G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 - to use with an AMD Phenom II X4 975 and AM3 M4A87TD. Right now I have 16GB at 1686Mhz 7-8-7-24-27-1T 1.5v and the CPU/NB at 2949. I'd need more so the options are to either slow the memory and try to reduce the latency to 6 or try the Z Series and raise the speed and reduce the latency. My hardware knowledge is limited but I have no problem trying things out to see what happens. The details of my build sheet is here on my wiki http://cife.stanford.edu/wiki/doku.p...settings:tower

Appreciate any knowledge you can share.

[Tradesman]

With the 975, not sure what sticks you are currently using, but if thinking 2400 sticks, F3-19200CL9Q-16GBZMD, would be the best for underclocking at tightening up the CAS. Moneywise, I'd probably look to 2133/CL9 sets like the Snipers or Ripjaws....think with the 975 you'd prob be looking at 1866-200 with a tight CL of 8 or maybe 7....Reason I say this is AMD CPUs are lacking, comparitively speaking in the MC (Memory Controller) and generally have trouble with large amounts of DRAM at high freq and a low CL.

[Strider7Sfga]

Stability issue resolved. No BSOD's thus far.

I think I finally found the combination that has this 16GB Quad Channel Z series running stable finally. Used a Variant of method #1 from Sticky postings concerning the AMD CPU memory controller issues. Tested new settings while still using the Seagate Momentus XT hybrid. Have since replaced the Test platform HDD with the Seagate SATAIII, 7200rpm, 1TB drive. Fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, SP1. Here's what was done and seems to be working so far. (No BSOD's since using this setting schema on the replaced HDD as well as previous Momentus XT hybrid.) dropped 0.1 on memory WEI score. 7.5 to 7.4. Will save the current OC profile in the bios before fiddling any further. I'm not absolutely certain I performed all of the needed steps for Method # 2 for Black Edition CPU's, but for now, stability testing is ongoing.

Down clocked DRAM Freq to 1333MHz
Set the CPU host bus to 240
Manually set CAS timings to 9-9-9-24 2T
Manually set DRAM Voltage to 1.5v (even though auto seemed to be using 1.5v by default.)
Didn't bump the CPU-NB voltage as suggested. (Black Edition appears to be negotiating the proper settings by default.)

Results from this variant of Method #1, non-Black edition is:
Current CPU speed: 3.85GHz (OC) (3.2GHz stock.) Memory Clocking: 1600MHz.
WEI is now 7.4 7.4 7.8 7.8 5.9

[Tradesman]

Good work, looks pretty good, keep us informed if you play any further, I'm sure others will look into results for help

[fonetik]

For some reason the page won't let me subscribe to this thread by hand, so I'm posting here to find it again. I'm having similar issues with this motherboard and I may try these settings.

[Strider7Sfga]

Follow-Up on stability settings.

For fontetik:

After running on the previous OC settings, I still experienced random BSOD's snd decided to recheck all the suggested settings for the Motherboard and the CPU settings. I had one of those, "oops" moments and realized I had missed an important step for Black edition CPU's.

I followed the revised sticky for Method #2, and have been running rock solid stable ever since.
[Black Edition CPU]

Method #2

1. Set DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1600

2. Set CPU-NB Frequency to 2400MHz (DDR3-1600 / 2 = 800MHz, then x 3) CPU-NB Frequency

should always be 3X DRAM bus frequency

3. Set HT Link Frequency to 2400MHz <- added 1 - 1.5 years ago

4. Set timings to tCL 9 - tRCD 9 - tRP 9 - tRAS 24, or whatever your memory is rated for.

5. Set DRAM Voltage to 1.50V, or whatever your memory is rated for.

6. Most CPUs will need a CPU-NB Voltage boost of +0.10V, so if your default is 1.10V, set

it to 1.20V.

[fonetik]

For fontetik:

After running on the previous OC settings, I still experienced random BSOD's snd decided to recheck all the suggested settings for the Motherboard and the CPU settings. I had one of those, "oops" moments and realized I had missed an important step for Black edition CPU's.

I followed the revised sticky for Method #2, and have been running rock solid stable ever since.
[Black Edition CPU]

Method #2

1. Set DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1600

2. Set CPU-NB Frequency to 2400MHz (DDR3-1600 / 2 = 800MHz, then x 3) CPU-NB Frequency

should always be 3X DRAM bus frequency

3. Set HT Link Frequency to 2400MHz <- added 1 - 1.5 years ago

4. Set timings to tCL 9 - tRCD 9 - tRP 9 - tRAS 24, or whatever your memory is rated for.

5. Set DRAM Voltage to 1.50V, or whatever your memory is rated for.

6. Most CPUs will need a CPU-NB Voltage boost of +0.10V, so if your default is 1.10V, set

it to 1.20V.

Hey thanks for responding. I had been working with these instructions but I was still having problems.

I think I've got it solved now. The machine has been stable all afternoon which is a big step from it BSOD'ing every 20-60 minutes.

I believe that the key step was that I am running 2 sets of 8GB (4GB x2) modules and I had stupidly installed the pairs mixed into separate banks. I switched them so the pairs are matched in the banks. I had forgotten that the banks alternate slots.

I also messed with my fans, repaired my video driver install and reinstalled my audio drivers, however I doubt these were more of a shot in the dark and I doubt they added to much help.

Right now I'm running the two F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM sets at DDR3-1600 and 8-8-8-24 which is already a great step up from my old 1333 batch. They benchmark at 24% increased bandwidth. As long as they remain stable at these settings I'm very happy.

I'll grab my final settings from my BIOS and repost them up here for reference:

These are the values working right now. I haven't tried to find out if they're the lowest stable values.

DRAM Freq: 1600
CPU/NB Freq: 2400
HT-Link Freq: 2400
CPU Offset Voltage: 0.1000
CPU/NB Offset Voltage: 0.2000
DRAM Voltage: 1.6
NB Voltage: 1.2

DRAM Timing: 8-8-8-24 (all others on Auto)