New RAM for Asus G1 P5G43 - New BIOS settings needed?

[Terrier]

Model of the motherboard: Asus P5QL-VM-EPU (G1 P5G43)
Model of the memory: F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK fitted to A1 & B1 slots (seating checked, Memtest-ed OK.)
Model of the CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400
GPU: Gigabyte GE Force Nvidia GTX 265 (runs at about 90-92C under load e.g., gaming)

Problem: Freezing requiring hard reboot randomly, but especially under load (approx 60% according to RealTemp). No heat problems.

Originally replaced RAM due to BSOD errors which were identified as faulty RAM, confirmed with Memtest. Old Ram was DDR2 800, so this new RAM is slightly upgraded. BSOD errors resolved thus far.

I haven't changed any BIOS settings and if I should, I'm not clear on exactly what changes need to be made, or where.

Some feedback and a step-through would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

[Tradesman]

Make sure front Side Bus (FSB) is at least 1066 to 1333 and raise NB voltage 0.10

[Terrier]

Hi Tman, have checked the FSB, it was set at 1333.

Would you give me a little more info on where/ how to set the NB voltage please?

Is this accessed through the Northbridge sub menu? What should I be looking for.. sorry, but it's not obvious to me when I look and is not clear in the manual.

Thanks

[Tradesman]

Yes should be either in NB area or w/ system voltages, if still problems, let me know and I'll pull down a manual to check, may have an obscure name for it

[Terrier]

Hello again Tman,
OK, have had time to have another look. In the Advanced "chipset" sub menu there is an option to disable the auto DRAM SPD timings, but no voltage options. I can list the timings given if that will help.

Under the Power menu, there are voltages listed as follows:

VCORE voltage 1.216v
3.3V Voltage 3.408v
5V Voltage 5.120v
12V Voltage 12.302v

The settings options are as described above, or [ignored]

There doesn't seem to be any option to set another parameter.

I may, of course, be looking in the wrong places, but I haven't located any other voltage information.

It's looking like you may need to pull the manual

Thanks for your assistance so far.

[Tradesman]

Am heading out the door, but will pull one down when I return, should be within a couple hours

[Tradesman]

Took a quick look, looks very linited, may try disabling the DRAM by SPD setting and see if that allows for manual setup, if so, set base timings as per spec but raise the DRAM voltage by + 0.05 to + 0.1 if no NB voltage available

[Terrier]

Hi again,

Thanks for looking into the manual. I disabled the DRAM by SPD and the following values are reported:

tCL 5
tRAS 15
tRP 5
tRCD 5
tWR 6
tRFC 52
tWTR 3
tRRD 3
tRTP 3
tRD 7

There are no further options that indicate voltage (or I am clueless and one of the above is actually referring to voltage)

It seems odd to me that the BIOS has no voltage settings that can be adjusted, given that the RAM I've installed is on the QVL list. Let me know if you think any of the above needs to be adjusted.

Thanks again

[Tradesman]

Have you tried contacting the mobo maker? Will drop Gskill Tech a note to take a look.

[GSKILL TECH]

Do you have the latest BIOS? Did you test one module at a time to see how they perform individually?

Try these timings:

tCL 5
tRAS 15
tRP 5
tRCD 5
tWR 8
tRFC 68
tWTR 4
tRRD 4
tRTP 4
tRD 7

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Terrier]

Hi GSKILL TECH,

Thanks for your input.
There is only one version of this BIOS available, it was the first thing I checked. Do you mean try running with a single stick of RAM at a time? Or did you mean did I memtest them individually. If the latter, yes, I did, and there were no problems after upwards of 10 passes (which I guess also tests running them individually on the system).

I will try those settings you suggest and let you know when the system has been running for a while under load.

[Tradesman]

Think he prob meant one stick at a time - that's the best way to check

[Terrier]

I tried those timings settings, and there was no improvement in the freezing problem. Still freezes with loud (looping?) sound through speakers within ~ 5 mins of gaming.

I did test the RAM individually, and it tested fine.

I'm starting to think it might be a GPU issue, even though drivers are up to date etc. The system itself has no heat probs (maxing about 55C under load), but I do notice the fan ramps up when the GPU hits around 92C. Not sure which fan it is, but it seems connected to the issue. I was trying to avoid buying a new GPU just to check if that solves the problem. :/

Any further suggestions/ feedback/ comments? I'm at a bit of a loss.

[Tradesman]

May just see if you can borrow a different graphics card

[Terrier]

Hi again,

Reporting back as I think I may have found and fixed the issue. I went to the GEForce site: http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/stable-gaming/#2 (which I probably should have done first) and started working through these steps to see if there was anything else that may be causing the issue. After checking my startup menu and removing non-essential items, the system is running well! In particular, I completely removed a program called Akamai netsession (which had installed itself without permission, probably when downloading the ASUS update program or Adobe updates) which was flagged online as non-malware, but a bit of a resource hog. I then rebooted and tried to run Skyrim (which is what usually crashes after ~ 5 mins after I replaced RAM) and it ran for 1/2 hour smoothly. This is very promising, so I wanted to report here for others who may read this thread.

I'd like to thank you both for your assistance. Although it now seems the RAM and timings are not the problem, you were very patient and helpful in helping me with this issue. I've learned quite a bit about my BIOS and system in the process.

All the best.