Asus motherboards + G.Skill memory: Cold boot issues and possible workaround

[justjss]

CPU voltage was set on auto and did not give a default value. When you go to change it from auto, it starts with lowest possible value of .85 and allows you to set in increments from .85V up to 1.7V.

I tried to boot this a.m. with the IMC voltage at 1.22 ... same result, blue screen, error 50.

For the reboot (which usually works on any setting, of course) -- just to see, I ran the Asus OC tuner, a utility within bios. Had never run it before.

It ran all the way through, set memory to run at 1704 instead of 1600; kicked up the CPU to 2.9x instead of 2.8; changed some other settings; and booted clean.

Tempted to run it that way for next cold boot, and see ...

Question: To the best of your knowledge, would the cold boot issue be solved by replacement RAM? I only have one more day to mess around with this, then I go home and the user takes over. He will NOT be able to tinker in bios. He just wants a machine he can turn off, and on, and runs stable. For what the system cost, I think that's reasonable of him. ;-)

Though obviously I'd be happier if I didn't have to RMA (yes, I'd have to drive 90 minutes at some point just to put the RAM in for him) ... I want closure on the cold boot issue. I have 3-4 months left of warranty on the motherboard and I'll send THAT back to asus if new RAM doesn't work. But -- as others have noted here -- it is G.Skill that promised compatibility of RAM, here, not Asus.

[Tradesman]

vCore equate to your CPU voltage - try raising it 0.06 from whatever it is may be the 1.363 you show

[justjss]

There is no setting that I can see that is labeled vcore.

This is what I had to start:

Current voltage: 1.111V 1.8V 1.363V

IMC Voltage: 1.35150V (adjusted to 1.18, will try 1.22 in the a.m.)
Current Voltage: 1.058V

PCH Voltage (Auto)
1.349V

DRAM Voltage
1.35150V (adjusted to 1.40)

I reflashed the bios because I noticed the date looked wrong; but it was the same internally on the rom. Still 2104.

Also -- tempted to reconnect peripherals and set RAM at 1600/XMP again, since that is the system I need to be stable ...

So ... can you guess/tell me which voltage above corresponds to vcore? Thanks ...

[Tradesman]

Getting there, how about IMC at 1.22 and what is vCore at?

[justjss]

With dram voltage at 1.4, dropped IMC voltage to 1.18.

Cold boot -- failed. Saw a quick message that started with "The application was unable to start ..." and then a blue screen, error code 50.

Reboot from there was successful, though there was a longer-than-usual mouse cursor freeze ... perhaps 10 seconds ... before completion.

:-/

Thanks again for your help. I've built a lot of systems, never had to fiddle with voltages, never really wanted to.

[Tradesman]

For the moment

[justjss]

Okay will try that next ... should I leave the dram volts at 1.4?

[Tradesman]

If that's the IMC/VTT voltage listed above, looks way to high, might try dropping to 1.18

[justjss]

With DRAM Voltage set manually to 1.4V:

I tried to boot late last night, got a blue screen. Error 1A/ memory_management. Did not make it to desktop. There was a long black screen before the blue screen.

Booted up semi-normally the second time. Still had the mouse freeze/5seconds; also, action center icon takes a long time before it shows up. Even when it boots, this machine boots slower than I would expect based on specs.

Ran MS memory diagnostic (again) just to see. Came back clean. Shut it down.

Tried to boot this a.m. Got a little window/error message that said: "The procedure entry point LocalAnloc could not be located in the dynamic link library kernel ..." something. Went to blue screen/error 50/page_fault ...

Booted up second try.

In other words, pretty much same results.

[Tradesman]

Shut it down, let it sit and then boot

[justjss]

Will do. Will have result either late tonight or first thing in the a.m. ... Wish there was a way to force a cold boot. ;-)

[Tradesman]

Try the DRAM voltage at 1.4 abd see how that does,

[justjss]

In bios 1204 for Asus Maximus III Formula:

As I said, everything is on auto that can be on auto. I'll write down every setting available if you need, but here are what look like the relevant ones:

Current voltage: 1.111V 1.8V 1.363V

IMC Voltage: 1.35150V
Current Voltage: 1.058V

PCH Voltage (Auto)
1.349V

DRAM Voltage
1.35150V

DRAM timing auto ... everything else auto.

I don't think I've ever changed voltages from auto except when I was first setting up the PC ... I recall vaguely trying a few things when I had an initial problem booting up -- but settled on auto-everything + XMP before I gave my friend the machine. It seemed stable. Of course, when I was setting it up ... there were no cold boots after the first day, probably. I suspect this has been a problem, one way or the other, since early on. I don't know how often he had the machine off or cold booted ... he/we did not associate the blue screens with cold boots until earlier this year.

Also, I should add:
1) I've been through all the software, item by item, in startup/msconfig. Took it down to the minimum.
2) Not running any devices other than keyboard/mouse/vid (Radeon 5700) right now. Same problem as with everything attached.
3) Notable symptom, even when I get a normal boot (after a few tries or when warm) ... I often get a short mouse cursor freeze. Maybe five seconds, then boot finishes (or crashes)
4) Boot logs are uneventful. Also, running system repair gets no errors other than "unexplained ..." ...

Thanks. Let me know whatever else you need?

[justjss]

Could you post your BIOS settings, particularly the DRAM and voltages info

The machine has been running on all the default voltages and settings. (Latest bios, 1204, for Maximus III Formula.)

The only deviation from default in the last six months was setting the RAM at XMP (1600.)

On Sunday, when I started working on this, I downloaded and ran an Asus utility called A.I. It said that I was overclocking (which of course running XMP/1600 technically is) and I cut it back to 667x2/1333. I did not change any voltages from "auto."

If you need what the settings are on voltages other than "auto" ... I will post those in a few hours, when I am back in front of the machine. Thanks for your prompt response!

[Tradesman]

Could you post your BIOS settings, particularly the DRAM and voltages info