Two f3-10666cl8d-4gbhk + ga-p55a-ud3 = unstable

[smckech]

Hey Everyone.

Here is the deal. I have been trying for days now to get this box stable. Memory is off the QVL. Problem is that I get random BSOD and memtestx86+ always seems to fail around step 5 or 6. I am not trying to overclock this box. I would even have it run a bit slower as long as it was stable. I believe the answer is finding the correct MANUAL voltage settings, not just for RAM but for mem controller.

I also have come across a few articles where the boards do not work well when ALL dimm slots are full.

Per Gigabyte's direction, I manually entered the timings: 8-8-8-21 and the voltage of 1.5. This did not fix the issue. I then flashed to bios F6 and still no change.

I then did one stick at a time and there were NO errors on any of the sticks. I think the error is the fact that when I am in dual channel mode with ALL slots full, there is a voltage drop at boot or at some point in the booting process. Single channel has no issues.

I have four 2G sticks for a total of 8GB of ram. This means all the memory slots are full. Because each stick passes, gskill says no issue. Because I have the settings in the box as I do, Gigabyte says it should work. So i'm stuck in the circle apparently many have been in.

Aside from this, I was also upgrading the RAM in my Asus P5Q SE Plus (totally separate box) with a quad core. On this board the North Bridge is a MB component (socket 775) BUT I had the EXACT same issues as I do with the Gigabyte board.

The Asus forum directed me to update my voltage on the North Bridge from <Auto> to a hard 1.40V. The box instantly came to life, passed all memory tests and has been stable since. I went to apply the logic to the Gigabyte board only to find that there isn't a setting for the north bridge as its part of the CPU itself.

The latest test was enabling the XMS profile for memory. I still got errors in memtest. Does anyone know of settings that should be manually entered to get a stable box? I saw a lot of talk about the QPI(vtt), blck, vcore, vdroop, line conditioning, and other settings but they all seem to be applied when you are trying to OC the board. I just want it stable.

This is my first I7-860 build and it has basically fought me the whole way. I am guessing that others on the forum are quite skilled and make take for granted that I would know the most basic settings. Please, if giving the settings, be literal and assume I know nothing about it. I want to be sure that every detail is covered.

Below is the hardware in question.

GA-P55A-UD3 bios ver. F6

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

TWO G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK
Speed DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Cas Latency 8
Timing 8-8-8-21
Voltage 1.5V
ECC No
Buffered/Registered Unbuffered
Multi-channel Kit Dual Channel Kit

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS
650W Continuous Power

HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Car

TWO Cavier Black HDD (SATA)

TWO DVD-RW (SATA

[GSKILL TECH]

The QPI/VTT Voltage acts as the NB Voltage in your older P5Q system, so simply increase that value and it should stabilize the memory controller.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[smckech]

"The QPI/VTT Voltage acts as the NB Voltage in your older P5Q system, so simply increase that value and it should stabilize the memory controller."

OK, then what would the voltage suggestion be when running FOUR 2GB DIMMS?

As I said I have TWO of the dual channel kits: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK

[GSKILL TECH]

Roughly 1.30V, but I would suggest trying to find the exact voltage needed to avoid under/overvolting.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[smckech]

still no success

Ok

My board only as QTT 1.29 or 1.31 so I tried both and neither have worked.

When this box is in dual channel mode and either 2X2 or 4X2 I eventually get errors in memtestx86+.

Today I had memtest running for almost 14 hours with 2X2 and NO errors. All I did was a simple reboot back into memtest, not changing anything, and then there was errors, one memory address had an error.

I next went in and specified the QTT voltage. This time I got two errors at two different addresses. Neither reported address was the same as the original.

So I am perplexed. This stuff runs fine one for a battery of tests, then reboot (hot or cold) and I get an error. Then I'll repeat, poof there is an error and never at the same place.

I cannot believe somebody does not have this board and this ram running 4X2 in a stable format? Everyone goes on and on about how they can overclock everything, including this board and I don't see how. I am not brand new to building and I have pretty good troubleshooting skills.

I see people having issues with any of the brands of memory.

OK, so what else or at this point, after many many many tests going over 2 weeks, this build is a failure and I need to start to swap out RAM, Motherboard? I'm even ready to abandon the 1156 chipset and go back to 775.

[GSKILL TECH]

Were you able to test the other set to see if it will pass memtest then fail after restart? Sorry for the inconvenience, but we will do our best to sort this out for you.

If you can, post up pictures of your BIOS and we can see if anything is set incorrectly.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[smckech]

Bios Settings

Below are the settings that produce the "least" amount of errors with cold and warm boots. i have adjusted QPI/VTT, DRAM voltages, XMP Enable/disable, etc.

My Bios Settings:



Bios = F6

I7-860 1156

GA-P55a-UD3

CPU Clock is 21X133 = for 2.8ghz



NOTE: * = CHANGE FROM DEFAULT BIOS SETTING

1. MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.)

A) Advanced Frequency Settings

1. Advanced CPU Core Features



a) Intel? Turbo Boost Tech. [Disabled]*



b) CPU Cores Enabled [All]



c) CPU Multi-Threading [Enabled]



d) CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) [Disabled]*



e) C3/C6/C7 State Support [Auto]



f) CPU Thermal Monitor [Auto]



g) CPU EIST Function [Disabled]*



h) Bi-Directional PROCHOT [Auto]



2. QPI Clock Ratio [Auto]



3. Base Clock(BCLK) Control [Enabled]*



4. BCLK Frequency(Mhz) [133]*



5. Extreme Memory Profile(X.M.P.) [Enabled] *



6. System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [10.0]* speed should be <=1333



7. Following are all left as is:



a) PCI Express Frequency(Mhz) [Auto]

b) C.I.A.2. [Disabled]

c) CPU Clock Drive [800mV]

d) PCI Express Clock Drive [900mV]

e) CPU Clock Skew [0ps]








B) Advanced Memory Settings



1. Extreme Memory Profile(X.M.P.) [Enabled]



2. System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [10.0] should match previous page



3. Performance Enhance [Standard]*



4. DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) [Quick]*



5. Channel A Timing Settings & Channel B Timing Settings ?Because there are 4 dimms)



Set CASE Latency Time, tRCD, tRP and tRAS manually.



6. Following are all left as is:



a) Channel Interleaving 6 Devil

b) Rank Interleaving 4 [4]

c) Channel A Turnaround Settings - No Changes

d) Channel B Turnaround Settings - No Changes





C) Advanced Voltage Settings



1. Load-Line Calibration [Enabled]*

Vdroop is supposed to maintain constant voltage levels.



2. CPU Vcore [Normal]*



3. QPI/Vtt Voltage [Normal]*



4. PCH Core [Normal]*



5. CPU PLL [Normal]*



6. DRAM Voltage [1.500V]*



7. DRAM Termination [Normal]*



8. Ch-A Data VRef. [Normal]*



9. Ch-B Data VRef. [Normal]*



10. Ch-A Address VRef. [Normal]*



11. Ch-B Address VRef. [Normal]*





D) Miscellaneous Settings



1. Isochronous Support [Enabled] - VERIFY THIS IS SET



2. Virtualization Technology [Enabled] - VERIFY THIS IS SET





SAVE & EXIT




System Specs
Budget: VGA:HIS RADEON 4670 Monitor:
MB:GA-P55A-UD3 OS:WIN 7 64BIT PRO Browser:
CPU:I7-860 Sound:ONBOARD CODEC CPU Pps:STANDARD
Memory:2xG.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 PSU:Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 Brand:
HD:2xCAVIER BLACK 750 ata Cooling:STOCK INTEL COOLING FAN Misc:

[GSKILL TECH]

What about advanced timings? You may need to send them in for new replacements since it seems as though they simply will not operate together.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT