Problems with F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ and ASUS P7P55D

[2kcrewcab]

I know that there are numerous posts about the proper configuration for this setup, but I'm having what I consider to be an odd issue.

I have 2 sets of this memory (8 GB Total), and I'm running the i5 750 Processor at 2.66 GHz.

I built this system about a year ago, and have had stability issues the whole time - I've just dealt with them the best I could and moved on....until a couple of days ago when I decided to investigate it all again.

Based on other posts, I downloaded the latest BIOS from Asus for the P7P55D motherboard. I continued to see sporadic issues with everything set to "Auto" - which was the default when I entered the BIOS after upgrading it. Also, based on other posts, I saw where I should be running the XMP profile in the BIOS, so I made that change, and continued to see issues.

So, I downloaded the latest version of Memtest86+ (v. 4.10) and started running methodically through tests.

I ran memory tests with each DIMM installed by itself with the BIOS set to the XMP Profile, and all sticks passed just fine. So, then I started pairing them up and running through the same tests with the same BIOS settings. Both sets of DIMMs passed both a cold and warm boot. So after that, I put both sets in together, and immediately started getting errors - tons of errors - hundreds of them.

After doing more and more testing, it seems that I have one DIMM that when it is introduced to the system along with any other DIMM, I will get immediate errors in Memtest. If that same DIMM is in the system by itself, it will pass the tests just fine. Any and all combinations of the other three DIMMs passes, but if this one DIMM is introduced, it will fail miserably.

Is this a "normal" failure? Should the DIMM that is causing the issues run fine by itself, but not when paired up with any other DIMM?

Please help....

Thanks,
Mike W.

[Tradesman]

How about with just the one suspect stick and a single other? If the suspect stick works fine in tandem with another it might be fine and you need some changes to other settings for all 8 to go. Could be a few things, possibly the voltage to the MC is a little low, tRFC could be off, command rate needs to be at 2, might even to to OC the CPU a bit (what CPU are you running and at what speed?)

With ASUS and 8 I'd guess AUTO is off somewhere, could you post your BIOS settings.

[2kcrewcab]

Thanks for the quick response Tradesman.

The suspect stick will only pass the memtest when it is in the system by itself. If paired with any of the other 3 sticks, it fails the test.

I'm not sure how much of this you need, but here are my BIOS settings under the Ai Tweaker menu:

Target CPU Frequency: 2720MHz
Target DRAM Frequency: 1604MHz

CPU Level Up [Auto]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ai Overclock Tuner [X.M.P]
eXtreme Memory Profile [Profile #1]
Profile Info: 1600MHz-9-9-9-24-2N-1.50V
CPU Ratio Setting [17.0]
Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech [Disabled]
Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode [Auto]
BCLK Frequency [160]
DRAM Frequency [DDR3-1600MHz]
QPI Frequency [Auto]
ASUS/3rd Party UI Priority [ASUS Utility]

OC Tuner [Turbo Profile]

CPU Differential Amplitude [Auto]
CPU Clock Skew [Auto]

CPU Voltage Mode [Manual]
Fixed Voltage [Auto]
Current CPU Core Voltage [1.120V]
IMC Voltage [Auto]
Current IMC Voltage [1.159V]
DRAM Voltage [1.5000]
Current DRAM Voltage [1.503V]
CPU PLL Voltage [Auto]
Current CPU PLL Voltage [1.812V]
PCH Voltage [Auto]
Current PCH Voltage [1.056V]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA [Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB [Auto]

Load-Line Calibration [Auto]
CPU Spread Spectrum [Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum [Auto]


DRAM Timing Control
1st Information : 9-9-9-24-5-89-13-8-24-0
CAS# Latency 9 [9 DRAM Clock]
RAS# to CAS# Delay 9 [9 DRAM Clock]
RAS# PRE Time 9 [9 DRAM Clock]
RAS# ACT Time 24 [24 DRAM Clock]
RAS# to RAS# Delay 5 [Auto]
REF Cycle Time 89 [Auto]
WRITE Recover Time 13 [Auto]
READ to PRE Time 8 [Auto]
FOUR ACT WIN Time 24 [Auto]
Back-To-Back CAS# Delay 0 [Auto]
2nd Information : 2N-48-49
Timing Mode 2N [2N]
Round Trip Latency on CHA 48 [Auto]
Round Trip Latency on CHB 49 [Auto]
3rd Information: 6-6-18-10-10-10-7-6-4-7-7-4
WRITE To READ Delay(DD) 6 [Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(DR) 6 [Auto]
WRITE To Read Delay(SR) 18 [Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DD) 10 [Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DR) 10 [Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(SR) 10 [Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DD) 7 [Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DR) 6 [Auto]
READ To READ Delay(SR) 4 [Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DD) 7 [Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DR) 7 [Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(SR) 4 [Auto]


Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike W.

[2kcrewcab]

Ok....so I'm not sure what this really means, but I just noticed this too. No matter what settings I use in the BIOS (Auto, DOCP, or XMP), and no matter how many sticks of RAM I have, Memtest86+ sees the DRAM as PC3-10600. Is this normal? The memory is labeled as PC3-12800, so why is it being recognized as 10600?

[GSKILL TECH]

Do you have the latest memtest? What is the frequency showing? Many places will show PC3-10600 because that is the max the motherboard can recognize (standard).

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[wevsspot]

It's possible that one stick of RAM just won't play nice with any of the others, in which case there might not be much you can do other than RMA that kit.

However, before doing that give these voltage tweaks a try;

fixed voltage - enabled or yes
cpu core voltage [1.24v]
imc voltage [1.20]
dram voltage [1.55v]
pch voltage [1.10]

You can leave everything else where it's at.

Regards,

[2kcrewcab]

Do you have the latest memtest? What is the frequency showing? Many places will show PC3-10600 because that is the max the motherboard can recognize (standard).

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

Yes, I downloaded the latest version of Memtest (version 4.10). The frequency is showing correctly. I saw another post last night after asking about the 10600 that explains why that is.

[2kcrewcab]

It's possible that one stick of RAM just won't play nice with any of the others, in which case there might not be much you can do other than RMA that kit.

However, before doing that give these voltage tweaks a try;

fixed voltage - enabled or yes
cpu core voltage [1.24v]
imc voltage [1.20]
dram voltage [1.55v]
pch voltage [1.10]

You can leave everything else where it's at.

Regards,

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give this a try and report back with the findings.

[2kcrewcab]

It wouldn't allow me to put those exact numbers in for some of the items, so I used the closet thing I could.

cpu core voltage [1.24375v]
imc voltage [1.20000]
dram voltage [1.55000v]
pch voltage [1.15]

Memtest started throwing errors almost immediately (just like before). So maybe I just have a bad stick of RAM....

[wevsspot]

That's a possibility.

Lucky for you that you bought G.Skill.

They will honor your request for an RMA if you even suspect you have bad memory.

You can also ask them to pretest before they send the replacements. IMHO you can't beat G.Skill support and warranty. They are the best of the best.

[donaldduck]

Hello all,

i use the same board and memory only my CPU is an i7-860.
I've had issues exactly like 2kcrewcab for weeks now and tried all this methodical testing which convinced me, my ram is good.

Today i found out that my system CAN run 8 GB of ram in 4 sticks of 2GB which until now i thought wouldn't be possible.
I have built my system with one pair of F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ and bought the second pair later. They are not exactly the same as CPUID identifies the newer pair as PC3-10700H while the older sticks are simple PC3-10700.

Using old knowledge from my last system i set VDIMM to 1.65 V because i expected this to
allow better signal quality. -> regular crashes

Now, everything is set to AUTO except for VIMC which is set to 1.2V.
GUESS WHAT, its working! While i am writing this Prime 95 is running for more than two hours where before it would crash after 5 mins or so.

Of course there is no OC right now i am not even using X.M.P. but it seems to run stable finally. Core temperatures are between 58 and 62 ?C, looks good.

To make a long story short:
Don't try to much. Just up VIMC by 0.1V as GSKILL TECH has posted countless times and you are set.

Bye

[2kcrewcab]

After much testing I believe my problem was a single bad stick of RAM. I have RMA'd the pair that the 'bad' one came in and shipped it out yesterday for replacements. Since I did all of the testing a few days ago, I have been running with only 4 GB with the XMP profile and I have had ZERO problems so far. It seems as stable as it ever has been since I built it about a year ago.

When the new RAM comes in, I'll check it out and report back.

[donaldduck]

To make a long story short:
Don't try to much. Just up VIMC by 0.1V as GSKILL TECH has posted countless times and you are set.
Bye

... and some 8 hours or so later the system crashes and has not recovered until now. I can't
even boot with only one set of 4 GB. It gives me countless errors in memtest 4.10+.

I am angry now and would like to burn its a.. off just to make it work. Would it make sense to raise VDimm to 1.65v and VIMC to 1.3v?

Maybe WEVSSPOT can help...

CU

[GSKILL TECH]

No, your memory should only need 1.50V. IMC should not need to be that high either.

Enable XMP, test each module to see if one is defective. I would suggest sending all 4 back for replacements. We can even test them before we ship them out to insure they work together.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[donaldduck]

However, before doing that give these voltage tweaks a try;

fixed voltage - enabled or yes
cpu core voltage [1.24v]
imc voltage [1.20]
dram voltage [1.55v]
pch voltage [1.10]

You can leave everything else where it's at.

Regards,

WEVSSPOT, i don't know how many systems it takes to build to develop such enormous "feel" for these peaces of silicon but i must admit that your voltage props turned my system stable.
The only thing i changed additionally was to install AMDs 64bit graphics driver once i found out there was one because i thought first of all a x64 PC should run 64bit drivers.
Right now its looking good.

THX a lot