Tips/Suggestions for ASUS Rampage III Formula and GSkill F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL?

[wb_martin@roadrunner.com]

Well, I think I'm getting closer. I will post my BIOS settings so someone more knowledgeable than me might offer some assistance/tips.

I spent the day reinstalling Win7-64 bit on a RAID0 of 2 SATA Raptor drives (69GB each), after removing the Crucial 128 GB SATA III SSD as the boot drive, reloading BIOS defaults, and manually setting DDR-1300, memory timings (9-9-9-24-2N), and DRAM voltage at 1.497. I am still only running 12 GB in slots A1-B1-C1, as I wait for the replacements for the matched pair to be returned folling sending them in on RMA.

I have been installing software all day and not a single unexpected crash/BSOD. My thinking is that there were problems with the SSD in the system.

[wevsspot]

I guess that's good news..... but sucks that you can't use your SSD

[eva2000]

I have 6 DDR3-1600-PC3-12800 4GBx2 sticks (24GB) which my builder installed in my Rampage III Formula which I have had problems with since receiving the unit - multiple unexplained and erratic BSODs, and after browsing through this forum, I decided to remove 3 of them temporarily to further troubleshoot. On reboot with only the three sticks, I set XMP in BIOS on a hunch from a tip in one of the threads I saw. So far, only one unexplained reboot on "burn-in" so maybe I have more troubleshooting to do.

Can you provide any general tips or suggestions on the memory and the mobo that might be useful? Am thinking that what I need to do is "start over" from a default BIOS install and go from there.

System:
MB: ASUS Rampage III Formula; CPU i7 980X with Corsair Hydro H70 cooler; RAM: GSkill 24GB DDR3 1600 (F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL), EVGA GeForce GTX470 Superclocked; Bootdrv: Crucial 128 GB SATA III SSD; ScratchDrv: RAID-0: 2 x WD740GD, 70GB, SATA, 10k RPM; StorageDrv: RAID-3: 3 x 2 TB WD RE4 7200RPM on Areca 1880ix-16 SAS PCI RAID Card, 6Gb/s; OS: Win7Pro-64 bit.

In advance, thanks.
Bill

You might want to read http://i4memory.com/ramdetect for tips on stabilizing 6x4GB - if you're trying to push each 2x4GB kits rated timings of ddr3-1600mhz cas9 with 6x4GB, you will most likely need to

1. push cpu vtt (QPI/DRAM) to voltages higher than what is safe for 24/7 i.e. > 1.4-1.65v and more than rated vdimm memory voltage i.e. 1.65v +
2. drop or make sure uncore to memory ratio is set at 1.5x for 980x gulftown read http://i4memory.com/f55/intel-core-i...-ratios-23430/
3. loosen timings and drop memory clock speed for 6x4GB to keep within safe 980x cpu vtt voltage levels <1.35v to 1.375v

but i have yet to try any 4gb ddr3 modules so haven't figured out stuff only that what i said hold trues so far for any memory combinations on x58 chipset from 2GB density modules up to 6x2GB = 12gb.

[wb_martin@roadrunner.com]

Thanks for the useful info

Good information - a lot there to digest in one reading! As I go forward after installing the secong 12GB of memory, I will study the info in the links. Thanks again!

[leeghoofd]

- Try upping the QPI voltage like Eva2000's said (lo George ) I would try 1.3-1.35 or so with ya 980X
- Thing you can also try is to loosen the TRFC value to eg 100 and up the Back2Back Cas delay to 6... (this is a slight drop in performance, but enhances stability big time)
- Monitor the temps of the IOH ( since you are running the H70, I assume the IOH gets almost zero airflow )

Like some forum members already suggested, in case of such problems it's better to take pictures of ya bios screenshots and post them here

[wevsspot]

And you can take everything that eva2000 says to the bank. Don't let the post count fool you. He is an expert!

[leeghoofd]

She is a he don't let the name fool you !!