Suggestions:
1). If you run MEMTEST86+ and it shows all clear, don't rely solely upon that. Run WINDIAG from boot CD also.
2). If you have spurious memory related issues in Win7 (such as Firefox quitting unexpectedly), you should exit Win7 (using restart) and have pc boot straight to MEMTEST86+. Do not reenter bios in between. If MEMTEST86+ shows all clear then return to Win7 and exit again (using restart) and make pc boot straight to WINDIAG. BETWEEN EXIT WIN7 AND RUNNING MEMTEST86+ (OR WINDIAG) - DO NOT REVISIT BIOS SETTINGS.
3). If you have a P55 mobo don't be too quick to point the finger at the memory sticks. How many here have swapped memory sticks only to find the problem still arises?
Notes:
This is the result of much effort (months) to resolve a "memory" issue of a Gigabyte P55-USB3 v1.0, i3-530 cpu and initially Geil ddr3 ram and then G.Skill CL9D-4GBNQ (2x2GB). I did find the cause of the problem and how to get around it. I have messaged Gigabyte about it first to see what they say. I now have a rock solid pc running 200MHz bclk 1600Mhz 8800MHz qpi setting and cpu at 3600MHz unpushed. All voltages are <auto>. All cpu options <enabled>.
I swapped Geil ram to G.skill ram because the Geil's weren't on the "tested" mobo list and the G.skill were. I thought it had fixed the issue..... for about two days.
I was fooled into believing I had a "cold boot" issue until I found WINDIAG (bootCD) would show the problem at any time. MEMTEST86+ only showed up the issue when the PC was cold.
Have MEMTEST86+ on bootable usb and WINDIAG on bootable cd for tests. Set your bios boot priority order to first;CDROM second;USB-HDD third;Hard Disk. When you "restart" Win7, simply have the Windiag cd in the drive or the Memtest86 usb in the slot to set the next boot.
WINDIAG actually indicates WHICH MEMORY STICK has had how many errors. Awesome. MEMTEST86+ does not say. The critical thing here is Windiag told me all my errors were on slot A2 stick so I swapped and tested again (reboot>enter Win7>restart>Windiag boot CD) and Windiag said slot A2 again. This is where I was picking up the problem was not the memory sticks but further upstream. Big bonus.
The errors in my runs of Memtest86 or Windiag showed up withing the first 60 seconds of the run. There was never a need to run for hours. Once I had resolved the whole problem, then I would finally confirm with longer runs but they never showed any more errors.
When I loaded Win7 to setup for a reboot of Memtest86 or Windiag I only ever had to show desktop and then restart. I found actually doing anything in Win7 was not necessary. Just had to be there and exit. Big clue there!
After I get response from Gigabyte I will post the actual cause and remedy.
1). If you run MEMTEST86+ and it shows all clear, don't rely solely upon that. Run WINDIAG from boot CD also.
2). If you have spurious memory related issues in Win7 (such as Firefox quitting unexpectedly), you should exit Win7 (using restart) and have pc boot straight to MEMTEST86+. Do not reenter bios in between. If MEMTEST86+ shows all clear then return to Win7 and exit again (using restart) and make pc boot straight to WINDIAG. BETWEEN EXIT WIN7 AND RUNNING MEMTEST86+ (OR WINDIAG) - DO NOT REVISIT BIOS SETTINGS.
3). If you have a P55 mobo don't be too quick to point the finger at the memory sticks. How many here have swapped memory sticks only to find the problem still arises?
Notes:
This is the result of much effort (months) to resolve a "memory" issue of a Gigabyte P55-USB3 v1.0, i3-530 cpu and initially Geil ddr3 ram and then G.Skill CL9D-4GBNQ (2x2GB). I did find the cause of the problem and how to get around it. I have messaged Gigabyte about it first to see what they say. I now have a rock solid pc running 200MHz bclk 1600Mhz 8800MHz qpi setting and cpu at 3600MHz unpushed. All voltages are <auto>. All cpu options <enabled>.
I swapped Geil ram to G.skill ram because the Geil's weren't on the "tested" mobo list and the G.skill were. I thought it had fixed the issue..... for about two days.
I was fooled into believing I had a "cold boot" issue until I found WINDIAG (bootCD) would show the problem at any time. MEMTEST86+ only showed up the issue when the PC was cold.
Have MEMTEST86+ on bootable usb and WINDIAG on bootable cd for tests. Set your bios boot priority order to first;CDROM second;USB-HDD third;Hard Disk. When you "restart" Win7, simply have the Windiag cd in the drive or the Memtest86 usb in the slot to set the next boot.
WINDIAG actually indicates WHICH MEMORY STICK has had how many errors. Awesome. MEMTEST86+ does not say. The critical thing here is Windiag told me all my errors were on slot A2 stick so I swapped and tested again (reboot>enter Win7>restart>Windiag boot CD) and Windiag said slot A2 again. This is where I was picking up the problem was not the memory sticks but further upstream. Big bonus.
The errors in my runs of Memtest86 or Windiag showed up withing the first 60 seconds of the run. There was never a need to run for hours. Once I had resolved the whole problem, then I would finally confirm with longer runs but they never showed any more errors.
When I loaded Win7 to setup for a reboot of Memtest86 or Windiag I only ever had to show desktop and then restart. I found actually doing anything in Win7 was not necessary. Just had to be there and exit. Big clue there!
After I get response from Gigabyte I will post the actual cause and remedy.
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