Tweet
Hello:
I have had a very frustrating time trying to get a P67A-G45 (B3) board up and running.
The board arrived around a week ago along with a set of other new components. My first observation was that board arrived with a BIOS revision of 1.9. There were two newer releases on the MSI web site (1.A, and 1.B). This may have been a bad sign...
Here are the relevant components:
P67A-G45 (B3) motherboard
i5 2500K Sandy Bridge CPU LGA 1155
Corsair CMX8GX3MA1600C9 DDR3 1600 RAM
This configuration was plagued with instabilities making it almost impossible to even complete a Windows installation. The installer would invariably yield a BSOD somewhere along the way. Running the memory test in the BIOS would generally pass, but there were occasionally failures observed there too. Based on some hints on the web, I tried the usual steps - single channel (one stick at a time), tried in each DRAM slot, Checked the BIOS timing settings, etc. I tried increasing the DRAM voltage from the default 1.50 to as high as 1.65. Since the 1.65 is the Sandy Bridge maximum limit, I went no higher. It seemed like the higher memory voltage was a little more stable, but still completely unusable.
After further examination, I realized that the P67 / Sandy Bridge is designed for 1.5V memory, and the Corsair XMS memories are 1.65V devices. I thought perhaps this was a breakthrough even though there are many mixed messages on the web that seem to indicate 1.65V memory should work fine with Sandy Bridge.
I ordered a different set of DRAM's that were "specifically" designed for P67 (ie: 1.5V). I chose the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL. Much to my dismay, these were just as bad as the Corsair memories.
I found this thread which acknowledged compatibility issues with the G.Skill Ripjaws X memories and the MSI P67 motherboards:
http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=8076
Since my BIOS was out of date (out of the box), and the two newer releases from MSI specifically referred to memory incompatibilities, I updated my BIOS to 1.B. No better...
I also found this posting on the G.Skill site that stated the MSI motherboard incompatibilities had been resolved, through a BIOS fix (it did not mention a specific "fixed" BIOS version): http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=8576
Meanwhile, I had queried MSI support on this issue, and was told to try another (un-released) BIOS (version 1.C2). This BIOS was no better.
The bottom line is that I believe there is still a compatibility issue with MSI and the G.Skill DDR3 memories. The fact that MSI is still frantically revising this BIOS does not bode well. I could never get an answer out of MSI support as to whether the board should be compatible with 1.65V memories, but it is a moot point because I now have the G.Skill 1.5V parts which still do not work.
Given the noted forum threads and the dynamic state of the MSI BIOS, I do not believe that there is a bad component (either motherboard, memory, or CPU).
It should be noted that I am not trying to overclock. The memory is rated at 1600, but it defaults to 1333 because that is the CPU limit. It should be possible to obtain robust performance with all the default settings. That is all I ask.
I have used MSI products in the past and have been pleased. This time, it has not been a pleasant experience and the saga continues. Does anyone have some advise as to how to proceed? I have tried a different power supply and video board (just to rule them out). I have tried two different brands of memory. I have tried tweaking voltage and timing settings (although I may have just not stumbled on the magic setting yet). The only thing left besides the motherboard is the CPU, and I strongly doubt that the CPU is defective. I could RMA the CPU and I'm likely to find myself in the same boat with the "new" one.
Any advise would be appreciated.
-Thanks
I have had a very frustrating time trying to get a P67A-G45 (B3) board up and running.
The board arrived around a week ago along with a set of other new components. My first observation was that board arrived with a BIOS revision of 1.9. There were two newer releases on the MSI web site (1.A, and 1.B). This may have been a bad sign...
Here are the relevant components:
P67A-G45 (B3) motherboard
i5 2500K Sandy Bridge CPU LGA 1155
Corsair CMX8GX3MA1600C9 DDR3 1600 RAM
This configuration was plagued with instabilities making it almost impossible to even complete a Windows installation. The installer would invariably yield a BSOD somewhere along the way. Running the memory test in the BIOS would generally pass, but there were occasionally failures observed there too. Based on some hints on the web, I tried the usual steps - single channel (one stick at a time), tried in each DRAM slot, Checked the BIOS timing settings, etc. I tried increasing the DRAM voltage from the default 1.50 to as high as 1.65. Since the 1.65 is the Sandy Bridge maximum limit, I went no higher. It seemed like the higher memory voltage was a little more stable, but still completely unusable.
After further examination, I realized that the P67 / Sandy Bridge is designed for 1.5V memory, and the Corsair XMS memories are 1.65V devices. I thought perhaps this was a breakthrough even though there are many mixed messages on the web that seem to indicate 1.65V memory should work fine with Sandy Bridge.
I ordered a different set of DRAM's that were "specifically" designed for P67 (ie: 1.5V). I chose the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL. Much to my dismay, these were just as bad as the Corsair memories.
I found this thread which acknowledged compatibility issues with the G.Skill Ripjaws X memories and the MSI P67 motherboards:
http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=8076
Since my BIOS was out of date (out of the box), and the two newer releases from MSI specifically referred to memory incompatibilities, I updated my BIOS to 1.B. No better...
I also found this posting on the G.Skill site that stated the MSI motherboard incompatibilities had been resolved, through a BIOS fix (it did not mention a specific "fixed" BIOS version): http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=8576
Meanwhile, I had queried MSI support on this issue, and was told to try another (un-released) BIOS (version 1.C2). This BIOS was no better.
The bottom line is that I believe there is still a compatibility issue with MSI and the G.Skill DDR3 memories. The fact that MSI is still frantically revising this BIOS does not bode well. I could never get an answer out of MSI support as to whether the board should be compatible with 1.65V memories, but it is a moot point because I now have the G.Skill 1.5V parts which still do not work.
Given the noted forum threads and the dynamic state of the MSI BIOS, I do not believe that there is a bad component (either motherboard, memory, or CPU).
It should be noted that I am not trying to overclock. The memory is rated at 1600, but it defaults to 1333 because that is the CPU limit. It should be possible to obtain robust performance with all the default settings. That is all I ask.
I have used MSI products in the past and have been pleased. This time, it has not been a pleasant experience and the saga continues. Does anyone have some advise as to how to proceed? I have tried a different power supply and video board (just to rule them out). I have tried two different brands of memory. I have tried tweaking voltage and timing settings (although I may have just not stumbled on the magic setting yet). The only thing left besides the motherboard is the CPU, and I strongly doubt that the CPU is defective. I could RMA the CPU and I'm likely to find myself in the same boat with the "new" one.
Any advise would be appreciated.
-Thanks
Comment