Help w/ F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL and ASRock Extreme 4 Z68

[bugabuga]

Hello

I bought F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL back in February and finally got around to put it into new system I'm building.
Motherboard is ASRock Extreme4 Z68
CPU Intel i5-2500K

When using either one or both of the memory sticks the system freezes after 1-5 minutes after turning it on.
I even RMAd both motherboard and CPU back to Newegg, but new ones have _exactly_ the same problem -- turning on, POST passes, but then couple minutes to 5 minutes later everything freezes. If I use built-in graphics I get artefacts on screen.
Tried to pull other memory from other system (Kingston, but I think it's slower) and it works fine.
BIOS is 1.40 (latest)

Did anyone else have similar problems? I'm not sure I can adjust timings in BIOS because there's a 30% chance of system freezing before I have a chance to click-through to memory section (everything is set to auto/default right now), and two different pages on gskill seem to contradict if ASRock motherboard is supported:
This: http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=355 states it is supported
But configurator: http://www.gskill.com/configurator.php has no Z68 version of ASRock


Any help/advise would be appreciated. RMA?

[GSKILL TECH]

They are compatible, the RAM configurator hasn't been updated yet.

Test one module at a time with XMP enabled to see if one may be bad causing problems. If you continue to have issues, send them in for RMA to see if a new kit works better.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[bugabuga]

Thanks for your help! After forcibly loading Profile 1 everything started to work (running through Memtest now without any problems)
I wonder why automatic detection by motherboard didn't work with it. If someone has no other memory there'd be no way to easily load that profile.

Anyways, thanks a lot for your help!

[GSKILL TECH]

Weird, generally it just operates at a lower frequency like 1333 or 1600, then you simply enable XMP in UEFI/BIOS and it should be ready to go. In your case, it is odd that it was unstable with default AUTO settings.

Glad to hear it works well now!

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[ducks4]

Same Z68, different memory, similar problem

ASRock Z68 extreme 4, UEFI v 1.6 (latest). GSkill Z68 page shows f3-17000cl11d-8gbxl is okee-dokee. Well, it isn't. The memory is recognized but XMP Profile 1 has incorrect values (9's instead of 11's). If these are accepted and saved, the computer won't post. If "automatic" is selected instead of Profile 1, and if values are manually changed (frq to 2133, timings to 11 11 11 11 30) and saved, the computer STILL won't post. If the frq is changed to 1866, the computer WILL post and seems to be stable. From what I've learned Googling the issue, it seems likely that increasing DRAM voltage a little might allow either running at 2133 or staying at 1866 and tightening the timings a little. Here I have a COMPLAINT - I have spent a measurable part of 2 days learning these things (I'm obviously an OC newbie) and am at a point where I feel I haven't yet gotten what I paid for. So, first I need GSkill tech to make a voltage recommendation (add 0.05v? @2133 or @1866 with what timings). Second, this kind of thing would seem to lend itself to a few lines of instructions that would easily fit inside the packaging, saving your customers from spending those fruitless hours. Finally, though the GSkill Z68 page approves this memory for ASRock Extreme 4, The ASRock website does not list it in their approved memory page.

[GSKILL TECH]

Test one at a time to see if one performs differently than the other. For voltage increases, give it a shot. DDR3 can regulate voltage without a problem.

If overclocking were as easy as a few lines, I would just post it here, and we would definitely have a tiny sheet of paper included in each kit. Too bad it's not.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[ducks4]

Not exactly overclocking

Thanks for such a quick response! I didn't mean to minimize the skill needed to be a competent overclocker. It just seems to me that using 2133 RAM at 2133 in a computer with the circuitry and BIOS to get there with a few clicks isn't overclocking in the true geek sense you're thinking of.

I did push the DRAM voltage a little, up to 1.65 at 2133, and it failed to POST. Not wanting to risk damage to my new rig, I put things back to 1.5/1866 and it's running fine. My WIE for memory is 7.9, so following the philosophy that better is the enemy of good enough, I'm going to stop this part of my project now. Let me leave it with this: suggesting to try the frq at 1866 did not come from GSkill and I think it should have, as part of the "short list" I referred to or as a "Things to try" sticky. If things do go South I will go through the one-at-a-time exercise to try to find a bad stick.

My next project is to find out why my Intel 510 SSD is coming up with a WIE of 7.1. Getting good info and suggestions on this one is proving to be hard. Everybody needs RAM and everybody has an opinion to share; SSD's are another matter.

[GSKILL TECH]

Well, it's a luxury to be able to do that. Talk to AMD users about reaching DDR3-2000+. haha

Our goal is to make everything high peformance, a few clicks away, but not every board is going to be like that. Not every board's BIOS will be perfect with every single kit.

If you run them at DDR3-1866, you can lower the timings to maximize performance. Maybe in the future a BIOS revision will solve the DDR3-2133 issue you are having. Another option is to send them in for RMA, or exchange for a different kit. We are flexible and will do our best to accomodate your needs. =)

For your Intel, here are some things to check: all the latest drivers (AHCI, RST, etc.), AHCI enabled, plugged in SATA III ports, and hopefully that'll maximize performance. Have fun! and have a great weekend!

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[ducks4]

Good news re SSD

Turns out enabling AHCI kicked the WEI drive performance from 7.1 to 7.8. Thanks for bringing it up. Here's another learning experience for the rig building newbies like me.

I installed Win7 originally on a hard drive then migrated to the SSD. The computer would not boot if set to AHCI in the BIOS, so I left things in IDE mode and went on to other issues (like memory). Your reply caused me to search at Intel for ACHI or RST drivers, of which there are none (only a firmware update that I haven't yet done.) One of the results for Google search "Intel AHCI drivers for Windows 7" pointed to a Wikipedia article that stated if AHCI isn't used during the initial install then Win7 doesn't load the drivers when booting, resulting in a crash (my experience).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...ller_Interface

This Wikipedia article shows a registry edit change it so the drivers are loaded. I made the change and it worked just fine.

This time I'm troubled by Intel not having a "little list" of things like this - I would think anyone doing a migration would want to know this and would be blissfully unaware of Win7's behavior.

[Tradesman]

Glad to hear all is well, and thanks for the link, I'm others will find it useful