Asus M4A87TD/USB3

[Strider7Sfga]

I currently have the F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL (2 x 4GB kit) installed and running stable.
Had to RMA 1 stick that went bad and received a replacement that changed the Latency settings from 9-9-9-24-2N to 9-9-9-28 for some reason. Manually reset the 28 to 24 in the Bios. All seems well for the time being. I recently swapped out the previous Graphics card, EVGA GTX460 SE for a Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 GDDR5 1GB card due to Driver issues with the latest NVidia release 285.62. I figured since I was doing some major component changes, why not bump the Ram Up to full capacity as well.

I recently Purchased the G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL to go with this Latest build using the Newegg memory configuration feature. My primary concern is that the Previous memory is Dual Channel DDR3, as opposed to the Quad Channel Z series. Is this going to present a problem, or do I just follow the previous stickies concerning manual settings for ASUS motherboards running AMD Phenom II Quad CPU's ?

The 16GB kit is due to arrive in a few days, so any suggestions that help me avoid toasting my system will be appreciated.

(See Rig Specs in Signature.)

[Tradesman]

Basically, want the latest BIOS, and will have to be set up manually, only possible problem I see is if your 955 can't handle 16GB of 1600, may have to drop to 1333

[Strider7Sfga]

Thanks for your reply

I have the latest bios installed (v2001) and the board picked up and set the F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL (2 x 4GB kit) to correct voltage as well as speed before the one memory module went bad. Booted right up initially and read ddr3 1600 during the POST with just the default auto as BIOS setting. After the RMA of the one module, I'm guessing that, due to it no longer being a matched set, the settings were changed to 9-9-9-28. Still @ 1600. 1.5v. Manually set the 28 back to 24. Running stably thus far.
The motherboard specs support up to 16GB dual channel, which is why I inquired about the Z series being Quad Channel. The AMD Phenom II, Black Edition supports 16GB+, but the on board memory controller states supporting up to PC3 10600 (DDR3-1333MHz) by default. Here again is the secondary reason I inquired so I don't run into all sorts of hardware conflicts and toast the New F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL (4 x 4GB), or my entire setup. I'll be resetting the Memory settings to Auto and running the Memtest86+ v4.2 prior to any further activity. Hopefully, I don't run into problems. If the Memory kit fails at the 1600/1.5v default auto setting, I'll use your advice as to manually resetting to 10600 / DDR3-1333 and see what happens from there.
MB Specs: http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A87TDUSB3/
AMD Phenom II 955 (black edition specs)
http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...omparison.aspx

If you have the time, maybe you can check out the specifications pages and spot anything I may have missed that would be potentially a "System Killing" problem.

[Tradesman]

I've worked a few 955s that could run 16GB of 1600, but extremely few, which is why I mentioned 1333, you may want to just keep in mind may have to raise DRAM and/or CPU/NB to get the kids to all play.

[Strider7Sfga]

Memory arrived today. Testing

The F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL kit arrived this afternoon. Powered down the PC after resetting the memory area back to default (all). Put in the 4 new modules and powered back up. The MemOK light came on so I rebooted and checked the bios settings for the memory. It read 11-11-11-28 with 2T as clock cycle. Voltage was @ 1.5v as it should, POST screen showed 1600. Reset the memory manually to 9-9-9-24 1T. MemOK light didn't come on this time. Currently running the MemTest86+ v4.20. Sitting at an hour+ & 46% completed. No Errors as yet. Will run some "Stability" tests later on if it makes it to 100% completed. If I get hangs, I'll start with the previous suggestions of backing down to 1333, and bumping the CPU/NB voltage as well as trying the recommended DDR3-1333 8-8-8-24 setting.
Here's hoping I can report back that all is well and running stable.

9:39pm EST: MemTest86+ v4.20, 1 pass, 100% no errors. No BSOD, or hangs as yet, All 16GB reported and running @ 1600 with the above posted changes. Going to run the prime95 v26.6 torture test as soon as I read up a bit more on how to properly run it. I need to re-read the Asus Owners manual to see if the MemOK light comes on momentarily during POST to indicate it's just checking, or if it's doing something else in the background because of improper settings / timings. Maybe something to do with the difference in, previously dual channel DDR3 as opposed to the quad channel Z series ? Feel free to point me to any threads dealing with similar issues.
So Far, So Good.

[Tradesman]

On your board the sticks will run dual channel fine

[Strider7Sfga]

So Far, So Good.

Thanks for the reassurances Tradesman, I do appreciate it. So far, my system is running stable at the settings of 9-9-9-24 -2T (played with the 1T & 2T cycle, no noticeable difference really.) WEI is still sitting at 7.3 - 7.5 - 7.8 - 7.8 - 5.9 < damned HDD still seems to be unloved by MS and is still a bottleneck at 6GB (SATA III) . Have yet to really torture test it with the prime95 v26.6. Figured letting it burn in for awhile was the best option to make sure that all 4 sticks stay stable and there won't be any RMA this time. I'll post any further information if it should arise. Thanks again for the assistance and suggestions.

[Tradesman]

On the hard drive, there is no real difference between SATA II and SATA III when using a mechanical drive. Most can't get the full throughput of SATA II that is available, where you will see a diff between II and III is with SSDs. WEI is really a convoluted waste of peoples time as they have used artificial limitations in many of the settings, like the hard drives, and DRAM, rather than show the true performance levels.

[Strider7Sfga]

Yes, WEI is a Joke.

Have to agree on the WEI as being a joke. Seems good old Micro$oft is still trying to drive the PC component market. I recall jumping through all sorts of hoops-n-hurdles in preparation for the RTM of Vista. Everything was going to have to be based on a 64bit platform, CPU's, Motherboards, RAM, etc... Only to find they were screwing themselves and decided to back off and market half a dozen Vista Flavors. I guess their marketing guru's finally realized that not everyone would run right out and buy an entirely new settup just to run Vista. Looks like they are now trying to drive us consumers into purchasing the, as yet, overpriced, undersized SSD devices to get an acceptable WEI for HDD ratings. One would think that with the current FSB speeds, DDR speeds, combined with the 6GB transfer rate of the Seagate, 7200 rpm, 1TB SATAIII drive, the score would be better than a dissapointing 5.9. It's almost like the Olympic judging system, always one ******* on the judging panel that tosses out an outragiously low score to screw an athelete, or team. What a system.

[Strider7Sfga]

Having Stability Issues. Trying suggested settings.

Well, I guess I was a bit overly optimistic and premature on my system stability claim. Everything appeared to be running fine for a couple weeks, but started getting BSOD's with multiple system files as root cause, then a few due to IRQ as well as memory space conflicts. I recently decided to try method # 2 from the AMD CPU sticky http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=7688 as well as a couple variations on #2. If I wasn't tasking the PC too hard, it seemed stable enough, but would still throw random BSOD's a couple times a day. (more often when using Firefox 10.x, sometimes hanging during boot up into windows.) Decided to try using method # 1 today. Bumped it back to DDR3-1333, CPU/NB up to 240 with the previous settings of 9-9-9-24-2T. So far, the system is accepting the OC and my WEI bumped up .1 on CPU performance to 7.4 from 7.3 previously. The rest is the same.
7.4 7.5 7.8 7.8 5.9. I guess my CPU's memory controller doesn't want to play nice with DDR3-1600 at it's stock settings, or maybe it's the Quad channel -VS- Dual channel configuration that it is having trouble with. I guess only time will tell. I'll report back soon to update this post with, hopefully, positive feedback as to performance and stability.

[GSKILL TECH]

...It's almost like the Olympic judging system, always one ******* on the judging panel that tosses out an outragiously low score to screw an athelete, or team. What a system.

hahaha exactly.

Did you increase CPU-NB Frequency 2400MHz? CPU-NB Voltage 1.20V? Newer 955 CPU should have no problem.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Strider7Sfga]

System stability issues: PtII

To answer your question, GSkill-Tech, Yes. I followed your Method #2 from your DDR3 Sticky http://gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=7688 and it seemed to stabalize the system a bit, but it'd still toss a BSOD every few Boot ups, or while web browsing.(more often when using firefox 10.x) Installed the latest AMD Radeon CCC (12.1) and the crashes were fewer, but still there. Fiddled with enable/disable graphics excelleration on flash pages to no noticeable availe. I have a feeling it has to do with the Memory controller in the CPU as well as Main Board specs for Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz as opposed to my 16GB (4 x 4GB) Quad Channel Z series DDR3 1600MHz. My system was rock solid running the (2x4GB) F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL, but doesn't seem crazy about (4x4GB) of the Quad Channel Z series DDR3-1600MHz. I'm currently stress testing with the Method #1 (for non Black Edition,) from your sticky and even tightened the timings from the 9-9-9-24 2T to the 8-8-8-24 2T on second reboot to see if that would toss a BSOD. It has booted succefully into Windows 7 x64 SP1 with both the settings of 9-9-9-24 as well as the tightened timings of 8-8-8-24. It's a first for me to have to do much with Memory timing configurations as well as using any OC methods beyond minor changes. Thanks to your and Tradesman's dedication to this forum and your knowledge, I'm pushing into new territory with faith in your combined experience as well as other forums you and tradesman have posted for even more helpful information. I'll let you know how this experiment turns out. If the tightened timings go sideways, I'll revert to the the 9-9-9-24 and see if it holds steady.

[GSKILL TECH]

You may want to test the new kit by itself to make sure it is not a problem with one module.

Other settings you can try are DDR3-1333 8-8-8-24 1.50V, this should perform well, so it is something you can try to achieve optimal performance and perfect stability with two kits.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Strider7Sfga]

@ gskill tech

Not to appear disrespectful, but have you read the entire topic thread from my original post ? There is only 1 kit, no mixing. Previously had the (2x4GB) F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL before swapping out the Video Card and buying the (4x4GB) F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL.
Clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 on Momentus XT prior to Installing the 16GB kit. The only thing I hadn't mentioned previously was that the Install is on a Seagate Momentus-XT, 500GB, 7200 rpm, Hybrid 2.5" , with 4GB SSD adaptive memory. I wiped the 1TB, 7200 rpm Seagate, SataIII HDD and haven't replaced it as yet during this "Testing Phase." As far as I know, it could be any number of possible problems.

1.) Phenom II, 955 4x (BE)CPU Memory controller limitations. (thanks AMD.)
2.) Quad channel DDR3 -VS- Supported Dual channel DDR3. [1333MHz default]
3.) Not playing well with the Momentus-XT and the change from 8GB, Dual channel DDR3-1600MHz to the current 16GB (4x4GB) Quad channel kit.

I would like to get this setup stable with whatever method I have to use because, as yet, I haven't seen any GSKILL 16GB, Dual Chanel DDR3-1600MHz kit's available which makes an RMA pretty much pointless unless they can swap it for a lower Latency 1333MHz, 16GB kit of equal cost.

[Tradesman]

With the timings at 9-9-9-24 might try raising the CPU/NB about another .07 and see if that helps stabilize, another option or in addition to the CPU/NB will be to add to the DRAM voltage to help get stable