Compatability question - Z68 & RipjawsZ

[br14nh]

Hi,

I've just purchased a P8Z68-V Pro. The only G.Skill RAM i could obtain was
Ripjaws Z GS-F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL.

Apparently the correct RAM for that mobo is [ RipjawsX ] F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL. I checked the specs and there doesn't seem to be much, if any, difference between them:

1) will the RipjawsZ work OK?

2) If so, are there any limitations on its function or performance compared to the RipjawsX?

3) Will I need to make any manual adjustments?

4) what is the functional difference between the two?

SOrry to ask so many questions, it's a bit confusing for a G.Skill "virgin"


Cheers,
Brian

[Tradesman]

The Z's are fine, in fact while designed for the X79 and XMP 1.3, GSKill has added a backwrd compatible XMP 1.2 profile for compatibility across the spectrum, will want the latest BIOS for your mobo, install, enable XMP and select profile #2 and should be good to go.
#2 No
#3 Should run native under XMP profile #2
#4 Newer model aimed at X79 but perfectly fine going backward with the added 1.2 profile, many newer sticks for XMP 1.3 are basically just for that, GSkill has added the 1.2 profile to their sticks

[br14nh]

fantastic,

Thanks for the timely and comprehensive response. +ve feedback left

Cheers,
Brian

[Tradesman]

Appreciate, keep in touch and tell us what you think of the sticks and your rig

[br14nh]

Well, it's a story of trials & tribulations so far......

I managed to download & install latest BIOS (0402), locate & enable XMP, but there's no Profile 2 available, only Profile 1 so I left it on that. Timings appear as per the RipjawsZ specs (9-9-9-24-2). EDIT: apparently I can enter & save profiles, if you let me know what Prof. #2 is, I can enter it & then select it. Cheers.


I don't think that's the problem though, I'm getting lots of BSOD's, but they occur during loading of XP - probably due to this being an upgrade, so the HDD has existing drivers that don't cut the mustard for this mobo, and I can't progress far enough yet to get the Mobo drivers loaded, either by booting in safe mode or from the install CD.......

Any thoughts /suggestions welcome, I'll be plugging away...... thank god I have a second system set up with a KVM switch so I can still reach the world while this other PC is being resurrected....... seems the problem relates to the SATA drive being in IDE mode & needing AHCI drivers - proving tricky as the fresh install isn't recognising my USB At least I know the BSOD is driver related.

[Tradesman]

Try the install with only 1 or 2 sticks, XP (and on occasions even Vista) seem to get lost when loading with certain hardware and large amounts of DRAM, see if that helps the install, then can add the additional sticks

[br14nh]

Thanks Tradesman,

but I think after burning some midnight oil (and some extensive googling) I've got it sussed out - it appears to be due to the Mobo only being compatible with XP SP3 or later due to the drivers needed... Install discs don't contain SP3 drivers, and the mobo doesn't take a floppy so I can't just use a floppy to add the drivers using F6 during install. (USB sticks aren't being recognised either.).

Problem is, I'm trying to restore a Win XP SP3 setup to continue some video editing that was bogging down under the previous setup, so I don't want to risk going Win 7 until that project is complete. Pinnacle is such a fussy beast and the project is too valuable.

Once I actually RTFM and plugged my boot HDD into the right SATA port then the Mobo SATA running in AHCI mode was my first BSOD problem. Once I got the BIOS SATA settings sorted (SATA set to IDE with the controller '0' running in compatability mode), the system will boot off the HDD quite OK but there's no mouse & keyboard recognised yet so I can't do anything. When I try to install from the Windows XP Disc, it doesn't have SP3 on it - which gives the Mobo a computational hernia because it can't work with anything less than XP SP3.......... this is the cause of the "pci.sys" BSOD that occurs when I boot from the Win XP installation disc.

I posted this in case it strikes a chord with any other readers, apparently "pci.sys" BSOD due to motherboard /OS Install incompatibility is a problem that occurs a lot during hardware upgrades and I thought this info may be of use to someone else.

As for the fix, it appears I have two options - burn & install with TinyXP or slipstream the extra drivers onto an install CD with the XP OS. Once running I have to go back and reset the BIOS SATA to AHCI mode and hopefully all will be well....... then I can actually test out & report back on the 'jaws.

Cheers,
Brian

[Tradesman]

Slipstreaming SP 3 isn't to difficult and may well be the answer...

[br14nh]

Well, I'm now posting this from the PC in question......... after a few false starts it's now going great guns. I used nLite to slipstream SP3 onto the content of my original XP Install disc. It turned out to be a very easy process.

I still had to jump through a few flaming hoops, haven't got the SATA drive into AHCI mode yet but Pinnacle is working normally ( that is, any slowness, freezing and general weird behaviour does not appear to be related to the RAM or CPU, just normal for Pinnacle...... )

I'll really be able to test when I get to render a file to DVD, so I'll let you all know how it goes then, but a quick test showed that despite some issues with the menus - due to my layout I suspect - the rendering was going quite quickly without overstressing the PC at all - quite a difference from the previous situation, 4Gb RAM wan't breaking a sweat but the Quad Core 2.66Ghz CPU was hitting the stops at 100% and staying there, causing dropped video frames, etc.

We'll see how it goes but it's looking good so far!!

Cheers,
Brian

[Tradesman]

Glad to hear it, keep us posted