Unstable system with Ripjaws Z Series 64GB (8 x 8GB) F3-12800CL10Q2-64GBZL

[Tanquen]

I got the Ripjaws Z Series 64GB (8 x 8GB) F3-12800CL10Q2-64GBZL kit for my ASRock X79 Extreme 9 motherboard with an Intel 3930k CPU.

I got this kit as my motherboard is on the Qualified Motherboards List.
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=432&c1=1&c2=3

I have the latest 2.0 BIOS for the motherboard.

I am not over clocking anything. All settings are at stock.

I was able to select the XMP 1.2 profile manually in the BIOS and it shows the RAM running at DDR3-1600 speed.

I?ve been running the system for about a month now and it is not stable. I do not get a BSOD screen, everything just locks up or freezes and I must power the system down and reboot.

I?ve had it lockup twice in one day but it has also run for as long as 2 or 3 days without a lockup.

I?ve run MemTest 86+ 4 or 5 times overnight and it has not shown an error.

When I run Prime95 I get an error on one of the threads within 30-40 minutes. I?ve only used the Blend test setting.

The CPU is water cooled and it?s max temperature for the hottest of the 6 cores under load is 53?C using Real Temp GT 3.70.

I'm going to try disabling the XMP profile and lit it run at DDR3-1333 and see if that helps.

[Tradesman]

Under XMP you'll want profile 1 which is XMP 1.3, profile 2 is XMP 1.2 for backward compatibility. If not stable under profile 1 will prob want to check VCCSA voltage and poss raise it a bit

[Tanquen]

Ok, now I’m really wondering about the whole XMP thing. Are there any XMP 1.3 kits yet? The F3-12800CL10Q2-64GBZL kit is listed as X79 XMP ready and I thought that is why my BIOS only list one profile, an XMP 1.2 profile. Because it’s not a XMP 1.3 kit but a 1.2 kit. In the ASRock BIOS I have three selections in the XMP list. Auto, Default and XMP 1.2.

Auto is the selection the BIOS comes with and I believe it is just deciding between Default and XMP 1.2. With Auto selected the RAM is set to DDR3-1333 and with XMP 1.2 it’s set to DDR-1600 so I had been using that one.

[Tanquen]

I just looked at the settings again and Auto and Standard both set the RAM to DDR3-1333. Not sure what timings it uses. It actually kind of bothers me that the Kit seems to be missing a XMP 1.3 profile. The BIOS even has that note on the side sating that the motherboard supports it and you should install some XMP 1.3 modules so you can use it.

[Tradesman]

The Z series are native XMP 1.3, and it's showing profile 1, which is the 1.3 profile, may be a glitch in the BIOS so they are showing 1.2 instead of 1.3, might drop ASRock a note and ask

[Tanquen]

Ok, seems odd that it’s not part of the G.Skill qualification process. I’ll send ASRock a note but I’d like to think someone at G.Skill already did.

So, I’ll put it back to the XMP 1.2 Profile 1 selection and start testing one DIMM at a time with Prime95???

[Tradesman]

Could email GSkill direct at ustech@gskillusa.com and see if they have any further info also, otherwise they will prob be out in the forums Thur

[Tanquen]

Ok, GSkill support just told me:
“No, technically this kit does not need XMP 1.3. Only DDR3-2133+ kits will need that.”

I’m not sure if that means that this kit has no XMP 1.3 profile or that it’s ok if a motherboard can’t see it?

They also said I should try raising VCCSA voltage to 1.10V to see if that helps but I’m not over clocking and I’m not sure what the VCCSA voltage would do but it’s default is .8V would 1.10V be kind of high?

[GSKILL TECH]

Have you tried manual settings? Manually inputting the DRAM frequency, timings, and voltage to see how that works.

If you would like, you can slowly work up the VCCSA to see if it helps, and to see know precisely what amount it needs to be stable.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Tanquen]

I have not tried any manually settings for the RAM. Where would I get all those settings? The BIOS has a lot of timing and voltage settings.

It sounds like the XMP 1.2 profile should work. In a GSkill support email I was told that as my kit is not configured to run higher than DDR3-1600 that it will come with and display only a XMP 1.2 profile. I did not know that the profile versions were specific to the speed. I just thought they gave you more control over more timing and voltage settings regardless of the speed the RAM is configured to run at.

I guess the ASRock BIOS is misleading in stating that when it only sees a lower XMP profile to please install XMP 1.3 memory modules.

What range of VCCSA settings are safe?

[GSKILL TECH]

The settings are always on the memory and packaging.

All you need is to input those, and the rest can AUTO detect according to the basic settings you input.

VCCSA is dependent on frequency and amount of modules installed. With this kit, it should not need much more than 1.10V

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Tanquen]

Is it possible that the VCCSA would change on it’s own? I looked at it last night and I now it was 0.8V but looking at it just now it’s 1.124V. It’s set to Auto but I’m not sure if it’s changing it on the fly. It there a good way to see the value in windows? The ASRock utility shows the VCCSA offset but not the actual voltage.

[Tradesman]

You've already got it....change to the CPU tab of CPU-Z, it will show near real-time fluctuations of the CPU vCore voltage

[Tanquen]

What? Hmm…

So the VCore or the Core Voltage is going from .8 to 1.127V depending on load and seem to be the reading on the CPU-Z CPU tab but I was asked to change the VCCSA. In the BIOS I do see a setting for each. The VCCSA is already higher than the suggested 1.10V setting. Is it normally lower by default? Should I be setting VCCSA even higher?

I thought messing with voltages was for over clocking? Are CPU Core, vCore and VCCSA the same thing?

[Tradesman]

vCore is the same as CPU voltage, the VTT is the voltage for the Memory controller and VCCSA is the System Agent Voltage. When setting DRAM up you oft times need to adjust the VTT and the VCCSA based on the number of sticks as well as the total amount of installed DRAM for stability. hat you can do once it's stable is slowly (maybe in increments of .01 or .02 lower voltages while maintaining stability starting with the VCCSA and then to the VTT (or evrn alternating