Asus Sabertooth X79, RipjawsZ F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL (4Gx8) BIOS settings?

[powerhouse]

OK, here the news from today.

My report from Friday was incorrect. The technician updated the BIOS to 1203 but used the increased voltage settings with XMP, to see if the BIOS upgrade makes a difference (remember, with the 1104 BIOS there were errors after around 17 hours of testing).

After the system ran smooth over the weekend with the increased voltages, the technician reset the CMOS and put everything on default, with XMP enabled. Since yesterday Prime95 runs without errors at default settings and XMP. Today he is going to run Aida64 for a day to see if there are any errors showing up. If not, I will take the PC back and leave the settings at XMP plus default settings.

So far it seems that the new BIOS 1203 has cured the problems, but it's a bit too early to come to final conclusions.

I need to give credit to the technician who's been working on this for 3 weeks now. I paid around $25 for a system check and I think I got my moneys worth back.

I had considered replacing the 8x4GB for 4x8GB G.Skill memory which seems to be less demanding on the MOBO, and got excellent reviews on Newegg. But if the new BIOS solves the problems and doesn't demand extreme voltage settings, I'm happy with what I've got.

If it's indeed a BIOS issue, I wonder how people made the 8x4GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 work in this MOBO/CPU combination? Or was the 1104 BIOS faulty? I never tried another BIOS revision except now using the latest 1203 revision.

It should be noted that using Kingston 16GB did work with the 1104 BIOS, but the technician didn't try running 16GB out of the 32GB G.Skill memory. Any experience on BIOS/CPU/memory mismatches?

[Tradesman]

If the mobo maker has the BIOS right, it should basically be plug and play (install, enable XMP and go), unfortunately most of the mobo makers didn't anticipate that people would jump into using 32 and more of DRAM.....and apparently decided there was no rush to have the BIOS ready

[powerhouse]

Hope the 1.65 is the DRAM voltage or a typo, 1.65 will kill the CPU

Sorry, of course it's the DRAM voltage. With so many settings I'm already totally confused.

By the way, are there any definite settings for the MB / CPU / memory combination, or is it often a trial and error kind of approach with 8 DIMMs / 32GB of memory?

[Tradesman]

Hope the 1.65 is the DRAM voltage or a typo, 1.65 will kill the CPU

[powerhouse]

BIOS update to 1203 seems to help. The repair shop ran Aida64 for 48 hours with no errors so far.

They had to increase some voltages though. VCCSA is at 1.25V and Vcore (I believe) at 1.65V. The standard XMP settings aren't stable.

I decided to leave the PC there to have them run more comprehensive tests. Once I get it back I will save the BIOS settings and try to reduce them a bit.

I'm not sure that running the system at maximum possible voltages is such a good idea. Any comments on that?

[Tradesman]

Keep us updated

[powerhouse]

I guess in around 24 hours you could be here

Hot weather is guaranteed.

Later I will check with the repair shop to see whats new and take the PC.

[Tradesman]

Keep us informed, will be interested in their results, this is one where I'd love to get my hands on it for even 30 minutes, but that would take a nice long trip.

[powerhouse]

Thanks Tradesman!! I really appreciate your time and effort.

I had another talk with the shop guys yesterday, just to verify some things.

1. They did adjust the basic settings such as XMP in the beginning.
2. They also tested a Kingston 16GB memory kit and it worked fine.
3. They did not try using only 16GB of the G.Skill memory, they did, however, test each DIMM successfully.
4. They haven't been in touch with Asus, nor have they tried the memory on a different board.

Upon my suggestion they installed the latest BIOS and are running tests over the weekend.

I tend to agree with you, and will take the PC back after the weekend.

[Tradesman]

Keep in mind, I'm a member in the forums, not GSkill, but I've been in the systems arena for over 30 years and from what I've heard from you, I wouldn't have a lot of faith in your shop of choice. Doesn't sound like they tried other sticks on your combo, didn't try your sticks on another combo, haven't been in touch w/ Asus (if they had they prob could have gotten that new BIOS (released 2 days ago on the 13th) about 4 or more days ago. They didn't try to load a system with less DRAM (i.e. 8 even 16GB), testing all the DRAM at once (which can be problematic in of itself) and can't isolate problems to a particular stick or sticks....and in particular just now getting around to playing with the VCCSA which is a common problem with large amounts of DRAM...just seems like they are passing on basic troubleshooting items.....I'd take it home and try the new BIOS then give us a shout...no problems w/ Memtest, runs fine at 1600....would bet you'll find that the advanced timings under the new BIOS are different and that may well have been the biggest problem...if in fact there was a problem.

[powerhouse]

I just noticed that Asus issued a new BIOS software version 1203. It's supposed to improve memory compatibility and system stability. I guess it might be worth giving it a try.

[powerhouse]

Not offhand, don't use it often, don't use RST at all might just try loading Win or Linux with only 1 or 2 sticks just to see what happens, I know with some hardware combos Win doesn't want to load with large amounts of DRAM, then once Win is loaded can add the other DRAM. Also might try running Memtest on each stick individually (maybe 5 passes), which could narrow down a problem stick

They already checked each DIMM individually and all 8 DIMMs passed several runs of the test.

They managed to install Win7 (after turning on XMP and tuning the voltages) and it boots and works. While they managed to reduce the number of memory errors, they don't go away entirely.

Today I checked again with them. They ran AIDA64 and it failed. They also ran the latest version of Prime95 and it reported a hardware error.

It is their opinion that the memory doesn't match the board/CPU configuration and they suggest to replace the memory for a different kind (at a higher cost). In their opinion they tried everything and though they succeeded in reducing the number of errors from above 60 down to 18, which showed up only after around 17 hours of stress test, they suggest to replace the memory altogether.

I left the PC with them so I could get your advice before I decide on switching memory or giving it a try on my own. I am not really keen on running tests and tweaking memory settings unless there is a good chance to solve this issue.

To summarize the results:
1. Each individual DIMM passes the memory and stress tests without issues.
2. Enabling XMP and tuning VCCSA solved the Win7 installation problem and helped reduce the memory errors during stress / memory tests, but they don't disappear entirely.
3. Running either AIDA64 or Prime95 fails on 32GB memory.

I need to decide if I want to replace the memory for a different and more expensive brand or if I take the PC back and try to solve it on my own (with your help, perhaps). If I replace the memory they would test the PC to make sure it works. This could also rule out motherboard or CPU related issues since if another memory brand works then its most likely a memory issue.

What would you suggest?

[Tradesman]

Not offhand, don't use it often, don't use RST at all might just try loading Win or Linux with only 1 or 2 sticks just to see what happens, I know with some hardware combos Win doesn't want to load with large amounts of DRAM, then once Win is loaded can add the other DRAM. Also might try running Memtest on each stick individually (maybe 5 passes), which could narrow down a problem stick

[powerhouse]

Thanks for the reply. I checked with the repair shop - they are using the latest RST Pro 2 or 3 that supposedly supports these memories.

However, based on the recommendations from G.Skill, they will run AIDA64 Pro to see if it produces errors. The technician didn't like AIDA since it doesn't give much options on setting the memory test - only the block size. He said that with smaller block sizes the memory test would only run on a fraction of the memory. He once chose 2G for block size which then used the entire memory. Any suggestions on using the AIDA test suite and what settings to specify?

[Tradesman]

Me, I'd stay away from it, used it in the past, but is primarily for older systems, I haven't used it in a long time, see this URL:

http://www.uxd.com/rst.shtml

I'd get the system back from them and work it yourself, not sure what they are doing.