F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ and GA-X58A-UD3R mobo compatability

[CancerKiller]

I have built a PC for the first time and am having issues I believe with the RAM settings. I mistakingly thought the gigabyte motherboard listed was compatible with this G skill RAM, but after running into issues I see that the RAM is compatable with the GA-X58-UD3R - its missing the A after the X58 in the mobo that I have. I've found a couple threads in the forums indicating timings but the systems specs are slightly different than what I have

http://gskill.us/forum/showthread.ph...ighlight=6GBNQ

http://gskill.us/forum/showthread.ph...highlight=UD3R

My specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard rev 1.0 with Bios F1 I believe

RAM: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...

GPU: XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Cat10.5 driver

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

DVD-RW Drive: PLextor IDE DVD-RW drive

I do not have a floppy drive currently in the build.

I can get Windows7 installed and running, but constantly get long pauses and the system just shuts down on its own. If there is a BSOD it flies by to fast for me to catch it.

I have manually adjusted the RAM timings to the following and still have stability issues.

CPU Clock Ratio - 20x
QPI Link Speed - AUTO
Base Clock Control - Disabled
BCLK Frequency - 133
Performance Enhance - Standard
Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
System Memory Multiplier - 12 to get to 1600 (auto sets to 1066)

DRAM Timing Selectable - Quick
CAS Latency Time - 9
tRCD - 9
tRP - 9
tRAS - 24
Command Rate - 2
DRAM Voltage - 1.500V - have not changed. Not sure how as it is grayed out in the BIOS
All of the other memory settings are set to AUTO

All of this is getting beyond my comfort zone. I've replaced a mobo and RAM before, but it was plug n' play and did not require any tweaking of this magnitude.

I've been able to run the windows memory test with no errors and the BIOS and OS report all 6 GB.

Thanks for any help.
CK

[GSKILL TECH]

Update the BIOS and see if that fixes the problem.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[CancerKiller]

Do I set the bios to auto for all the RAM timings or do I need to re-enter the RAM timings as they are listed in my first post?

Thanks for the help.

CK

[GSKILL TECH]

Always set it as you have done in post #1.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[CancerKiller]

Thank you. I will try that tonite when I get home and will post the results.

CK

[CancerKiller]

I was mistaken. The board came with the F5 bios loaded.

I confirmed the settings I listed in the original post and the system is still very sluggish and not stable.

The only other settings I have read about in my newbie-ness are the QPI/Vtt voltage which is currently set to auto.


Load-Line Calibration is set to STANDARD
CPU Vcore is 1.26875 AUTO
QPI/Vtt Voltage is 1.175 AUTO
CPU PLL is 1.800 AUTO
DRAM Voltage is 1.5 AUTO

Do is need to change the DRAM voltage and/or the QPI/Vtt voltage?

Is there more info you might need to help me.

Thanks.

CK

[GSKILL TECH]

Set QPI/VTT Voltage to 1.30V and see if that helps.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[CancerKiller]

The only choices for the QPI/Vtt voltage are 1.315 or 1.295.

I chose the 1.315 and the computer is still slow. ALso the mobo has DDR phase and voltage LEDs. The voltage LEDs are now all lit. Green, yellow and Red with Red being the High high voltage indicator. I assume this is not safe?


I dropped the QPI/Vtt to 1.295. Same Red Voltage lights come on. System still sluggish.

I appreciate the help. Also I am running with just the monitor, mouse and keyboard attached to the PC to avoid issues with attached hardware.

CK

[GSKILL TECH]

Very weird, try one stick at a time to see if problem persists.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[CancerKiller]

Okay I have rebooted the system with each memory module by itself. I put them all in the same slot DDR3_1 on the mobo.

I did not change any of the bios settings when doing this.

Stick1 - same hanging/sluggish performance issue. High Voltage LED lit. Shutdown is taking over 5 minutes. When I restarted the PC to test stick1 it ran chkdsk and found numerous errors. Can this be a RAM issue or is it now a HD issue?

Stick2 - Booted faster, but still sliggish in windows. No chkdsk run at startup. Red High voltage LED lit. Shutdown is taking a long time. Had to force poweroff with power switch.

Stick3 - Running chkdsk. Deleting numerous files. Booting after restart is okay into windows. Longer than stick2 shorter than stick1. Red High Voltage LED is lit. Same long shutdown issue, but completed on its own.

Tried Stick 1 in DDR_3 for boot just to check slot. Booted to windows quickly without an issue. Still have Red High Voltage LED lit. Still sluggish in windows. Click response on start button to shutdown takes minutes to response. Shutdown is slow taking over 5 min like before.

Is this a mobo or windows install issue and the RAM is okay? Really lost on this. Obviously I am in way over my head at the moment.

CK

[CancerKiller]

I think I have solved my issue. I did 2 things.

First I changed all the RAM settings to AUTO and enable XMP to Profile1. It immediately changed all the settings to Cl9-9-9-24-2.

The Uncore frequency changed to 3200.
QPI link stayed at 4.8.
DDR voltage stayed at 1.5V.
QPI voltage stayed at 1.175.
The Performance enhance is set to Standard.
THe Load-Line Calibration is set to standard.

Second I changed the CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) to Disabled. This is mainly for the odd noises the mobo makes when the CPU decreases power usage, but thought it might be part of the slow/sluggish windows problem.

The CPU is idling at 44C. Which I believe to be normal. There are no over voltage lights on for the RAM on the mobo. The CPU voltage LED is set to Level2 moderate. Things seem stable.

If I continue to have issues I will post. I'm crossing my fingers for now that things keep being stable.

Thanks for your help.
CK

Now the machine boots fast and does not have the hangs in Windows7 64bit.

[GSKILL TECH]

Looks like I did not make it in time. You fixed it yourself. =P It was a setting issue, obviously, and now that you have it configured properly all should be fine.

Enjoy!

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[CancerKiller]

Thank you for your suggestions. I will try to remember to post again in a couple weeks if things are stable. I'll be back sooner if I have more problems

CK

[CancerKiller]

Just wanted to post and let you know that I have not had any stability issues since getting the timings set.


So to summarize using a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R mobo, Core i7-920 CPU, and G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel RAM (Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ)

Leave RAM timings at AUTO, Enable XMP Profile1. That will get the board to recognize the proper timings for the RAM and keep things stable.

Changing the CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) setting to Disabled will help with some odd mobo noises. It doesn't alter the stability of the set-up.

Thank you again for your help troubleshooting this problem with me.
CK

[M Mattner]

Hi,

any chance you could share your BIOS settings.

I have basically the same setup as you (same m/board and RAM), and I'm about to RMA my RAM and replace it with a new set (the memory is failing MEMTEST at any speed greater than 1066), meaning I cannot perform an overclock of any type on the CPU.

I figure, after getting my new set of RAM, I will setup my system to match your settings, and go from there.