best memory for GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R mobo

[photorooster]

I am building a workstation for video rendering. I bought an Intel Core i7-960, GA-X58A-UD3R Mobo, Quadro 4800 GPU. The problem is I mistakenly bought the G.SKILL Ripjaw Series DDR3 16GB (4 x 4GB) F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL, but later found out the board configuration uses either 4 dual channel sticks or 2 sets of 3 triple channel sticks.

I built my 2 prior PC's with DDR2 memory and I am generally a plug and play type person not an overclocker

Before I get a RMA to replace my memory can someone tell me the ideal memory set up for this board/cpu with video rendering in mind? Thanks!

[photorooster]

Well I RMA'd the memory kit I mentioned previously and ordered 2 gSkill, Triple Channel Kits 1600, F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ for a total of 12 gigs filling the 6 slots provided.

Again if anyone can give me any pointers on how to set this memory up on the gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD3R motherboard with and i7-960 cpu for best results I would be very appreciative!

Dependable graphics rendering is my goal!

[GSKILL TECH]

Should look roughly like this-

In MIT (MB Intelligent Tweaker):

CPU Clock Ratio - 24x
QPI Link Speed - AUTO
Base Clock Control - Enabled
BCLK Frequency - 133
Performance Enhance - Standard
Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
System Memory Multiplier - 12

DRAM Timing Selectable - Manual

CAS Latency Time - 9
tRCD - 9
tRP - 9
tRAS - 24

Enter these for the other three as well.

Channel A Timing Settings

Advanced Timings
Command Rate - 2

Advanced Voltage Control
Load-Line Calibration - Disabled

DRAM Voltage - 1.600V
Rest to AUTO

For QPI/DRAM Voltage and CPU VCore, you will need to see what they automatically detect at then set them slightly higher than that value.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[madmax2]

So is this memory confirmed to work on the x58a-ud3r?

Also should i use xmp???

Cos someone on another forum said it doesn't get recognized if more than 2gb gets installed.

[Tradesman]

XMP is a good idea, but very in-exact, shall we say, different mobo makers implement it differently and RAM manufacturers out their own settings on the sticks.

[Milehigh]

I'm also using the UD3R mobo with this memory: F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD. Under Profile1 it is booting at 2002 Mz and the timings are 9 9 9 24 2, how does that look to you guys?

[BrettKP]

I have a new video editing build, using the same board, but I want a moderate overclock. The same Trident kit worked like a charm for me on my core i7-920 first boot at stock settings, and also worked using just the XMP profile 1 (all other settings to auto) to get the RAM to DDR3/2002 at 9-9-9-24, although CPU speed using the XMP is only 2717 MHz. (BCLK-143, QPI 5.1, Core Multiplier 19). I checked stability with one pass of memtest 86+. I was also able to achieve an easy 3154 MHz CPU speed by raising the multiplier to 21 on top of the XMP with no other changes.

Here is my first real overclocking try:
First I loaded optimized default for the memory tweaker page, then enabled XMP profile 1, and changed turbo mode to Standard. I raised Bclk to 167 and core multiplier to 21 to get the CPU to 3.5 mHZ, memory multiplier was at 12X to get RAM at 2004 MHz. My timings were 9-9-9-24 CL2. QPI was 6.01. I I eft vCore and QPI/VTT set at auto. Everything booted, and looked fine initially, so I ran a prime95 balanced stress test. Windows 7 power control scheme was left at balanced.

Unfortunately, I got rounding errors in two cores after about 9 min, and the other six completed in about 43 min. I was using PC wizard to monitor temps, and the cpu temp only rose to 43, but it said my core temps were 100 deg. Don't know what to believe, now. I left the voltages on auto. Just to double check I reduced the core clock to 18 and ran memtest 86+ for three hours with no errors so I don't think it is a RAM issue. Is it normal to see hot cores, even though the CPU is staying cool? Is there a better monitoring tool? I didn't pay a lot of attention to the LEDs on the motherboard, but I know they can help a little to detect voltages and temps.

I am trying to get my CPU up to a stable 3500-3600 MHZ with the highest possible RAM speed, so am testing/tweaking, and would appreciate any suggestions from tech support or anyone else. My primary use for this is Video editing/transcoding with Sony Vegas 9 and Handbrake.

-Brett

My System:
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R F1 BIOS
Core i7 920-D0
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
G.Skill Trident f3-16000CL9T-6GBTD
Corsair 850HX
CM Hyper-212 plus cooler, AS5
Lian Li Lancool K62 case (4X 140mm fans)
Radeon HD 5770

[BrettKP]

Tweaking manually yields better results

Here is a follow up to my previous post. So, I seem to have solved my Prime95 instability issue by focusing on lowering the core temps first before worrying about the RAM speed. It seems that if the individual cores hit 100 deg, you quickly get errors no matter what the overall CPU temp is. What I did was to set the voltages for the CPU, Memory, and QPI/VTT voltages, manually, and not use XMP.

I started with auto multiplier settings for the RAM speed and raised the BCLK up to 160. I checked performance with Prime95 and found no errors in 2 hours. The core temps were around 60 deg this time. (Apparently, some of the auto or xmp settings were pushing the Vcore too high.) Next I tried a manual 10X multiplier on the RAM to get 1600 MHZ. Then I needed to add a little to QPI/VTT voltage. I tried to lower timings at that speed 7-7-7-21-2N, but got errors in Windows Explorer. I loosened the timings to 8-8-8-22-Auto, then raised the Bclk up to 175 in two more steps checking with 30 min of Prime95 each time.

I can run Prime95 balance stress test error free right now with the highest core temps reaching 85 deg and CPU staying at 42 deg. after 30 min. I stlll be able to lower my vCore further and get lower temps at 100% load, but I don't have time to test further now.

Here are my current settings which work:

Core-20X for 3.5-3.6 MHz CPU freqs.
BCLK-175
Performance-Standard
XMP-disabled
Memory multiplier SPD- 10X (1750 MHz)
DRAM volts-1.6
Q clock-auto (QPI link 6.3 final)
Timings-Quick
8-8-8-22-Auto (1)
Advanced settings on auto
vCore-1.3375
QPI/VTT-1.38

I still wonder if I can lower the timings any more at this speed. The system feels snappier now, and I want to test it on some video transcoding next.

System:
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R F1 Bios
i7-920 D0
Win7-64-bit
Trident F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD
CM hyper 212 plus AS5
Corsair 850HX
LanCool K62 case
Radeon HD-5770

[GSKILL TECH]

madmax2,

Yes, the memory works just fine on that motherboard.

If you have the latest BIOS, you can try the XMP Profile, but if it is unstable you will need to enter them in manually.

Milehigh,

XMP Profile is generally correct since it detects memory settings based off the memory. Those settings look good, so if it is stable, then everything should be just fine.

BrettKP,

Glad to hear you were able to figure things out on your own. At DDR3-1750, you should be able to reduce timings a tad bit more, so that is something you can surely play with.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[Milehigh]

Where does one find the settings for a set of memory?

[BrettKP]

Where does one find the settings for a set of memory?

I have been using the CPU-Z utility to see what my settings are currently set for, although you need to multiply their frequency by 2 to get the effective speed. CPU-Z also shows the memory XMP and JEDEC settings built into the chip when you click the SPD tab (Looking now at XMP setting for my Trident 16000CL9T is 9-9-9-25-33-2N). I also use the Easy Tune 6 utility from Gigabyte to check voltage settings, but haven't actually set parameters using it.

Before I bought this kit, I compared different specs on NewEgg, and made sure to only look at those sets on the QVL list for this motherboard by Gigabte. It doesn't list timings, only the model and speed of the tested kits. I have looked at other reviews for the Trident memory to see what they have used, and looked at this board mostly to see what the techs here advise for similar x58 boards using the same kit.

Since this is a new motherboard, we have to experiment to find what works best for us. I have been searching forums and reviews to find what alternate settings which might work. It seems that you can set these Trident memory to the 9-9-9-24-( CR auto or 2N) at 1.6 volts RAM voltage, and other settings on auto and get the rated speed of DDR3-2000 on our motherboard, but can't lower the timings, or change BCLK without either lowering the memory multiplier, core multiplier or adjusting vCore and QTT/VT voltage. You can also run the RAM at lower frequency and tighter timings. Our motherboard is rated to maximum QPI 6.4 GT/s and 2200 MHz RAM speed by Gigabyte, but of course the factory setting is for DDR10700 speed RAM.

My current settings which work now during further tweaking are BCLK 180, core multiplier 20X to give 3600 MHz overclock, Memory 10X, Memory Settings Quick at 8-8-8-21-(CR auto yielding CR 1)-(Auto, yielding tRFC 100), XMP disabled, Turbo off, standard performance, vCore 1.33125, QPI/Vtt 1.38, DRAM voltage 1.6. Other advanced settings options left on auto in BIOS except for setting a 70 deg temp limit in the PC health section. I can not boot if I try to manually set the tRFC using these settings.

Now, I don't suggest you just plug in my settings and boot. It seems to be somewhat individualized, so I followed the practice of starting to overclock via small steps with BCLK at 160, DRAM voltage at 1.6, and vCore at 1.3, memory multiplier and QPI/Vtt on auto. Turn off XMP and turbo mode. Next try setting the clock multiplier to 10x, and reboot to get DDR3 1600. Next try the rated 9-9-9-24 timings, but you may need to set QPI/Vtt manually now to about 1.30-1.35. Each time you boot and are stable in Prime95 balanced for 30 min, then reboot, save settings to a named profile using f11 in the BIOS.
If you then change timings lower, and it doesn't boot, the dual bios feature of the board will take you back to factory settings, then you can reload the last profile and try again maybe with a little higher QPI/Vtt.

Keep raising BCLK until you reach your target overclock, and then adjust RAM speed and timings with small changes in voltage as needed, keeping QPI below 6.4. Ideally, you want to run at the lowest possible vCore and QPI/Vtt, and lowest possible timings at the highest rated memory speed keeping it all within safe voltages. Keep testing for stability using Memtest 86+ and Prime 95. It takes patience, time, and good cooling.

-Brett

My System:
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R F1 Bios
i7-920 D0
Win7-64-bit
Trident F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD
CM hyper 212 plus AS5
Corsair 850HX
LanCool K62 case
Radeon HD-5770