F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI and GA-X58A-UD5 rev. 2.0 help needed

[jgranto]

I have a GA-X58A-UD5 rev. 2.0 motherboard, an i7-980X CPU, and G. SKILL F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI memory (CL 7-8-7-24-2N), all brand new. I hooked everything up, and the first time the system came up it recognized only 4GB of the 6GB of RAM. The stock BIOS (FA, I think) was not acting 100% fine - when I went into MB Intelligent Tweaker, then into MIT Current status, the keyboard would stop working.

I then checked the Gigabyte forums, and see that the RAM issue is not rare, and usually caused by incorrect RAM settings. The thread I read recommended I upgrade to the newest BIOS, which I did (Fb10). After installing it, the system would go into areboot cycle where it would say it was "Recovering lost DRAM size," then reboot, then get the size error, reboot, etc. If I let the system keep rebooting for a while, it will eventually boot up, and I was able to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. Windows states that there is 6GB of RAM, but only 4GB is usable. I never saw the "Recovering lost DRAM size" error with the stock BIOS version. Whenever Windows starts, it always sees 6GB of RAM, but only 4GB is usable.

The thread I read talked a lot about using XMP and then setting things manually. Basically, I am not really interested in overclocking the CPU right now, and clocking the RAM at stock is fine as well. I just want the machine to recognize all 6GB of RAM and to be stable. I did swap out the keyboard with a better one, and when I got into MIT again, it stated that the system had rebooted several times due to overclocking, so the values may not be accurate. I have tried fiddling with some of the values, but do not really know what I am doing.

Can someone talk me through the settings necessary to get the system reliable, or help me determine if I have a bad motherboard, CPU, or RAM? I am not familiar with overclocking, so bear with me if I ask basic questions. My feeling is that the problem is not bad hardware, but rather bad settings.

Thanks!

[jgranto]

I found the problem - as indicated on the Gigabyte boards, this often happens when there are bent pins on the motherboard. This was my problem - I fixed the pins and the machine booted fine. I will be replacing the motherboard. Hopefully this helps someone else out.

[NGL_BrSH]

don't rma it.. they *JUST* released a brand new beta bios to resolve the missing third channel of ram on boot up.

I've been battling this for about 3 months.. and the new bios made everything better.

You can grab the new bios over at the official gigabyte support forums : tweaktown.com . I advise all g.skill admins to know the issue and send them to get the beta bios available.

I have a ud5 v.1 and the bios that fixed mine is f6k

but there is a different one for the v2

[GSKILL TECH]

We are aware of the BIOS updates. There are many reasons for missing capacity, which is why we have that link with a list of possible causes. We deal with these issues on a case to case basis, as it can be different for everybody. As jhranto stated, he found a bent pin, thus causing the issues, and that is one of the most common.

Just myself, I have two motherboards that are defective because the pins are bent. =( One has the missing capacity problem, one runs, but can't be stable,.. so it sucks!

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[MaxBurn]

My understanding is the "Recovering lost DRAM size" error and then reset to go into a POST loop IS the fix.

I have the same motherboard in rev 1.0, with the same wrong detection of memory size. I flashed from BIOS F5 to F6j, it didn't fix the problem of cold correct memory detection but now it does sit there and reset a couple times till it gets it right and allows it to boot. I guess that's an improvement??

I get my second set of memory today, hope that's it otherwise I will have to return the motherboard. I have checked my motherboard pins with a 5x jewelers loop and I can't see something wrong but I suppose there could be a bad solder joint somewhere.

[NGL_BrSH]

I wanted to reply here and post back that it really WASN'T fixed.

AFter a few BSOD's i found that now it shows all 6 gigs but they were erroneous until i shut down and rebooted from cold boot.

I think i'm going to have to RMA but I really can't afford the down time.