Ripjaws DDR3 Crash Dumps @ 1600

[theonlygreat]

I recently built a new PC with:
4GB GSKILL Ripjaws F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM
AMD Phenom II X3 740 BE 3.0GHz
ASRock 870 EXTREME3 Motherboard
Windows 7 Home Premium

The motherboard auto sets the RAM to 9-9-9-24 1333 @ 1.603V which works fine. If I change the RAM to 8-8-8-24 1333, it still works. When I use the same timings/voltage @ 1600, I get a blue screen with memory crash dump pretty much the second I see the windows logo. Running memtest86 at 1333 passes, but @ 1600 fails with thousands of errors. Testing was done with all other settings on auto, same results with timing set to specs or auto. I have never had this kind of problem with RAM before and am not sure if I need to RMA it or if something else could be the problem.

Thanks for the help.

[wevsspot]

Tough deal that you went with the ASRock board. Their BIOS doesn't allow you to change the CPU/NB voltage and often that is critical to getting DDR3 1600 speed RAM running.

Also, on that particular board, ASRock recommends that;
"If you adopt DDR3 1800/1600 memory modules on this motherboard,
it is recommended to install them on DDR3_A2 and DDR3_B2 slots"

So make sure that those are the slots that you have populated.

[theonlygreat]

This board does allow me to change the voltages on pretty much everything including the CPU and NB. Where did you find that recommendation? I did not see it anywhere when looking in the manuals or on the ASRock site. I will try putting them in the white slots and see what happens.

[theonlygreat]

They seem to be working just fine in A2/B2, thanks for the help. Slightly disappointed in this motherboard now

[wevsspot]

I know that you can change the cpu and northbridge voltages independently on your board, but there is another voltage setting available on Asus, Gigabtye and MSI AMD boards that allows you to change the cpu/nb voltage. This is the communication lane voltage itself, not the chipset voltage.

Regarding the recommended RAM slots, it's in your owners manual in the section detailing memory installation.

I wouldn't be too disappointed in your board though. I've had pretty good luck with ASRock boards. Unfortunately their BIOS is just lacking in that one setting. I figure if enough people complained about it they might actually fix it. Become a member over at the ASRock Motherboard Forums and recruit some others to help push your cause

Regards,