G.Skill Sniper and MSI 790FX-GD70

[andymitty]

Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
New Memory: 2x4GB F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR (Sniper)
Old Memory: 2x2GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ

I have had no problems running the above system (Mobo and CPU) with the old memory. However, I purchased the new memory and have had many issues. I put in 1 stick and tried to boot but there was a "CMOS Checksum Bad" error. I cleared the CMOS and then booted again. This time there was a "CMOS Settings Wrong" & "CMOS Time/Date Wrong" error. I went into the CMOS settings and set all of the settings that are mentioned in the sticky about AMD cpus and memory. When I save the settings and continue it reboots and says "CMOS Checksum Bad" again. If I put my old memory in and load the default settings for the CMOS then it works fine and will boot fine so I know it is not a problem with the battery.

I bought more G.Skill RAM because I have always had good experiences with it. Also, this RAM was listed as compatible with my Mobo. Hopefully someone can figure it out

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Tradesman]

Reset the BIOS to defaults then enter the new DRAM timings and CR, for 8 GB instead of 4GB will need to raise DRAM voltage prob + .04 and the CPU/NB voltage + .06 or so (also ensure you have the latest BIOS)

[andymitty]

I reset the BIOS and put everything at the settings you suggested but after saving and continuing with boot, the "CMOS Checksum Error" appears again. It seems as if it erases the settings I just put in because if I go back into the setup, it has put them all back at defaults.

I think my BIOS version may be somewhat old so could that be my problem? I am unsure of my abilities in flashing the BIOS though. I don't want to ruin anything.

[Tradesman]

Good probability, good news is that MSI has a live update, for BIOS and drivers, can go to their site for it, or can find the latest here:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/790FX-...tml#/?div=BIOS

The updates come as a .zip file and has a Flash Utility included in the ZIP

[andymitty]

It works!

I went to the MSI forums and all of the admins there said they do not recommend using the liveupdate utility. Instead they have a utility that uses a flashdrive to boot into dos and update from there. They say that this is a safer method so I followed their step by step instructions with great results.

Also, I didn't try keeping default settings with the new BIOS and instead went and changed the settings as per your instructions. Should I change them back to optimized default and try running it that way or will it be fine with the current settings?

[Tradesman]

With AMD it's always best to manually load your timings, CR and voltages, not sure what it is with their chipsets, but they have a tendency to on occasion change themselves if on auto

[andymitty]

Ok, I will leave my settings then. What exactly do you mean by CR? I set the voltages and the CPU NB ratio and timings but that was it.

Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it!

[Tradesman]

Command Rate or Command Timing is what it's generally termed and on AMD it's normally 1N or 2N (sometimes they use the T designator instead of the N), 2 is the norm though you can try them at 1 for a bit of a performance boost

[andymitty]

Ok.

Again, thanks for the help!

[Tradesman]

Not a problem, keep us updated