GA-X58 UD5 RAM problems

[fromgary]

Hi,
Anyone else suffering problems with RAM not working correctly

[Dark Mantis]

Yes, if you try searching the threads you will find many other cases. However you are not very concise with what your problem really is. We would need a bit more information before we could help.

[venganza]

Hi,
Anyone else suffering problems with RAM not working correctly

Could you be more specific please. I have just returned 1600mhz OCZ RAM due to a faulty stick, however unless we know more about your issue, impossible to say what the problem might be.

Have you run memtest?

If not try each stick in isolation in DDR3_1 and/or DDR3_3 (2nd and 4th slots from CPU - ie primary tri-chan slots).

Have to changed any BIOS parameters or is the RAM running stock?

What is you cooler? On some aftermarket units (Venomous-X for example) there can be an issue with RAM slots not being recognised due to too much pressure from the backplate. Simple solution for this one is to use silicon washers or similar to stop the metal-on-metal hard contact.

Anyway more info needed

[fromgary]

HI,

The problems started with the BIOS being out of date for the i7 980x cpu, to get over this i had to buy an i7 920 from ebay so i could update the BIOS to F5, that problem was fixed. so when everything was installed correctly (Windows 7 64 bit & all drivers updated) i noticed that in system i had 6gb of ram but only 4gb usable, so i checked the resource monitor 6144mb installed ram - 2gb hardware reserved 4gb available. the BIOS is only showing 4gb of RAM, after googling the problem i found a few recommended fixes which i've tried - 1 Reseating the Cpu checking for bent pins on cpu socket ( all seemed ok). 2 refitting the Ram Sticks. 3 changing settings in msconfig under the boot tab, nothing so far has worked.
i refitted the Ram one stick at a time and found that Dimm 1 appears to be dead not sure what to do next have emailed Gigabyte support for help but no answer yet.

[venganza]

Rum memtest on each stick, one at a time

Use DDR3_1 (and try DDR3_3) also.

You should find out if one stick is faulty fairly quickly, and confirm your suspicions.

the xxGB usable is normally indicative of a flaky RAM stick, I am guessing the "bad" stick you have, either does not show up in BIOS, or if it does display it will display incorrect info such as not listing in total memory etc.

[Dark Mantis]

Correct me if I am wrong but in your post you said(quote)  i noticed that in system i had 6gb of ram but only 4gb usable, so i checked the resource monitor 6144mb installed ram - 2gb hardware reserved 4gb available. If the slot was dead it shouldn't read the memory to know how much was in it. It may be worth trying running CPU-z. The spd tab will let you know if the ram is seen in all the slots.

[fromgary]

A bit more info,

i have now installed 12Gb of Ram, Cpu-z  does shows 2Gb of ram in each slot but the resource monitor now shows 4096mb hardware reserved with 8192mb available, in 'System'  it reads 12GB installed with 8GB usable    , am having trouble installing memtest so cannot test memory with that.
i tried each stick of ram in dimm 1 but could not even get to post screen on startup, did the same in dimm 3 no problems went straight to post screen on startup.
i have been in touch with purchase dealer who offered an RMA (Great) , but saddly last night whilst doing another CPU reseating (checking for bent Pins) i noticed damage to the motherboard under the cool-it manifold caused i think by one of the mounting screws for said water cooler manifold, a small area of blue covering has been scratched off revealing copper underneath, the guy i spoke to asured me that Gigabyte will definately reject the board as damaged so no RMA for me (deep saddness). The damage definately happened after the problems started and because so many people are experiencing the same issues i still hope to get some resolution from my request to Gigabyte support when they eventually reply to my request.
  In the meantime i'll just have to make do and get saving for a new Motherboard the new Asus rampage 3 extreme looks like a good bet   

[venganza]

Correct me if I am wrong but in your post you said(quote)  i noticed that in system i had 6gb of ram but only 4gb usable, so i checked the resource monitor 6144mb installed ram - 2gb hardware reserved 4gb available. If the slot was dead it shouldn't read the memory to know how much was in it. It may be worth trying running CPU-z. The spd tab will let you know if the ram is seen in all the slots.

A dead "slot" sure, but "faulty" RAM can do some very odd things. I just returned some OCZ Platinum that had gone totally feral, it was in DDR3_3 yet showing it was enabled in DDR3_2 (which of course was empty), and yes it would happily inform Windows it was present, however it would of course not work any which way, and if booted in DDR3_1, would fail to post. Memtest sensibly rebooted itself as soon as it walked the 1st byte of it

Ram can do odd things

A bit more info,

i have now installed 12Gb of Ram, Cpu-z  does shows 2Gb of ram in each slot but the resource monitor now shows 4096mb hardware reserved with 8192mb available, in 'System'  it reads 12GB installed with 8GB usable    , am having trouble installing memtest so cannot test memory with that.
i tried each stick of ram in dimm 1 but could not even get to post screen on startup, did the same in dimm 3 no problems went straight to post screen on startup.

What is the problem with memtest?

Burn the ISO and boot with it... or if you have some linux CD's around (Mandriva for example) many of them have memtest as part of the start up routine which may be selected

Hrmm... Certainly sounds like a slot issue if you are saying none of you six chips will boot individually in DDR3_1 and yet work in DDR3_3, although as a previous poster said this is odd given the RAM is being "seen" by Windows, CPU-Z (and I presume BIOS itself to some extent).

God what bad luck to have damaged the board  somehow.

Can you confirm that none of the chips are booting at all in DDR3_1 (2nd slot across from CPU)

[fromgary]

Hi All,

I can confirm that Dimm 1 & also Dimm 2 are not working correctly and the Bios only reads 8GB, i've been doing some more digging on the internet and i cant believe how many people are having the same issues, one guy has been advised by Gigabyte support to remove and refit the CPU a few times, another fixed the problem by changing the Ram voltage settings in the Bios.
 i'm not sure i want mess around refitting my cpu or resetting the memory voltages the fact is it should have worked first time out the box and it didn't it was bad enough that i had to buy another older Cpu so i could update the Bios for the i7 980x Cpu ( i needed the computer for rendering a work project so couldn't wait for postage so dealer could update it ) and now this.
  Anyhow i must not forget i was offered an RMA if the Motherboard was found to be Faulty But because of damage to board i am probably gonna have to buy a new MB but i'll wait to hear from Gigabyte support just in case they can resolve the problems, i'll keep posting any fixes i find and how i get on with Giga Support,any ideas you have will be much appriciated.
 From the amount of complaints on the internet this is a big problem that Gigabyte need to address and soon, i wonder how many people dont realize they have a computer that isn't performing quite as well as it should be because of this fault. 

[fromgary]

Hi

Just a quick update,  Its been a week since i contacted Gigabyte support and still no reply i guess they are busy, I,ve more or less given up getting the Motherboard to work correctly has anyone else had any luck fixing this Ram Problem (see earlier posts.

[venganza]

Hi

Just a quick update,  Its been a week since i contacted Gigabyte support and still no reply i guess they are busy, I,ve more or less given up getting the Motherboard to work correctly has anyone else had any luck fixing this Ram Problem (see earlier posts.

Givem them time, I imagine they have many such mails (although some kind of "we know you are there and will get to you when we can" type thing might be nice).

If nothing in another week, PM runn3R perhaps mate.

[fromgary]

Another quick update Gigabyte Support been in touch but only to ask me to resubmit my request for help because they have been receiving a large volume of after hours requests for help........................Still no luck fixing my PC hopefully get a reply soon......................

[Dark Mantis]

Maybe they should spend some of the money they saved on rushing the boards out without proper testing on extra support staff to manage the obvious influx of problem questions!

[fromgary]

Hi All,

I've had a Reply..............................................................


You can return the board to GBT UK for further check and test and possbile repair. We have no known issue on this memory not working correctly. The memory controller is reside on the CPU and not the motherboard on the Intel Socket 1366 motherboard.

Please understand that, when a model of motherboard is released the newer CPU is not available at that time for validation that is why newer CPU will be only fully supported through a bios update where CPU micro-codes has been added and updated in the newer bios. Please update the bios according to CPU support list. Thanks

So there you have it Quote :--      We have no known issue on this memory not working correctly

Well perhaps they haven't got round to reading all the fricking complanits about memory probs with these boards.

Gary..........................................

[Dark Mantis]

Anybody reminded of an osterich?