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GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs

GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« on: October 29, 2010, 08:40:36 am »
Morning all

I've got a new system consisting of the following:
  • GA-P55A-UD3 v2.0
  • intel i7-860
  • Corsair 500W CX PSU
  • Crucial 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Ballistix Memory Kit CL8(8-8-8-24) - BL2KIT25664BN1608
  • Antec 300 case
  • WD Caviar Black SATA6 640Gb HDD
  • Nvidia GE8400GS 512Meg Silent

I'm randomly getting BSODs. This seemed to cure itself after I changed the GPU which was late in arriving, but they started happening again yesterday.
The mesage is MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and technical information is 0x0000001A. A dump file is produced but I have no idea what to do with them.

I figured one of the RAM sticks might be faulty so ran memtest+ without removing any sticks, and it failed instantly.
I'd already noticed that the heat shield wasn't on properly on one of the sticks which was in slot 2 nearest the CPU so I decided to test that first.
I took out all the sticks except for the one in slot 2, and the computer won't even POST. The lights on the board came on and nothing else happened.
So I added a stick in to slot 4, and it still wouldn't post.

I moved those two sticks (let's call them A and B) to slots 1 and 3, and all seemed fine. It booted and I let memtest run for a few minutes.
I then swapped those two sticks out and put the other two (let's call them C and D) in slots 1 and 3, and memtest instantly failed again. Excellent, progress.

I then took stick C out of slot 3, and ran memtest on stick D in slot 1. No problems after a few minutes.
Just to check I then put stick C in slot 1, and guess what? No problems!!!!!

Hmmm. Confused now. Start again

I put sticks A & B in to slots 1 and 3, and left them to run for a couple of hours. They passed 3 times and failed twice.
I then put sticks C & D in, and left them over night. They passed 7 times, and failed 0.

I've now got all 4 sticks runing, and will post the results when I get home.

Questions:

1. Should the board post with RAM in slots 2 and 4? Or must they be in 1 and 3 first? Assuming it should post, I presume I've got a faulty board?
2. Any ideas why 1 RAM stick will sometimes fail immediately, not passing a single test, and then run fine for 7 hours?

I have noticed that the BIOS picks this RAM up as 1333Mhz, instead of 1600Mhz, and this particular RAM is not on the Giga-byte QVL, but Crucial indicate that it works. http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=27AEF404A5CA7304.
Could it be a compatibility issue?

When I first changed the GPU, I ran prime95 for about 5 minutes to see if the PSU might be the problem, but everything ran fine, so I'm assuming the PSU is powerful enough.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Thanks

ETA: Now cross posted on the Crucial forum here:
http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Ballistix-Performance-Memory/GA-P55A-UD3-and-BL2KIT25664BN1608-Random-BSODs/td-p/22428
« Last Edit: October 29, 2010, 10:24:24 am by sparrowdclxvi »

Lsdmeasap

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    • Gigabyte Support (TweakTown USA)
Re: GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2010, 11:13:02 am »
Hey!

Replied for you over at Crucial just now, hope that helps a bit.

Re: GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2010, 11:57:17 am »
Thanks.

On a separate note, does anyone know why the QVL list for this board lists triple channel RAM for a dual channel board? I'm looking at the 1600MHz section specifically.
http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-p55a-ud3.pdf

Lsdmeasap

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Re: GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2010, 12:10:25 pm »
It's listed because it's compatible is all, and some of the P55 boards can take more than 4 sticks at once.

Re: GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2010, 12:32:46 pm »
It's listed because it's compatible is all, and some of the P55 boards can take more than 4 sticks at once.
Thanks.

Lsdmeasap

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    • Gigabyte Support (TweakTown USA)
Re: GA-P55A-UD3: Random BSODs
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2010, 12:38:59 pm »
Anytime!

Ya you can use one or two sticks from a triple channel kit in P55, and same in reverse you can use 1-2 dual channel sticks in X58 (Or 3-4+ if you want)