Hi All, doing my first Gigabyte build, hoping for some advice/help

[renfekhtiek]

As stated in the title I am doing my first build on a Gigabyte MB.  My first trip to the site!

Anyway, using the GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev 1.1; FX8120 AM3+ at 3.1 GHz; 8GB(2x4) Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866; Corsair TX850M power supply, Nvidia GTX 660Ti, OCZ SSD 128GB system/some programs installed here, 1TB Western Digital Black Edition for music, movies, programs and games, and all running on Windows 8.

I was pretty good at setting up my Bios on my old Asus board (4 or so years old), and this one's got a lot that I am not familiar with.  I am not looking to overclock, other than getting my memory running at 1866 which I can't seem to figure out.  I had both DIMMs on one channel, but read on the Gigabyte website that 1866 was only capable with one DIMM per channel. So I went from having my memory in slot 1 and 3 to having them in slot 1 and 2 (from how I read it in the manual, a channel was 1&3 and 2&4, hope I am reading that right).  When I do set to 1866, and reboot, it tells me the system fixed an overclock error and puts me back at 1333.    I tried using the Easy DRAM setup to set to 1866, and that doesn't work either, same reboot error.

Also wondering if I should be using AHCI stead of IDE mode, I am doing no raid by the way.

Basically looking for any suggestions on the memory thing above, and any suggestions on Bios settings in general you don't mind sharing (assuming someone has a setup similar to, or just familiar with, mine. 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[renfekhtiek]

Just wanted to add I tried updating my Bios to latest (F9), was at F8.  Still no luck, just shows as 1333MHz.   Believe it's my memory model, as I don't see my memory on the Memory List for my MB (should have checked this before I ordered, a little too rushed to get my order in I guess).  So I have ordered new Memory that is on the list, the CET186D1 CORSAIR 4GB CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 (ordered the 2x4GB kit).  I actually looked at this memory when ordering my MB, now kicking myself for not going with it in the first place! 

Anyone used the CET186D1 CORSAIR 4GB CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 in a GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev 1.1 with a FX8120 processor (or similar)?  Work well?  Hoping this is my issue!

[renfekhtiek]

Got the new Memory today, from the recommended memory list for my motherboard, and still can't set past 1333.  I read the post on the main page about ram setting issues, which states those issues don't affect my processor type.  I've tried setting the DRAM settings manually, and automatically using the EOCP DRAM feature, and no matter what I do, I get overclock errors upon bootup, and a message that it's been set back to 1333.  I've tried memory in different slots, one per channel as stated in the recommended memory listing, and no luck.   I also tried Ganged, and Unganged to see if I'd get a difference, and nothing, same result.  Starting to bang head on wall!!!! lol.

[absic]

Hi there,

I usually use Corsair RAM in my builds even though they don't always appear on the QVL and have not had any problems. Just lucky I guess.

With RAM settings in BIOS I have found that it is often better to manually set them rather than rely on AUTO or EOCP settings. Make sure that speed is set to x8.00 for 1600MHz and that the timings are set as per the spec's for the modules you are using. You may also find that upping the voltage a little for the RAM will help improve stability.

Another thing to do is double check that your modules aren't faulty by running MemTest or similar. I have lost count of the number of times users have found that even new modules have been the root cause of the issue.

Also remember that the memory controller is now part of the CPU and not actually the motherboard so faults of this nature could be due to an issue with this component.

Don't you just love technology? Instead of getting easier things only become more complicated with each step forward.

[renfekhtiek]

Thanks absic, I've tried manually setting my memory, but hasn't made a difference.  I'll try bumping up the voltage, I left it at 1.5, as the memory states it runs at 1866 at this voltage. 

I decided to look into the 1866 issues over the weekend, and play a few games awhile (thinking it was otherwise stable).  All games are stuttering, and crash after a few minutes of play.  I'll give the memory voltage boost a try and see what happens.  I didn't use Memtest, but did use burn in test, not sure how much this taxes the memory compared to memtest, but didn't get any errors and everything went smoothly.  I have a spare power supply, will try swapping that in incase my Corsair TX850M is crapping out on me (I'll try the voltage bump first, maybe memory is just looking for a little more juice!

Thanks again absic, I'll follow up once I've tried these.