GA-P55A-UD4 several problems: random reboots, speaker beeps, ...

[Bertoliati]

Hello,

I just bought a new PC but I'm not happy with it until know because several problems showed up. This are my specs:

MB = GA-P55A-UD4 (rev. 2.0, Bios F15)
CPU = i5 760
RAM = 2x2GB Mach Extreme 1333
HDD = OCZ Vertex 2 SSD 120GB
PSU = Chieftec Super Series - CFT-750-14CS - 750 W
OS = Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Here a list of my (open) issues:
Big issues:
1) Random reboots (still in testing phase):
Read several posts and I'm now testing with the memory down clocked from 1333 to 1060.
If this will not help I will disabled bios CPU EIST function / C1E / C3/6/7 / turbo boost support.
The final solution would be replacing the memory according to this forum  http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/266033-12-ud3r-random-reboots.
I will keep you posted about the progress.

I'm still not sure the reboots are caused by MB or by my PSU. When I did some test with S&M stability test (speedfan monitoring) I got the indication that my +5V showed some voltage drop. As the 5V keeps a PC alive (Power button circuit) it can also cause my random reboots.
Does anyone can confirm this and are the result from the readings of speedfan trustworthy? See the attachment for an example.

small issues:
1) When coming out of standby there is sometimes a long beep (not a normal sound for about 2 seconds) coming from the internal speaker.
2) Sometimes my USB drive(s) are reconnected without unplugging the cables. This can may be caused by the +5V voltage drops. Any suggestions?

These problems are solved:
Issues solved:
1)From the beginning on I had problems with blue screens. After a run of memtest86+ it showed up that one of the memory modules was buggy.
So I tested everything with the module that was correct.
2) There was a short beep coming from the internal speaker. Found the solution here http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/270021-12-p55a-bios-beeps#t1875941
This was caused by a known bug from the intel processor. Solutions is disable C3/6/7 will override this annoying problem, or just simply disable the CPU temp warning in the BIOS.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

When you tested the RAM with Memtest86+ was it the latest version and did you run  it on a single stick at a time for at least ten loops each?

I would suggest that you check all power connections to make sure they are fully home.

Are you still using the stock cooler on the CPU?

[forumjoe]

Bertoliati,

I see that the CPU referred to in the tomshardware posts was the i7. Yours is an i5. So, does this mean that all i5 and i7 CPUs have that bug?

I've not long finished building a WindowsXP machine based on a P55-US3L and using an i5-650 CPU. Perhaps I should not now be too surprised if I get some unexplained beeps later on when I've installed the OS, etc. At present, I've got all of those energy-saving functions in the BIOS enabled and I've also got the CPU alarm enabled.

[Bertoliati]

Hello Dark Mantis,

When you tested the RAM with Memtest86+ was it the latest version and did you run  it on a single stick at a time for at least ten loops each?

I would suggest that you check all power connections to make sure they are fully home.

Are you still using the stock cooler on the CPU?

Thanks for the reply. I did a complete run of Memtest86+ for 10 hours for the module without errors.
The down clock to 1066 of the memory also didn't bring the solution. After 12 hours there were 2 reboots in 5 minutes time but it looks a little bit more stable. Before the reboots were more frequent.

I checked the power connections several times. I tested the PSU also in another PC an there the voltages remain stable and the PC worked for 3 days without any stability issues.

After all I'm going to replace the memory by another brand because I think, as mentioned in my first post, the problem is caused by memory incompatibility with the MB.

Hello Forumjoe,

I see that the CPU referred to in the tomshardware posts was the i7. Yours is an i5. So, does this mean that all i5 and i7 CPUs have that bug?

Yes, this issue solved my short beeps so i5 is also affected. The beeps were there from the first hour so if they didn't appeared yet you could say you are not affected. 

Regards,

[Dark Mantis]

I think that it is quite possibly down to incompatible memory. That is not to say that it would be impossible to get it to run stably but it would take a lot of trial and error. I take it that the RAM was purchased as a matched kit?