Ga-880Ga-ud3h + 1100t + Kingston 8gb 1600 FAIL

[Needhelpbad]

Just to be sure, I updated my bios to 3.1ff
No change.

[Needhelpbad]

I suppose I will return my ram tomorrow unless someone here thinks its likely to be something else.

For the record. It seems to freeze faster at idle than it does if I'm doing something. I can play 2movies in a row without problems. Soon as it's not doing anything it locks up in 5-10 minutes. I have gotten it to boot to ubuntu, and windows xp for over an hour each (as long as it's doing something).

Sometimes when I reboot, it won't post, instead I get two long beeps and a shorter one. Then it repeats. 2long, 1short. This beep code is not listed in the book that came with the board. Can't find it on google either.  It will do this several times before it will boot again. Resetting ram doesn't help. Clearing CMOS doesn't help. Only way around that is to leave the pc off for about 30min, unplugged. Then plug in and it will boot. This is all with the ram at 1333. CPU is standard clock.

So to reiterate my questions:

1- could it be the processor? What's the likelihood?
2- whats the likelihood that it's the ram?
3- motherboard??

[autotech]

Make sure you get ram that is on the list. Make sure it is dual channel ram not triple channel.  Id start with 2 x 4 gig sticks and i almost bet your problems will be solved make sure to reset bios upon installing ram then go in and configure manually if you have to.

[Needhelpbad]

What do you think about crucial ram? They say it's guaranteed to work for my board..

[malum]

Well crucial is working for me.

In my opinion it does sound most like a memory problem. I do not know if it has anything to do
with running a stick from a triple channel set instead of a dual channel set. But it could have
something to do with it. Personally I would have bought , and have bought, dual channel
memory sticks for a board that supports them. Also I saw that memtest does freeze after only
5% that would leave me to think that it is also the memory at fault.

The only way that I know of to solve this problem is to get a dual set of memory that is known
to be stable and then test that out using memtest one stick at a time. Let it run for a good 24 - 48
hours. If there are no errors then you should be good.

[Dark Mantis]

If you want to chec k the memory properly you need to use Memtest like this:

Please follow these instructions exactly.

I would suggest that you download and run the latest version of  Memtest86+ to check your RAM first.

Memtest86+        http://www.memtest.org/

Insert one stick of memory in slot 1 and run Memtest on it for at least 10 complete loops/cycles and if there are no errors then swap it over with the next one and continue untill you have checked all  modules.
 
If you have any errors the module is faulty.

If you have any faulty modules you will have to return the whole kit as they are matched.

Post back when you have done that with the results.

[Needhelpbad]

I'm a bit impulsive. I ordered a 4gb stick that was guaranteed to work and had it overnighted here. Just got it. Put it in, didn't make it to post, I got two long beeps and a short one.
It angers me. I take breaks. If I get it to post I will try memtest on the new ram.
Also, before I booted with the new ram I flashed the bios.

[Needhelpbad]

Bios flashed again. Booted into bios. Loaded failsafe defaults. Froze in bios. Reboot. Two long beeps and a short, no post.

I'm nearly ready to take the whole thing apart and return it and start over.

[Needhelpbad]

Any ideas/input? I sent a msg to gigabyte tech support. I guess that was about useless. The person who emailed me back clearly doesn't speak English. Asked me questions I answered in the first msg. Then told me to do things I told them I already did.

I used to swear by gigabyte. Thought they were the best. I have a friend who has been saying "should have bought an asus". Grrr. I don't want to send this board back.

I borrowed another AMD processor that will work in it. Gonna test it out to eliminate processor from the list of faulty components.

[malum]

Well it seems if that processor works than it may very well be the motherboard. Which does happen.

[Dark Mantis]

Well your beep code when booting indicates a memory problem. That could of course also include the CPU as the memory controller is built into the chip. I would RMA your CPU as a next step.