Is my board going south? Trying to islolate the source of my problems

[Fizzy]

First..greetings to you all ..
Second:  My system Specs:
PSU: Corsair 850TX
MoBo: Gigabyte P55A-UD4P ATX LGA1156 P55: Bios: F14
CPU:   Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB
Ram:   Corsair Dominator GT CMT8GX3M2A2000C9 8GB DDR3 -2000/PC3-16000
       -9-10-9-27 and 1.65v      
Hard drives:
             2 x 64 GB SSD HD in RAID 0 array for OS (Windows 7 64 bit)
             2 x  500 GB WD for Applications/Gaming
             1 x TB for storage
             2 x 1 TB external for storage / Backups
Cooling: Corsair H50 closed circuit CPU water cooler + 5 chassis fans
Graphics Card:  XFX-Radeon HD 5850A ZNDC 755M 1GB DDR5 DP HDMI DUAL DVI PCI-EI am looking to isolate what the source of my problems:
System has been acting eratic over the past few months, typically in gaming situations (COD5 and a couple of others). A couple of days ago, i was using Fraps to capture Rfactor game footage wheen the screen went a bit crazy, then a blue screen. Reebooted, and then when POST handed off to Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit), it froze at the load screen. From that point on, it's been hell. Could not revert to a Windows restore point, nor standard windows tools to fix the issue worked. I was thinking that when I got the bluescreen, it scrambled a system file, driver, whatever...I assumed an (Acronis) partition image from a previous state would solve the problem: It didn't. It kept freezing at the windows load page. I then assumed it might be the MBR: so I used some recovery tools to re-make my MBR. Same problem. Then I looked at my Video cards (2 ATI 5850's in Crossfire. Removed one, and the system would boot. Tried each one individually, and it would seem that one of them is bad. So off to get an RMA from XFX (Done). Ha! Gotchya! A hardware issue! It all makes sense now... I'm sitting pretty, figuring the worst is behind me. Course, i have to reinstal Windows, my apps games, utilities, but hey, that's okay. 24 h after I have re-instaleld my OS and apps... I get the same freeze-up at windows loading .... So... My logic takes me to either the ram, or the Motherboard. I'm leaning to the MB, as the video card does see to be DOA, no signal to the monitor.. nothing..ram wouldn't do that..besides, the ram works with the other card... So..that's where I am at right now.. Off to Gigabytes.. Anyone have a good application that could test the motherboard, or suggestions..? I have done some testing on the unit, Memtest, graphic card diagnostics tols (who's name escapes me at the moment) but nothing that would stress test the system, or the MoBo specifically..
Then again..it could be the CPU... oh jeeze.......

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

In a situation like this you need to go back to the basics and work from there. First follow these steps to clear the CMOS:

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least one hour before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.(or even update the BIOS if it needs it)

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

Once finished I suggest removing everything from the system that you really can do without. You should be left with the motherboard/CPU/heatsink/fan/buzzer/one stick of memory/GPU/HDD and PSU. From there you can check that everything is working as it should.

[Fizzy]

Could my ram be an issue> I mean compatibility-wise?   I always assumed it would be fine. I have Corsair Dominator GT CMT8GX3M2A2000C9 8GB DDR3 -2000/PC3-16000.  The official gigabyt site says the board is compatible with: "Support for DDR3 2200/1600/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules"

[Dark Mantis]

I would expect it to be alright but I would advise going onto Corsairs website and using their memory checker to make sure as I know that a lot of their memory is compatible but that doesn't mean all of it is. Another thing to check is that all the modules are not faulty in any way. It takes a while but try following 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.

[Fizzy]

Hmm.. when I load "Optimised BIOS Defaults" it shows my cpu running with a multiplyer of 21 making it 2.8.. But my cpu is an i5 750 which should run at 2.6? 

Will give the memory test  a shot and report back to you....

[Dark Mantis]

No problem. This is just the way it is meant to work.

[Fizzy]

Okay... let it run 12 straight hours: no erros for 8 passes.. Sorry.. not the full 10 passes you suggested.  I really need to run the computer to access information...  At the moment I am runninf SiSoft before I go off to work.. Just to see if it picks-up anything obvious that I might not have seen myself

[Dark Mantis]

If it has passed 8 clear loops then it should be ok.  That was just as a single module was it ?

When you get a chance check the other module too. You can leave it running overnight.

[Fizzy]

........  That was just as a single module was it ?

When you get a chance check the other module too. You can leave it running overnight.

.. well, umm.. I cheated.. I did the test with both modules, not one at a time..   I know you said follow my instructions exactly!   But.... well.. I kinda need to get this done relatively quickly if at all possible.

Anyways, i did get the Sisoft results, but the results but the text file was too big to copy and paste in here.. I didn't have time to go through it and give you the relavent info..will do when I get back home

[Fizzy]

I would expect it to be alright but I would advise going onto Corsairs website and using their memory checker

Well, that is the thing... If I go to thier Memory Checker", at Corsair, they will suggest the CML166X3M4A and not mine. And if i go to thier compatibility list for my motherboard, it is not listed as well. However, it is present under Intel > i5 > Dual Channel Kits. In there it states under "System Requirements"  : "Designed for use with all DDR3 motherboards with two memory channels"

[Dark Mantis]

I would be dubious about using the memory if it hasn't been cleared as compatible with your motherboard. Often it is only something small but it can make big differences when it comes to running stably. Always check you QVLs before you buy.

[Fizzy]

Lol, true, perhaps in hindsight I should of limited my choice to what was on thier compatibility list, but when they make a statement such as "Designed for use with all DDR3 motherboards with two memory channels" , I figured that was good enough.

In any case, i did ask at Corsair's forums. 

ie. the question was: "1)Is there any compatibility or know issues that you know of between my memory (Dominator CMT8GX3M2A2000C9
  Gt 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-2000 CL9-10-9-27 Intel Xmp Dual Channel Memory Kit) and my motherboard (Gigabyte P55A-UD4P ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3)"

The answer was "no".

To which I replied,
   "So, despite the fact that it is not actually listed as supported for my particular motherboard, I don't have anything to worry about, right? Hate to sound picky, but I need to rule our the memory as the source of my problems.. I ran the sticks through memtest86+ for 12 hours straight (8 completed passes), and no errors came up. So, mechanically they are fine. Just need to know if compatibility is an issue. "

Still waiting for an answer.