Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H, Athlon II X2 255 3.00GHz, Grief

[Penguin]

Hi all
I am having problems with the following basic system

fresh out of the box:
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz
4GB Mushkin Silverline #996768 (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz 9-9-9-24
Coolermaster Elite 342 Micro-ATX Chassis
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1

Plus an old 100% working 80GB SATA HDD and SATA DVD drive.

Put system together and posts ok
BIOS Looks ok

Try to load windows7 and it behaves really unstable, runs slowly, sometimes locks up at the HDD partition bit never actually gets to loading files.
At one point the windows loaded in memory ran tests and said there were hardware error but nothing specific, return to manufacturer.
Eventually tried with only one stick of memory and behaved much better.
Set the memory to ganged in the Bios and found that seems to work ok with 2 sticks of memory now.
However I spoke too soon, altough the machine behaves a lot better now, even the displays look different when loading windows when it gets to about 42% through Expanding windows files it crashes with the message

Windows cannot install required files, files may be corrupt............. Error code )x80070570

So back to only one memory stick, Unganged by default and finaly i get win7 loaded and running ok.

So what do we think the problem is ?
Memory, CPU memory controller, Motherboard.

I have no other hardware  for testing or comparison

Hoping for help
cheers

PS i notice a similar problem about 8 posts down on the forum

[teknology9]

Hi,

Have a trawl through this link you may find the solution:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/5318-win7-install-error-0x80070570.html


Teknology9

[Penguin]

Thanks for the reply teknology9

the long and the short of that thread would seem to be a memory issue.
I did go back to the bios for a check around and found that i had left the  DRAM settings on Auto and were set to 7-7-7-20 instead of SPD settings of 9-9-9-24. I have set them manually now to 9-9-9-24 but this has changed nothing. A clean win7 install will only work with one memory stick installed.

Is it time to RMA the memory?

[absic]

Hi there,

it would be worthwhile testing teh RAM with Memtest 86 before RMA'ing the kit.

You can download Memtest from here: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso Test each stick individally in the DDR3_1 slot for at least 10 passes.

When you download Memtest (choose the 2nd item on the download page) You will need to extract the ISO Image and burn it onto a CD. When you have removed one stick of RAM start the PC with the CD in the drive and press F12 to get to the BOOT Menu and then pick the CD Drive.

[teknology9]

Hi Penguin,

The Mushkin Support info can be found here: http://www.mushkin.com/Resources/Support.aspx

As well as info on other diagnostic software and rma information.


Teknology9

[Penguin]

Hi guys

thanks for both your replys.

Both mem sticks crash win7 when used individualy BSOD and reboots.
Both sticks fail the win7 mem diagnostic tool.
currently running memtest 86 on the first stick (the one i suspect is best of the 2) and it has failed test5 on the first pass.
Waiting to see what it does on the second pass and will the try the second stick. Will also give windiag a go as well.

Does memtest 86 just test the memory or could the memory controller be implicated as well?

I see mushkin dont seem to list modern motherboards in there compatibility tables.

on with the testing!
once again thanks

[absic]

Hi again,

if the RAM Module fails any of the tests it is faulty and the whole kit needs to be RMA'd and it is more likely to be a RAM problem than a memory controller issue.

[teknology9]

Hi,

I personally use Corsair and sometime after when I had my current MB I used the Corsair memory configurator which can be found here:

http://www.corsair.com/learn_n_explore/

from the drop down list  -

Select System Type Motherboard

Select Manufacturer  - Gigabyte

Select the Model - GA-880GM-UD2H

Then click on Go  and all the compatible memory modules will be listed.

Of course there are other manufacturers of memory modules who are also good please let it be known , some of whom can be found here:

  
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/drammemory.aspx


http://www.ocztechnology.com/search.html?q=memory&go=S  


http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/models.asp?root=uk&LinkBack=http://www.kingston.com/ukroot&Manufacturer=GIG  

You get the idea!!!

Teknology9              

[Penguin]

Hi

tested both sticks with memtest 86+
stick1: failed 3 tests in 12 passes, this is the one that seemed more stable could get win7 installed then the occasionl BSOD occoured.
stick2: 158 errors before even part way through first pass, also wont play when loading win7.

Ok plan is RMA and ask for Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A as recommended by corsair configurator( thanks teknolegy9, I now remember using this in 2006 when i built my previous box)

A question for you on memory voltage. All the info on these mushkin sticks say 1.5v.
In my bios in system voltage when left in auto gives ram voltages of 1.616V
Again if i go to bios in system voltage and set to manual and normal i get 1.616V, the only other manual settings are to incrementally increase the ram voltage. There is no incremental decreace or 1.5v.
My Bios version is F8 the only one that i can see is available, dont want to get into bios flashing anyway. Aflerall this is the simplest cpu for the MB.

thanks again both of you 

[teknology9]

Hi,

There may be nothing you can do about that, you could contact Technical Support and ask them. Here:

http://uk.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/support-downloads.aspx

and raise a support ticket

Doing the above might be right step to take but they may take a while before they get back to you but they will. I know it's a bit long winded but better safe than sorry.

A Moderator may be along shortly and offer you some more advice.


Hope this helps.


Teknology9

[Dark Mantis]

It might be one of the motherboards where the BIOS was customised to only allow memory voltages that were a bit higher to help with stability. I suspect that is the case with this motherboard.

[Penguin]

Closer inspection of Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A as recommended by corsair configurator shows this to be 1.6 to 1.65v memory.
Makes me think this is what i need if DDR3 voltage cannot be lowered to 1.5v.

[teknology9]

Hi,

Yes, but as I wrote above you do have the option to check with Technical Support or you could as you have stated purchase those modules and see what the outcome is. I have a different MB to yours and had to increase the voltage, with the help of absic to 1.65v. I have spare memory modules just in case and for testing.


Teknology9

[Dark Mantis]

You would in fact have to set the voltage to 1.66v as 1.65 v is not available. Don't worry about any warning it is perfectly safe.

[teknology9]

Yep, I did that when I altered the voltage DM thanks.