GA 890FXA UD7 Memory Problems

[fortiscrew]

 GA 890FXA UD7 rev 2.0 F4 Bios
AMD Phenom II X4 965
COOLER MASTER  V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP
Geil Black Dragon GB38GB1600C9QC DDR3 1600 MHz  / 2GB x 4 Quad Channel Kit
2 x R4890 T2D1G in crossfire ATI Catalyst 10.11
Windows 7 64bit
3x Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB SATA2  in RAID5
Thermaltake  W0131:Toughpower 850w
LITE-ON LH 20A1L DVD Burner
Visiontek Tv Wonder HD650
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme 

I purchased this MB sometime in May of this and have been having memory problems from  the beginning. At that time I was using a set of OCZ DDR3 2000 MHz Flex EX XLC / 4GB Dual Channel Kit and Technical Support advised me that the memory was not on the support. I duly borrowed 2 x Kingston ValueRAM 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/1G. However, the situation did not improve significantly because the windows were not opening readily whenever I was browsing on the internet. Nevertheless, whenever the OCZ memory was used the O/S would crash at least once per week during gaming or even playing music. At each instance the O/S had to be reinstalled because the boot sector got corrupted.Consequently,  I requested an RMA number had sent the board to the manufacturers.During that time I purchased the set of Geil Black Dragon. Gigabyte repaired the board and returned it without giving any details of the problems that were corrected.
The problems continued when the board was reinstalled and I did not gain any sort of stability until the heat-sink was removed and reseated with fresh thermal compound.However, the machine refuses to post whenever memory slot3 is populated.At the moment I have it running with slots 1,2 and 4 populated.The point is I purchased the kit to use all four(4) modules.Could it be a case of a bad memory slot or incompatibility. Of note, it does not matter which memory is placed in slot, the result is the same. The AX3U1600GB2G9-2G is on the compatibility list and the machine does not post whenever one of these modules is placed in slot3. I have tried all the bios updates F2, F3. F4 and even F5b which is not good because the machine is unstable.Incidentally, the POST Error Code is C1.Give me your suggestions, an RMA is the last resort.

         

[absic]

Hi there,

If I were a gambling man I would say that the fault lies in your choice and speed of RAM. The AM3 CPU's do not like running RAM above 1333MHz especially when you are trying to run with all slots on the motherboard filled.

If you haven't already done so read through this sticky: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2515.0.html as it explains the problems.

I think I would be looking at RMA'ing the CPU and making sure the fault isn't there before I tried anything else.

[Dark Mantis]

I would also agree with absic and think there is a good chance you have blown your memory controller on the CPU. Did you not do any research before building the system?

[bytheway_r]

I would also agree with absic and think there is a good chance you have blown your memory controller on the CPU. Did you not do any research before building the system?

Take a look at any OC forum out there. It's scary what RAM speeds some ppl are running with AMD CPUs. I'd say it's 50/50 when it comes to running within spec. A lot of people have 1600Mhz DDR3.

[autotech]

You are going to have to RMA the board again to get slot 3 working. Then if i were you id stay at 1333 speed before you damage more than the board.

[fortiscrew]

The cpu and memory works perfectly with all four modules in my MSI 790FX-GD70.Incidentally, the machine is not stable when the ram is at 1600MHz. In fact, I have no problem running the memory at 1333Mhz.My question is why does the machine give the C1 error whenever slot3 is populated. This is not a compatibility problem as stated by Gei Tech Support. This is the quote below.

       Dear Richard,

       We use the same IC and modules on GA-890FXA-UD7 (F4) with the DRAM voltage we mentioned (1.610V) without any questions. If you still have 
       any problems with the modules, we would like to give you an RMA no. and replace the whole kit.
       Thank you.

        Regards,l

Of note, the sticky is very interesting and I  read it a long time before posting this topic.

[scjet]

 get 1333 Mhz DDR3 ram, and then send AMD a nasty email about their Memory-contollers.... ?

[autotech]

Im a betting man id say slot 3 on the motherboard is faulty myself.  I have had it happen with a gigabyte board before went thru heck getting it fixed but in the end all is well.