GA-H55M-USB3 disregards voltage settings

[tessman]

My system spec:
GA-H55M-USB3 rev 1.0
Intel I7-860
2x G.Skill F3-12800CL7-2GBECO

BIOS: F11 (upgraded from F7, previously F2 or 3)

ADVANCED MEMORY SETTINGS (manual):
- XMP : disabled
- System memory multi : 12.0
- Performance enhance : STANDARD
- DRAM timing select : QUICK
- Timing settings : 8-8-8-24
- everything else on auto/default

ADVANCED VOLTAGE SETTINGS:
- QPI : 1.1V
- DRAM : 1.300V
- Termination/Data & address VREF : 0.650V (half of DRAM voltage. tried this after the default 0.750V didn't get any results)

Problems:
Since bios version F2/3 I've had problems with setting the proper DRAM voltage. Specifically the voltage settings I made in bios where either disregarded and the actual voltage would not correspond to the one I had set, or I would get the red rectangle warning about bios settings (if I chose XMP for example), either on reboot or upon entering the bios and the bios settings were reset. F7 was the least problematic for me and with manual settings close to the ones I listed here, the actual DRAM voltage was actually close to the desired one. Every now & then (maybe after a longer period without turning the computer on, but it could be just random) I'd still get the red warning though and I had to redo all (or at least those in MIT) the bios settings which was annoying. That's why I upgraded to F11 hoping it would resolve the issue, but it has in fact gotten worse. Now the settings I listed seem to have no effect at all as the actual DRAM voltage is 1.552V. I tried other voltage settings between 1.5V & 1.3V but the actual voltage doesn't respond at all. Another problem only under F11 is that the monitor (hooked to HDMI of the ATI graphic card) doesn't wake up until the "SATA is found running in IDE mode" message which makes it impossible to see all the other screens that come before this one (it would wake up normally=sooner under F7). I also noticed that CPU & PCH temp don't show up in MIT (both are --), however CPU & SYS temp do show up in PC HEALTH section in case that's relevant (doesn't bother me though).

Other than this the computer seems to run fine and I haven't noticed any problems in Windows, but I REALLY want to be able to have my ram running at the proper voltage and not overvolting it. The low voltage was the main and practically only reason why I chose this ram, which makes it that much more annoying that I'm now forced to run it considerably over spec.

2 screenshots with hw info:

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

If you have any of Gigabytes bundled software installed try removing that first.

[tessman]

Hi,
I never installed any of that software.

[tessman]

Ok so the never installed software couldn't have been the problem, what else can I do to finally have the mobo actually enact the voltage settings as they're entered in the bios?

[Dark Mantis]

The next thing to try is 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.

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.

[tessman]

ok i followed your instructions to the letter, left the battery out almost two hours actually. i've also made all the changes in bios according to my preferences, except for the settings in the MIT section (where the crux of the matter is), that i left alone for the time being in case there's something specific you'll have me try. atm the monitor still wakes up quite late at the "SATA is found running in IDE mode" screen, so no changes there, hopefully the voltages will finally respond once we get to them...

[tessman]

still waiting for further instructions on how to go about the voltage (& other) settings in the MIT section. i mean i know what & how i want it set up, but i don't want to mess about in case i should be doing something specific first and my messing about before that, would cause you to have me clear the cmos again.

[Dark Mantis]

OK then, go into the MIT and set the timings for the memory manually to 8-8-8-24 and the voltage at 1.5v

[tessman]

done. actual voltage as expected is at 1.550V, but i'm ok with a 0.05V increase above the setting, as long as setting it lower will finally have an effect - target is 1.350V, i'll be ok with 1.400V. should i go ahead and try setting it lower now?

also what can i do to have the picture (re)appear sooner on power on/reboot? ever since i upgraded bios to F11 i can't see the initial screens (where the cpu, ram & disks are listed) no matter what. on a reboot for example the monitor is left without signal for so long, it goes to sleep before waking up soonest at the "sata in ide mode" warning if not at the loading os screen. i've already set the primary display adapter in bios to peg1 since my only gpu is in the first pcie port.

[Dark Mantis]

Although not really for this situation you could apply a HDD delay which should have the desired effect.

Is the memory working alright now ?

[tessman]

well in terms of stability & performance it has always worked alright, or at least i haven't noticed any problems in that regard. but i'm still not able to set the proper voltage for it - everything and anything i try appears to have absolutely no effect whatsoever. i now tried manual settings of 1.300V, 1.400V then even enabled the XPD profile and absolutely nothing happens. the actual voltage is always reported at 1.550V no matter what the setting. btw the settings in the bios do stick as after a reboot they're always like i set them the last time, so it's not like i'm just exiting bios without saving or something weird like that. how the hell is it possible that the settings are being ignored? is there any setting in the bios that absolutely has to be at a particular value or else the voltage settings are simply discarded??

[Dark Mantis]

Hi I can only think that the BIOS has a low limit on the voltage for the memory and no matter what you change it to the BIOS just ignores it if it is below that limit.

[tessman]

that would be a regression then unfortunately. version F7 (using F11 now) did respond to lower voltage settings, it would just randomly give the overclocking error upon power on every so often which is why i finally upgraded to F11 hoping this would be fixed. alas, no such luck.

[Dark Mantis]

Just wait and try the next one!

[tessman]

hehe i don't think there'll be a next one - the last update was in november 2010