GigaByte GA-990FXA-UD3/G.Skill 1866 mhz memory ??

[jimdot]

Can anyone give me a simple set of instruction of what BIOS settings to change in order to get my system running using the stated memory speeds of of my memory modules?? I am a newbee to doing all this stuff & do not understand all the settings & terminology. Currently I managed to get the memory  running at 1600mhz with one simple change but once I set the clock speed to 1866 then the system doesn't boot & other settings need to be changed. I just don't know which ones & what to change them to. Here is what I have in the system;

- GigaByte GA-990FXA-UD3
- G.Skil Ripjaws DDR3-1866 PC3-14900, 4096MB x 4(16GBs), CL9-10-9-28
- CPU is AMD FX-8150

Not really interested in big time overclocking, just want memory running at stated speed.

Any help would be MUCH!!! appreciated. Thanks allot in advance,

Jim

[spwanasin]

Hey,

I have to exact same problems as you.

This is my post that I just posted http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/768069.aspx

Check up on it, hopefully someone will post back soon.

[jimdot]

Hey, thanks for the reply spwanasin. I will go check your post out indeed. If you get your rig up & going would you mind posting back here & telling me exactly what settings you used & anything else that might be pertenent to know about?? I would soooo much appreciate that!!! If I get mine up & running I will do the same in kind for you.

Thanks a bunch & have a great day!!!

Jim
Dayton, Ohio

[absic]

Hi Jim,

the first thing I would do is make sure that the BIOS is the latest version.

After that I would do a complete check of the RAM Modules using MemTest86+ just to make sure that there are no problems with them. You'd be surprised at how many problems with getting the correct RAM speeds and timings comes down to a faulty module.

If you are sure that everything is OK with the RAM and BIOS then you need to set the Memory clock to the correct setting to give you 1866MHz. You may also need to raise the RAM Voltage a little above that specified to get stability. If it is rated at 1.50V try raising it to 1.55 - 1.6V. I would suggest leaving the timings at AUTO at this stage until you get the RAM running without problems.

[jimdot]

Hi Absic,

Good to hear from you. My BIOS is the latest unless it's changed since last week already. We had a discussion about that in another post. You suggested I try taking my board to a local store, which I did. They only charged me $20.00 & it took them about 15 min. & I was on my way back home. Pretty good, Huh?

I'll go run memtest86+ when I'm done here. Presuming that my RAM is okay, are you sayin thst if I have my memory clock set to 1866 that the ONLY settings I should have to be changing right now is the RAM voltage? That's it?!! I hope it's that simple

[absic]

Hi Jim,

yes, that's pretty much it.

I'm not sure what the voltage rating for your RAM is and the only G Skill kits I have seen, seem to want the voltage at 1.6. By default the motherboard will set the RAM voltage to 1.5 and if, when you check in BIOS, this is the case then raise the RAM Voltage to 1.6V and hopefully this will solve the problem. When you unlock the voltage control options you will get a red warning message about over volting the system but don't worry about this as you will be setting the RAM to the correct rating.

Pleased you found a local store to flash the BIOS for you and yes, I have to say that is a pretty impressive turnaround. I wish shops in England would work the same way!

[jimdot]

I ran the memtest86+ for about an Hour and a half. I was on Test# 8 when I stopped it. I really didn't know what I was looking at the screen but about mid way down the screen there were some report like column headers. Under the ERRORS it reported 258,560 before I shut it down. What??!!! Can that be??!!! It seems pretty farfetched to me. Can you explain? Anyway, right now I'm running just fine at 1600 MHz with 1.500v and CAS timings at 9-10-9-28 which is the spec on the ram.

When I tested at 1866 MHz I did as you instructed set the volts at 1.555v first, and moved up the scale to 1.600v with no luck. On each reboot I would get 2 beeps, wait a few seconds then I'd get back to the BIOS post. I just set everything back for the 1600Mhz so I could get back on and correspond with you here again.

So here I am all broken hearted    I have not a clue as to where to go from here

??

Jim

[absic]

Hi Jim,

Sorry to be a pain but you really need to verify what is happening with MemTest by running it properly.

You need to test each stick, individually for at least 10 passes. Yes, I know, that takes ages but it is the only way of being sure that each stick is OK.
If you get any errors at all then the RAM has failed the test and you will need to RMA the whole kit.

Can you post back with a link to your RAM so I can check the proper spec's for you?

[jimdot]

Thanks Absic. That's okay pain or not I'll do whatever it takes to get this right. I'm kind of stubborn about things like this, but if that's what it takes then that's what we'll do!!! So you say I need to pull all but 1 of my stick, test it for 10, then pull that 1, put the next stick in, test it on so on & so on.... Then any errors RMA the whole kit back G.Skill??

The link for My Memory kit: http://gskill.com/products.php?index=379

Thanks for all your help. You probably get tired of us neophites 

Jim

[absic]

Hi Jim,

yes, you've got the idea. One stick in the DDR3_1 slot, test it for 10 passes. If it's OK swap it for the next stick and so on until you have tested all 4 sticks. Any errors on any of the sticks and the kit has failed the test. Hopefully, if there are any problems it will show up on the first stick and not the last! 

OK checking the spec's for your RAM it should run at 1866MHz with the voltage set at 1.5. If possible, remove all but one stick of RAM and then set the RAM Multiplier and BIOS settings to this BEFORE running MemTest. Another thing I noticed is that this RAM is meant for Intel boards, it doesn't appear on the Gigabyte QVL and your motherboard isn't listed either and that could be why you are having these problems.

If you find that you can't set the RAM speed to 1866MHz with only one RAM module in place without getting the Overclock warning then contact Gigabyte Tech Support as you should be able to with the FX8150 CPU that you have and the problem could be due to the BIOS.

[jimdot]

Okay. Thanks I've gottta go run some errands for the day so you probably won't hear back from me until sometime tomorrow. I'll check the post though when I get back. If you think of anything between now & tomorrow just post it.

[spwanasin]

Hey guys,

If I have 1, or 2 sticks in they run at 1866 just fine. When I put 3 sticks in the motherboard, refuses to boot and tells me that there should be a 4th one. I still haven't tested each of sticks on  memtest86+, I'll do that later on today as well.

Thanks for all of your help absic

[absic]

That's interesting and it makes me wonder if there is a possible limitation with the higher speed RAM running in all 4 slots.

I know that in some instances it was recommended to use only two sticks of RAM when going above certain speeds but I thought that would only apply to the earlier AMD processors  and AM2/2+/3 motherboards not the AM3+ boards or FX CPU's

As I advised earlier it really would be a good idea for you both to get in touch with Tech Support about this. It will probably take a few days for them to respond but they may not even be aware of this happening.

[jimdot]

Absic,

Okay. I lied. Im back. I've tested all 4 sticks of memory with MemTest. 3 of the 4 sticks have passed MemTest86+ 100% good. The 4th stick is definatley bad,,, 1000nds of errors. I have put 2 of the good sticks back in the machine & I'm successfully running at 1866MHz with timings & DRAM voltage exactly to G.Skill specs. Now I come to a new issue. What happens if I put the 3rd good stick in given we are talking dual channel memory here. I know I've read some things on that topic but just cant recall the specifics??? Seems like I read where they may run but at reduced performane. Something like that anyway. Is my thinking in the right direction about that.

When I RMA to G.Skill, I asume they will want the entire kit back not wanting to replace just one module??? Maybe that's what I want to come also think of it. I think the kits are matched by some criteria. I dunno for sure?

[jimdot]

Hey spwanasin,

The motherboard is designed, I believe, to run in dual channel mode only, therefore you either have to fill 2 mem slots or all 4 or they do not play right. Tripple channel memory is Intel teritory. Also, the AMD are designed around dual channel memory only.

I'm pretty certain I'm correct about that but I'll let Absic chime in here & correct me if I'm wrong. Right now I have 8 gigs running happily at 1866MHz as they are supposed. Of course I have a bad stick of memory out of the 4 so I am gonna have to do an RMA with G.Skill & wait for them to send me a new 16gb set. Booooo!!!!!!!!!! I believe(I hope ) once I get all 4 good sticks that everything will fall into place and work just fine. PLease