new build GA-880GMA-USB3 FX 6100 16gb ram monitor (no signal)

[jabberwocky]

above board with a new FX6100, along with 16gb (4x4) of 1600 ddr3 ram .
memory is on gigabytes reccomended list , board supports FX 6100 (with F3 BIOS) , but cannot get a signal on the monitor ,that works fine with other PCs .
tried taking 2 ram sticks out ,no change .
the board apparently needs bios F3 to support FX chips ,but I cannot tell cos no screen = no bios adjustments or updates . double and triple checked every connection ,but all ok ,pc fires up all componants spinning ,CPU heatsink gets warm ,as expected .
anyone had this problem before .
need a cuppa ,getting too stressed ......help please .

[absic]

Hi there,

from your description I would suspect that your BIOS needs to be flashed before it will recognise the FX 6100 processor and of course, you will need a CPU that is supported to do this.

Do you have a motherboard speaker attached? Are you getting any POST beeps to indicate an error?

[jabberwocky]

gosh that was ,quick ,thank you absic ,I assumed i would be able to get into bios ragardless ,and would be able to upgrade the bios ,but as things stand ,it looks like a cpu change just to get the bios flashed .is it common to have no monitor signal if cpu is not recognised.
thanks again , graham

[absic]

Hi Graham,

Yes, usually if the CPU isn't supported you get the kind of thing that you are experiencing. If you have a motherboard speaker attached you will also usually get a series of single beeps, just like the power error to indicate the problem.

[jabberwocky]

thanks ,I have a am3 phenom 955 and sink lying around somewhre I will dig it out and try it ASAP .
GET BACK WITH ANY RESULTS LATER ON .

thanks , Graham

[jabberwocky]

Thanks Absic ,switching proccessors worked , was able to update the bios from F1 to F3. THATS stage one complete ,I dont see any reason why the new FX proccesor would not work now . but I am all out of cooling paste ,so it will be another day before I get it up and running , one more question if I may ,the memory is corsair veangence ddr3 1600 @1.5 volt , when I was in the bios I had a quick look at the memory settings and they are set to auto ,but changing to manual it showed 1.6v (default ) without altering anything .what would you set it at ,or is it safe to leave on auto.
thanks again.

[absic]

I don't have your motherboard but I am running 16GB of Vengeance on the GA-990FXA-UD5 at 1600MHz with 1.50V and they are fine.

Running at 1.60V won't present a major problem and this may have been done to improve system stability. If you lower the voltage to 1.5 and have problems booting then increase the voltage up a little at a time until everything is stable. I wouldn't try running at 1600MHz with the 955 though and I would leave this until you have the 6100 up and running.

[Steve66a]

I do have your board w/16g ripsaw 1600 4x4 - FX 6100. You do need F3 first for the FX chip & you will need to set the memory in the bios if 1600 - the default is 1333. Just set it to 800 & leave the rest on auto, haven't seen any improvement tweaking the memory yet.
So far so good - running win 8 there's some improvement over win 7. The build you can download is realy meant for a touch screen, so there's a bit of a learning curve = keyboard. That said, the 6100 is a step back from the 955be - I used the 955 from the GA-MA785GMT-US2H this board replaced. There are some instruction issues with the FX - win 8 seems to solve some of these glitches. The bad - win 8 is no where near prime time.
With some luck, big letters LUCK, we might see a patch or new firmware.
I can run this chip at 3900, 19.5x, without problems. When we run a 4gig rendering at it, it does as well or better than anything we have I5 2500 or I7 920.... Fuel efficent? NOT.....
There's more to these chips than we know. They're still a mystery...........

[jabberwocky]

state of play , FX6100 up and running stock cooler ,32 c after 40 mins of light running ,but I cannot get the memory to work above 1333, altering the voltage from 1.6 to 1.5  (1.5 is whats printed on the memory sticks) has no real problems but as soon as I up the clock to x8 for 1600 ,I get boot failure, with a warning about "failure due to overclocking" ,yet this is supposed to be the native speed of te ram thats fitted.
I had previousely had to update the bios with a phenom 955 BE AND 2 RAM sticks fitted , do you think that clearing the CMOS will need to be done . or am I doomed to have lower ram speed dispite the memory being reccomended by Gigabyte for this board .

[absic]

Hi again,

Have you tested the RAM with MemTest to make sure you haven't got any faulty sticks? If not, this is the first thing you really need to do.Test each stick individually in slot DDR3_1 for at least 10 passes. This is time consuming but the only way of properly eliminating the RAM as the basic cause of the problem. If any of the sticks fail you will need to RMA the whole kit.

[jabberwocky]

thanks ,I will try that ,a few hints though , 1st where do I get Memtest , 2. does it run from windows  or floppy/usb etc. and finally do  I run it a 1600 or default 1333 and work up .sorry to be a pain .
graham
oops should use google more often ,just answered the first two myself .

[absic]

Never a pain Graham and we all have to learn.

You can download MemTest from here: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso depending on which method you prefer you can either create a bootable USB Drive or burn the image to a CD. MemTest runs outside of Windows so you will need to boot either from the CD drive or the USB Drive by pressing the F12 key when you start the PC (like pressing the del key to enter BIOS) to get the BOOT Options menu up.

When you click the above link download the 2nd item which is a ZIP file containing the ISO Image which you will need to extract from the folder.
If you are going to use a USB Stick the you also need to download the 5th item from the MemTest Download page. When you run this programme it will copy the ISO image onto the USB stick and make it bootable for you.
When you press F12 and get to the BOOT Menu you need to BOOT from the USB_HDD if using a USB drive

I would test at 1600MHz at 1.50V as this is what the RAM is rated to run at. Remember though, test one stick at a time.

[Steve66a]

Try the clear cmos first. Could be some mistake in it that you can't see - trust me, I've been there many times. I take it you never get past the bios screen & you get the "failure due to overclocking", if true \/

Test the memory outside the OS. Use the usb as absic describes in his post. This is the most accurate way.

What memory are you using, brand, etc............

[jabberwocky]

corsair veangence  CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B   ddr3 1600, it took ages (well into the night) but I tested each of the 4 sticks  the tests did not throw up any errors at all. I have built many PCs going back to 2003 ,but until now memory has allways been accepted and worked at the correct speeds ,this is new to me and I dont have any interest in over clocking ,but the memory I have is reccommended by gigabyte for this board ,surely it should work at stock speed out of box .
so far all I have tried is altering the ram speed (multiplyer) to x8, this shows the ram at 1600 .but when I exit and save I get the warning "fail to boot due to overclocking" it shows the speed as "current ram speed 1333" .if I go back into bios ,its still at what I set it (1600) I am not familiar with overcolocking and dont want to push either ram or processor ,but I bought the kit to have "what it says on the box" no more or less.
are there other safe methods to achieve the rated speed?.
Details off the label are as follows : •SPD Latency: 9-9-9-24 •Tested Latency: 9-9-9-24 •Memory Type: DDR3 •Speed Rating: PC3-12800 (1600MHz) •Tested Speed: 1600Mhz .
do I need to use ganged or unganged is another question . bios are the latest (F3) I still find it strange that on auto ,the bios sets the voltage at 1.600v for 1333 ,and corsair have the voltage listed at 1.500v  for the rated 1600.

[absic]

Hi Graham,

I have to say that I am at a loss to understand why you are having this issue and as you say, you would expect things to work properly. I am even more confused now as I have just been looking through the User's Manual for your motherboard and it states:

Support for DDR3 1866(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules

Nowhere does it mention support for1600MHz RAM and the same goes for the Motherboard's specification on the website here: http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3817&dl=1#sp

This is made even more confusing as Steve66a has his 1600MHz RAM running fine by just adjusting the Memory clock to X8.00 to reach this.

Have you raised a support ticket with Gigabyte Technical Support? If not I would advise you to do this as it can take them several days to reply, you can do that here. http://ggts.gigabyte.com/tech.asp?ClassID=2&Country=U.K.&SourceWeb=B2C

The best advice I can offer at the present is that you leave the RAM running at the default speed of 1333MHz. That way you can at least use the system and wait and see what advice Tech Support gives about this.