Z68A-D3H-B3 Issues need help.

[JHouse0386]

So first my rig.

Mainboard : Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3
Chipset : Intel Z68
Processor : Intel Core i7 2600K @ 3400MHz
Physical Memory : 8192MB (4 x 2048 DDR3-SDRAM )
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Hard Disk : Western Digital WD10EADS-00L5B1 ATA Device (1000GB)
Hard Disk : Western Digital WD10EARX-00N0YB0 ATA Device (1000GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : _NEC DVD+-RW ND-3650A
Monitor Type : Acer X223W - 22 inches
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7600 (64-bit)
DirectX : Version 11.00

First issue.  Small
The processor is suppose to come overclocked at 3800 mhz.
It doesnt want to boot like this.  Overclocking/voltage issues.
I understand this.  This is legit an overclock.  Thats fine.

Second issue.  Moderate.
The Memory I bought is 2133mhz.  This mother board supports 2133 without overclocking.  Yet the mobo auto sets the frequency to 1600 and if I try to manually change it to 2133 again it wont boot and I Need to try to boot 5 times and then it resets it to 1600 and finally boots.  This I do not understand.  The board supports 2133 and I am running 2133 so what is the deal?

Third issue.  I have 2 550 TIs in SLI yet Nvidia Control Panel doesnt recognize SLI even though windows and the control panel both recognize that I have 2 video cards installed.  I hear this is a common issue going on though.

More or Less I would like to get my memory running at 2133 and I would like to get my SLI working.  though the SLI might be more of a Nvidia issue.  So Lets work on my Memory Frequency first.  Can someone please help?

P.S. I am pretty sure my board came with smart tuneing to over clock inside of windows but again it wont boot afterwards.  I am not interested in over clocking as much as I am interested in my Memory running at proper frequency and not being forcefully underclocked by the bios.

[Fatman]

Nice rig! Now what is it you want to do with it, overclock it to do benchmarking to try get the biggest scores? Because you will see NO difference running @1600. To get it running @2133 I think you need to overclock your system. Do you have XMP enabled?

Cpu @3800 is when Turbo mode kicks in when applications need it , otherwise it will downclock, unless you turn off all the power saving in Bios like EIST etc.

[JHouse0386]

Not really worried about over clocking it just want it to run all my games smoothly is all.  Wanna play my BF3 on high settings ETC.

My main issue is why would I need to OC my Memory?  The board supports 2133 without OC.... the memory is 2133.  Shouldnt it just work?  Why is the BIOS force underclocking the memory?

[JHouse0386]

so I turned XMP on profile 2 and the memory is now running at proper frequency.  So am I over clocking or not?  why does the mobo auto underclock me to 1600.  Something I dont understand for sure.

[Fatman]

I think the board will clock @1600 for ram greater than 1600Mhz, and 1333Mhz for 1600 speed ram. I think (I'm not an O'clocker) running your ram @2133mHZ is overclocking it even though that is what it is spec at. I could be wrong and will stand corrected on this though.

[JHouse0386]

2 reboots later it doesnt want to boot and forces the memory back down to 1600 even tho XMP is on profile 2 2133.

[Fatman]

Take a look here http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclocking/39184-p67-sandy-bridge-overclocking-guide-beginners.html it may help you out a bit!

[JHouse0386]

upped that voltage like you said again the thing just didnt want to boot at all.  Is it too much to ask for my 2133 to run at 2133 with a board that supports 2133? lol whats going on GIGABYTE.  I dont want to OC my CPU just get my RAM to run as it should.

[JHouse0386]

got it to boot in profile 2 with the proper timings and frequency again. This bios is tempermental to say the least.

[Fatman]

A lot of it will depend upon voltages for stability. If you read that link you will have a better understanding esp post 5.

[Fatman]

At the end of the day if your just gaming then running your Bios at default with you memory running at 1866 or even 1600, you won't see any difference.

Even though your car can go at 200mph, does that mean you have to run it at that?

[JHouse0386]

So I ran Prime95 to stress Test and noticed my CPU is running at an ALARMING 97 degrees while stress testing. 50 right now while not stress testing.   Think I am having some other issues besides this memory

[JHouse0386]

45 now while not doing anything.  97 during a stress test though? really?

[Fatman]

What kind of airflow do you have through your case? Have you got all your cables managed to maximize air flow? Do you have a front fan, side fan blowing onto your CPU and GPU, a rear fan for extraction and maybe one on top of your case to exhaust hot air? What kind of a case do you have??

[Fatman]

45 now while not doing anything.  97 during a stress test though? really?

Yes because it is pushing all cores to 1oo%