Problems with my Ripjaw/P55 setup

Ok so here's a tough one, I can't remember the last time I couldn't find an answer to a technical question just by reading around the internet, but this time I am out of ideas.

So I have an Intel Core I5 750, Gigabyte P55M UD2 motherboard and a 4GB set of the CAS 8 G.Skill Ripjaw memory, the set I have linked. It's worth noting that appart from a few seemingly minor glitches the system seemed fine for the first couple of days, I just had one or two perculiar errors, now I see they were signs of things to come.

The issues is as follows, I just can't get the system stable when using both sticks of memory, in the 'recommended' slots or otherwise, yet it seems fine with just 1 stick, either stick. I ran the old version of Memtest86 3.4 for over 7 hours with both sticks in yesterday, no problems, as soon as I fire up the new version 3.5 it crashes seconds into the test, every time without fail whenever 2 sticks are present, but never when only 1 is, I have run Memtest 3.5 perfectly fine with a single stick of memory in the machine.

I have tried manually setting the memory timings, auto setting them, slackening the timings off bellow spec etc, other than reducing the speed from 1333 to 1066 I've tried just about everything with the timings.

I have tried increasing PCH (North Ridge on a P55, well the only Ridge ) voltage, QPI/VTT voltage and of course DRAM Voltage it's self (first thing I tried) all beyond normal specs.

I am not overclocking at all at the moment, everything is stock.

In Windows the problem manifests it's self as regular blue screens, applications dropping out and data corruption. At first I suspected my SSD, but that's fine, it's definitely the memory, but only when 2 sticks are present.

I first used this memory last week (I bought it a week before my P55 board and I5) in a Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3+ board with a Phenom II 550BE, and no matter what I did I couldn't get that system anywhere near stable for graphics/game use.

After running Memtest and Prime95 successfully for a couple of hours though on that setup, but having chronic instability in Windows when anything graphical was involved, manifested by crashes, sometimes of just the display driver and then a recover, I concluded it was something with the board and have RMA'ed it (the Am3+ stuff wasn't from OcUK, the Memory and P55/I5 was) as faulty. At the time I didn't have another board that could take DDR3 nor did I or do I now have any other DDR3 to test with the P55 etc.

Now I cam pretty convinced it's the memory, but I can't understand why the P55 is fine with a single stick but not two. I can't believe I could have had 2 duff boards, with different chipsets running totally different cpu's from 2 different places ...yet running the same memory.

Everything else in the system is fine, everything else was used with an AM2+ system before and was perfectly fine, I tried all the AM2+ stuff out when I was having trouble with the A3+ setup, graphics card, psu, SSD etc ...and all was fine, as it was before.

So either I have had 2 flakey motherboards that are both totalyl different although both Gigabyte or the Ripjaw is to blame in all of this.

I can't understand it though, why will it run and test fine with 1 memory module but not 2, it's worth noting though that the AM3+ system wasn't working properly with 1 or 2, that just wasn't right full stop. Although at the time I suspected the memory becuase of the types of problems I was having, but I had no way to test it other than with Memtest and P95 on that board, and it did checkout fine.

Any ideas then?

I wan't to be sure about this before I RMA anything else.

2 totally different systems that will not work correctly, same graphics/ssd/optical/psu though (but I tried alternative graphics with the AM3+ system and it still wasn't right, infact it was worse with it's onboard vga, which uses system memory, which was another reason I thought it might be a ram issues then).

Have you tried running the two sticks in single channel mode?

My memory BSODs to hell if I attempt dual channel but single channel is fine (Cba to use a modded BIOS)


There's another thought, are you on the latest BIOS?

Yes I have the only Bios released for this board, bear in mind the board was only released Tuesday 8th. I have tried the board with both memory modules on the same channel, by using 2 of the same colour slots, which as far as I am aware will then operate in single channel mode (well it must), I don't think there is an option to operate single channel mode specifically, I believe it's done simply using slot selection. I'll double check that though.

Sounds like your RAM is faulty mate, I would return them for replacements.

Like you said, using both sticks in the same channel will make them run in single channel mode instead of dual channel, I haven't ever seen any BIOS'es that have a setting to change it from dual to single channel, the only way I know of is the way you have tried already.. Do they work fine in single channel mode with both sticks installed?

It sounds as though you have tried pretty much everything you can here, though it does seem a little strange how they work when tested individually, but don't want to play together in dual channel mode..

I personally would just RMA them.

Not sure if it will do anything but i also had trouble with them. If I restarted then it would turn off and then opn for 9 seconds, repeating this 3 times before booting up.

All I did was swap the RAM into the other slot and has been flawless since.

Moeks said:

I have tried the board with both memory modules on the same channel, by using 2 of the same colour slots, which as far as I am aware will then operate in single channel mode (well it must), I don't think there is an option to operate single channel mode specifically, I believe it's done simply using slot selection. I'll double check that though.

Click to expand...

You can look at the memory tab in CPUz to check what mode the RAM is running in, either single or dual.

Motherboards makers have mostly (not all the time, just most) followed this rule: In same coloured slots = dual channel (on your mobo 1 in each blue slot or 1 in each white slot). In different coloured slots = single channel (on your mobo 1 stick in a white slot and 1 in a blue slot).

I would be very surprised if the above isn't the case for your UD2 but like I said previously, it's easy to check with CPUz.

Alright, well after some more extensive testing using Metest86, which I have run all day pretty much I have come up with no errors on 1 module and quite a few on the other. They didn't show up initially, or perhaps I tested the same module twice (I was very tired and it was the early hours when I was messing around with this, so quite possible I made such a silly mistake) ...but today with fresh eyes and much more time I have turned up extensive errors on 1 module but not the other. The problems did indeed show up when running isngle channel with 2 modules, which now I have found all those errors on 1 of the modules is not surprising at all.

So problem solved, 1 of the modules is indeed knackered. Shame too, brand new pair of G.Skill Ripjaw

Thanks for your input anyway guys.

[timko], the P55 UD2 actually has a facility in the BIOS to tell what channels the memory modules are running on, it's quite nice, more detailed over the last Gigabyte Bios I used

I think I must have tested the same module twice before ...I feel like such a muppet now, a slew of error showed up within 15 minutes of testing on 1 module, the other ran for over 6 hours with none, so that's fine.

Still the AM3+ board I used before didn’t show the same errors in Memtest, but it was just as bad in it’s own way in Windows. Diagnosing memory problems feels more like an arcane art sometimes than a scientific process.

Ok, so the problem isn't solved, nor is it completely clear what is wrong, again.

So I had reached the conclusion that 1 stick of Ripjaw was bad, and 1 was good, thus I was running on the good stick yesterday without incident, yet when I fired the machine up today I was greeted by a blue screen almost immediately after hitting the login screen, then after a restart and getting to Windows I was getting random crashes from Firefox and in Windows shortly followed by a series of blue screens.

Anyway, I put Memtest back in the cd drive and start it up, this time the other stick is turning up errors a very short time into the first pass.

So I was swap the memory to the other white socket and start the test again, this time there are no errors, but Windows is still unstable and unpredictable, it ran ok for several hours, and then after I turned the machine off for a bit and turned it back on, bang, instability is back.

So, I get the other stick of ram, the one I had concluded was very bad, that was turning up a lot of errors, put it into the white socket furthest from the cpu socket and fire up Memtest86 straight away, didn't bother going into windows and a huge number of erros turn up very quickly, just as happened yesterday. So then I swap that memory stick to the other socket, and start another un of Memtest, and this time, no errors, so I swap it back to the first socket and no errors for 2 passes (I didn't run it any longer) ...yet there were a whole slew of them causing Memtest to stop before.

So I try it with both sticks again and that's where everything once again becomes very preditable, Memtest86 crashes out a few percent into the test, I think it's on about the 3rd test of the 1st pass and just forces the machine to reset. And predictable Windows is extremely unstable.

Now I don't know what to think, sometimes each of the single modules seem ok, sometimes not, both modules are pretty consistently not working correctly. The machine is not stable or predictable in any configuration using any settings (well predictably unstable with both sticks, but totally unpredictable with only one, either one).

Now I don't know what the heck is going on and I'm not sure weather the memory is at fault or the board.

Any more ideas, anyone ever had this kind of experience with memory before, I have had problems in the past but they have always been predictable and easily reproducible, this time, all that is easily reproduicable is the serious instability with both sticks, the other 2 sticks seems to be good or bad from one hour to the next, from one reboot to the next and from one memory slot to the next. I am very puzzled now.

All I can say right now is GRRRR.

Could be faulty memory slots on the board, had that issue a few years ago on an abit board.

Yea, I have a feeling you may be right beefy, in light of what happended wth the other Gigabyte AM3+ board I have on RMA now with another company, I'm not convinced though.

I've switched to Memtest86+ 2.11 now, apparently the newer version I was using is known to contain bugs, and 2.11 has Lynfield support now so I'm using that. This version is only throwing a complete fit of errors when both sticks are in and in duel channel, despite what it says though, the system is not Windows stable in any configuration. I do suspect it's more like the board at this stage, but I can't shake the feeling that the memory isn't right either, after all, this board been bad does not explain the trouble I was having with the other board I tried this memory in.

I've ordered a new pair of Corsair memory modules off OcUK today, so I will test with those tomorrow and see what happens. It's the stuff OcUK use in their bundles so should rule out any compatibility issues (not that I would expect that with the new Ripjaw and any P55 board yet).

If my Ripjaw is bad, I’ll just get refunded by OcUK for it and use the Corsair, if it's the board, then I'll probably order another board myself before I RMA it and do the same with that (I hate waiting, and it's really annoying having my main dekstop out of commission)

Just too rule out all other possibilities I have tried a spare PCI-E graphics card I have lying around for emergencies, same results with that as my 8800GT (I know it works fine but I wanted to be 100%) and in the other PCI-E slot, I have also ordered a new Power supply, again there isn't anything wrong with mine but I was going to get a new one soon anyway (as mine is over 3 years old) and move mine to spare status, so I did it today, should receive it tomorrow and I can 100% rule that out too then, I even ordered a new optical drive, (only £16 so what the heck) ...because I have had mysterious problems in the past (socket A days) with a motherboard just not liking a particular optical drive, although none of the problems I have had point towards that, I'd expect to see problems installing Windows and other things off cd/Dvd if that was the case, and I have had no issues like that. But just to be totally sure.

So in a few more days I will have done a load more testing and exhausted every possibility by changing 'everything' short of my mains feed (I did try a different plug bar actually )

I'm pretty sure I will end up a fair bit out of pocket over what I otherwise would have spent, and I know if stuff I send for RMA turns up not to be the problem, like the board I already have on RMA with another company I will end up with a surplus of parts. I will I sell what I don't need/want of course, but I'll lose money on that I know, hopefully not too much. I can see myself ending up with a load of motherboards and a stack of memory I don't need at this rate

Still, can't say I'm not thorough, I prefer to do this myself than just hand the whole lot to anyone else for testing and rely on them.

I could actually rebuild my media machine/server into a more modern DDR3 based system at this rate, I never planned to, but with all these parts I'm likely to end up with ...it might be worth it. Infact having a second system using the same memory type would have saved me a lot of trouble thus far, as I could have tested on that too and worked out what the problem was that way.

Can't you RMA the Ripjaw? I honestly doubt it's the motherboard.

Yea, I can do, I'll stick that Corsair in tomorrow and see what happens, if it's all hunky dory I will RMA the Ripjaw, I don't quite know what to think right now tbh.

We'll see I suppose. I know I could have just sent my board, memory and cpu back to OcUK and let them test it together and see what they find, but I'd much rather do it myself and RMA the part that needs it only.

DO NOT TRUST MEMTEST86 3.5 for 2 stick of memory.

Sorry about the caps but there is a known problem with Memtest86 3.5 that causes the computer to restart. I found this. Try downloading the latest version of Memtest86+ and Windows Memory Diagnostics to do the memory testing (or even use Memtest86 3.4). If Memtest86 3.5 found errors on one stick then yes it may well be faulty, but it can't handle 2 or more sticks for some reason and hasn't been updated recently to fix the issue.

Just thought I'd warn you before you send back a non-faulty motherboard.

Aye, thanks for the warning, I was doing some reading about Memtest myself lastnight, and found out what you told me. I've switched to Memtest86+ v2.11 now, seems to be the best bet with Lynfield support.

No probs man. Here's a link to my original thread if you want a read: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18001546

Ok, well it 'looks' (I am ..wary about saying this now) like I have found and solved the problem, it does indeed seem to have been the G.Skill Ripjaw that is banjaxed, I got my new Corsair this morning, put in and fired Memtest straight up, but before I did that I ran the G.Skill again right before, in duel channel mode and of course by test 4 it failed, lots of red and over 100 errors, the Corsair passed an entire pass no problems.

Now it remains to be seen weather this Windows install, which I did with knackered memory, is ok or not. So far so good though.

I'm glad it wasn't the board, looks like my AM3+ board will be coming back from RMA too, I doubt there are any issues with it, not sure what to do with that and the Phenom II 550 BE I have lying around now, maybe I'll use them for my media machine/server and sell the C2D setup I am using for it now, dunno yet.

I still may buy that ASRock board I linked, but not yet, besides I still can't do any real overclocking to find the limits of the little UD2 or my I5 since Noctua haven't even said weather they will send me a new fitting bracket yet, all they have done is acknowledge my request. So it could take a while.

All in all, I am pleased that I seem to have nailed it so far. I will RMA the G.Skill to OcUK and ge a refund on it I think, looking at it next to the Corsair the Ramsinks look and feel a bit naff anyway. If I keep that Am3+/Phenom II setup for my other machine I'll probably get another set of this Corsair for it.

Slightly off topic though, that Antec Signature 650w psu I bought aswell, wow, lovely piece of kit, beautifully made and packaged, very impressive, quiet too at the loads I'm putting on it ...I thought I might notice it over my old Enermax Liberty as it has an 80mm fan rather than a 120mm, but nope, it's quieter than anything else in my machine still. At £83 or so from OcUK it's a fair deal for a psu of this 'apparent' quality.