Memory problems on a new build

[MWR22]

Hi,

Last week, I bought the parts to update an old computer, well really it is basically a new build because the only parts that I am using from the old one is the hard drives, keyboard and mouse. What I bought was:

- HIS HD 7790 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Gigabyte 970A-UD3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
- AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail
- XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU)
- Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black

Now at first everything seemed to be working okay, but then after a couple of days or so I checked the memory speed and noticed that it was only running at 1333 Mhz. In bios it was set to auto detect. I didn't have much time to look further at that time, but then last weekend, I got some time and found that I had made a silly mistake of putting both memory dimms on the same channel. By seperating them to the two channels, they were now auto detecting as 1600 Mhz.

However this caused problems with the running of the computer. On about two out of every three boots, it would just freeze during booting. On the times that it did boot into windows, I would get the blue screen of death within a minute or two, with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_EQUAL error.

Setting the memory speed back down to 1333 Mhz fixed these problems.

With the memory set at 1600 Mhz, running Memtest86+ would either result in the computer freezing up during test #5 or on the times that it would run through, it would report about 2096 errors during test #5 (with is the Block Move test).

I then ran out of time to try to do any more diagnosing, until today.

Today I swapped the dimms over to the over two sockets and got the same results. I then removed one dimm and tested the remaining one in each socket. I repeated these tests for the other dimm. The results of those tests were that with either dimm in the sockets for channel 1 ( DDR3_1, DDR3_3), Memtest86+ would always freeze during test # 5, when the memory speed was set to 1600 mhz. With either module in the sockets for channel 0 ( DDR3_2 , DDR3_4) then Memtest86 would run without any problems or errors.

With the memory speed set to 1333mhz then either module will run fine in any socket.

So to me, the results seem to rule out a problem with the actual memory and rather it seems to suggest something wrong with the memory controller? I'm not sure if the memory controller is on the motherboard or in the CPU with AMD?

Does anyone have any other idea of what could be the problem? All the bios settings are at default settings. With most of them on auto detect.

One other thing I noticed with the Memtest86 tests, was that if the memory speed was set to 1333mhz in bios, then on the memtest86 screen, the settings line would read : settings 800 mhz (ddr16000) , while if the memory speed was set to 16000 mhz in bios, then that settings line would be : settings 320 mhz (ddr640). It did this no matter what sockets the memory were in. I don't know if that would tell anyone anything?

Any help would be appreciated, because at the moment I don't know what if anything I need to return.

 

[MWR22]

It seems that no one knows what this could be. So could someone tell me if the memory controller is on the CPU (with AMD) or on the motherboard?

I guess I'll have to just call Overclockers on Monday and see if they can suggest anything. Just at the moment, I don't know what part is likely to be faulty. It doesn't seem like it is the memory itself, so that leaves the motherboard or the CPU, but I don't want to send back a non-faulty part.

 

[Orcvader]

Only just read it now, this part of the forums is not usually visited .

As for the RAM, they need to be in the same channel to run in dual channel mode. If you look in page 16 of the motherboard manual it advises you to place both DIMMs into the white slots (DDR3_1 and _2). Making them run in seperate channels will just make it single channel, which cuts the effective bandwidth in half.

The memory controller is on the CPU itself, but the motherboard can still cause the problem.

As for the RAM speed, some programs may read it as 666mhz/800mhz/etc as RAM is Dual Data Rate, so you usually need to double this to get the true RAM speed. What does CPU-Z report the speed as on stock settings? Is the 1600mhz speed profile XMP or JEDEC?

 

[MWR22]

Only just read it now, this part of the forums is not usually visited .

As for the RAM, they need to be in the same channel to run in dual channel mode. If you look in page 16 of the motherboard manual it advises you to place both DIMMs into the white slots (DDR3_1 and _2). Making them run in seperate channels will just make it single channel, which cuts the effective bandwidth in half.

The memory controller is on the CPU itself, but the motherboard can still cause the problem.

As for the RAM speed, some programs may read it as 666mhz/800mhz/etc as RAM is Dual Data Rate, so you usually need to double this to get the true RAM speed. What does CPU-Z report the speed as on stock settings? Is the 1600mhz speed profile XMP or JEDEC?

Thanks for replying and your help,

My motherboard manual says they have to be in separate channels for dual channel mode to work. It does say DDR3_1 and DDR3_2 (which I have them in) but it says DDR3_2 and DDR3_4 are channel 0, while DDR3_1 and DDR3_3 are channel 1.

So at the moment, I have them in DDR3_1 and DDR3_2, which are both white slots. So taking I'm okay there.

CPU_Z confirms that they are running in dual mode. So that's not a problem and it reports the current DRAM frequency as 671 mhz (NB frequency 2013.5 mhz), this is with them set to 1333 mhz in bios. Which is the only way I can get the computer to work with 8GB installed.

I have managed to get CPU_Z to run with bios left to auto detect (so 1600 mhz) and reported 800 mhz speed. So that seemed normal. But as with every time when running at that speed, windows crashed with the old blue screen soon after (if it boots, then it always crashes within a minute or two).

As I said in the first post, if I only install one memory module in either DDR3_2 or DDR3_4 (which the manual says are channel 0), then I can run it at 1600 mhz. I just can't have any memory in either of the channel 1 slots.

 

[Orcvader]

Try setting the speed and timings manually, and maybe push the DRAM voltage up to 1.55v, and see if that works. Have you got any CPU overclocks on at the moment which may affect the memory stability?

 

[MWR22]

Try setting the speed and timings manually, and maybe push the DRAM voltage up to 1.55v, and see if that works. Have you got any CPU overclocks on at the moment which may affect the memory stability?

No, nothing is overclocked. The only thing with the CPU is that it does seem to get hot even though it's running at stock speed. I only have the stock cooler so that is going to be part of it. But even with just every day load, it can reach 62 degrees (although normally doesn't go above about 58) . Under heavy load it has reached 72 degrees. At Idle the temp is around 31 degrees.

I might try changing the voltage. Just seemed strange that both modules will work in the channel 0 slots, but not channel 1. So was thinking it might be a problem with channel 1.