Misbehaving BIOS?

setter · 16 Jul 2013 at 11:23

1.5v is reccomended for lower speeds, ie 666 x 2 = 1332mhz, to run the ram at it's rated 1600mhz speed it requires 1.65v. Some later triple channel 1600mhz kits are rated for lower voltage, usually 1.5v. 1.66v is fine on any kit rated for it, id also try running at 2T command rate, this can be changed under the DRAM timing control menu, iirc the options are listed as 1N and 2N. I could run 1T ok on a 6gb set, but when i moved to 12gb in a 3x4 config, i couldnt get that kit to run stable at 1T.

wazza300 · 16 Jul 2013 at 11:26

those are the jedec rated voltages for the speeds

so 444mhz x2 = 888mhz @1.5v

592mhz x2 = 1184mhz @1.5v

666mhz x2 = 1332mhz @1.5v

and lastly the x.m.p profile 800mhz x2 = 1600mhz @1.65v

the 980x has a better imc so you might be able to lower dram/vtt later on and uncore freq is twice your memory multi or maybe one or two clicks less as its a 980x cpu

so 8x ram multi = 16x uncore freq,or maybe 15x or 14x whatevers the most stable

GazzaMataz · 16 Jul 2013 at 12:49

IMC = Internal Memory Controller?

So what you are basically saying is that to run the memory at 1600MHz you need a voltage supply to allow this i.e. 1.65v?

the 980x has a better imc so you might be able to lower dram/vtt later on and uncore freq is twice your memory multi or maybe one or two clicks less as its a 980x cpu

so 8x ram multi = 16x uncore freq,or maybe 15x or 14x whatever is the most stable

Sorry, this bit is over my head…

So why are Crucial selling memory which needs only 1.5v and runs at 1600mhz? Whenever I used to upgrade other machines I never had any of these problems - REMEMBER - I am not overclocking this machine.

setter · 16 Jul 2013 at 12:57

Correct, on early triple channel ram kits 1.65v was the norm. Some later kits used lower voltages. For uncore clock, (UCLK Frequency), this should be 2x your ram speed, on an asus board, . If you look at my screenshot above note that my ram is at 1603mhz.

1603 x 2 = 3206, mine does show at 3208 but this is still fine. In my case this was an 8x multiplier on the memory, 200 being the base clock of the cpu.

GazzaMataz · 16 Jul 2013 at 13:56

Is it worth using any of those XMP profiles? Not that I have a clue what to set them too…

wazza300 · 16 Jul 2013 at 14:25

there's nothing wrong with using 1.65v,it will need that at 1600mhz as that's what the memory is rated at

x.m.p is a memory profile if you set it and use profile 1 it will set the speed to 1600mhz and the rated timings and dram voltage to 1.65v

it won't set the dram/vtt though

GazzaMataz · 25 Jul 2013 at 15:11

OK, I took out 6gb of RAM without touching the voltages and the machine played nicely (plucking up the courage to up the voltages as recommended). Kinda figured that it worked all the time with 6gb, so left it at that for a while.

Then it done it's usual after two weeks and suddenly wouldn't boot. So I took all the RAM out and booted waiting for the sound of no RAM present (one continuous beep followed by two short beeps) but it didn't happen. Tried several times but my logic board thinks it still has RAM in it - huh?

In the past I found that once it beeped it was OK to put the RAM back and then it would work.

Is it shagged?

Actually I noticed a button on the mobo which is called MEMOK! It says if it is on all the time the memory is incompatible which it is when it doesn't boot. Is it worth testing with this button or a waste of time? I notice that it switches off on successful boot.

wazza300 · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:23

memok button just cycles through settings/dram voltage till it finds a stable setting then boots

I think you need to up the dram v and qpi/vtt first then see how it performs

GazzaMataz · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:28

Yeah, but why doe it not beep when no memory installed at all? I was going to get a SSD drive for this machine but now I thinking replacement mobo it seems a bit dodgey.

wazza300 · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:32

did you reboot it a few times with no memory?

GazzaMataz · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:38

Yes... Once it beeped I put the memory in and it behaved…

Surely it shouldn't do this? Does it sound like a dodgey mobo? I am also thinking that when I first bought it in April 2011 it was over-clocked perhaps with these memory settings you suggest which crashed my 3D app, perhaps if I upped the voltages it would start causing the same problems…

Gonna check with Overclockers to see if they touched the RAM and up the voltages anyway, if it dies I guess I have to buy an i7 3970 bundle :-)

GazzaMataz · 29 Jul 2013 at 16:26

Checked with Overclockers and they didn't touch the RAM so I am still wondering why the machine doesn't 'BEEP' when no memory is present in which case have I got a dodgey mobo?

GazzaMataz · 1 Aug 2013 at 16:31

OK. Machine wouldn't boot even with 6gb RAM and no voltage tweaks. Turned machine completely off then back on again - it booted. Set the voltages as recommended and rebooted with 6gb RAM it was slow but made it to Windows. Turned the machine off and installed all six RAM modules - won't boot at all.

Does this sound like a shagged motherboard? I am getting so ****ed off with this problem :-(

wazza300 · 1 Aug 2013 at 16:36

lookslike it to me

could look around for another second hand x58 board

GazzaMataz · 1 Aug 2013 at 16:46

It's still under warranty, but I don't know what that they will do they don't make these boards anymore.

Thanks for all your help wazza - I appreciate it :-)

Still wondering if it is those chips being 1.65v - the printed voltage on the mem sockets says 1.5…

wazza300 · 1 Aug 2013 at 16:48

they will repair it,and they might have some refurbed ones sitting on the shelf idk

I cant think whatelse it can be you've tried everything you can

GazzaMataz · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:41

Well I'll go to the foot of my stairs. I put all the RAM back in and left the machine for two hours. Came back and it booted up fine...

Will somebody tell me what is wrong with my system?

Seems like the voltage thing doesn't make a difference it still has boot problems. I think I will opt for getting 1.5v RAM 3x4 and see if that behaves. It doesn't matter since it will mean I can upgrade the computer to 24gb later rather than the 12gb I have now.

GazzaMataz · 3 Aug 2013 at 09:24

OK, spoke to any engineer and when I told him the symptoms he said that the board is cracked (although you cannot see it) and thus the memory is not being detected.

Does this sound like the fault

wazza300 · 3 Aug 2013 at 12:21

it can crack the copper traces inside the printed circuit board

esp if the board flexes or bends

also it can be bent cpu socket pins,the integrated memory controller is inside the cpu so bent pins = missing memory

same as an overtightened cpu cooler,it can cut off the signal to the memory banks = missing memory

GazzaMataz · 3 Aug 2013 at 20:50

it can crack the copper traces inside the printed circuit board esp if the board flexes or bends

Seems like the machine always boots first thing in the morning and if I turn it off in the afternoon and reboot it don't. If I leave it for a couple of hours it will boot. Perhaps it is something that gets hot and warps enough to cause the no boot scenario. It is a weird intermittent fault.

also it can be bent cpu socket pins, the integrated memory controller is inside the cpu so bent pins = missing memory

Don't think it could be this as I have had an i7 950 and and i7 980 in this machine and both had the same boot problems and I didn't put the i7 950 in.

same as an overtightened cpu cooler,it can cut off the signal to the memory banks = missing memory

Don't think it could be this one either for the same reasons as above.

Anyway the board is going back to China or wherever to be fixed/replaced I only hope that it fixes this problem. What is annoying is that it will take upto 28 days for the replacement /repair. So was thinking get a replacement board in the meantime but they are so scarce...