Triple-channel DDR3 won't boot

Dusty211 · 23 Mar 2009 at 17:30

Hi all,

I recently received a replacement mobo EVGA x58 sli board, as on the previous faulty board only 1 ram slot functioned. Im now installing 6gb DDR3 Corsair Dominator 1600mhz with an i7 920 and EVGA GF 295, but the pc will only POST with 1 x 2gb stick of ram installed. It will boot with any of the 3 sticks in any of the 3 coloured slots, so all the dimm slots and ram sticks work fine, yet it shuts itself off as soon as its switched on if 2 or 3 sticks are installed. The bios is set to power off on all errors, but im guessing it isn't wise to disable this as it will probably damage the system.

The bios has been fully flashed to EVGA's most recent one, i've set the ram timings to 8-8-8-24, command rate 2T, dimm voltage to 1.65V and even changed to frequency to 1600mhz manually, yet if i put in any extra ram it powers itself off instantly. I've contacted OC support and they were unable to help any more than this far, so i have no idea how to get the system to boot with 6gb instead of 2. It's running 100% stable with 1 stick in as well and i've tried installing all 3 sticks in the other paired slots also. I haven't tried upping the NB voltage; would this make a difference? And which part of the bios does the NB voltage come under as i've been unable to find it.

Any ideas much appreciated :confused:

Ohnoezfail · 23 Mar 2009 at 18:47

Try raising the voltage only A LITTLE, since 1.65v is usually enough for DDR3.
or maybe raising the timings or reducing the frequency a little bit to see if it works.
You should be able to change the voltage under "PC Health Status".

I'm not an expert on Memory/Motherboard configurations though, but some ideas.

Surely someone more experienced will come along

Dusty211 · 24 Mar 2009 at 11:14

well i wont take the ram voltage any higher than 1.65V, could try the Northbridge a little

djay · 24 Mar 2009 at 23:14

Have you tried upping the QPI/VTT voltage a little? Try maybe 1.35 for starters. On my Gigabyte board i need to put mine to 1.4 to be completely stable when running my ram at 1440mhz.

Dusty211 · 25 Mar 2009 at 18:17

tried increasing the voltages to 1.3 and 1.4 but didnt make any difference. Still shuts off with all the ram in

Yellowbeard · 26 Mar 2009 at 19:50

Can you list your complete system specifications including a link to your PSU spex? What you are describing could be power related.

w3bbo · 26 Mar 2009 at 19:54

Have you tried putting all of the ram in the green slots only? This is the correct configuration for most mothebroards.

Dusty211 · 26 Mar 2009 at 20:20

Yeah i put the ram in all the green slots.

My full system spec is:

Intel i7 920 w/ Noctua NH-U12P
Corsair 6gb Dominator 1600mhz 8-8-8-24
EVGA x58 Sli
EVGA Geforce 295
Tagan Piperock 900W
Antec 1200
WD 150gb Raptor

From what i can tell there doesn't seem to be any problems with the hardware anymore after replacing the motherboard. It looks more to be a voltage issue as when i was changing the bios settings, if i hadnt increased the voltage enough on the QPI and changed the MCH strap to 1600mhz, then instead of saving and restarting it saved and shutdown (using the power off on all errors feature of the mobo). After having upped the voltage and the mch strap it no longer powers itself off and is working 100% stable. It just won't POST with more than 1 stick of ram in. Would it be worth trying to up the voltage to 1.4 as djay has suggested? It's currently set to either 1.3 or 1.35 (forget what i left it on

) which he said for him was not enough.