EP45-UD3P Ram Question

[b_d0za]

I just built a new system a few days ago using the items listed in my signature and got it up and running stable with the following settings:

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 8
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.20GHz (400x8)

Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 400
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: 100
C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]

Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 800
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<< 0
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<< 0

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: 400
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00D
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................4
tRCD .........................................4
tRP'...........................................4
tRAS..........................................12
Set all Suggested below to highest Values first. Then later you can lower, one at a time, testing as you go
Advanced Timing Control
tRRD...........................................Aut o
tWTR..........................................Auto
tWR............................................Aut o
tRFC...........................................Aut o
tRTP...........................................Aut o
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2
Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ............................
Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
LLC................................:Enabled
CPU Vcore….……….........................: 1.3625
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: <<< 1.2
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: << 1.5
CPU Referen.…………....0.755V*.......: <<< 0.760
MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: << 1.2
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; <<< 0.76 this is default. should I change it to .8 for this board?
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: <<< 1.05 this changed from 0.9 when i upped the mch to 1.2 is that okay?
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: <<< 1.5 should I change this to 1.55?
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: <<< 1.1
DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.1
DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: <<< 1.05 these all changed to 1.05 when I changed the dram voltage to 2.1 Is that okay?
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: <<< 1.05
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: <<< 1.05
Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: Enabled
Integrated Peripherals
Legacy USB Storage Detect ..............Enabled


My ram is OCZ Reaper 1150 (OCZ2RPR11504GK) and I wanted to make sure it can run at it's intended speeds so I first tried 1066 by changing the following settings:
MCH Core........................1.3
Memory Multiplier...............2.66D
CAS Latency Time.............5
tRCD ..............................6
tRP'.................................6
tRAS...............................18
Static tRead Value(s).........10
tRRD...........................................4
tWTR..........................................11
tWR............................................5
tRFC...........................................62
tRTP...........................................6
DRAM Voltage...............................2.2

Everything runs stable in prime95 small and blend but as soon as I restart it won't get to bios screen and just keeps rebooting itself. I have to clear the cmos to get it to post.

I'm thinking maybe I need to change the cpu and mch clock skews or mch reference or something. Or maybe since it's running stable something else is wrong? I'll try these settings once again and see what memtest86+ has to say about it. What do you think?

[b_d0za]

^^^That's what I should have named this thread.

No errors in Memtest86+ 2.11 after running for over an hour. It's on pass 2 test #7. I'll let it run some more before I try to restart it.

[b_d0za]

Okay, so over 2 hours of memtest and no errors so I hit the escape button and it restarts well and I go into bios. I leave without making any changes and it restarts and boots into windows.

So then I restart from windows and it goes into the reboot loop. I hold the power button down until it powers down completely. I turn it back on and it goes back into the recycle loop so I hold the power button down again until it powers down.

Then I notice that the keyboard (old ps2 style) is still getting power so I flip the switch on the power supply. After a minute I turn the power supply back on and the lights on the keyboard flash. I hit the power button on the front of the case and the computer fires right up and I get into bios.

It does not give me the message that an error occurred or whatever because of an overclock or overvoltage. I power the machine down and the keyboard is no longer getting power.

Seems really strange.

[Nickel020]

Try flashing your BIOS to the newest revision (do not use @BIOS, use a USB stick and Qflash in BIOS). Even if you have the newest one try flashing it again, it sometimes fixes this kind of problem.
Removing the mainboard battery and leaving it out for some time also may help.

[mv2devnull]

Originally Posted by b_d0za

Okay, so over 2 hours of memtest and no errors ...

I was under the impression that memtest may take 20+ hours, ie multiple passes, before it finds errors.

[Nickel020]

If you want to be asolutely sure that the RAM is fine you need multiple passes. But even then you could jsut have been lucky. Systems are usually not 100% stable, if you were to leave it running long enough (a month) you would probably get errors on more systems than you expected (and that never show any isntability during use).
So 2 hours is good to check if there are any bigger problems, for ultimate stability checking longer is a good idea.

[b_d0za]

Well, I've been out of town for a week and now that I'm home I can look at this computer some more.

Originally Posted by Nickel020

Try flashing your BIOS to the newest revision (do not use @BIOS, use a USB stick and Qflash in BIOS). Even if you have the newest one try flashing it again, it sometimes fixes this kind of problem.
Removing the mainboard battery and leaving it out for some time also may help.

I'll give that a try right now.

Originally Posted by mv2devnull

I was under the impression that memtest may take 20+ hours, ie multiple passes, before it finds errors.

Yeah, but if it was the RAM causing the problems with rebooting then I think I should have gotten errors in memtest pretty fast.

[b_d0za]

Okay, so I tried what was suggested.

I left the battery out for a good hour or so and then flashed the bios to f7 which was what I was already using. I loaded optimized defaults and saved and restarted. I went back into bios and changed all the settings to what I listed above without the changes for the RAM. I get no problems with rebooting just like before.

I made the changes listed above for my ram to run at 1066. I went into windows and immediately restarted which went smooth. I got back into windows and opened up everest to see that my RAM was running at 1066 so I closed it and rebooted. I hear a click from inside the case (which usually only happens when I make some changes in bios and save and restart) and the computer keeps restarting itself, clicking each time.

I'm thinking about calling gigabyte to see what somebody says. Any other ideas?

[powergiga]

@b_d0za

Try set to 5-5-5-15.

your ram need 2.2v not 2.1, ram info link at Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1150 (PC2 9200) Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Try upped to 2.2v-2.3v and see what happen.

pg

[b_d0za]

Originally Posted by powergiga

@b_d0za

Try set to 5-5-5-15.

your ram need 2.2v not 2.1, ram info link at Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1150 (PC2 9200) Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Try upped to 2.2v-2.3v and see what happen.

pg

I did bump the voltage up to 2.2 when trying 1066MHz but I did not mess with the timings. So, I tried 5-5-5-15 and it did not help. I tried 5-5-5-18 and it has helped so far. I've rebooted a few times from windows and it doesn't click or anything and reboots flawlessly.

I don't want to go past 2.2v unless I really think it needs it. I'm running memtest on it right now.

I still think this is really weird as I have never seen this behavior before. I've seen a few posts about gigabyte boards going into reboot cycles. Is this common with gigabyte boards? This is my first one and so far I really love it but am a little concerned.