GA-EP45-UD3P Rev. 1.1 Intermittent BSOD

[bigbillyt]

I am getting an intermittent BSOD that blows out the ICH10 SATA RAID and the Intel Matrix Storage Manager runs a forced verify on the array.

I built my system very carefully and checkked each component thoroughly along the way.

System: GA-EP45-UD3P Rev. 1.1, BIOS f8, CPU: Q6600, Memory: 16gb Crucial 2 x CT2KIT51264AA667, GPU: EVGA 9600GT 512mb, Hard Drives: 2 x 74gb WD Raptors and 4 x Seagate 320gb in RADI 5, OS: Windows Server 2003 R2 x64.

The Video card, and all 6 hard drives, as well as their respective cables, were all up and runing with no problems on an Intel D975XBX2 motherboard prior to this. I initially setup the board with 2 4gb sticks of G.Skill DDR2 800 memory and ran mem test and WD Drive utils etc. just to make sure everything checked out prior to going to the 16gb memory. I was already experiencing the BSOD at that point.

The only thing I am a little suspicious of is the BIOS. When I first set this board up they had the f7 and f8 BIOS files posted, now the highest is f6. Should I back rev to the f6 BIOS, or are there any tips or tricks anybody knows of for the Intel RAID driver?

Running Windbg and analyzing the memory dump only shows:
Default Bucket ID: DRIVER_FAULT
Image Name: ntkrnlmp.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0xA_nt!ExpScanGeneralLookasideList+60

Doesn't really help much. This seemed to have started after I loaded the driver for the Intel Matrix RAID. So, again I am down to suspecting the ICH10 Raid controller, driver or BIOS.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Every time it does this it takes a good 1 1/2-2 hours for the RAID to go back to a status of normal.

[profJim]

We need to see what your bios settings are. Use the generic bios template to fill in your current settings.

Also include a link to your rams specs.

The BSOD is probably bios related. When you first built your system, did you first load OPTIMIZED settings and the save these settings?

Please add you components list to your signature to make it easier for us.

[bigbillyt]

Okay, first of all, yes, I did load optimized defaults and save those settings after initially flashing the BIOS to the f8 revision. That is standard procedure for me any time I flash a BIOS. I am pretty familiar with most BIOS settings but have never spent much time overclocking CPU or memory. My main gaol with all the systems I build is stability. I leave overclocking to those who have a bit more time on their hands.

However, I have certainly made a few minor changes to the BIOS settings after my initial setup and testing with everything stock.

The memory I initially tested with when the BSODs started appearing was G.Skill DDR2 800 2 x 2gb at 1.8-1.9V and 5-5-5-15 timing.

The original memory I set the board up with is this:
DDR2

The memory I am using now is the Crucial 4 x 4gb 667 Sticks at 1.8V and 5-5-5-15 timing.

8GB Kit (4GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 upgrades for Giga-Byte GA-EP45-UD3P (rev. 1.0) Motherboard, CT900554 from Crucial.com

My current settings are all auto, no overclocking, nothing custom.

BIOS Settings As follows:

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster .................: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio .........................: [9X]
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.40GHz (266x9)

Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Disabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ...............: 266
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) ............: Auto
C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]

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

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).......: NA
(G)MCH Frequency Latch................: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) .......: [AUTO]
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ...............: 667
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)..........: [AUTO]
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................: 5 [AUTO]
tRCD ...................................: 5 [AUTO]
tRP'....................................: 5 [AUTO]
tRAS...................................: 15 [AUTO]

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD....................................: 3 [AUTO]
tWTR....................................: 3 [AUTO]
tWR.....................................: 5 [AUTO]
tRFC...................................: 66 [AUTO]
tRTP....................................: 3 [AUTO]
Command Rate (CMD) .....................: 0 [AUTO]
Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength .......................: [AUTO]
Channel A Timing Settings
Channel A
Static tRead Value.......................: 6 [AUTO]
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment....................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
Trd2rd(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 5 [Auto]
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)...................: 8 [Auto]
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto ps
Channel B Timing Settings
Channel B
Static tRead Value.......................: 6 [AUTO]
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment....................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................: 0 [Auto]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................: 0 [Auto]
Trd2rd(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 6 [Auto]
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 5 [Auto]
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)...................: 8 [Auto]
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... AUTO
CPU
Load Line Calibration Disabled
CPU Vcore….………...............: 1.23750V [Auto]
CPU Termination….............: 1.200V [AUTO]
CPU PLL…………………...............: 1.500V [AUTO]
CPU Referen.………….............: 0.755V [AUTO]
CPU Reference2………,,..........: 0.800V [AUTO]
MCH/ICH
MCH Core……………................: 1.100V [AUTO]
MCH Reference….……............: 0.760V [AUTO]
MCH/DRAM Ref.…...............: 0.900V [AUTO]
ICH I/O………………................: 1.500V [AUTO]
ICH Core…………...……............: 1.100V [AUTO]
DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……..............: 1.800V [AUTO]
DRAM Termination .…..........: 0.900V [AUTO]
Channel A Reference .........: 0.900V [AUTO]
Channel B Reference .........: 0.900V [AUTO]
Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)..............: [Enabled]
C2/C2E State Support.................: NA
x C4/C4E State Support...............: NA
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ..........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function....................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology............: [Enabled]
Legacy USB Storage Detect ...........: [Enabled]

[bigbillyt]

I am going to go ahead and make a few changes based on the recommendations made in the "Template".

A couple of things I do not understand though;

For the "Advanced timing Control" the instruction are "Set all Suggested below to highest Values first. Then later you can lower, one at a time, testing as you go"

What are the "Highest values"? I have no point of referrence to understand what that means. Are highest values 6-6-6-18 or what? I just made up those arbitrary numbers as an example, that is just as good as anything since there are no examples given.

and then this fo rthe manually set timing;

"Static tRead Value.........................:6/7-10 333/B MCH - 8/9-12 400/D MCH"

I have no idea what that is referring to. Is it saying to set the Static tRead Value to 10, or 12, and where would I see the values for MCH that are in the form of 333/B or 400/D?

I will let you know how it goes, thanks for all your help ProfJim!

Oh, and by the way, the BSOD always happens just as the OS begins to load, never any other time. Then the system reboots and it always comes up fine the next time, but just with the Intel RAID array I have configured having to run a verify.

[Lsdmeasap]

I would hard set that 1.8V or 1.85-1.9V for 16GB, I would also set some MCH Core voltage, maybe 1.2-1.3. Normally I would suggest 1.2-1.35 for 8GB+, but since this is 667 you may not need all that much, but you likely do need some.

Can you please also post a screenshot of this app running in windows so we can see what you are getting for all those Auto's in the memory timings, thanks >>>
http://www.tweakers.fr/download/MemSet40.zip

[bigbillyt]

Okay, I hard set the following:

PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) to 100
MCH Core to 1.200V
DRAM Voltage to 1.840V - There was no 1.850V setting only 1.840V or 1.860V

I disabled the CPU enhanced halt, and USB Storage Function (legacy Support)

Attached is the screenshot requested.

I am going to hit the sack, I will play with this some more tomorrow. I just want to get this as stable as possible before I begin to populate the RAID volume with lots of VM happy goodness.

Thanks for all your help LSDme!!

[profJim]

The AUTO settings are not optimized for 4x4GB memory.

The values and suggestions in the generic bios template should NOT be used. You need specific settings for your setup.

Change the following:

PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) ............: [Auto] <-- change this to 100

CAS Latency Time........................: 5 [AUTO] <-- manually set to 5
tRCD .........................................: 5 [AUTO] <-- manually set to 5
tRP'...........................................: 5 [AUTO] <-- manually set to 5
tRAS.........................................: 15 [AUTO] <-- manually set to 15

CPU Vcore............?,?????...: 1.23750V [AUTO] <-- manually set to the ?.????? value shown to the left of AUTO
CPU Termination....................: 1.200V [AUTO] <-- manually set to the value shown to the left of AUTO
CPU PLL...............................: 1.500V [AUTO] <-- manually set to the value shown to the left of AUTO

MCH/ICH
MCH Core..............................: 1.100V [AUTO] <-- manually set to 1.28 <-- this might need further adjustment

Include a screenshot of Memset, using the ">>" and "SPD" tabs for additional info.

[bigbillyt]

Okay, I followed your suggestions. I set the PCI Express Frequency to 100 Manually, the CAS Latency to 5, tRCD to 5 , tRP to 5, tRAS to 15, CPU Vcore to 1.23750v, CPU termination to 1.200, CPU PLL to 1.500V, MCH Core to 1.280V and, as per LSDme's suggestion the DRAM voltage to 1.860V.

So far the system seems extremely stable, and even a bit faster. I am going to go ahead and leave it at these settings for now if you all think that is good. I will put it through it's paces with some pretty rough VMWare testing this week and let you know how it goes. I will keep monitoring this thread to see what other tips you may have have. I am attaching the screenshot requested. The SPD data for DIMMs 2, 3 and 4 is identical to that for DIMM one.

Thanks again for all your help, you guys are a really a lifesaver.

[profJim]

Good to hear that your system is stable.

Make sure that you save your current bios settings by using the bios profiles feature. If you're not familiar with saving and restoring, read the first part of this post.

Overclocking with 4x4GB will be a bit of a challenge, we can help you run with a 25% cpu overclock to 3.00 GHz (9x333) using your current memory speeds.

[ultraxmode]

Hi, I was reading this thread with much interest because I have almost the same problems.

My System :

CPU : Intel Core2Quad 9300 45nm. at 2.5GHz
Memory : 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix 1066MHz 5-5-5-15 modules.
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (Bios : F8)
GPU : Asus 8500GT 512MB PCI-Express
Hard Disks :

1. WD 300GB SATA2
2. WD 400GB SATA2
3. WD 400GB SATA2
4. WD 250GB SATA1

PSU : Enermax 450W
CPU Cooling : Scythe Mugen (?)
Operating System : Windows 2003 Server x86 (32Bit) Enterprise Edition.

*PS : System is NOT overclocked at all !!!

I installed the OS without problems ! Everything worked fine, until the OS crashed (after I installed DES Advanced Utility).. I get BSOD saying "IRQ_NOT_EQUAL".

This morning I turned on the monitor to see if the server is working. The system was resseted in the night and it stucked on post (after the table of devices) and was saying "DES is off! Please turn it on with the utility. Press any key to continue... " , I pressed it and nothing happened. Everything gone black. If I reset the system, the system will work for some hours and do it again (restart, BSOD, or something else.. ) The thing is it's not stable !

I installed the OS with the right drivers, supplied by the Gigabyte's Web Site..

What I have to do ? Please help me ..!!!

Thank you all !

PS : Sorry for my bad English !!! :P