GA-Z68XP-UD4 Waiting For ME Question

[JustRob]

Hi guys, I have been having some issues of late with my GA-Z68XP-UD4 build.

First off my specs are

GA-Z68XP-UD4 f6g
Zalman 1000 watt PSU

MSI 3Gb 580 Extreme OC Ed GPU

16GB Corsair Vengeance C9 Memory 4x4 modules

2600k

2 Corsair Force 3 120Gb SSD's Raid 0

The problem began one morning with a BSOD and subsequently turned out to be one faulty stick of memory. No problem, I RA'd the faulty kit and all seemed good for a while.

I removed the new memory (2x4) modules because of more BSODS and the codes were non specific as they were all over the place. So after leaving the new ram out for a time all was good and now I'm getting BSODS again like x0109 and x024 etc but also more different codes as well.

Now all I have done in bios is set my multiplier to 40 on the CPU and set memory timings to 9-9-9-24 and that's it. I have tried with XMP enabled and disabled manually setting the memory to 1600. This doen't seem to solve my problem.
I have even left everything at stock values after setting BIOS to load default settings, still to no avail. I have not changed voltages except put the memory @1.5.

When I have a BSOD the post screen will tell me that because of failed overclock or voltage da da da.......So I start windows normally I see 'Waiting For ME 9-8-7 -0 before windows will load......Why is this happening and what is it?

Is it because there is some hitch with the board that makes the board want to kick off from the primary backup BIOS? Should I flash the backup BIOS to f6g also?

One other thing, is there is an issue with occupying all 4 ram slots on these boards??

[wazza300]

what qpi/vtt voltage you using? if stock/auto is at 1.05v with 16gb i would set to atleast 1.15v can use upto 1.2v but no more

i would flash your back up bios chip to by pressing alt and f12 at splash screen,two different bios verions on two different chips might cause issues

[JustRob]

Thanks for the reply wazza, I have tried upping the qpi/vtt from stock 1.050 to 1.100 incrementally and no joy when I first started having these issues. I was hesitant about going any higher than 1.1. Flashing the backup BIOS is something that I want to do as a last resort or is it a safe thing to do. I ask because I have never done that.

Is the 'waiting for ME' a known issue, and what is it?

[Acebmxer]

Not sure about the Waiting for ME issue but have you installed the latest Intel MEI driver? Intel® Management Engine Interface(MEI) Driver 8.0.0.1351

I also would suggest updating the backup bios as this has been know to fix strange problems.

[wazza300]

i would try all that before messing with voltages,you can safely use upto 1.2v but try the other things first as it might be those,and yes flashing back up is safe to do

[JustRob]

Ok any pointers before I flash this backup BIOS?

[Acebmxer]

Follow this video load optimized defaults first.

How to update your backup bios on GIGABYTE P67 boards - YouTube

[JustRob]

Ok will report back..........Hopefully lol

[JustRob]

Hmmmmm pressing alt f12 just brings up boot order. I have Z68XP board

[Acebmxer]

same process just have to time it just right.

hold down the ALT key and spam the F12 key.

Keep trying.