Not Shy's Guide To BIOS Settings / Memory & CPU Testing

[notshy]

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/27576-bios-flashing-how-qflash-guide.html

I use Keka to extract the Gigabyte BIOS file download which is an exe. You can temporarily set Keka to "Always Extract" and drop the file on your Keka dock icon and out pops the BIOS file.

http://www.kekaosx.com/en/

so essentially i need a windows machine to extract and save the bios on a fat32 formatted usb. am i correct?

sorry i'm such a novice, i'v been a mac user for the better part of a decade.

thank you for your help!

Keka is an OSX application so you can extract the Windows EXE file within OSX

You can format your USB stick as FAT32 using Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility

 

[gmoore]

i hope this isn't a stupid question but here goes.

i should make sure all the memory(ram) settings are all set before i install OSX, correct?

or

is that something i should tackle post install?

i gather that the idea is to stabilize the system pre OS install to prevent future problems.

are there any SATA ports that i should avoid like in the P55 build?

i apologize if i'm being a little redundant, i'm just trying be as comprehensive as possible so as to avoid problems.

 

[notshy]

i hope this isn't a stupid question but here goes.

i should make sure all the memory(ram) settings are all set before i install OSX, correct?

or

is that something i should tackle post install?

i gather that the idea is to stabilize the system pre OS install to prevent future problems.

are there any SATA ports that i should avoid like in the P55 build?

i apologize if i'm being a little redundant, i'm just trying be as comprehensive as possible so as to avoid problems.

Depends how patient you are. Ideally you should get your system all set up in BIOS and fully stabilised before installing anything. So an old windows HD or linux boot CD with some stress testing software and burn in your components - 12-24hour stress test to check that you don't have any incompatabilities. It will save you time down the line.

I did OSX first then a week later came back and did stress testing but only after I found issues. I wish I'd done the stress testing first.

 

[gmoore]

i hope this isn't a stupid question but here goes.

i should make sure all the memory(ram) settings are all set before i install OSX, correct?

or

is that something i should tackle post install?

i gather that the idea is to stabilize the system pre OS install to prevent future problems.

are there any SATA ports that i should avoid like in the P55 build?

i apologize if i'm being a little redundant, i'm just trying be as comprehensive as possible so as to avoid problems.

Depends how patient you are. Ideally you should get your system all set up in BIOS and fully stabilised before installing anything. So an old windows HD or linux boot CD with some stress testing software and burn in your components - 12-24hour stress test to check that you don't have any incompatabilities. It will save you time down the line.

I did OSX first then a week later came back and did stress testing but only after I found issues. I wish I'd done the stress testing first.

thank you. i think i'll start out with Ubuntu and do some stress testing.

all of the bios settings for OSX should be fine with Ubuntu i assume, right?

 

[notshy]

i hope this isn't a stupid question but here goes.

i should make sure all the memory(ram) settings are all set before i install OSX, correct?

or

is that something i should tackle post install?

i gather that the idea is to stabilize the system pre OS install to prevent future problems.

are there any SATA ports that i should avoid like in the P55 build?

i apologize if i'm being a little redundant, i'm just trying be as comprehensive as possible so as to avoid problems.

Depends how patient you are. Ideally you should get your system all set up in BIOS and fully stabilised before installing anything. So an old windows HD or linux boot CD with some stress testing software and burn in your components - 12-24hour stress test to check that you don't have any incompatabilities. It will save you time down the line.

I did OSX first then a week later came back and did stress testing but only after I found issues. I wish I'd done the stress testing first.

thank you. i think i'll start out with Ubuntu and do some stress testing.

all of the bios settings for OSX should be fine with Ubuntu i assume, right?

Yes ! At some point you are just going to have to start trying things !

 

[najmurphy]

Why do you need to write to NTFS ? I would recommend adding a FAT32 partition to any Windows drive that you have - then you can use that partition to copy things between the two systems.

--> Well, I have ~700GB of data that I regularly need access to in Windows. So far, the Tuxera NTFS OSX is working flawlessly. I do not need HFS in Windows. Only OSX->NTFS.

I would not recommend regularly reading and writing to NTFS from within OSX nor reading and writing to HFS in Windows.

Both will lead to problems somewhere down the line.

--> Ok, but what? Why? If Tuxera pukes on me farther down the line, I'll consider switching to FAT32, but there are size limitations with that, no?

 

[uiane]

Why do you need to write to NTFS ? I would recommend adding a FAT32 partition to any Windows drive that you have - then you can use that partition to copy things between the two systems.

--> Well, I have ~700GB of data that I regularly need access to in Windows. So far, the Tuxera NTFS OSX is working flawlessly. I do not need HFS in Windows. Only OSX->NTFS.

I would not recommend regularly reading and writing to NTFS from within OSX nor reading and writing to HFS in Windows.

Both will lead to problems somewhere down the line.

--> Ok, but what? Why? If Tuxera pukes on me farther down the line, I'll consider switching to FAT32, but there are size limitations with that, no?

I made a 3 track record (15 min long) in Pro Tools 9 into my NTFS partition using Tuxera, it was very smooth, without any problems... I'll be mixing my college project into this NTFS HD with pro tools 9 (20 tracks +) and see how it goes...
I tought this could be usefull to u!!

 

[elbobolibre]

First, thanks Not Shy, for this guide.

My problem is that even despite having the same exact mobo (GA-X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0/FF) and the RAM (TR3X6G1600C8D), and having poked around in the Corsair forums for settings, I still can't seem to dial-in a stable system.

In the Corsair forums, I kept getting advised to "enable XMP" mode, which does give me the proper voltage (1.65V) and speed (1600MHz) but it freezes after iBoot completes booting but before I can switch between the iBoot disk and inserting the retail Snow Leopard 6.3 install disk. (Somtimes it responds to the F5 and sees the Snow Leopard disk, but most times it doesn't. But have never even gotten to the point of seeing the Apple grey install screen.)

So, I tried turning off XMP and trying the slower 1066MHz memory speed that Intel cites as the max memory speed the i7-960 can handle; tried manually twiddling other settings (SPD and friends,) but no dice.

I've used your worksheet and the "optimal bios settings" tutorial for all of the other BIOS settings.

Also followed all the other rules: I've pulled out one of the three 2GB sticks (leaving 4 GB total installed in slots 1 and 3.) Have the Radeon 5770 installed in PCIex16 Slot 1. Blank 1TB SpinPoint attached, no other extra peripherals, etc, etc, etc.

I guess it's possible I have a bad stick or two. But before I try single stick testing with MemTestx86, I am curious (as a baseline for comparison,) as to what exact Channel A + B + C and Voltage Control settings ended up working for you? (I noticed that XMP is disable in the worksheet.)

Thanks,
Bob

 

[notshy]

First, thanks Not Shy, for this guide.

My problem is that even despite having the same exact mobo (GA-X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0/FF) and the RAM (TR3X6G1600C8D), and having poked around in the Corsair forums for settings, I still can't seem to dial-in a stable system.

In the Corsair forums, I kept getting advised to "enable XMP" mode, which does give me the proper voltage (1.65V) and speed (1600MHz) but it freezes after iBoot completes booting but before I can switch between the iBoot disk and inserting the retail Snow Leopard 6.3 install disk. (Somtimes it responds to the F5 and sees the Snow Leopard disk, but most times it doesn't. But have never even gotten to the point of seeing the Apple grey install screen.)

So, I tried turning off XMP and trying the slower 1066MHz memory speed that Intel cites as the max memory speed the i7-960 can handle; tried manually twiddling other settings (SPD and friends,) but no dice.

I've used your worksheet and the "optimal bios settings" tutorial for all of the other BIOS settings.

Also followed all the other rules: I've pulled out one of the three 2GB sticks (leaving 4 GB total installed in slots 1 and 3.) Have the Radeon 5770 installed in PCIex16 Slot 1. Blank 1TB SpinPoint attached, no other extra peripherals, etc, etc, etc.

I guess it's possible I have a bad stick or two. But before I try single stick testing with MemTestx86, I am curious (as a baseline for comparison,) as to what exact Channel A + B + C and Voltage Control settings ended up working for you? (I noticed that XMP is disable in the worksheet.)

Thanks,
Bob

You could just have some dodgy RAM. The best way to do it is to set your basic timings, speed and voltages yourself in the BIOS and then run memtest.

Voltage - 1.66v (no manual option for 1.65 and I found that 1.66 gave 1.648 in real terms)
Basic Timings 8-8-8-24
Speed 1600 Mhz

Then run Memtest with all sticks in for 3 or 4 hours to check if they are stable. If you get errors then you have to try 1-by-1 and also rotate the RAM slots to check that it's not any of the the RAM slots on your motherboard instead of the RAM sticks itself.

Why do you think it's RAM related ? Also I'd try running something like Linux/Win before installing OSX if you are worried about system stability.

 

[gmoore]

first off, Thank You NOTSHY for these Great Guides!

i do have a successful install for snow but i am still having some BIOS issues and am wondering if you have heard of or experienced this problem i'm having. here goes!

i did some pre operating system testing with The Ultimate Boot CD and everything seemed to be working fine. the cpu handled CPU burn-in well and Memtest found no errors.

i then adjusted the timings and voltage for the ram since the MOBO was recognizing the ram as 1066 mhz and 1.5v and not 1600 and 1.65v like the ram is rated. i then changed the ram the factory timing settings as well which are 9-9-9-24.

everything seemed fine so i then loaded the Ubuntu operating system and played around it it worked well.

i planned on installing OSX on a new SSD harddrive so i unplugged the ubuntu drive and plugged in my new drive and adjusted the BIOS settings to the recommended settings for the OSX install as per your instructions and Lnxtomac. the settings that changed are setting all the SATA controllers to AHCI, setting HPET to 64 bit, Disabling all unused GSATA ports, leaving the Memory the way i had previously changed it(xmp profile), Enabling all advanced CPU features, No-Execute Memory Protect = Enabled, &Init Display First = PCIE x16-1.

i then went to bed.

the next day when i went to turn on my computer and enter the F12 Boot Menu OR by pushing Delete to enter BIOS settings the computer would just restart once it was about to do it. it did this continually. eventually i was able to get into the BIOS settings so i used Q-flash and reflashed the BIOS again to make sure it wasn't that and set everything back their Optimized defaults. the system still continued to do the same thing when trying to enter F12 Boot Menu and sometimes takes the computer a few restarts to get into the BIOS settings.

i then decided to install the operating system anyway and just changed the boot priority in the actual BIOS setting so i could boot from a CD and everyhting seems to have gone fine and the system boots from the harddrive fine BUT it still restarts everytime i try to access the Boot Menu by pressing F12.

What is wrong? is it some sort of Hardware issue?

thanks again!