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

[notshy]

Is anyone able to make sense of, what to me is, gibberish

You have some seriously sick RAM that needs to be replaced.

Well, I found what I believe to be the faulty stick.

I couldn't reproduce the error by testing the sticks individually, so after trial and error of a number of different combinations, I found that whenever this faulty stick went in as the 4th , 5th or 6th there was a failure. No errors when I ran it by itself, with one other, or with two others. It's within 7 day replacement so i'll take the whole PC down to the shop tomorrow in case they want to argue.

Always good to catch it early !

 

[notshy]

Well, I found what I believe to be the faulty stick.

I couldn't reproduce the error by testing the sticks individually, so after trial and error of a number of different combinations, I found that whenever this faulty stick went in as the 4th , 5th or 6th there was a failure. No errors when I ran it by itself, with one other, or with two others. It's within 7 day replacement so i'll take the whole PC down to the shop tomorrow in case they want to argue.

How did you get on?

 

[morganb]

When you get involved in prime95 you realise that some environments/programs can actually tolerate a small number of CPU errors, some. Therefore if you have a Prime95 cycle that fails, you wont necessarily have an unstable box. At least not in windows.

My point is this, when you overclock and you are starting to build a hack, you need to be absolutely 100% positive that any issues you come across are due to the hack install procedure and not due to some obscure o/clocked CPU error that you didn't consider because you thought your overclock was stable.

You need to stabilise any OC on your target box either before you build your hack or do your OC once you have a stable hack.

Dont do the two processes close to each other or you could end up chasing your tail. Also uber-hot days can have an effect on your core temp and stability.

 

[3puss]

Cheers guys, I hope it helps some people with their builds and also helps people make sure they have solid builds.

you helped me a lot m8

 

[tdragisics]

If I am using a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard and CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 Model HX3X12G1333C9 Ram, will I have to make changes to the ram settings like you did? Or is it only something to mess with if I am having stability issues with my system. I am currently building and do not plan on overclocking. I would just like to set up the ram the right way during the installation process in the BIOS.

 

[notshy]

If I am using a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard and CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 Model HX3X12G1333C9 Ram, will I have to make changes to the ram settings like you did? Or is it only something to mess with if I am having stability issues with my system. I am currently building and do not plan on overclocking. I would just like to set up the ram the right way during the installation process in the BIOS.

Please go to Corsair's forum or their support pages to find the exact settings required. To get 12gb going you might need to manually add some extra QPI/VTT voltage. Please grab those settings and post back here. I've found a BIOS template so I'll post that up so that you can fill in all your BIOS settings and I can recommend some settings to help.

Does that RAM support XMP?

 

[tdragisics]

If I am using a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard and CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 Model HX3X12G1333C9 Ram, will I have to make changes to the ram settings like you did? Or is it only something to mess with if I am having stability issues with my system. I am currently building and do not plan on overclocking. I would just like to set up the ram the right way during the installation process in the BIOS.

Please go to Corsair's forum or their support pages to find the exact settings required. To get 12gb going you might need to manually add some extra QPI/VTT voltage. Please grab those settings and post back here. I've found a BIOS template so I'll post that up so that you can fill in all your BIOS settings and I can recommend some settings to help.

Does that RAM support XMP?

So far these were the only specs I could find on the manufacturer's website. Not sure if these are the specs that help:

Tested Voltage 1.5
SPD Voltage 1.5
Speed Rating PC3-10600 (1333MHz)
SPD Speed 1066Mhz
Tested Speed 1333Mhz
Tested Latency 9-9-9-24
SPD Latency 7-7-7-20

The RAM from what I could find does not support XMP. The version above it that is 1600MHz does. I know my i7-950 Processor only supports up to 1066MHz for memory. I am fine with it running at that and I am not looking to OC either. I basically just want to make sure my BIOS settings are correct for running my ram to avoid problems. Thanks again for the help!

 

[notshy]

So far these were the only specs I could find on the manufacturer's website. Not sure if these are the specs that help:

Tested Voltage 1.5
SPD Voltage 1.5
Speed Rating PC3-10600 (1333MHz)
SPD Speed 1066Mhz
Tested Speed 1333Mhz
Tested Latency 9-9-9-24
SPD Latency 7-7-7-20

The RAM from what I could find does not support XMP. The version above it that is 1600MHz does. I know my i7-950 Processor only supports up to 1066MHz for memory. I am fine with it running at that and I am not looking to OC either. I basically just want to make sure my BIOS settings are correct for running my ram to avoid problems. Thanks again for the help!

You should set your RAM to run at the speed that the manufacturer says - the i7 processors and X58A boards can take most DDR3 ram - and yours looks fine.

You should set BCLK to 133 (probably will be this by default) and SPD (RAM) multiplier to x 10 and that will give you 1333 Mhz on the RAM.

Do you want to fill out the BIOS settings template I've attached in the first post and post it back in a code box and I can take a look at the rest of your BIOS settings?

 

[tdragisics]

So far these were the only specs I could find on the manufacturer's website. Not sure if these are the specs that help:

Tested Voltage 1.5
SPD Voltage 1.5
Speed Rating PC3-10600 (1333MHz)
SPD Speed 1066Mhz
Tested Speed 1333Mhz
Tested Latency 9-9-9-24
SPD Latency 7-7-7-20

The RAM from what I could find does not support XMP. The version above it that is 1600MHz does. I know my i7-950 Processor only supports up to 1066MHz for memory. I am fine with it running at that and I am not looking to OC either. I basically just want to make sure my BIOS settings are correct for running my ram to avoid problems. Thanks again for the help!

Ok

You should set your RAM to run at the speed that the manufacturer says - the i7 processors and X58A boards can take most DDR3 ram - and yours looks fine.

You should set BCLK to 133 (probably will be this by default) and SPD (RAM) multiplier to x 10 and that will give you 1333 Mhz on the RAM.

My computer is actually on the way and I will be building it tuesday. I was just planning ahead, but will post my BIOS settings once I get it running.

Do you want to fill out the BIOS settings template I've attached in the first post and post it back in a code box and I can take a look at the rest of your BIOS settings?

 

[najmurphy]

Fantastic Post Not Shy. HOWEVER

(please skip to the end for my question and system info. this is all bg info on the prob)

I found this link (thanks to great moderators here) from a post about random freezes in 10.6.6. I have identical issues:

- boots fine, re-boots fine (with and without reset-button)
- sleeps fine, wakes fine, etc.

but then 5 minutes in, typically with iTunes, or net-app (tbird, firefox, chrome, etc.) the finder locks up. mouse ok, sound ok, but you can't do anything. if you go to finder or the apple, it opens then freezes. only way out is the reset button.

I had burned-in my system pretty good, and used my gigabyte-supplied OC'ing util to push my i7-860 to 3.3GHz. It set my BIOS and mem settings. I chose a not-crazy OC, and used realtemp to set my fan speeds to keep my CPU temps below 80 C when slamming the box with a testing app (linx).

that was months ago. I've had nary an issue (THX CUSTOMBEAST FTW) with either SL or Win7 until 10.6.6.

I tried new multibeast(s), rolling back audio, networking, etc. and no dice.


So what should I look for in which system log to find out what is making 10.6.6 puke?

Where do i look if my memory/BIOS/etc. checks out, and I still have issues?

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 P55 (F11 BIOS)
Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz (OC'd to 3.3)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit
Intel 80GB SSD (SL 10.6.6)
WD 64GB SSD (Win7)
External Audio (M-Audio FastTrack Pro USB)

-murph