Faster Memory Slows Down PC Performance (G.Skill Sniper)

[GreatestOne]

Computer runs great with the 4x4GB 1333... but with anything else listed below, PC slows to a crawl for every single process.

Info:

'Upgrading" from
4x4GB Sniper DDR3-1333 CL-9-9-9-24 (PC3-10666)
to
4x8GB Sniper DDR3-1866 CL-9-10-9-28 (PC3-14900)

• I have also tried 4x8GB G.Skill Aries and Ripjaws of similar speeds, and all failed just like the new Sniper
• No other simultaneous hardware/soft change of course
• Curious thing, Windows Exp benchmark for both GRAPHICS stat only goes from 7.9 to 6.7 when not using the 1333. Others remain same at CPU 7.5, RAM 7.7, HD 7.2... can these mem sticks be affecting the GPU??? Ain't make no sense.

Some Sandra scores because I was curious:

1333:
Benchmark: Aggreg/Integer/Float: All 17.2 GB/s
PPT: Aggreg/Integer/Float: 4.3 / 17.1 GB/s

1866:
Benchmark: Aggreg/Integer/Float: All 16.5 GB/s
PPT: Aggreg / Integer / Float: 4.1 / 16.5 / 16.5 GB/s

So why does every mem besides my old 1333 handicap my PC, I must be missing something here, it cant be ALL the new mem are bad or slow etc....

Thanks.......

 

[Nick_Leo]

maybe because the 1333 has a lower timing? I don't know much about ram but i know the lower the timing the better.

 

[haz_mat]

Did you clear the cmos when you swapped out the ram each time? I suppose its possible that the bios isn't applying the proper settings when you replace the ram. Also make sure to enable any XMP pofile that the ram may need.

1866 cl9 should be faster than 1333 cl9.

 

[cyclone3d]

Do you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard?

Have you run memory tests to make sure you didn't get a stick of faulty RAM?

Have you double checked with CPU-Z to make sure your new RAM is actually running at the correct speed?

 

[GreatestOne]

maybe because the 1333 has a lower timing? I don't know much about ram but i know the lower the timing the better.

Even so, the speed/performance difference is way too off to be something as simple as that, this is some error or fault, not a case of memory spec differences.

Did you clear the cmos when you swapped out the ram each time? I suppose its possible that the bios isn't applying the proper settings when you replace the ram. Also make sure to enable any XMP pofile that the ram may need.

1866 cl9 should be faster than 1333 cl9.

Tried clearing CMOS (for over 3 hours, not sure if any longer would make a difference?), and there are no XMP profiles or settings in BIOS I can edit for this, unless you a referring to somewhere else?

Do you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard?

Have you run memory tests to make sure you didn't get a stick of faulty RAM?

Have you double checked with CPU-Z to make sure your new RAM is actually running at the correct speed?

For some reason the Gigabyte support doesnt have a BIOS update compatible with my Win7-64-bit, weird... they only have one release version in their last 2 years, so not like I have a choice.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3892#bios

As stated I checked via Sandra... and as stated also, I doubt all 3 brand new RAM I got to try, the Ripjaws, Aries and this Sniper are all bad.
Here are specs for each DIMM thru CPU-Z, they are all the same so only going to list one:

DIMM #				1
	SMBus address		0x50
	Memory type		DDR3
	Module format		UDIMM
	Manufacturer (ID)	G.Skill (7F7F7F7FCD000000)
	Size			8192 MBytes
	Max bandwidth		PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
	Part number		F3-1866C9-8GSR
	Number of banks		8
	Nominal Voltage		1.50 Volts
	EPP			no
	XMP			yes
	XMP revision		1.3
	AMP			no
JEDEC timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
	JEDEC #1		5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
	JEDEC #2		6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
	JEDEC #3		7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
	JEDEC #4		8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
	JEDEC #5		9.0-9-9-25-34 @ 685 MHz
	JEDEC #6		10.0-10-10-28-38 @ 761 MHz
XMP profile			XMP-1866
	Specification		PC3-14900
	Voltage level		1.500 Volts
	Min Cycle time		1.071 ns (933 MHz)
	Max CL			9.0
	Min tRP			9.24 ns
	Min tRCD		10.16 ns
	Min tWR			14.88 ns
	Min tRAS		29.50 ns
	Min tRC			39.25 ns
	Min tRFC		260.00 ns
	Min tRTP		7.50 ns
	Min tRRD		5.00 ns
	Command Rate		2T
XMP timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
	XMP #1			9.0-10-9-29-39-2T @ 974 MHz (1.500 Volts)
XMP profile			XMP-1866
	Specification		PC3-14900
	Voltage level		1.500 Volts
	Min Cycle time		1.071 ns (933 MHz)
	Max CL			9.0
	Min tRP			9.32 ns
	Min tRCD		10.39 ns
	Min tWR			15.00 ns
	Min tRAS		29.68 ns
	Min tRC			39.32 ns
	Min tRFC		260.25 ns
	Min tRTP		7.50 ns
	Min tRRD		4.93 ns
	Command Rate		1T
XMP timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
	XMP #1			9.0-11-9-29-38-1T @ 965 MHz (1.500 Volts)

 

[mls1995]

That is a really weird problem. Interesting for us to think about but sucks. I hope you figure it out. I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to handle that.

 

[cyclone3d]

Even so, the speed/performance difference is way too off to be something as simple as that, this is some error or fault, not a case of memory spec differences.



Tried clearing CMOS (for over 3 hours, not sure if any longer would make a difference?), and there are no XMP profiles or settings in BIOS I can edit for this, unless you a referring to somewhere else?

So if XMP is not available in your BIOS, you are going to have to set the voltage, speed, and timings manually.

For some reason the Gigabyte support doesnt have a BIOS update compatible with my Win7-64-bit, weird... they only have one release version in their last 2 years, so not like I have a choice.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3892#bios

What version of the BIOS do you have installed?

What happens when you try to update?

As stated I checked via Sandra... and as stated also, I doubt all 3 brand new RAM I got to try, the Ripjaws, Aries and this Sniper are all bad.
Here are specs for each DIMM thru CPU-Z, they are all the same so only going to list one:

DIMM #				1
	SMBus address		0x50
	Memory type		DDR3
	Module format		UDIMM
	Manufacturer (ID)	G.Skill (7F7F7F7FCD000000)
	Size			8192 MBytes
	Max bandwidth		PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
	Part number		F3-1866C9-8GSR
	Number of banks		8
	Nominal Voltage		1.50 Volts
	EPP			no
	XMP			yes
	XMP revision		1.3
	AMP			no
JEDEC timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
	JEDEC #1		5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
	JEDEC #2		6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
	JEDEC #3		7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
	JEDEC #4		8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
	JEDEC #5		9.0-9-9-25-34 @ 685 MHz
	JEDEC #6		10.0-10-10-28-38 @ 761 MHz
XMP profile			XMP-1866
	Specification		PC3-14900
	Voltage level		1.500 Volts
	Min Cycle time		1.071 ns (933 MHz)
	Max CL			9.0
	Min tRP			9.24 ns
	Min tRCD		10.16 ns
	Min tWR			14.88 ns
	Min tRAS		29.50 ns
	Min tRC			39.25 ns
	Min tRFC		260.00 ns
	Min tRTP		7.50 ns
	Min tRRD		5.00 ns
	Command Rate		2T
XMP timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
	XMP #1			9.0-10-9-29-39-2T @ 974 MHz (1.500 Volts)
XMP profile			XMP-1866
	Specification		PC3-14900
	Voltage level		1.500 Volts
	Min Cycle time		1.071 ns (933 MHz)
	Max CL			9.0
	Min tRP			9.32 ns
	Min tRCD		10.39 ns
	Min tWR			15.00 ns
	Min tRAS		29.68 ns
	Min tRC			39.32 ns
	Min tRFC		260.25 ns
	Min tRTP		7.50 ns
	Min tRRD		4.93 ns
	Command Rate		1T
XMP timings table		CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
	XMP #1			9.0-11-9-29-38-1T @ 965 MHz (1.500 Volts)

That doesn't say what the RAM is currently running at. I am betting that since you don't have XMP settings in your BIOS, that your RAM is only running at 1066.

 

[Tsumi]

You have a rather modern Intel board... there is no reason that board doesn't have XMP profiles. I am highly inclined to think user error is the source of this problem.

 

[GreatestOne]

So if XMP is not available in your BIOS, you are going to have to set the voltage, speed, and timings manually.

What version of the BIOS do you have installed?

What happens when you try to update?

That doesn't say what the RAM is currently running at. I am betting that since you don't have XMP settings in your BIOS, that your RAM is only running at 1066.

Ok update... I did find the extreme mem setting... it was in the MIT settings and the extreme setting was non-existant when I had the 1333 in there, weird... only when I put in the 1866 it came up, thinking I would jus manually override it.

So I set it on the Profile 2, which is 1867.8 or something like that, thinking that was the right one. This was after clearing CMOS again. At restart, it gives yet another problem:

"The system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking"

Then I found a link about this in another thread for a different GB mobo:

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=4117.0

altho the advice there doesnt make any sense for me anyways bec its again molasses at 1333, nor do I want to run it at that speed when I bought 1866 modules.

In 20+ years and hundreds of of PC's, I never had this type of murphys law on upgrading RAM.

Oh add to that when I try updating the BIOS, it states that BIOS is not compatible with my Win7 64-bit. Well GB only offers the one version, without any OS choices, so W......... T........ F..........??? Someone is definitely messing with me today.

 

[haz_mat]

Oh add to that when I try updating the BIOS, it states that BIOS is not compatible with my Win7 64-bit. Well GB only offers the one version, without any OS choices, so W......... T........ F..........??? Someone is definitely messing with me today.

Are you trying to run the bios update from within windows? Those downloads are for booting into a dos-flasher I believe. From what I can tell there should be no reason the F10 bios wouldnt work with win7x64.

I think my z77 can run the flash program from the bios and just point it to the update file on a thumbdrive.

edit: You can also use the gigabyte flash utility from within windows, that program is a separate download from the bios update (its called @BIOS under the utilities category on your motherboard's download page).

 

[GreatestOne]

Are you trying to run the bios update from within windows? Those downloads are for booting into a dos-flasher I believe. From what I can tell there should be no reason the F10 bios wouldnt work with win7x64.

I think my z77 can run the flash program from the bios and just point it to the update file on a thumbdrive.

edit: You can also use the gigabyte flash utility from within windows, that program is a separate download from the bios update (its called @BIOS under the utilities category on your motherboard's download page).

Ok I finally found a Touch BIOS utility from GB (yes and inside that u click on @BIOS), and yes that runs from Windows, doesnt give any other choice, and I dont have any other choice to run from DOS... actually I tried that with the files I downloaded but again that stated my Win7 64-bit is not compatible.

So I updated the BIOS, but same error at boot. I disabling the extreme and setting it to 1866 manually, again, same error
"The system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking"

When I put my 1333 back in, lightning fast. Almost wondering if I should start looking for a 4x8GB 1333, sigh... it was so nice this 1866 was on sale, but this is so not worth it for the few % gain in speed.

This is unreal.

 

[haz_mat]

Very strange, maybe the issue is from using all four slots at the higher speed? Have you tested just two of the sticks at 1866?

If it runs with two, It might be worth trying to bump up the memory and IMC volts a bit and see if it runs with all four.

 

[thebufenator]

Try it at 1600 first? Bump the voltage up a bit?

 

[dandragonrage]

Try it at 1600 first? Bump the voltage up a bit?

I agree with both of these recommendations.

Anything over 1600 is overclocking, and depending on which CPU, anything over 1333 could potentially be overclocking.

Also since you are using 4 sticks, not 2, make sure to try 2T command mode over 1T. 2T is a bit slower but sometimes required with 4 sticks. It is worth the performance penalty to use the additional RAM, in my opinion. You might be able to get around this by using more voltage but don't crank it too high.

If your RAM is rated for 1.35V, I would try not to run it past 1.55 or maybe 1.575V, but the lower the better. If 1.5V RAM, I might try it up to a bit under 1.65V (like 1.60-1.625V) if stock didn't work. If 1.65V RAM, you bought the wrong stuff.

Also make sure you have the latest BIOS because they sometimes improve memory compatibility. But make sure to flash it from a system you know is stable. Do NOT flash your BIOS with the new sticks in the board if they are not stable.

 

[MrCaffeineX]

I second the suggestion to thoroughly test the memory. Let Memtest or a Prime95 blend test run for a few hours. Usually when I have had bad RAM it results in sporadic blue screens, but I guess it is also theoretically possible that you are not getting bit errors that would trigger a blue screen, just really poor performance when accessing a certain area of the memory.

That motherboard in your sig should default to DDR3-1333 with a Sandy Bridge CPU installed. Anything faster is technically overclocking as far as the motherboard is concerned. It should support memory up to DDR3-2133 or DDR3-2400 with XMP enabled. The faster memory may require a bump to voltage (memory and/or IMC), especially with 4 slots populated, as others have suggested.

Unless some component in your PC is defective in some way, there is no reason that DDR3-1866 should perform slower than DDR3-1333. Differences in memory timings should not result in perceivable slowness, but could affect synthetic benchmarks. It is normal for the timings of higher-clocked RAM to be higher and for higher-capacity RAM to be higher, though the timings for the RAM you listed the specifications from look pretty decent for what they are.

 

[GreatestOne]

Continuing......

With 4 sticks in, changing the voltage to 1.6 didnt help, same error/problems as before.

Rebooting with just 2 sticks caused the system to operate more like with the old 1333, so there is something to that.

I ran the BIOS update from TouchBIOS, the provided software from GB run from Windows. I'm not inclined to run that again so not sure how else I am supposed to update the BIOS again. If there is another way, I am all ears for that one considering my experience on that so far.

This is the result for this 2x8GB

Intel Core (Sandy Bridge) DRAM Controller; 2x 8GB G.Skill F3-1866C9-8GSR DIMM DDR3 (1.33GHz 128-bit) PC3-14900 (9-9-9-24 4-33-10-5)
Number of Devices / Threads 1 / 4
State Normal
Speed 1334MHz
Power 35.5W
Performance vs. Power (aka Power Efficiency) 0.49GB/s/W
Capacity 16.00GB
Capacity vs. Power (aka Size Efficiency) 0.45GB/W

So if that voltage to 1.6 didnt work for the 4x8GB, how do I make all 4 work? Considering how much memory this MB supports, this seems like a lot to improvise to make what to me, is not that much RAM for a system of this type. Dont tell me I need to finagle the voltage just like I were oc'ing my CPU, one step at time from like 1.5 and up? I cant be the only one upgrading this type of board to 4x8GB... no way.

(Thanks for your continued help, if it werent for u guys, I would have pulled out triple the hair I already have)

 

[Tsumi]

Based on that, my guess would be one of the following:

1. Your CPU is unable to run RAM at 1866 mhz.
2. VccSA and VccIO might be too low. Try increasing one or the other, or both. Play with those two voltages.
3. Your RAM is defective.

 

[GreatestOne]

How do I check to see if my i5 can run it at that speed?
I don't have Vcc settings, only DRAM voltage, Vref, and Termination.
They were at 1.5, 0.750, 0.750, I changed them to 1.6, 0.775, 0.775
They also have channel A,B (Data Vref) and (Address Vref) at stock 0.750 which I haven't touched yet.
Causes same errors still.
Tried Extreme memory Profile 2 at 1600, same errors.
When I use only 2 sticks, and I load optimized defaults, it loads memory frequency at 1600mhz, Vcore at 1.332, DRAM voltage 1.6 (fluctuates slightly as I look at it)

Ran memtest86 to 10% of first pass, no errors, I'll run it again overnight, but again, I doubt 3 separate new memory packages are all bad.
______________________________

Now to use my PC I took out 2 sticks and left in just 2, and now when I do optimized defaults, it only goes to 1333 LMAO... wow this is maddening. PC works well, but how did it go to 1600 before??

 

[smangular]

I second the suggestion to thoroughly test the memory. Let Memtest or a Prime95 blend test run for a few hours. Usually when I have had bad RAM it results in sporadic blue screens, but I guess it is also theoretically possible that you are not getting bit errors that would trigger a blue screen, just really poor performance when accessing a certain area of the memory.

+1, RAM can have intermittent problems that are not obvious. Memtest86 (free) will do a great job and worth keeping on a dedicated USB Drive.

 

[dandragonrage]

+1, RAM can have intermittent problems that are not obvious. Memtest86 (free) will do a great job and worth keeping on a dedicated USB Drive.

This is slightly off-topic, though it could be of some use to OP and others. I'm going to go beyond what might be relevant to this thread just to keep my information about this topic from being too fragmented.


Personally I recommend that for those of us that repair PCs, get a 32GB or larger stick, use YUMI to put a whole bunch of different useful tools on it. Here are some I recommend and these are all free:

-Ultimate Boot CD (itself a compilation of many useful utilities like Memtest86, HDD manufacturer tools/diagnostics (though most of these are DOS versions that require your SATA controller to be in IDE/"legacy" mode), and lots more (there's a convenient list on their site)

-System Rescue CD - same sort of deal as UBCD but I'd rather have multiple options at hand in case there is some sort of problem with UBCD or SRCD or whatever

-Rescatux - A bootable Linux distro geared towards fixing boot problems with installed Linux distros (not too useful if you're Windows-only)

Next I will list several antivirus programs - I like to include at least 4 of these on my USB stick just because some catch things that others don't. These all run on bootable Linux distros (most Ubuntu-based) and you can do basic things on them like access files on your HDD to copy them to another/external drive, etc. They are not as full-featured as an installed Linux distro or even Knoppix but I have indeed used them to copy data off before. I am not going to list every single bootable AV but I will list several. There are more.

Kaspersky Rescue Disk - A bootable antivirus - note that this one always seems to tell me databases are corrupt, yet it works anyway. Like all bootable antivirus, it's best if the PC has a network connection so you can update the definitions, but these are still helpful if you don't have a network connection.

Eset Sysrescue bootable AV

Avira Rescue System - Avira's bootable antivirus

Dr Web Live CD - another bootable AV

F-Secure rescue CD AV

Avast Rescue Disc - another AV


You can also include Windows installers (multiple versions of Windows, even, if you want -- I do XP and 7 but you can go beyond that) and also Windows repair discs (though those have never in my life fixed a problem - occasionally they claim to have fixed something, but it never works for me)

I also include a few Linux distros both installed and bootable.. I include Knoppix which is specifically meant as a bootable distro... I might typically include Arch and Fedora as options for installed Linux... In the past I have included VMWare ESXi and even custom ISOs I made to do things like update HDD firmware using FlashCD Creator and/or UltraISO

There are other things I include as well, but given that I went off into this tangent specifically from Memtest, I think I've gone into enough detail. Basically what I am saying here is YES, create a USB stick with diagnostic utilities as previously suggested. And while you're at it, make a really good one with these other utilities as well.

 

[defaultluser]

Sandy Bridge has a maximum stock ram spec of 1333, 1.5v. Do not exceed that voltage, but most enthusiast boards can handle higher ram speeds. I'm surprised yours can't.

 

[dandragonrage]

Sandy Bridge has a maximum stock ram spec of 1333, 1.5v. Do not exceed that voltage, but most enthusiast boards can handle higher ram speeds. I'm surprised yours can't.

You can safely exceed 1.5v, but I would recommend keeping it under - NOT inclusive - 1.65v. Several people push SB past 1.65v but you are really pushing your luck doing that.

1.625v should be considered the maximum for SB, IMO. If you want to play it really safe, anything under 1.6v is definitely okay.

What is specced and what is safe are not the same. Your CPU also has a specific spec but most of us on this site overclock at least sometimes, yeah? It's fine to overclock and overvolt if you do your homework and stay within reasonable limits.

 

[Romale23]

Ok update... I did find the extreme mem setting... it was in the MIT settings and the extreme setting was non-existant when I had the 1333 in there, weird... only when I put in the 1866 it came up, thinking I would jus manually override it.

So I set it on the Profile 2, which is 1867.8 or something like that, thinking that was the right one. This was after clearing CMOS again. At restart, it gives yet another problem:

"The system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking"

Then I found a link about this in another thread for a different GB mobo:

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=4117.0

altho the advice there doesnt make any sense for me anyways bec its again molasses at 1333, nor do I want to run it at that speed when I bought 1866 modules.

In 20+ years and hundreds of of PC's, I never had this type of murphys law on upgrading RAM.

Oh add to that when I try updating the BIOS, it states that BIOS is not compatible with my Win7 64-bit. Well GB only offers the one version, without any OS choices, so W......... T........ F..........??? Someone is definitely messing with me today.

I just want to be clear on a couple of things: there is no such thing as bios incompatibility with an operating system today (UEFI yes, but you can disable that), only with hardware. Only the tools your trying to use to update it are not comptable with windows 7 64. You can make a bootable usb with a boot time tool to update the bios if you have to. here is a link to the dos utility which is what you should probably use http://www.gigabyte.com/webpage/20/HowToReflashBIOS.html
its at the bottom just use the updated bios version.

Second, i've been building my little bullshit computers for 20+ years and i have NEVER had an XMP profile work correctly, i have always had to set it manually, and if you set the ram timings and speed manually to exactly what the ram is, you shouldn't get that message, it should just not boot if it can't do it and start beeping. Your still OCing because you bought ram that has a full speed that is not supporting by sandybridge's onboard memory controller.

 

[Tsumi]

How do I check to see if my i5 can run it at that speed?
I don't have Vcc settings, only DRAM voltage, Vref, and Termination.
They were at 1.5, 0.750, 0.750, I changed them to 1.6, 0.775, 0.775
They also have channel A,B (Data Vref) and (Address Vref) at stock 0.750 which I haven't touched yet.
Causes same errors still.
Tried Extreme memory Profile 2 at 1600, same errors.
When I use only 2 sticks, and I load optimized defaults, it loads memory frequency at 1600mhz, Vcore at 1.332, DRAM voltage 1.6 (fluctuates slightly as I look at it)

Ran memtest86 to 10% of first pass, no errors, I'll run it again overnight, but again, I doubt 3 separate new memory packages are all bad.
______________________________

Now to use my PC I took out 2 sticks and left in just 2, and now when I do optimized defaults, it only goes to 1333 LMAO... wow this is maddening. PC works well, but how did it go to 1600 before??

Optimized defaults use settings that are guaranteed fail-safe if there is nothing wrong with the hardware. For your processor, that means 1333 MHz RAM speed, because that is the maximum officially supported RAM speed by Sandy Bridge.

The only way to know if it can run at those speeds is to get a known, good working 1866 MHz RAM stick and put it in there and see if it runs at 1866.

Are you sure you cannot find those two voltages? They could be listed as SA or System Agent, or IO.

You can safely exceed 1.5v, but I would recommend keeping it under - NOT inclusive - 1.65v. Several people push SB past 1.65v but you are really pushing your luck doing that.

1.625v should be considered the maximum for SB, IMO. If you want to play it really safe, anything under 1.6v is definitely okay.

What is specced and what is safe are not the same. Your CPU also has a specific spec but most of us on this site overclock at least sometimes, yeah? It's fine to overclock and overvolt if you do your homework and stay within reasonable limits.

If I recall correctly, Intel says 1.5v +/- 10%. Which allows a range of 1.35v to 1.65v.

I just want to be clear on a couple of things: there is no such thing as bios incompatibility with an operating system today (UEFI yes, but you can disable that), only with hardware. Only the tools your trying to use to update it are not comptable with windows 7 64. You can make a bootable usb with a boot time tool to update the bios if you have to. here is a link to the dos utility which is what you should probably use http://www.gigabyte.com/webpage/20/HowToReflashBIOS.html
its at the bottom just use the updated bios version.

Second, i've been building my little bullshit computers for 20+ years and i have NEVER had an XMP profile work correctly, i have always had to set it manually, and if you set the ram timings and speed manually to exactly what the ram is, you shouldn't get that message, it should just not boot if it can't do it and start beeping. Your still OCing because you bought ram that has a full speed that is not supporting by sandybridge's onboard memory controller.

XMP profile has always worked fine for me, knock on wood.

 

[GreatestOne]

Personally I recommend that for those of us that repair PCs, get a 32GB or larger stick, use YUMI to put a whole bunch of different useful tools on it. Here are some I recommend and these are all free:e bootable AV[/URL]

Yes but this is actually appreciated... I use several tools from this list but I should really make a couple of CD's and flash drives with all of them on it.

You can safely exceed 1.5v, but I would recommend keeping it under - NOT inclusive - 1.65v. Several people push SB past 1.65v but you are really pushing your luck doing that.

1.625v should be considered the maximum for SB, IMO. If you want to play it really safe, anything under 1.6v is definitely okay.

As stated I tried 1.6V +/- a couple of hundredths, no effect at all.

here is a link to the dos utility which is what you should probably use http://www.gigabyte.com/webpage/20/HowToReflashBIOS.html
its at the bottom just use the updated bios version.

Second, i've been building my little bullshit computers for 20+ years and i have NEVER had an XMP profile work correctly, i have always had to set it manually, and if you set the ram timings and speed manually to exactly what the ram is, you shouldn't get that message, it should just not boot if it can't do it and start beeping. Your still OCing because you bought ram that has a full speed that is not supporting by sandybridge's onboard memory controller.

Wait you are saying the GB provided Touch BIOS for Windows is NOT the way to update BIOS even though it went through the whole process fine?

Well that sucks about the XMP's, but unfortunately in this case, it doesnt seem to be the settings but the mobo.

Optimized defaults use settings that are guaranteed fail-safe if there is nothing wrong with the hardware. For your processor, that means 1333 MHz RAM speed, because that is the maximum officially supported RAM speed by Sandy Bridge.

The only way to know if it can run at those speeds is to get a known, good working 1866 MHz RAM stick and put it in there and see if it runs at 1866.

Are you sure you cannot find those two voltages? They could be listed as SA or System Agent, or IO.

Memory is good, as probably was the Aries and Ripjaws.... jus ran 1.5 passes in memtest and no errors, I dont think I need any more passes since again this is the SAME issue with the other 2 RAM I got brand new, and just for details they were

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
__________________________________________________

So bottom line, I pretty much need to get this?

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB)DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

I cant believe it either, this mobo unable to take higher speeds, that aint make no sense man.

 

[dandragonrage]

Wait you are saying the GB provided Touch BIOS for Windows is NOT the way to update BIOS even though it went through the whole process fine?

It's not recommended in that it's the riskiest way to do it because the success of your flash is highly dependent on the stability of your Windows installation. If you had a virus, a bad device driver, or forget to close an antivirus or something, it could mess up your flash. It's nice for convenience but most of us recommend going into your BIOS and using the flash utility built in. If I remember correctly, Gigabyte calls theirs "Q-Flash"

However if you did not get errors and the system still works with the old RAM at least, your BIOS flash was not problematic.

 

[Tsumi]

Then it appears like your CPU is incapable of running 1866 MHz RAM. The best thing to do would be to lower the Mhz and see if you can lower the timings (approximately the same net effect). i.e. 1866 MHz CAS9 is approximately equivalent to 1600 MHz CAS 8, and 1333 MHz CAS 7.

 

[GreatestOne]

It's not recommended in that it's the riskiest way to do it because the success of your flash is highly dependent on the stability of your Windows installation. If you had a virus, a bad device driver, or forget to close an antivirus or something, it could mess up your flash. It's nice for convenience but most of us recommend going into your BIOS and using the flash utility built in. If I remember correctly, Gigabyte calls theirs "Q-Flash"

However if you did not get errors and the system still works with the old RAM at least, your BIOS flash was not problematic.

I didnt get any error in getting the last "stable" version of F10, but there is a newer beta version, came out in 2013 so I am sure its not bad, but that didnt come up in the @BIOS or TouchBIOS update, so I am willing to update to that manually, because look:

U1J(UEFI BIOS)
2.96 MB
2013/03/06
Beta BIOS, UEFI BIOS
(When updating from legacy to UEFI, use only the utility attached to your BIOS file)
(Note) Some GIGABYTE utilities are not supported under UEFI BIOS architecture. Please remove Smart6, Dynamic Energy Saver, Smart TPM, and Touch BIOS utilities before updating the BIOS.

F10 (The one I upgraded to)
1.75 MB
2012/03/21
Improve USB3.0 compatibility

Doesnt it seem like the U1J might handle this memory better?
If so how do I upgrade to this properly... before I booted into Windows safe mode CMD and ran the BIOS from a flash drive. Should I run CMD from a Windows 7 disc or....? Because when I did it, it still gave the same 64-bit incompatibility error, and there is only one version of BIOS to download from the GB site.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3892#bios

Then it appears like your CPU is incapable of running 1866 MHz RAM. The best thing to do would be to lower the Mhz and see if you can lower the timings (approximately the same net effect). i.e. 1866 MHz CAS9 is approximately equivalent to 1600 MHz CAS 8, and 1333 MHz CAS 7.

I've tried at 1333, thats when it runs slow, which was the original problem. THEN I tried going to 1600 (Profile 1 in XMP) and 1866 (Profile 2) and THOSE are the ones that cause crashes.

Seems like the only real solutions here are try upgrading BIOS to the U1J and if that doesnt work, just get a 4x8GB at 1333. Anything I'm missing?

 

[dandragonrage]

Doesnt it seem like the U1J might handle this memory better?

It's always possible for a BIOS update to change memory compatibility somewhat but you can never be sure until you try it.

Sounds like they want you to use Q-Flash which you start from the BIOS/UEFI... put the new one on a USB flash drive, reboot, enter BIOS (or sometimes there is a separate hotkey like F8, F11, F12, end, etc) and go to Q-flash

If you are hitting a CPU wall then a BIOS update will not likely help but it's hard to be 100% sure it's a CPU wall you're hitting without trying the CPU in a whole bunch of different motherboards

 

[cyclone3d]

Other things I would try if the BIOS update doesn't help.

1. Reseat the CPU
2. Try a different power supply.

I find it very hard to believe that your 2500k can't handle anything over 1333.

Could be that the motherboard has faulty power circuitry for the RAM.. but I would think that that would make it not work at all.

Edit: Look at this review. Looks like that board should be able to go to around 2200 on the RAM.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68xp-ud3-dz68db,2980-17.html

 

[GreatestOne]

It's always possible for a BIOS update to change memory compatibility somewhat but you can never be sure until you try it.

Sounds like they want you to use Q-Flash which you start from the BIOS/UEFI... put the new one on a USB flash drive, reboot, enter BIOS (or sometimes there is a separate hotkey like F8, F11, F12, end, etc) and go to Q-flash

If you are hitting a CPU wall then a BIOS update will not likely help but it's hard to be 100% sure it's a CPU wall you're hitting without trying the CPU in a whole bunch of different motherboards

Wow, the comedy continues.... in Q-Flash, I click to load BIO from drive, then it says "cant find drive"... wtfffffffffffffffffffffffff... I tried 2 different flash drives in 3 different USB slots. This is just %$^!#^^&#%!^^%&$%&$@^%!^#&!$#. This is really making me wanna turn to ASUS only next, pissing me off. I dont even know what else to try here now.

Other things I would try if the BIOS update doesn't help.

1. Reseat the CPU
2. Try a different power supply.

I find it very hard to believe that your 2500k can't handle anything over 1333.

Could be that the motherboard has faulty power circuitry for the RAM.. but I would think that that would make it not work at all.

Edit: Look at this review. Looks like that board should be able to go to around 2200 on the RAM.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68xp-ud3-dz68db,2980-17.html

Yes I know the specs to the MB, so this is all the more frustrating. I did send in a support message to GB but who knows what will happen there, its been 3 days.

I understand your going thru all the progressions for the CPU and PSU but heck, if those were a problem, I think I would have seen something else go wrong, but considering this is a VERY specific problem I been able to replicate only when inserting the 1866 or 1600 speed RAM, I dont wanna mess this these 2 processes because they are a pain in the neck with my cpu cooler and internal layout etc.... unless u have seen that to be the cause of my specific problem in your experience.

Thanks again for all your help, its makes this process slightly more bearable... slightly.... but Ima give GB a couple more days to respond and if nothing, I am just going to sadly order some more 1333 RAM at 4x8GB, which seems like a ripoff to me because I could really use even a 5% extra kick in speed for the stuff I do, but whatever.

 

[cyclone3d]

Wow, the comedy continues.... in Q-Flash, I click to load BIO from drive, then it says "cant find drive"... wtfffffffffffffffffffffffff... I tried 2 different flash drives in 3 different USB slots. This is just %$^!#^^&#%!^^%&$%&$@^%!^#&!$#. This is really making me wanna turn to ASUS only next, pissing me off. I dont even know what else to try here now.

Are your USB sticks formatted for FAT32? If so, do you have access to a USB floppy drive that you could use instead?

And are you inserting the USB stick with the power off and then turning it on?

Have you tried with both the F4 option and from Q-Flash after entering the BIOS?

 

[dandragonrage]

You also need to use an Intel USB port for flashing, not ASMedia (or whatever). Best to do it from the USB 2.0 ports - even the Intel 3.0 ports may not be recognized for this.

 

[Liquid_Static]

USB 3.0 drivers are still quirky. Stick with 2.0

 

[GreatestOne]

Are your USB sticks formatted for FAT32? If so, do you have access to a USB floppy drive that you could use instead?

And are you inserting the USB stick with the power off and then turning it on?

Have you tried with both the F4 option and from Q-Flash after entering the BIOS?

• Yes they are FAT32
• I tried inserting it when shutting down, when it was off, after it went into BIOS, and after it requested for the drive, think I pretty much covered it all
• I tried my front USB ports, the rear 3.0 and 2.0 ports, 2 different once in the back, both of which I know work from my other peripherals
• I tried the "END" key from the welcome screen to QFlash and the F8 I think it was from the BIOS screen to get into QFlash, same results

Am I missing anything else?

 

[cyclone3d]

• Yes they are FAT32
• I tried inserting it when shutting down, when it was off, after it went into BIOS, and after it requested for the drive, think I pretty much covered it all
• I tried my front USB ports, the rear 3.0 and 2.0 ports, 2 different once in the back, both of which I know work from my other peripherals
• I tried the "END" key from the welcome screen to QFlash and the F8 I think it was from the BIOS screen to get into QFlash, same results

Am I missing anything else?

Try a USB floppy drive. If you don't have one, do you know anybody with an old Dell D series that has a floppy drive for it? Those have a plug for a USB cable on them.

I saw a forum post about the same motherboard you have, and that was the only way they were able to get Q-Flash to work.

 

[GreatestOne]

Wow bad to worse... gezuz I hate computers, not sure why I am even in this business, and this will prob be the last GB MB I buy....

GB answer, finally:

The sandy bridge memory controller is rated up to 1333mhz, any spec set above this would consider be overclocking and specs cannot be guarantee.
If you are going to use 32gb of memory, make sure that the Frame buffer size under bios is set higher than 256mb

You will need to create a bootable USB flash drive. Download and extract the bios download onto the flash drive. Boot off from it then execute the flashefi Z68XPUD3.U1j command.

1. Made and booted and installed the UEFI BIOS from the dos flash drive, no errors
2. Tried just boosting the frame buffer size (I assume thats the same as "Internal graphics memory size" bec I didnt find anything remotely close to the other one.
3. The 1866 4x8GB actually booted up with the buffer set at 260+, but after Win loaded, blue screen of death.
4. Another downside, all of a sudden by sound doesnt work, and my LAN card.
5. Tried reinstalling the old F13 BIOS but @BIOS gives an error, it wont install from DOS, wont recognize from Q, nothing.

Wow this is one of the worst PC moments ever, and I have one of the most important meetings this year tonight, and still have tons to do. FML.

 

[cyclone3d]

Wow bad to worse... gezuz I hate computers, not sure why I am even in this business, and this will prob be the last GB MB I buy....

GB answer, finally:

1. Made and booted and installed the UEFI BIOS from the dos flash drive, no errors
2. Tried just boosting the frame buffer size (I assume thats the same as "Internal graphics memory size" bec I didnt find anything remotely close to the other one.
3. The 1866 4x8GB actually booted up with the buffer set at 260+, but after Win loaded, blue screen of death.
4. Another downside, all of a sudden by sound doesnt work, and my LAN card.
5. Tried reinstalling the old F13 BIOS but @BIOS gives an error, it wont install from DOS, wont recognize from Q, nothing.

Wow this is one of the worst PC moments ever, and I have one of the most important meetings this year tonight, and still have tons to do. FML.

Did you clear the BIOS after flashing?

Going from non-UEFI to UEFI bios could potentially make Windows freak out. I would go into safe mode and delete everything out of device manager and let it all re-detect.

If that doesn't fix it, a fresh install of Windows may be needed.

 

[GreatestOne]

Did you clear the BIOS after flashing?

Going from non-UEFI to UEFI bios could potentially make Windows freak out. I would go into safe mode and delete everything out of device manager and let it all re-detect.

If that doesn't fix it, a fresh install of Windows may be needed.

Found this BIOS "hack" to revert back to my F10 bios, gezzuz krist. So I am back to square one except now my Windows is invalid and all my Windows color schemes have been reset, SMH. My other problem is the Windows being not genuine now, and I cant find my Win disk/product code... Is there any way to recover that through Windows/MS?

Gonna try to tackle this again later this week, but after all this, do you guys think flashing the new UEFI will allow me to use the 1866 or just give it up and go get 1333 4x8GB now?

 

[cyclone3d]

Found this BIOS "hack" to revert back to my F10 bios, gezzuz krist. So I am back to square one except now my Windows is invalid and all my Windows color schemes have been reset, SMH. My other problem is the Windows being not genuine now, and I cant find my Win disk/product code... Is there any way to recover that through Windows/MS?

Gonna try to tackle this again later this week, but after all this, do you guys think flashing the new UEFI will allow me to use the 1866 or just give it up and go get 1333 4x8GB now?

You can get the key by using a utility such as winkeyfinder or similar.

Personally, I would go with the UEFI bios. If Windows has to be reinstalled, so be it.

Since Windows keeps screwing up anyway, it seems like something is definitely going on.

It may or may not allow you to run 1866. That is pretty much dependent on your processor. The newest BIOS may also have some compatibility fixes for RAM.

Also, you can run the faster RAM at 1333 if need be.. and probably tighten up the timings quite a bit. Not worth the time of shipping stuff back and forth IMO.