Blue screen, error, and restart with GigaByte GA-EX58-UD3 and Viper Series DDR3

[jabs83]

SETUP:
Mobo - GigaByte GA-EX58-UD3
Memory - Patriot Viper Series DDR3 3GB (3 x 1GB) PC3-12800 PVT33G1600LLK
Processor - Core i7 940
OS - Windows XP Professional SP3

First off, thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

I was using my pc yesterday, and I got a blue screen with an error. I cant remember the exact error, but I think the message had something to do with a kernell error?

At the beginning of the week, I switched the DIMM settings in my bios to run XMP profile 1. Since then, there have been a few times when I was using after effects CS4, and rendering a movie for preview, when the pc just restarts. It blacks out, and resets. No blue screen or anything. The pc did that on me twice, while using After effects, so I switched the XMP setting off, and reset my Bios to run the ram at default(1066mhz?). This was at the beginning of the week.

Then last night, I had adobe after effects, photoshop, ms word, and a bunch of browser windows open. It looked like word was about to quit on me, since the program froze, but then the pc blanked out, and I was blue screened. After restarting the pc, it rebooted just fine.

What could the problem be? Is it possible that it could be the memory since Ive read that some people have had some "issues" with some patriot mem, and ex58 mobo combos? What are some things I should check/do to insure this doesnt happen in the future?

Much appreciated if anyone could give me some input.

EDIT: See update at bottom.

[Patriot_Ben]

Hello,

Do you have the latest BIOS for the motherboard? Are all the hardware drivers for the board, video card, and Windows updates installed?

Try running memtest and Prime 95 to so to see if comes up with any errors. Let me know how it goes.

[jabs83]

K will do, thanks for the response.

When the pc was initially built, HeavyLoad stress tester, and it ran fine. No errors came up. I'll try the memtest and Prime95.

[Lord_Hades]

SETUP:
Mobo - GigaByte GA-EX58-UD3
Memory - Patriot Viper Series DDR3 3GB (3 x 1GB) PC3-12800 PVT33G1600LLK
Processor - Core i7 940
OS - Windows XP Professional SP3

First off, thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

I was using my pc yesterday, and I got a blue screen with an error. I cant remember the exact error, but I think the message had something to do with a kernell error?

At the beginning of the week, I switched the DIMM settings in my bios to run XMP profile 1. Since then, there have been a few times when I was using after effects CS4, and rendering a movie for preview, when the pc just restarts. It blacks out, and resets. No blue screen or anything. The pc did that on me twice, while using After effects, so I switched the XMP setting off, and reset my Bios to run the ram at default(1066mhz?). This was at the beginning of the week.

Then last night, I had adobe after effects, photoshop, ms word, and a bunch of browser windows open. It looked like word was about to quit on me, since the program froze, but then the pc blanked out, and I was blue screened. After restarting the pc, it rebooted just fine.

What could the problem be? Is it possible that it could be the memory since Ive read that some people have had some "issues" with some patriot mem, and ex58 mobo combos? What are some things I should check/do to insure this doesnt happen in the future?

Much appreciated if anyone could give me some input.

More Than likely You Will Need to Tweak Some Settings In Your Bios To Stabilize Your System.

It Is Possible That You Could Correct These Problems By Making Sure You Have Everything Set-up Properly In The Bios Or Possibly Adding A Small Amount Of Voltage To Certain Parts Of The System.

I Recommend You Take These Steps:

If You Have Switched Brands Of Memory Since Building The System, It Is Recommended To Reset CMOS With The Mainboard Jumper Which Will Effectively Clear The Bios Settings And Reset The DMI Pool Data.

Make Sure You Have The Latest, Best Or Most Widely Accepted Drivers For Your System.

You May Want To Try Disabling Any CPU, Mainboard Or Memory Throttling Features (C1E, Spread Spectrums...etc) That Are Active In Your Mainboard Bios As XP SP3 May Not Be Able To Make Use Of Them Fully And May Be Causeing The Instability.

Make Sure You Have Correctly Installed Your Memory Into The Recommended Dimms For Proper Triple Channel Operation And If Neccessary Reseat Each Stick Of Your Memory.

Make Sure You Have The Latest, Best Or Most Widely Accepted Bios Update For Your Mainboard, If Necessary Reflash Your Bios And Reset CMOS.

If You Have Any Overclocks On The System, Reset CMOS Via The Mainboard Jumper, Take the System Back To Manufacturers Recommended Speeds, Voltages And Timings (Not Auto Settings).

Test The Memory At The Recommended Speed, Voltage And Timings For At Least One Pass Using Memtest (www.memtest.org) Having No Errors.

If You Get Any Errors Make Sure You Have The Correct Voltages, Timings And Speeds Set For Your Memory In the Bios And It May Be Neccessary To Add Voltage In Places To Stabilize The System.

If You Do Not Get Any Errors Proceed Booting To An Uncorrupted OS And Test With Prime 95 Or OCCT For Overall System Stability For At Least 1 Hour.

You May Also Post Your Bios Settings Here And We Will Try And Help You With Any Possible Suggestions.

Please Make Sure You Do Not Overvolt Anything Above Any Manufacturers Recomendations.

[jabs83]

Okay, so sorry for not updating this sooner, but I had to go away for a little bit, and didnt have access to my pc.

Since the time of creating the first post, ive upgraded my power supply, and video card, and reinstalled windows.

I havnt got the blue screens while doing anything yet, as Ive been running the memory at 1066mhz. So, yesterday I upgraded my bios to version F6, from F2.

I ran Prime95 at all bios options on the optimized defaults(1066 memory speed), and everything ran fine. I only ran for 30mins.

Then I switched to XMP settings, and ran Prime95, this time the program doesnt even run for 5-10mins before everything shuts down and restarts on me.

What is causing the system to crash in Prime95 when switched to XMP settings?

To my knowledge, ive updated all drivers.

On a side note, switching to XMP causes the smart fan function to turn off, and switching smart fan on doesnt stick in the bios after restart. Is this related to XMP settings?

SETUP:
Mobo - GigaByte GA-EX58-UD3
Memory - Patriot Viper Series DDR3 3GB (3 x 1GB) PC3-12800 PVT33G1600LLK
Processor - Core i7 940
OS - Windows XP Professional SP3
Video Card - MSI N275GTX (Nvidia GTX275)
Power Supply - Antec TruePower New 750 - 80plus bronze
Other - Western Digital harddrives in RAID0 total 320gb.

[Patriot_Ben]

Are you running the latest bios? Make sure TRFC is set to 88 for each channel, set QPI voltage to 1.35v-1.40v and cpu voltage to 1.30-1.35v.

[jabs83]

Thanks Patriot Ben, I set the QPI voltage to 1.35v and cpu voltage to 1.30. The system ran fine under prime95 for half an hour before I powered down the system, and went to sleep. I'll run memtest, and prime95 again when I get home.

Ive never really tinkered with BIOS settings before, but since the memory is now running 1600 stable with higher voltages, should I also change the Uncore speed? Or is this something that the XMP setting automatically adjusts?

Would overclocking the CPU require me to change those settings again? and what should I look for in regards to the memory to insure my overclock runs stable?

Thanks!

BTW, yes per the Gigabyte website, F6 is the latest Bios version, which I have installed.

[Patriot_Ben]

Thanks Patriot Ben, I set the QPI voltage to 1.35v and cpu voltage to 1.30. The system ran fine under prime95 for half an hour before I powered down the system, and went to sleep. I'll run memtest, and prime95 again when I get home.

Ive never really tinkered with BIOS settings before, but since the memory is now running 1600 stable with higher voltages, should I also change the Uncore speed? Or is this something that the XMP setting automatically adjusts?

Would overclocking the CPU require me to change those settings again? and what should I look for in regards to the memory to insure my overclock runs stable?

Thanks!

BTW, yes per the Gigabyte website, F6 is the latest Bios version, which I have installed.

Uncore speed should be twice the memory speed theoretically. You can leave it to auto or manually adjust it if you wish. A longterm prime95 and/or memtest should suffice and ensure stability.

[tomatthe]

You might want to read through the post I have on here with similar issues. I was never able to get the memory running stable at its rated spec. There are several other reports of this from different users and websites. Gigabyte recommended new ram, patriot recommended contacting Gigabtye :\

Best luck though, if you do get things running properly please update your post.

The last two post i never got a response to,

http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1320&page=3

[Patriot_Ben]

You might want to read through the post I have on here with similar issues. I was never able to get the memory running stable at its rated spec. There are several other reports of this from different users and websites. Gigabyte recommended new ram, patriot recommended contacting Gigabtye :\

Best luck though, if you do get things running properly please update your post.

The last two post i never got a response to,

http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1320&page=3

tomatthe,

Have you attempted to rma your memory or board? We will gladly replace the ram for you if you if you wish and even send you a prepaid shipping label. Our engineers only had trouble with early revisions of the board. I did offer you that suggestion in the other thread.

[tomatthe]

I have not sent either back. When you mention early revisions of the board i assume you mean bios versions? I don't think there is but 1 version of the actual board itself.

What process do I need to start to request the shipping label to try replacing the ram?

tks

[jabs83]

Upon my last update of this thread, I was able to get my system to run stable with XMP settings turned on, and per Patriot Ben's instructions

Are you running the latest bios? Make sure TRFC is set to 88 for each channel, set QPI voltage to 1.35v-1.40v and cpu voltage to 1.30-1.35v.

I set my QPI voltage to 1.35v and cpu voltage to 1.30.

Since then, in the last couple of days, ive went through some upgrades. I upgraded to Windows 7 Professional X64. Ive also added an Intel SSD as a boot drive for the OS.

Im now trying to recreate the settings I had before, as I cleared the CMOS before upgrading. One thing that I noticed, and am a little curious about, is the QPI/VTT voltage. I no longer see 1.35v as an option in the QPI/VTT voltage setting. It goes from 1.34 straight to 1.36, and 1.36 and above is highlighted in pink. Off to the side theres a warning about over-volting, and the damage it does to CPU and memory.

Am I looking in the wrong place to set the QPI or CPU/Vcore voltage? CPU/Vcore voltage allows me to bring it to 1.30, but what happened to the 1.35 value QPI/VTT setting, and what would cause that value to disappear? Whats the logic behind increasing the two voltage values in order to get my PC to run stable in XMP mode? Also, will going into the pink/red values from 1.36 and above in my QPI/VTT volts be in fact damaging to the memory or CPU?

Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I havnt changed BIOS versions, and it seems to be latest one before beta version.

[Patriot_Ben]

Upon my last update of this thread, I was able to get my system to run stable with XMP settings turned on, and per Patriot Ben's instructions


I set my QPI voltage to 1.35v and cpu voltage to 1.30.

Since then, in the last couple of days, ive went through some upgrades. I upgraded to Windows 7 Professional X64. Ive also added an Intel SSD as a boot drive for the OS.

Im now trying to recreate the settings I had before, as I cleared the CMOS before upgrading. One thing that I noticed, and am a little curious about, is the QPI/VTT voltage. I no longer see 1.35v as an option in the QPI/VTT voltage setting. It goes from 1.34 straight to 1.36, and 1.36 and above is highlighted in pink. Off to the side theres a warning about over-volting, and the damage it does to CPU and memory.

Am I looking in the wrong place to set the QPI or CPU/Vcore voltage? CPU/Vcore voltage allows me to bring it to 1.30, but what happened to the 1.35 value QPI/VTT setting, and what would cause that value to disappear? Whats the logic behind increasing the two voltage values in order to get my PC to run stable in XMP mode? Also, will going into the pink/red values from 1.36 and above in my QPI/VTT volts be in fact damaging to the memory or CPU?

Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I havnt changed BIOS versions, and it seems to be latest one before beta version.

Hi,

I would keep QPI/VTT to 1.34 if 1.36 is pink. These values dissapeared without any bios flashes? Strange. I've heard of values dissapearing with bios flashes but not by itself.

QPI to VTT is different from QPI itself. QPI is Quickpath Interconnect voltage which controls voltages point to point within the cpu. This is equivalent to FSB voltage in the older days. More voltage here is good to stabilize baseclock OC. VTT voltage travels along the path from the cpu to dimm.

I would think extraneous levels of this is more than likely to damage the board if anything.

Is there a reason you're not changing it to the latest bios? It should help.

[jabs83]

Oh okay, thanks for that explanation. So XMP is essentially an OC, and thats why you add voltage to CPU and QPI, correct?

QPI is just listed as QPI/Vtt in my BIOS, so im in the right place? I dont think I flashed the BIOS before changing the values last time, so I have no idea what would cause the 1.35 value to dissapear. I now have it 1.34 and will run PRIME95.

Would it be beneficial to flash to the new BIOS version, even though its still listed as beta?

Also, I might be thinking about 6gb RAM in order to take advantage of my 64 windows 7. Can you recommend some memory?

Thanks again. Patriot CS is always top notch!

[Patriot_Ben]

Oh okay, thanks for that explanation. So XMP is essentially an OC, and thats why you add voltage to CPU and QPI, correct?

QPI is just listed as QPI/Vtt in my BIOS, so im in the right place? I dont think I flashed the BIOS before changing the values last time, so I have no idea what would cause the 1.35 value to dissapear. I now have it 1.34 and will run PRIME95.

Would it be beneficial to flash to the new BIOS version, even though its still listed as beta?

Also, I might be thinking about 6gb RAM in order to take advantage of my 64 windows 7. Can you recommend some memory?

Thanks again. Patriot CS is always top notch!

Hello jabs83,

Thank you for your kind words. We appreciate your support. To answer your questions...

For DDR3, anything over (tighter than) 1333 9-9-9 is beyond Jedec standards and considered overclock. Most manufactuerers just choose to set XMP at "overclocked speeds," since most motherboards should already be able to boot at 1333 CL9 without "overclocking."

If QPI to VTT is the only value you see, it should be close enough. I honestly have no idea why some values dissapeared.

---> Maybe a ghost flashed it? LOL :D

If you are not stable with the current bios at your desired timings, that's when I would recommend to flash it to the latest version. Particularly for Gigabyte a new bios flash could help and be like night and day difference.

As far as 6GB memory... any of our PVT36G lines should be fine. PVT36G1600ELK (enhanced latency) for a good combination of latencies and frequency. Anything above 1600LL (low latency) might require minor tweaks here or there. 1800 or 2000 will definitely require some cpu overclock.

[Temukahn]

I've used pretty much used (tested-reviewed) every 6GB Viper - Viper II 1600 to 2000MHz Tri-Channel kit on every brand X58 motherboard with the latest BIOS except for MSI. Fortunately, I haven't had any issues especially with the lower latency kits. My favorite kits are the 1800MHz and 2000MHz DDR3 because they can operate at lower frequencies using MUCH lower latencies. Otherwise, I recommend the lower latency 1600MHz kits when possible for the same reason. The production performance adds up.