Little Dissapointed with Gigabyte...

So i jsut upgraded from my giga p965-S3 board to a giga ep45-UD3R board and after a few hours of normal function, the system began locking up and now it wont even post. It looks liek a board issue, so before dealing with the annoying RMA i figured i would call giga and ask them if they had any last ideas.

The guy told me that running 2.1V ram probably destroyed the controller and that i should use only 1.8V.

Seriously? 2.1v is like the DDR2 enthusiasts standard.. And that board is an enthusiasts board!..

That seems like a silly explanation to me. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but some boards run at Max VDIMM of 1.8v, but I do not think that board is one of them. 2.1V is indeed a standard DDR2 voltage and I can't see that being the problem.
How's your PSU? Do you have any other RAM to test with it? Or is it just plain fried?

i think it might be my proc... or maybe the ram is killing boards.. haha .

i have used two psus, same results with both..

i actually just went back to my old board and its just as bad..

There is only one "standard" ddr2 voltage, and that is 1.8v. Anymore more then that does not fit in the JEDEC (JDEC? One of the two. The official ram standards people) specifications.
A lot of outfits make 1.9v+ dimms, but they're essentially overvolted from the factory.

Definitely run at 1.8/1.9v for RAM!!

This was mandatory for the Asus p5n32-e SLI motherboards. They were notorious for failing memory tests and locking up all due to the BIOS either undervolting or overvolting the RAM, so you had to manually set the voltage to 1.9v on Asus's case.

I would load "optimal defaults" in the BIOS and see if that helps.

Make sure the motherboard is also grounded properly.

Yes, my Zotac Mini ITX is this way. It only runs RAM at 1.8v, which means that it pretty much has to run at DDR2-800, and not the 1000, or 1066 it's rated to with 2.0 or 2.1v.
Certain Boards can be picky, no doubt about it.

Moved to GCRD, please post in the proper topic.

phil178821 said:

i think it might be my proc... or maybe the ram is killing boards.. haha .

i have used two psus, same results with both..

i actually just went back to my old board and its just as bad..

Click to expand...

Its funny you mention that..

I have an Asus P5K-Deluxe WiFi and it is very hard on sensitive ram..

For instance, Micron D9GMH. I love the stuff. I miss it.

With a brand new set, I could get 4 days, to 3 months out of them.

D9GMH, and D9GCT on this board was an absolute treat

High fsb, high memory speed, nice tight timeings, as well as some other adjustments here and there that you cant really do with some of the newer ddr2.

And I usually got at least 6 months with them

/ramble

Edit:

I just saw you have some OCZ ram..

You should check those.. Thats where I would start.

phil178821 said:

So i jsut upgraded from my giga p965-S3 board to a giga ep45-UD3R board and after a few hours of normal function, the system began locking up and now it wont even post. It looks liek a board issue, so before dealing with the annoying RMA i figured i would call giga and ask them if they had any last ideas.

The guy told me that running 2.1V ram probably destroyed the controller and that i should use only 1.8V.

Seriously? 2.1v is like the DDR2 enthusiasts standard.. And that board is an enthusiasts board!..

Click to expand...

It may be simple:

The wrong RAM:FSB ratio being selected. To OC, you must underclock the RAM, reboot, go back into the BIOS and then raise the FSB. Otherwise, the motherboard BIOS may fight with you and insist on selecting higher than DDR 2 1066. (or higher than DDR2 800)

A good chance that the motherboard selected higher than DDR2 1066.

That's what the freezing sounds a lot like. The symptoms would be the motherboard seeming to refuse any FSB OC past a ridiculously low OC.

RJARRRPCGP said:

It may be simple:

The wrong RAM:FSB ratio being selected. To OC, you must underclock the RAM, reboot, go back into the BIOS and then raise the FSB. Otherwise, the motherboard BIOS may fight with you and insist on selecting higher than DDR 2 1066. (or higher than DDR2 800)

A good chance that the motherboard selected higher than DDR2 1066.

That's what the freezing sounds a lot like. The symptoms would be the motherboard seeming to refuse any FSB OC past a ridiculously low OC.

Click to expand...

i am convinced its my cpu.. i know at least one of my sticks of ram is good ( and i am pretty sure the other three are good). So in both boards, my 965p and my new P45, the stock boot is of course 1.8v and the stock speeds registered correctly at 800mhz (cant remember the ratio). I would then go in and bump it up to the 2.1v. my gigabyte 965p has lasted for 2.5 years like this. And i was able to overclock with that board to 8x400 with 1:1 on ram, which was stable until a few weeks ago.

Well after a few hours in the new board, as i said, everything failed. I didnt even get a chance to oc, and all the speeds registered correctly as stock in cpuz. I proceeded to try each stick of ram individually (and I am certain one of them is fine since it has passed 4+plus hrs) and still bios lock ups. Eventually the monitor became unresponsive. So i concluded the new board was deffective.

Just to double check it was teh board and not my proc, I swapped back to my 965p board, which always booted, and it did the same thing. First boot it froze in bios and then became unresponsive.

I think that something must of happened to me cpu and that gigabyte saying the ram somehow killed the enthusiast p45 mobo is strange to say the least.

If you guys have any other ideas on what could be going on here please let me know. I am at the point of dropping $xxx on a new proc..

Well you never know, the UD3R is a B to get going right. It took me 15 min to get mine running today since I moved it and had to turn it off.

First it loops trying to start up, it don't get to the point where it turns the monitor on. Just gotta let it keep rebooting for a while for it to start.

Then you have to go into bios and put the OC back on (mine defaults to 2.13ghz, even though the processor stock speed is 2.4. Something about the multiplier). Takes a few reboots for this to work.

Then it will BSOD windows a few times. Today I had to go into safe mode once and then reboot in normal mode to get it to work.

I'm not very fond of the motherboard.

KonaKona said:

Well you never know, the UD3R is a B to get going right. It took me 15 min to get mine running today since I moved it and had to turn it off.

First it loops trying to start up, it don't get to the point where it turns the monitor on. Just gotta let it keep rebooting for a while for it to start.

Then you have to go into bios and put the OC back on (mine defaults to 2.13ghz, even though the processor stock speed is 2.4. Something about the multiplier). Takes a few reboots for this to work.

Then it will BSOD windows a few times. Today I had to go into safe mode once and then reboot in normal mode to get it to work.

I'm not very fond of the motherboard.

Click to expand...

Your symptoms sound like what the folks at BadCaps.net reported when the caps are bad. (maybe a bad PSU?)

http://badcaps.net

Here are some functionality symptoms and issues your system might display if your capacitors are failing. Please note that these symptoms can occur even if your capacitors are not showing the physical signs demonstrated above. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. Most of the time, there will be physical signs of failure.

Click to expand...

Another quote from a user with bad caps:

I have an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard (socket A) with bad capacitors. A while ago, the USB ports lost power (they worked, but wouldn't charge any devices or spin up a portable hard disk), and eventually it would take two or three attempts to boot.

Click to expand...

But, with a new motherboard, you can't find out unless you test each cap with an ESR meter.

RJARRRPCGP said:

Your symptoms sound like what the folks at BadCaps.net reported when the caps are bad. (maybe a bad PSU?)

http://badcaps.net



Another quote from a user with bad caps:



But, with a new motherboard, you can't find out unless you test each cap with an ESR meter.

Click to expand...

what does it mean to say bad caps? I have tried two mobos and two psus and still have the same issues.

lol.. i am dumb.. capacitors.. two psus and two mobos and still no life.. i am just not sure, i feel like it has to be the psu

phil178821 said:

The guy told me that running 2.1V ram probably destroyed the controller and that I should use only 1.8V.

Click to expand...

That's crap.
You may have a PSU issue but it sounds more like you just don't have your memory timings and voltage and MCH voltages dialed in.
I'm running a 2x2 KHX kit on mine with 2.2V with no issues.
Is it the hardware in your sig?
What power supply?

chuck4456 said:

That's crap.
You may have a PSU issue but it sounds more like you just don't have your memory timings and voltage and MCH voltages dialed in.
I'm running a 2x2 KHX kit on mine with 2.2V with no issues.
Is it the hardware in your sig?
What power supply?

Click to expand...

I am just utterly confused, I am gunna link a new post shortly where it will focus on my problem cause i just had a breakthrough that contradicts what i was thinking...

EDIT: I have started a new thread to consolidate my PC issue discussion, HERE Please check it out, I am in need of some help!