Upgrade Advice Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P

[Zoue]

Yes, I used the Gigabyte utility to flash the latest BIOS version.

@Tyerker: thanks, may try anyway after Memtest completes. Currently at 94% on Pass 1. Bit slow!

No errors, which is good I suppose, although leaves me scratching my head as to what the problem could be

 

[knoober]

I wonder if the default values aren't giving you trouble. For instance in my board the default voltage on my processor is far too high which leads to high heat. Perhaps your voltage values are set too low?

I know nothing of the error message you recieved, but that issues sounds like what I saw when I took the voltage back too far. As always, check with Google and the smarter guys round here before doing anything I suggest, but I might try bumping the ram voltage or the cpu up a couple notches to see if that helps.

 

[Zoue]

thanks for the suggestion. I checked and the voltage is 1.5V, which is correct according to the Crucial website. According to Memtest the timing values are 11-11-11-28, which I have no way of checking as the Crucial website doesn't list the values.

What I don't understand is why the board worked absolutely fine with 2x2GB RAM, but is having issues with 2x4GB RAM

 

[Tyerker]

The other issue is un-matched RAM never quite works out the way you would hope. Even if the frequency and timings and voltage, in spec, are the same, the chips can still behave differently. I would think the 8GB will be plenty. Then you can swap the other 4GB into a different build, sell it on eBay, give to a friend in need.

-edit-

Oh, you're just running the 2x4GB kit right now? That changes the equation, then.

 

[Zoue]

Quick update:

On pass 2 of Memtest, it's showing the RAM as 800MHz, whereas it should list it as 1600Mhz. It's not listing any errors, however and I'm sure pass 1 listed the correct values. Is this normal?

@Tyerker: yes, just running the 2 sticks now!

 

[Tyerker]

It's been a while since I ran MemTest, but DDR means Dual Data Rate, and some softwares will show 800 for DDR3 1600, 933 for DDR3 1866, etc.

I'll let someone with recent experience chime in.

 

[EarthDog]

Spot on sir... ^^

 

[knoober]

Is it possible that being a bit of an older chip the IMC is looking for ddr2 voltages?

 

[Zoue]

ah, thanks all. I'll just let it run, then. On 75% of Pass 2. I foresee a lot of coffee in my future...

 

[EarthDog]

Walk away man.. walk away..

Is it possible that being a bit of an older chip the IMC is looking for ddr2 voltages?

No.

 

[Zoue]

Right. 8 hours 53 minutes later Memtest86 has finished. No errors reported, so haven't a clue why the system's gone all funny when the only thing that's changed is the RAM. I've reset the BIOS again, just to be sure, and have now booted into windows to see if any errors occur again. It's struck me that nothing happened for the near-nine hours the test was running, so why do I get them a few minutes after loading windows?

Keeping fingers crossed but otherwise at a bit of a loss

 

[knoober]

FWIW: Ive rarely had a problem that couldn'd be fixed by a hard reset of the CMOS (hitting the jumper) and making sure everything was set to the stock voltages and timings in the bios (nothing on manual). The other guys will be able to help ya more, but they might suggest those things first

I dont know why I typed it that way ^^ should say "nothing on AUTO" . Extremely embarrasing and my apologies. It is my impression that Auto is more of a generalized read on you system and setting stock voltages manually (going in and changing them to what the manufacturer says is best ) can be a benefit

 

[Zoue]

Yes, everything's on Auto in the BIOS, thanks. I'll leave it running overnight first to see if the changes I've made will have an effect, then I might try the CMOS with a hammer, sorry screwdriver.

 

[Zoue]

update:

My son's been downloading Final Fantasy XIV for the last 15(!) hours and hasn't had a crash yet. Still two hours to go and then he can test how it goes while actually playing the thing. But so far it seems as though downloading the latest BIOS and / or resetting seemed to do the trick.

I'll give it a day or two to make sure there are no problems and then try overclocking. Wish me luck!

Edit: forgot to say thanks for all the excellent help and advice given on here I really appreciate all your time and patience to all who contributed. Many, many thanks

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Glad to hear a positive update!

 

[Zoue]

Update to update:

seems I spoke too soon, unfortunately. Once the download finished and he tried to play the game, the system crashed again. Happened three times in succession. I've now replaced the 8GB of RAM with the old 4GB as otherwise my son was threatening to burst a blood vessel. Too early to say if that's cured it but so far no issues. Why won't my 8GB work?

Red herring alert: one thing I did notice was that the 2GB sticks were a LOT easier to fit into the RAM slots than the 4GB ones were. Could seating have anything to do with it (even though the MemTest worked fine)?

 

[Zoue]

So I've identified the following possibility:

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099

I found a 270x which is a similar price, but this has 3GB RAM which I thought might be useful.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202059

I also found the following:

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202137

which is making me drool a bit but my PSU isn't up to scratch and I can't afford to change that, too

Once my RAM issue is sorted then these are a target.

Thoughts or recommendations? 3GB 280 vs 2GB 270x?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Go look for used equipment so you can upgrade more at once, that's my recommendation.

 

[Zoue]

I'm looking, but the prices don't seem massively different tbh, especially once you factor postage in. Would you recommend any of the above?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Any of the three should do fine