Issues with Twin2x2048-8500c5d & P35 DS3P

[PhoetuS]

Well its been a long while since i have been around, and I am sure hoping you all can help me with a problem i am having...

 

So here is the situation: I have just built myself (actually for a friend) a new system and am using the Gigabyte P35 DS3P motherboard with the Dominator TWIN2X2048-8500C5D & a C2D E6750. No matter what i seem to do i get lots of errors in memtest86+ (v2.00).

 

I have tried loading optimized defaults, failsafe defaults and manually setting the timings 5-5-5-15 (at least the primary 4, haven't messed with the others yet). I have tried running the RAM at 667mHz, 800mHz & 1066mHz. I have also tried testing each stick individually and manually setting the voltage. All this and i still get memtest86+ errors.

 

A couple of things to consider: This is the first C2D Intel machine i have assembled and tweaked, though I can barely claim to have tweaked this. This is my first Gigabyte board (I am used to the Asus & DFI BIOS). This is my first real experience playing with and tweaking DDR2 Ram - (I am used to DDR1 so the timings seem huge, i understand why, but my perspective is still adjusting).

 

So keeping all those things in mind, i may just be making some really newb mistake, but i can't see it.

 

What is the likelyhood of both modules being faulty? (Seems fairly low to me, but it looks like alot of these dominators have a higher then usual failure rate)

 

What timings i should enter in BIOS? (or should optimized defaults be good enough?)

 

Is this a Mobo issue? I am not necessarily convinced that it is the RAM, but...

 

I would like to try to narrow down the issue to prevent lots of RMAs (and extending the weeks to get this thing finished), the trouble is, i don't have any DDR2 ram laying around or any spare LGA775 mobos since all of my rigs are still AMD using DDR.

 

The Rig in Question:

 

Gigabyte P35 DS3P

Intel E6750 with Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme

Dominator Twin2x2048-8500c5d

PC P&C Silencer 750 watt PSU

Couple O' Seagate HDDs

EVGA 8800GTS 512

Creative X-Fi

Samsung SATA DVDR

Antec 900 Case

 

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[Guest SuppA-SnipA]

hmmm, well u have tried to manually set the timings, and the speed, try to increase voltage just a little?

[PhoetuS]

I will try increasing the voltage a little bit, but truthfully, if the sticks won't run at the rated voltage but will with a boost, i don't trust that they will last, thanks for the suggestion.

 

So i have done a bit more testing and i'm not sure that the ram is the issue, when i run memtest on each stick individually, i consistantly get the same errors during the same part of the test. For instance no errors at all until test #3 @ 55%, then a bazillion errors, same thing with test 8, get the same errors for both separate sticks.

 

Now i am suspecting that the problem doesn't lie with the RAM, but maybe with the motherboard.

 

Any one else have an opinion on this?

[Branjo]

Have you tried updating the BIOS?

[PhoetuS]

I downloaded the latest bios a little bit ago and i'm going to try that next...

[PhoetuS]

So i have now discovered that the real problem I have is with memtest86+.

 

I finally gave up and installed windows, installed the mobo drivers and checked all the RAM timings with memset & cpuz & everything looked good so i fired up prime95 and it ran for 6 hours (at 1066 default timings) before i stopped it . I also tested the ram at 700, 800, 850 900mhz and no errors with prime95. Obviously i can't trust memtest86.

 

So, yesterday i got everything up and running and have been tweaking, got her up to 3.4 pretty stable (3 hours prime95) with barely a bump in voltage and now am working on 3.6.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Branjo]

Makes things a lot harder when the stability of stability testing software is in question lol

Good stuff bro keep up the good work

[Praz]

I'd try v1.70. If it shows errors something needs adjusted or there is a memory issue. But if all your programs work guess it's no big deal.

[Branjo]

Whats version 2.00 like ??

[Prospector]

I tried v2.00 and it didn't seem right? V2.01 seems better for me.

I loaded it on a usb flash drive works great that way.

[PhoetuS]

Its weird, Memtest86+ gives me millions of errors in test 3, and plenty in test 5 & 8, and test 1 & 2 don't throw up any errors (and i don't remember the others).

 

Right now I have the rig OC'd 3.4 (425x8 @ 1.325v Ram: 6/5 @ 510mhz) and its 16 hours prime95 stable, 3 hours dual memtest stable, OCCT stable (1 hour: blend, CPU & RAM) & everest System Stablity test stable.

 

I have also had it 8.5 hours prime stable OC'd to 3.6 (450x8 @ 1.375v Ram: 6/5 @ 540mhz)

 

Now, to me, this says that i have a stable rig no matter what memtest86 says. But it still drives me a bit nuts, knowing that memtest86 is getting errors. I also did another test with Microsoft Windows Memory Diagnostic and it throws up errors similarly to memtest86+. So, i haven't been able to put full trust into all the stability tests - its about 98%.

 

And at the same time i can't deny that i am 16hrs prime & 3 hours dual memtest stable.

 

I just want to know what is causing it.

 

I do have an idea about it, i just haven't confirmed it yet. My suspicion is that the problem is that i am running memtest86 & MWMD from a SATA dvd drive. I don't have a flash drive to run them from (I think this may be the excuse i finally need to get one) and I need to grab the floppy drive out of my wife's puter to test it. Maybe i'll do that tonight instead of tomorrow.

 

 

But anyhow, I have had an aweful lot of fun clocking this thing, and learning the intel side of things. This is the first intel machine that i have built and had a chance to OC. This thing runs like a champ. I'm dying to get this thing watercooled to see what more i can do with it...

I'm sad that i will be turning this over to my buddy on Friday....

[Branjo]

If I am ever using memtest86 I always make it run from a bootable CD. A little mini CD-R is perfect for the job.