As Dave76 just mentioned, you could lower your RAM voltage if you go down to 800. Basically, you always want to run your RAM at the lowest voltage that you can get away with. In your case, 2.1V is the maximum it should ever be. If it can be lower, then by all means do so. Just remember, stability first, then tuning.
Wow, tons of great info in here guys. I'll be busy repping you guys for the next half hour. LOL
My RAM does have chipsets on both sides. Very interesting that it hasn't been proven stable with 4 sticks of double-sided RAM. That alone makes me want to just buy a 2x4GB and try to get that stable. When the 8GB setup was working I was definitely enjoying it quite a bit. Fastest computer I've ever worked on. The 4GB setup isn't a slouch by any means, but the 8GB was really nice. Anyway, moving on to the issues at hand...
Major update this morning. I left the computer running overnight. When I checked it this morning it was crashing repeatedly before it would even get into Windows. It would try to boot the OS and just crash. I was getting errors from all different directions. I went into BIOS and set my NB voltage back to 1.1v, but still kept getting crashes. I eventually just pulled two sticks of RAM and dropped it down to a 2x2GB configuration and finally got into Windows and things seem stable. In this configuration I'm trying to remember if I've ever had any issues with crashes. I'm pretty sure it's been relatively stable in a 2x2GB configuration, just not the 4x2GB configuration.
I also touched the NB while I was in there pulling the RAM, because the RAM was pretty toasty. The NB was as well, but neither the RAM nor the NB were unbearable to touch. Above warm, definitely not, but not scalding.
I d/led SpeedFan and have attached my results.
Right now I'm stable on 4GB @ 2.1V @ 1066MHz. The question is do I try to get the system stable on 8GB @ 800MHz? Maybe try it in that configuation and drop the voltage to 1.8V, timing to 6-6-6-18, and where should I set the NB voltage?
Links to Crashes and Debugging posts. I was (and still am) having some driver issues, but those crashes are very infrequent. The memory related crashes are multiple times a day.
First one: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tml#post952501
Second one: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...iagnosing.html
Third one: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...sod-cause.html
Haven't made one for the multiple crashes this morning and don't plan to.
One thing I will add about running on 4GB that is a major issue with me. I use a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse. On 8GB they both work flawlessly but for some reason when I drop down to 4GB they aren't nearly as responsive and when I'm typing fast or if the system of processing something and I'm moving the mouse it will skip around the screen. It's really weird to me that that's an issue between the 4GB setup and the 8GB setup but is that common? I've moved the receiver for the keyboard and mouse closer and it seems to have at least fixed it somewhat, but it performs flawlessly on 8GB. It's just really weird to me.
I was suffering some driver and anti-virus related BSODs. I've since updated all drivers and got MSE for antivirus so I'm stable there. It's scanning now and I have updates that need installing, so I'm going to restart once it's finished scanning then really try to tax the system with Lightroom or Photoshop and see how slow this 4GB configuration is compared to the 8GB configuration. I'm also going to get that mobo version number for you guys too.
My RAM says the following just to be 100% specific...
CM2X2048-8500C5D
XMS2-8500 2048MB 1066MHz 5-5-5-15 2.10V ver2.1 09090282
I think if you want to run 8 GB reliably, you might have to drop to 800 and lower the voltage. With those timings and four sticks, though, I would set the voltage to the lowest point between 1.85 and 1.95V where it doesn't crash on you. I think 1066 using four sticks might just be too much for the NB to handle with that board.
If you can get it stable at 800, maybe then we can talk about tightening the timings and tuning a little at that point. Maybe we can give you nearly 1066 performance at 800, and that is certainly possible with a careful approach. But first, we work on getting you rock solid stable. :)
Edit: There's nothing wrong with that RAM. It looks like it's pretty good stuff. The board is good too. It just seems like it doesn't have the muscles for four sticks of RAM.
Okay guys, this is what I've done so far.
Checked the mobo. It's rev1.3. Is that good or bad?
Added in the other two sticks of RAM so I'm back to 8GB (4x2GB).
Went into BIOS, here is what I changed based on what I found here and another forum to hopefully stabilize the system...
I was a bit worried it wouldn't boot with so much changed, but it did boot up. I'm back in now. I'm still experiencing the laggy keyboard/mouse when the system is being taxed, which wasn't the case with 8GB and the old settings, but then again that setup wasn't stable. I'm unsure if this setup is stable or not, but I'm going to start working on my photography stuff, which always puts the system through it's paces, and see what happens.Reset to Fail-Safe Defaults (which changed a few things, then I changed things on top of it)
CPU Host Clock Control = [Enable]
CPU Host Frequency(MHz) = 333
PCI Express Frequency(MHz) = 100
Performance Enhance = [Standard]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.) = [Disable]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch = 333
System Memory Multiplier = 2.40B (I had to set this to 2.40B to get it down to 800MHz as it calculates the frequency based on this setting, is that right?)
Memory Frequency(MHz) = 1066 800
CAS Latency Time = 6
tRCD = 6
tRP = 6
tRAS = 18
MCH Core Voltage (NB voltage) = 1.20V
DRAM Voltage = 1.90V
How do those settings look guys?
I changed the CPU Host Frequency and PCI Express Frequency, are those values okay?
I disabled the Extreme Memory Profile setting, is that okay? Seems that would bring more stability and I've noticed it off on other BIOS from people having similar problems.
I changed (G)MCH Frequency Latch to 333MHz, and System Memory Multiplier (SPD) to 2.40B to get to 800MHz. Is that correct?
Changing the timing to 6-6-6-18 okay or should I tighten it back up to 5-5-5-18?
Changed NB voltage from 1.10V to 1.20V, seems to be common when using 4 sticks of RAM. We know it's unstable at any higher voltage. Is that setting okay or should I drop back down to 1.10V?
DRAM Voltage is up from the stock 1.80V and down from the rated 2.10V to 1.90V. Is that okay, or should I go higher or lower?
I've attached the SpeedFan results under this setup. CPU seems unusually high considering I'm just sitting here typing this post in my web browser with nothing else running. I'm also attaching some CPUZ snips in case it matters.
As long as everything is stable I don't think I'll mind the difference between 800 and 1066, my main concern is that I'm not getting this lag that I'm experiencing with my keyboard and mouse (moreso the mouse as I use it a lot in photo editing and when it gets jumpy it kills the precision I need to accomplish what I need to in the editing process).
I know Gregrocker is going to stab me on this.... However...
I looked at the board and noticed it is using an Intel Chipset. Just out of curiousity, did you happen to load the INF for the Intel Chipset for the board?
I ask this, cause I'm always a little leery of the Baseline drivers, not getting the most optimal performance. And I looked at gigabyte's site with regards to your board and noticed that there is a chipset driver download for it, dated 4/29/2010... And then looking at the Intel Website and noting that the chipset also drives the memory controller, so it makes me wonder if part of the problem might be driver handling related.
You're speaking greek to me Keiichi. LOL INF? I didn't load that for sure because I've never heard of it and don't know what it is. What is it and should I load it? Could you link me to that driver download that you found and let me know which specific one I should get? I could see a memory controller causing issues for sure. Obviously it's settings/configuration related to, as my system becomes more or less stable depending on those things, but if that could cause issues too I definitely want to address it.
Another issue that has arisen...
Along with the lag I'm experiencing, it seems my wireless is seriously slow now. I've got my laptop in the home office right beside my desktop, and my laptop is cruising on along the internet, while my desktop now sits and takes forever to load pages (if it even loads at all). Google Chrome was also crashing left and right (although that was a few days ago and now it seems to be okay, just takes forever to load pages). I did update my wireless driver, and have successfully loaded pages since then, but now it just sits there most of the time and says "Resolving proxy..." in the lower left and nothing happens. Any ideas?
From the gigabyte website:
GA-EP43-UD3L (rev. 1.1) - GIGABYTE
Go to Downloads, then set it to Drivers, Windows 7 (x32 or x64). Before you install the drivers, create a restore point to avoid having to rebuild your system. Try the chipset drivers, it will be listed as 'Intel INF', which should be for your board. See if that helps, if it doesn't look like it improved anything time to diagnose more. If it seems worse, REVERT BACK to save yourself grief of fighting with it for the time being.
Will do Keiichi. I got my work done today and now I'm running memtest on it. I'll create a restore point and load that driver up first thing in the morning.
Still getting crazy lag on the mouse and keyboard (and whole system really) anytime I'm putting even a little load on the system.
Internet is still going snail-slow.
The only things that have changed are drivers and BIOS settings.
I ran stable all day though without a single BSOD after this last round of revisions to the BIOS settings. I tightened the timing up to 5-5-5-18, left everything else the same as above in the last post, and I'm running memtest now. If I get any errors I'll go back to 6-6-6-18 and rerun memtest. If I get through 5-5-5-18 with no errors and it's stable, what can I do then to increase performance? Go down to 5-5-5-15? Up my RAM voltage to 2.0 or 2.1 (currently 1.9)?
I have to get rid of this lag. It's driving me nuts. Is it going to be possible for me to get rid of the lag and still have a stable system?
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