New PC build instability issues

[Danos]

Hey, first time posting as I started boxing about 5 months ago, toons are now at 66 but last weekend my PC got a virus and died. So I used the opportunity to upgrade the build for hitting Northrend. So ordered the kit and built it, but on setup have had a few stability issues. First of all, setup is as follows:

Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L iP43 Socket 775
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz
Corsair 8GB 1066MHz PC2-8500
Hitachi DeskStar 1TB
Akasa AK965 cooler
Windows Vista Home Basic x64

Still using a few pieces from my old machine:
BFG 8800 GTS OC 320MB
Extra Value 650W ATX Silent PSU

So I was able to load the OS once I had only 2GB of RAM in, although it took a while and have loaded all current drivers and downloaded windows updates so it should now support >2GB RAM. When I run the system with 4GB RAM in it is relatively stable, but as soon as I try and increase it to 6 or 8GB it will either hang, blue screen and restart or just restart (usually within 3-4 mins of switching on, most often almost immediately). I've checked the RAM in pairs of 4GB with Memtest in both RAM slots 1/2 and 3/4, and on all occasions it runs a full pass without errors. If I try it with all 8GB loaded it will produce thousands of errors and then have an 'unexpected error' and Memtest will fail.

Also have another issue and not sure if they are related but on some occasions after shutting down (to try checking something else!!), on reboot the system will start (i.e. fans start) for about 2-3 seconds then stop, wait 5 seconds and try to start again only to do the same thing.

Have checked the system temps irregularly but these have always been running at around 47C system temp and 30C CPU temp, so I don't think the issue is with cooling. I've also reloaded Vista, and because the RAM issues appear in Memtest also I don't think it's an OS issue. I've not got much experience with builds and am now at a bit of a loss - I'm thinking it's most likely a motherboard or PSU issue though. Anyone out there with any ideas?

Thanks!

[X-Ifist]

Check if the memory is getting the right Voltage in bios.

Had the same problem a while back with a Asus Striker

[Erron]

Also have another issue and not sure if they are related but on some occasions after shutting down (to try checking something else!!), on reboot the system will start (i.e. fans start) for about 2-3 seconds then stop, wait 5 seconds and try to start again only to do the same thing.


That sounds like Gigabytes BIOS settings swap/save/retry when it encounters a bad setting.

Did you test each stick one by one at stock settings (Manually set Speed, Main timings, And ram voltages with Performance Enhance on Standard)? If not you should to be sure you don't have a faulty stick in the mix.

I know as I added RAM to my similar Gigabyte board, I had to knock the memory settings to standard and disable all the extreme memory boosting settings to get a stable build. I always suspected that the optimized settings were not made with 8GB in mind.

[Enndo]

Are you running vista 32 or vista 64 cause 32 can't use more than 3.5 gigs of ram.

[Otlecs]

Are you running vista 32 or vista 64 cause 32 can't use more than 3.5 gigs of ram.


Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L iP43 Socket 775
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz
Corsair 8GB 1066MHz PC2-8500
Hitachi DeskStar 1TB
Akasa AK965 cooler
Windows Vista Home Basic x64
Even if he wasn't running 64, the worst case is that he'd end up with only 3.nGB visible RAM. It wouldn't cause the hangs, blue screens, reboots and start-up stutters he's talking about.

[Danos]

Thanks for the responses guys, have been reading around a few other places whilst at work today and they're also suggesting increasing the RAM voltage and also the Northbridge voltage a touch. I'll try those when I get home, didn't look at them over the weekend so don't know what they are set on.



Erron - I'd run the RAM through Memtest two sticks at a time and that was at stock settings. These all came back error free, so don't think a faulty stick is an issue - that was my initial thought as well. Thanks for the info on the bad startup settings, I'll have a look into them later as well. Got a few possibilities to try today, none of which I knew about this morning so fingers crossed.

[Marious]

You could have the issue that you need to upgrade your BIOS to the latest release it might have an old bios that has issues supporting the memory, I understand its a newer board but you never know, so check out what version of bios you have and if it is the latest one. Also I would try to d/l since you are at work something like UBUNTU or some other Linux live CD the 64 bit version and see if it crashes also.

[confusedtx5]

All windows Vista installs I've done always hang if you have more than 2GB of RAM installed. seems to be at least a semi-standard bug in the installation process.
I will second checking and/or increasing the RAM voltage. Some ram needs the timings and voltages set manually in the bios as stated above, doesn't always work to leave them on auto.

[alcattle]

Agree with upping the RAM voltage. I had same problem. work fine on 4gig, would not boot with 8 gig. put in 4 gig of stock RAM (runs on 1.8v) and raised it to the higher voltage. Once that was done, no problem. I have an MSI P45 MB w/ 6600 Quad.

[Danos]

Thanks for the help guys, I made a few changes and now have a pretty stable machine - it's been running for a couple of hours last night and a couple this morning with no crashes so looks to be good!

Increased RAM voltage to 2.2v (was at 1.8v)
Increased Northbridge voltage by 0.2v to 1.5v
Manually set the latency settings
Increased FSB from 266 to 300MHz (which increases CPU speed from 2.4GHz to 2.7GHz)
Manually set the RAM multiplier to 3.0 so it's running at 900MHz rather than 1066.

I'll be keeping an eye on the temps to make sure these changes don't overheat it - is there any way I can check the Northbridge temp specifically?