Help Me with this Really Frustrating Problem with My New Phen II X6 System

[Operandi]

Aright was in the process of what I thought was finishing up my new Phenom II X6 1055 system but I've run into some insanely frustrating problems. Components are as follows...

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T (with a Noctua HS)
Gigabyte 870A-UD3 (Enzotech Heatsinks on the Northbridge and MOSFETs)
8GB of Geil DDR3 10666 (4x2GB)
MSI N450GTS 1GB
PCP&C 360 watt Silencer (also tried a 400 watt Enhance)
Windows 7 Ultimate (I'm pretty sure all the drivers are up to date)

The problem is the system freezes usually within 1 - 15 seconds of running Prime95 with any stick of the above listed Geil RAM (as well as half dozen random freezes in Windows 7). I picked up a 4GB of set of Mushkin (same speed and voltage) and it runs far longer but I had one restart and one freeze at about 50 mins, which lead to believe the motherboard. But here is the kicker just today I swapped the RAM out of my HTPC which is exactly the same (brand, speed, voltage) as what I just bought for my new desktop and its been running Prime95 for about 7 hours (didn't do it sooner cause its pain to get at it). AND the bad RAM that would nearly instantly freeze up on my desktop has been running Prime95 for the same amount of time with no errors in my HTPC (???????).

For lack of any better explanation I still think its the Gigabyte 870 board. It must have bad DIMM slots that work intermittently with some modules but I'd like to pick some others brains before I put in a order for a new motherboard.

 

[zi0n.]

Run memtest. Pretty sure is just a bad stick.

 

[Operandi]

Ran Memtest86 and Memtest86+ and it passes with all 8GB in the system. I went with 1 stick at a time in Prime95 and it freezes or restarts. Some sticks last a bit longer but we are talking about a difference of 1 second to 45 seconds.

However when backed the speed down to DDR3 800 it ran Prime95 for about 13 hours with the new Geil sticks.

Oh, I also tried Mersenne "Torture Test" from The Ultimate Boot CD and ran with no errors but stop at 100 warnings of "Illegal sumout error".

 

[superccs]

try different dimm slots (3,4 instead of 1,2), or BIOS update?

 

[betasub]

For lack of any better explanation I still think its the Gigabyte 870 board. It must have bad DIMM slots that work intermittently with some modules but I'd like to pick some others brains before I put in a order for a new motherboard.

Sounds like you are on the right track. Maybe the board isn't providing enough voltage to run that particular memory. Have you tried bumping vDIMM up a notch or two?

 

[Arsynic]

Are you overclocking? Also, does your motherboard support running four sticks of RAM at those speeds? Try running prime with just two of the four channels populated.

 

[Operandi]

Not overclocking anything at this point and I left the memory settings at Auto and it dose show the correct timings and voltage for the RAM. The board should support all 4 DIMMS populated at 10666 but at any rate I tried one stick at a time (2GB) and I get freezes or lockups instantly or within 45 seconds in Prime95 depending on the module.

Now here is the weird part. I took the RAM (4GB 2GBx4)out of my HTPC which is also Geil DDR3 10666 and the Phenom II X6 has been running Prime95 it for 24 hours as of this morning This just doesn't make any sense!

Also 4GB of the new "bad" Geil has been running Prime95 in my HTPC for about 12 hours which also makes no sense.

 

[Operandi]

Well I just came back in and the Phenom II blue screened with the Mushkin RAM running Prime. Meanwhile the HTPC has been running Prime95 with all 8GB of the new Geil for over 9 hours, this is the RAM that almost instantly freezes the Phenom II on Prime.

Right now the only logical conclusion I can come to is the motherboard. Unless anyone else has any other ideas I'm gona put in a Newegg order for a new motherboard tomorrow. Maybe an 890FX board so I try my hand at Crossfire.

 

[mfenn]

Just RMA the board for a replacement. A 890FX is going to cost way too damn much.

 

[Operandi]

No, way I'm waiting for an RMA. This system has been sitting around as heap of parts for weeks.

I will RMA the board but I will probably save it for another build, I know of at least one coming up in the near future.

 

[mfenn]

No, way I'm waiting for an RMA. This system has been sitting around as heap of parts for weeks.

I will RMA the board but I will probably save it for another build, I know of at least one coming up in the near future.

Just call Newegg and ask them for an advance RMA. They will put a hold on your CC for the value of the replacement until they receive your old one in the mail.

 

[Operandi]

Thats not a bad idea. Thing is this isn't the first time I've had similar issues with a Gigabyte board, and I think I've had enough.

 

[jacktesterson]

I've has issues lately with gigabyte boards so I went back to Asus

They all have lemons

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, my HTPC is running an 785G Asus board and its been great so I'm going with the Asus M4A89TD Pro USB3.

Hopefully everything will be smooth sailing with the Asus.

 

[ModestGamer]

before you RMA tell me your settings.what your actual mult and fsb are as well as vcore voltages. I wonder if your PSU is flaky.the 1055t is a 125w chip. you'll need a quality PSU to keep it happy.

 

[Operandi]

Everything is/was left at Auto except for when I backed down to DDR3 800 speeds just to see what would happen. It was stable but I don't know what if anything that proves.

If you read above you'll see where I mention that its stable with the RAM out of my HTPC (Prime95 10 hours +) at rated speed, but only that RAM. Of the 16GB I have at hand only that set of 4GB is stable on this board, and the HTPC (Asus 785G board) has no problem with any of the new Geil, 36 hours of Prime95.

I'm using a PCP&C Silencer so PSU quality isn't an issue also have a 400 watt Enhance and I get the same results.

Regardless the Asus is already on its way.

 

[Operandi]

Well it appears it was the motherboard. I've had the M4A89TD running for over a weak now and over 50 hours of Prime95, completely rock solid.

Next step is get MW2 and SC2 installed and perhaps give an OC a try .

 

[jae]

ahh! you just wanted to upgrade anyway lol jk

 

[Operandi]

Hah, I guess I should have just went with this board in the first place.

This board has ton of performance features, I feel obligated to OC now. I also get full control over all system fan headers so the machine is nearly silent but there is ton of cooling headroom should I need it.

And aside from working (which is nice) Asus seems to build their boards a bit better. The northbridge is securely mounted to the board (unlike the Gigabyte boards) and the DIMM slots securely snap completely onto the RAM (the Gigabyte boards only seemed to close 90 - 95% of way).

 

[Axon]

I actually greatly prefer Gigabyte, but they all have lemons. I had a bad MSI experience once back when I was first starting, and though I begged for help on their forums, no one ever told me to just send it in for an RMA. In fact they all essentially said I had f-ed up. I got an ASUS that worked perfectly as a replacement and I'll never use MSI again. I used ASUS exclusively until I had a minor issue with the Rampage Formula...I got a GB for a friend and was impressed with the quality. Been using them since for the most part. So any of the big boys can mess up a board.

 

[Operandi]

I think your right, and I'll probably give Gigabyte another chance in the future. There are a lot of components on a motherboard and it would be impossible to catch all the problems.

I still much prefer Asus northbridge heatsinks and the latches on the DIMMs might just be a subjective thing but they do "feel" built.

 

[Nintendesert]

I have issues with my GB board, it wouldn't run on 4x2 and I had to stay with 2x2 which left me with 4 gigs of ram doing nothing.

Updating the firmware etc. didn't fix the issues and it wasn't the ram. I've had enough of those kinds of issues with them and will either go back to MSI or get an ASUS board with my SB purchase.