G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

[dclayw]

Looking at putting a EP45-UD3P build together for my son with 2x1GB of this memory: NCIXUS.com - Buy G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-2GBPI Pi PC2-8500 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit - F2-8500CL5D-2GBPI.

This looks to be exactly the same as the black PI (DDR2) that I see many people using on the EP45-UD3P board, just a different colour HS. I'd prefer the black but can't get it where I am.

I had a lot of problems with memory (Crucial) in my last build on Ex38-DS4 and I want to try to avoid that altogether. I've also considered Corsair Dominators (TWIN2X2048-8500C5D) but have read about lots of problems with that memory too.

I know any memory can fail and there are compatability issues and BIOS tweaking that needs to be done, but has anyone used the G.skills mentioned above on the UD3P board, the ones with the silver HS.

I'm looking at 1066 memory, maybe I should just go with 800 where I'm likely to have less problems. I only need 2x1GB too, only running 32bit XP so no need for any more than 2GB. I'm also only after a mild oc (initially anyway) with an e8400, to 3.6Ghz.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

That memory should be good I have a set of those but DDR3 I use for testing.

Crucial would be fine on your P45 (I know how you feel though, but it is ok for sure now especially the 2.0V rated ones)

Mushkin is another great choice as well if you can get those in your area.

Sorry, I personally have not tested those in UD3 boards, but I have not seen any issues

1066 or 800 normally about the same as long as it is quality ram. I mean most 800 kits will do 1066 with higher timings (CAS5) and most 1066 will do 800 just fine with the lower timings (CAS4)

I see reviews at Newegg for these and a user with UD3P without issues >>
Customer Reviews Of G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Ram Review of a similar kit (4GB) and that board here (Translated) >>
Translated version of http://www.overclockingstation.de/showthread.php?t=2869

Original
[Kurztest] G. Skill F2-8800CL5D - 4GBPI - OverclockingStation

[dclayw]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Thanks. I did read those reviews on Newegg (newegg reviews are great for getting a general idea of what seems to work and what doesn't, aren't they). But most people using the PI series G.Skills seem to be using the ones with the black HS, rather then the silver, either 2GB or 4GB pairs. They seem to have exactly the same spec, voltage and timings, maybe they use different circuitry, I don't know, maybe most people think the black ones just look better...... Mushkin seem to be pretty hard to get where I am, so I was looking at G.SKills which have a good reputation on Gigabyte boards.

That other review you posted on the 4GB kit is actually the 8800s that run at the standard voltage of 1.8-1.9v. I did look at those too, but they cost about A$30 more here. I think I might go with the silver 8500s.

You might remember me with the problems I had with my crucial 8500 tracers (2.2v) on my x38 board, first DOA and then ongoing problems with replacement set. Well, I RMAd them and I seem to be running OK with the new 2.0v tracers.

[Jsunn]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

I have G. Skill PC2-8800 5-5-5-15 CR2

I have been impressed with G.Skill in general, they have been rock solid stable and I have been able to do a mild O/C to 1130MHz.

I think you will be just fine going with that brand.

-Jason

[MarktheC]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Looking at putting a EP45-UD3P build together for my son with 2x1GB of this memory: NCIXUS.com - Buy G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-2GBPI Pi PC2-8500 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit - F2-8500CL5D-2GBPI.

I have G.Skill F2-7200CL4D-4GBPI-B in a UD3R. This RAM has EPP profiles.
Just FYI, I asked Gigabyte about supporting EPP and they said:

About the issue you mentioned, according to specification, which does not support EPP memory on GA-EP45-UD3R(rev. 1.1), we don't suggest you use EPP memory module which might caused unexpected system problem or H/W damage.

I don't actually believe that, but it would be nice if there was some good guidance about how best to configure EPP memory.

[kick]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

I have used epp or xmp as the board bios setting is called and it seemed to work ok,you have to set the memory speed and fsb yourself,other than that ,it did set all the memory timings to what is stamped on the memory modules.
I only tried it at fsb 400-430 2:00 multiplier and Im not recommending anyone leave it on when o/cing 24/7.
nb 800mhz Black PI wont do over 1000ish reliably for me(and others) on this board.
Up to that tho,they seem to run really well!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Thanks. I did read those reviews on Newegg (newegg reviews are great for getting a general idea of what seems to work and what doesn't, aren't they). But most people using the PI series G.Skills seem to be using the ones with the black HS, rather then the silver, either 2GB or 4GB pairs. They seem to have exactly the same spec, voltage and timings, maybe they use different circuitry, I don't know, maybe most people think the black ones just look better...... Mushkin seem to be pretty hard to get where I am, so I was looking at G.SKills which have a good reputation on Gigabyte boards.

That other review you posted on the 4GB kit is actually the 8800s that run at the standard voltage of 1.8-1.9v. I did look at those too, but they cost about A$30 more here. I think I might go with the silver 8500s.

You might remember me with the problems I had with my crucial 8500 tracers (2.2v) on my x38 board, first DOA and then ongoing problems with replacement set. Well, I RMAd them and I seem to be running OK with the new 2.0v tracers.

Ya I think users like the color better is why you see them more, but I do see also some of the black models do have better spec's so better chips are used in some

Ya, in genreal G.Skills work great on Gigabyte boards, I have noticed some slight issues with the cheapest of their models but that happens with the whole lot of manufacturers

Ya, I do remember your Crucial issues!! Nice to see your new 2.0V set is working great! I haven't had any issues with either of the sets they sent my way for testing (2x2 or 4x1) and I pushed them pretty hard in my review and they are still running strong as day one.

I think you will be fine with Silver PI's, Like I said I have a set I am using for testing in X58. I have not pushed on them yet to see what they will do, nor have I actually used them for any extended period as they are only 2x1GB of 1333Mhz so I rarely have them in. But they do function fine.

XMP is different then EPP, same idea but totally different design as XMP is meant for X58 and has several voltage and CPU settings programmed in them that differ and EPP is actually meant for Nvidia based boards. I do not suggest the use of either in any board to anyone, unless they do not wish to learn how to set things up or do not know where to ask as EPP/XMP is not the best performance settings for sure.

[dclayw]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Well, I caved in and bought the g.skill 8800 PIs with the silver heat spreader. It's fast memory (no o'clocking really necessary) and runs at low voltage. I think that is a good combination. Also bought 2x2GB as I'm guessing sooner or later my son will move to 64 bit o/s. Plenty of people using this memory on the UD3P board with good results. It's reported not to o'clock well but that's not really important with spec at 1100MHz.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Let us know when you get it, and if you push it how far it will go.

Good luck with the setup, hope all goes well! I need to push on my silver ones and see what they will do

[dclayw]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Well, things started off well. Build went well, nice case and the Xigmatec cooler shaves about 5-7 degrees off CPU temps on the E8400 (compared to the Xeon 3110 in my other build). The E8400 idles at about 25-27 degrees, both cores too, my 3110 has a 12 degree temp difference between the cores at idle. But it appears I again have memory problems in this new build on the UD3P board. This is what I've done.

As soon as I put the build together I checked that CPU temps were OK and then set memory voltage to 1.9V. (The g.skill 8800s are rated at 1.8-1.9v at 5 5 5 15 for 1100Mhz). That's the only thing I changed in the BIOS, the board set the default memory speed to 1066Mhz and timimgs to 5 5 5 15. I then ran a couple of full passes of memtest86+ (v2.01) without any errors.

Then installed WinXP, Realtemp, CPUZ and a bunch of other apps and saved the partition. Then overclocked the e8400 to 3.6Ghz (leaving the memory at 1066MHz). I won't go into the actual settings I used just yet, more on that later. I got one BSOD about a day after the install, the very common DCOM timeout error. Later that day the machine rebooted during a run of Prime95 blend tests, probably 25-30 minutes after I started the test. Tweaked a few settings (which I won't go into just yet) and then Prime95 blend tests ran for just on 4 hours without error before getting application hang (not BSOD). I rolled out the overclock (by loading optimized defaults) and then started testing memory again using memtest86+.

The first test was exactly as I had done before I did the overclock, just set DDR voltage to 1.9V, got an error during test 6. If I leave DDR voltage at AUTO the BIOS sets it to 2.0v. But memtest gives errors at 2.0v as well. I tried 1.8V and a few settings between 1.8 and 1.9v and then between 1.9 and 2.0V. All settings gave memtest errors in test 6. I then did the same tests but added 0.1v to MCH voltage (to bring it up to 1.2v). All tests gave errors again in test 6 (I was just running test 6 at this stage). I don't know a lot about memtest86+ but the errors were always in the same places, either at around 1250MB or 3300MB, and the error was always exactly the same. All these memtests were run with everything else in the BIOS left as is, except for Performance Enhance which I had set to Standard. The BIOS default settings for the memory is 5 5 5 15.

Does this definitively point to a problem with memory. This is similar experience I had with my first build with crucial memory. A co-incidence, bad luck maybe, I don't know. As the memory is supposed to run 1100Mhz at 1.9v, is it necessary to bump up MCH voltage, or is an increase in MCH voltage always necessary when running at around 1066 speeds. It's kind of a moot point I guess because increasing MCH by 0.1V didn't help anyway. Maybe it needs more?, I did try 1.24v but didn't make any difference. I didnt think I would need to tweak all the memory settings to get the memory to run stable at stock speed, or do I? There are a lot more memory settings (voltage and timings) in this BIOS compared to the BIOS for my EX38-DS4 board, more MCH settings too. I have not yet tested each stick individualy.

Once again I'm open to suggestions. I'm reluctant to RMA the memory if there's nothing wrong with it.

[dclayw]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Correction to the above. The DCOM error and the Prime95 reboot I mentioned above were one and the same event.

As I said I don't know much about how memtest86+ works but whenever the pattern "fffffaff" gets written is when memtest gives the error. This seems rather odd to me. I'm running memtest right now and so far 4 passes without error, but I've been watching it and that pattern has not been written yet.

[dclayw]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

After much research and testing I managed to get 15 memtest passes without error, with the 8800s running at 1066 (5 5 5 15). Essential settings are:
FSB 444
Static tRead (tRD) 12, hoping to get this lower through further testing
CPU Termination 1.22v
MCH Core 1.24v
MCH Ref 0.732v
SPD 2.40B

The 2.40B strap is supposed to be used for FSB of 333. When using this strap with the settings above I sometimes get that BIOS message that says something like there have been boot problems and the displayed settings may not necessarily be the ones being used, although it doesn't look like any settings have been reset. If I use the above settings but change FSB to 401 and SPD to 2.66D I get memtest errors during the first pass.

Is there any problem using the B strap for FSB in the 400's. I would prefer to use the 2.66D strap so I can have a lower FSB (and higher CPU clock) to achieve the mild 3.6GHz overclock I want, but I can't get this memory to pass memtest using the 2.66D strap. I've tried bumping up MCH further but to no avail yet. Again, any suggestions? This is taking up a lot of time that unfortunately I just don't have. I'm still not sure if the memory is faulty or not.

[Psycho101]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

For the sake of 266MHz DDR, it's worth trying 2.00D or 2.00B.

There seems to be quite a craze around buying 1066 and above RAM in combination with CPU's that have a respectably high multiplier. You just won't see as much performance from "high speed" RAM as you will from a fast CPU.

95% of the performance increase will be in benchmarks like Sandra, realworld CPU beats RAM speed hands down. Running RAM on any kind of divider also introduces extra latency as RAM can only send data down a bus when it's ready to transmit that data.

I'm not saying give up on getting max RAM speed, rather if it's holding you back, go for your processor first, then maybe try again later. Who knows, the tweaking you do to get stable at 1:1 may just be what's needed to also reach 1100MHz-DDR.

[kick]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Yeh either that or see what the memory will do .
even try out the xmp/epp.
Are there 2 performance profiles on that memory?..even if you just read the advanced settings and enter them manually..Sandra shows some of them as does everest.

If this is any use my 800(1.8-1.9v) mem will go to 450 fsb on 4-4-4-12 still under 2.0v
It will boot in at 460fsb on 4-4-4-12 but doesnt survive much benchmarking and needs 2.1+
Speeds above that it needs 5 timings(roughly) with voltages back under 2.0v until approx 480 then it starts to need 2.0-2.1, 500 fsb and above closer to 2.2 and it wont do anything much at all over 1010 mem speed,on any multiplier.

Oh i did get a boot at 1060 using D multiplier and 6 timings and hi volts,but that was a "boot damn you!" run
On multipliers I found B better most of the time but have a D multiplier running now at 490 for 9gb/s synthetic bandwidth it showed 9.2Gb/s at 500 on the D multi but I cant get it stable.

Yours is better of course,whether the chips are the same but from the better bin,or totally different I dont know. but thats just "my story"

[MarktheC]

Re: G.Skill memory for EP45-UD3P

Do you have Extreme Memory Profile(X.M.P.) set to Auto or to Disabled?

On my UD3R, if I leave it Auto, the BIOS picks up the main 4 speed settings from the EPP settings, but all other timings come from the SPD settings resulting in a mixed setup which can't be ideal. I have now set XMP to Disabled and manually set the RAM up according to the EPP values displayed by Memset and Everest.

Edit:

if I leave it Auto ... all other timings come from the SPD settings resulting in a mixed setup...

I might have to retract that.
At least tWR is also coming from the EPP profile, and possibly others but they are being tweaked downwards by the BIOS.
For the Advanced Timing Control (tRRD/tWTR/tWR/tRFC/tRTP/CR),
RAM SPD says: 3/3/6/52/3/- and RAM EPP says: 4/4/11/58/4/2T
XMP=Auto says: 3/3/10/52/3/0 and XMP=Disabled says: 3/3/6/52/3/0.
Since tWR from the EPP was tweaked down from 11 to 10, is it possible that the others are also coming from the EPP but have been BIOS auto tweaked down also, or have they been copied from the SPD profile? I can't be sure.
I've reverted back to using the XMP=Auto, but DRAM timing=Manual and setting everything manually...