Maximus Formula GSkill 8500 Won't Post With 2 RAM Sticks

Hi

I have a Maximus Formula (bios 0906) with GSkill 8500 2x2GB.

I cannot get it to post with both sticks of RAM in the computer. Either stick alone is no problem. The LCD poster freezes at "DET DRAM".

I have manually set the bios as follows:

RAM volts = 2.1
1066mhz
2T
5-5-5-15

Any help appreciated. Motherboard currently sitting on bench with only a video card, keyboard and mouse plugged in.

I have made post by setting 800mhz 5-5-5-15 but this produces a constant stream of errors in Memtest.

Thanks

TRFC is at ? set it manually to the highest setting possible... you run wich FSB ? What's ya NB voltage ?

what strap and fsb you are using, and did u enable TB/ or dram static, because these settings plays a big role and those 2x2 seems to be more responsive with TRD lvls, but it sounds like u have a divider issue which I had also experienced or like Leefhoofd suspecting u didnt pumped enough NB volts in it. Please post your bios settings so we can help u much easier

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Leeghoofd

TRFC is at ? set it manually to the highest setting possible... you run wich FSB ? What's ya NB voltage ?

---

Hi Leeghoofd,

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried TRFC at AUTO. And I have tried it at 42 (the highest possible setting). Interestingly it shows in GREY COLOR as 52 when everything is on AUTO. I can't set it to 52 using the bios.

All this is happening at the default FSB of 266 (Q6600 cpu). I haven't started overclocking yet because I can't even get the board to post and run Memtest without errors for more than a few seconds.

North bridge voltage is still at AUTO.

Any feedback really appreciated.

Thanks.

I have tested 11 in total kits of G.Skill PC8000 on two different P35 boards and never had such strange problems. I could even run some of them at 1066 and pass Memtest86+ (but not stable anyway).

Set your FSB to 400 and lower your multi to eliminate CPU. Leave all secondary timings on auto.Especially don't touch tRFC, on ASUS boards there is not enough range to set it properly. It will be set properly by SPD.

Set transaction booster Disabled/( 2 or 3).

This may be just faulty memory. Try to test with other sticks .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mc2k

what strap and fsb you are using, and did u enable TB/ or dram static, because these settings plays a big role and those 2x2 seems to be more responsive with TRD lvls, but it sounds like u have a divider issue which I had also experienced or like Leefhoofd suspecting u didnt pumped enough NB volts in it. Please post your bios settings so we can help u much easier

---

Hi mc2k,

Thanks for the reply. Please find my bios settings below.

I'm at 266 FSB (not overclocked yet) with a Q6600 (eventually I will be at 400 FSB or just above because that's what it ran at in my last motherboard).

Transaction Booster and DRAM Static are both at AUTO. I'm not technical enough to understand what you meant by "TRD lvls" and whether I'd want high or low numbers for those.

Thanks.





Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : AUTO
FSB Frequency : 266
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO (also tried 42)
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: AUTO
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO
CPU GTL Reference : AUT
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU Volt
Voltiminder LED : ENABLED

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

2.1 isnt enough i do not think.

both sets of my gskill and a crucial ballistix need more voltage on this board than any other board to boot properly.

frankly i think the ram overclocking on the maximus sucks big balls.
i have yet to see a board overclock any of my ram as good as my P5N-E SLI did.
it would run 1200mhz 5-5-5-15 w/ 2.23v

no other board i have tested can do that at even 2.3v with the same ram. and i have tested alot of boards.

try this

USE THE WHITE SLOTS ONLY

Ai Clock Twister : AUTO - ENABLE
Transaction Booster : AUTO - Normal Level 0 (i think thats what its call i cant remember)
CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.10 - 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO - ENABLED!!! - people say this messes with OC i say bullcrap, without it droop is massive and irratic
CPU GTL Reference : AUT x67 or x63
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO - x67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lestat

2.1 isnt enough i do not think.

both sets of my gskill and a crucial ballistix need more voltage on this board than any other board to boot properly.

frankly i think the ram overclocking on the maximus sucks big balls.
i have yet to see a board overclock any of my ram as good as my P5N-E SLI did.
it would run 1200mhz 5-5-5-15 w/ 2.23v

no other board i have tested can do that at even 2.3v with the same ram. and i have tested alot of boards.

try this

USE THE WHITE SLOTS ONLY

Ai Clock Twister : AUTO - ENABLE
Transaction Booster : AUTO - Normal Level 0 (i think thats what its call i cant remember)
CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.10 - 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO - ENABLED!!! - people say this messes with OC i say bullcrap, without it droop is massive and irratic
CPU GTL Reference : AUT x67 or x63
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO - x67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

---

My Ballistix easily do DDR2-1200 5-5-5-15 @ 2,08V (real)... I was stable at 2,02V with MemTest, but CoD4 was randomly freezing, so I bumped it by a notch...

Might be your board being screwed

Notice my post above is worthless cuz I just noticed Lestat was showing that this board needs more volts for the RAM comparing to other boards... anyway I understand myself :D

nah it wasnt useless.

each ram kit is different, what i see, as you pointed out in your second post is that it needs more voltage then my P5N-E SLI. and i test that baord with the DMM constantly to measure voltages cuz the read points were easy to get to.
they arent so easy on this board. infact i dont even know where they are, and havent found them yet either thru poking around with the dmm.

the P5N-E SLI also had booting issue with the same 2 kits of gskill but nothing as bad as this baord is. but it also all,owed me to clock much higher, easier, w/ less voltage.
i said long ago that the unlocked ram and cpu divider was a god send, and why intel didnt follow nvidia's lead is beyond me.

what i am noticing is that the longer i leave it running the more chance i have the next reboot, the system will fail to boot.
wierd its like the ram or the mobo is holding a hcarge somewhere and upon reboot it jacks with the way the ram needs to boot.

i constantly get the "DET RAM" message and the no post. so much that i have grown sick of this baord.

and frankly its quad core clocking is no better than any other board i have tried.
475-ish with out some massive tweaking. 475 can be done easy. but above that i have yet to get it to post. its not a cpu limit either i do not believe. it could be but i am not so sure since 475mhz FSB is pretty much the average of most boards without some pretty heavy voltages or volt mods or extreme cooling.
atleast on average. some may see different results though.


i am also finding that these new X35/38 boards are becoming harder to overclock because of all the extra voltage options and ram timings.

i mean lets be honest, 95% of those stupid ram options are redundant and should never have been made visible in the bios.
i think the auto settings are very poor but very few people out there even understand what those settings do and how to alter them to make your ram run properly at higher freq.

i like this board but it does have some serious ram booting issue that need to be addressed in the latest bios.

i mean seriously WTF is cpu and dram reference voltage anyways wtf is it and what effect does it have on defualt and overclocking options. ?
reference voltage, logically speaking, dictates what the voltage is for default or auto matic settings, or atleast the settings laid down by the spd or jedec.

i have yet to see any difference in auto, ddr2 ref or +10mv not to mention all the other garbage settings.

what i do think is that far too many people are just cranking those voltages because they think they need to.
there is a marriage of sorts with those voltages and cranking the nb voltages isnt going to help, you need to buddy that voltage with the other voltages as they work together.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cronos

I have tested 11 in total kits of G.Skill PC8000 on two different P35 boards and never had such strange problems. I could even run some of them at 1066 and pass Memtest86+ (but not stable anyway).

Set your FSB to 400 and lower your multi to eliminate CPU. Leave all secondary timings on auto.Especially don't touch tRFC, on ASUS boards there is not enough range to set it properly. It will be set properly by SPD.

Set transaction booster Disabled/( 2 or 3).

This may be just faulty memory. Try to test with other sticks .

---

Hi Cronos,

Thanks for your help.

FSB = 400
Ratio = 6 (so that's 2.4Ghz with Q6600)
All secondary timings set to AUTO
tRFC = AUTO
RAM Voltage = 2.1v
Transaction Booster = Disabled
Relax Level = 2

With the settings above, the PC boots but fails Memtest very quickly.

I have tested the RAM in a P5E and it works perfectly.

I have tested various RAM kits in this Maximus Formula with no success:

GSkill 8500 2 x 2GB
GSkill 8500 2 x 1GB
Corsair 6400C5 2 x 512MB

In all cases the system won't post or if i posts it fails Memtest very quickly.

I am beginning to think the motherboard is faulty.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mc2k

what strap and fsb you are using, and did u enable TB/ or dram static, because these settings plays a big role and those 2x2 seems to be more responsive with TRD lvls, but it sounds like u have a divider issue which I had also experienced or like Leefhoofd suspecting u didnt pumped enough NB volts in it. Please post your bios settings so we can help u much easier

---

Hi again,

I posted my bios settings above in a previous post as you requested. I have tried with Transaction Booster = Disabled and Relax Level = 0 (and 2) and DRAM Static = Disabled and Northbridge Voltage = 1.65v. But still no success.

Thanks for your help to date.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lestat

2.1 isnt enough i do not think.

both sets of my gskill and a crucial ballistix need more voltage on this board than any other board to boot properly.

frankly i think the ram overclocking on the maximus sucks big balls.
i have yet to see a board overclock any of my ram as good as my P5N-E SLI did.
it would run 1200mhz 5-5-5-15 w/ 2.23v

no other board i have tested can do that at even 2.3v with the same ram. and i have tested alot of boards.

try this

USE THE WHITE SLOTS ONLY

Ai Clock Twister : AUTO - ENABLE
Transaction Booster : AUTO - Normal Level 0 (i think thats what its call i cant remember)
CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.10 - 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO - ENABLED!!! - people say this messes with OC i say bullcrap, without it droop is massive and irratic
CPU GTL Reference : AUT x67 or x63
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO - x67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

---

Hi Lestat,

Thank you for the reply.

Yes. My RAM is in the white slots. I have just tried the following settings (as you suggested).


Ai Clock Twister : Light
Transaction Booster : Disabled - Relax Level 0
CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.2 (standard RAM voltage is 2.1v)
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : x63
North Bridge GTL Reference : x67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : +10mv
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : +10mv
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

And you are a genius!!! I've never seen it last so long in Memtest without errors. It's been running for 13 minutes so far without errors.

I'm not technical so I don't understand a lot of those settings.

1) Are any of them likely to do long term damage to the RAM or the motherboard?
2) Have I lost much RAM performance by using them?

RAM is currently defaulting to 800 mhz.

I'll go away and try it at 1066mhz now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lestat

2.1 isnt enough i do not think.

both sets of my gskill and a crucial ballistix need more voltage on this board than any other board to boot properly.

frankly i think the ram overclocking on the maximus sucks big balls.
i have yet to see a board overclock any of my ram as good as my P5N-E SLI did.
it would run 1200mhz 5-5-5-15 w/ 2.23v

no other board i have tested can do that at even 2.3v with the same ram. and i have tested alot of boards.

try this

USE THE WHITE SLOTS ONLY

Ai Clock Twister : AUTO - ENABLE
Transaction Booster : AUTO - Normal Level 0 (i think thats what its call i cant remember)
CPU Voltage : AUTO
CPU PLL Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge Voltage : AUTO
DRAM Voltage : 2.10 - 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO - ENABLED!!! - people say this messes with OC i say bullcrap, without it droop is massive and irratic
CPU GTL Reference : AUT x67 or x63
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO - x67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO DDR2 REF or +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

---

Okay I set it to 1066mhz 2T 5-5-5-15 and it failed to post with TESTVRAM showing on the LCD display.

Sheesh

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by S1mon-

My Ballistix easily do DDR2-1200 5-5-5-15 @ 2,08V (real)... I was stable at 2,02V with MemTest, but CoD4 was randomly freezing, so I bumped it by a notch...

Might be your board being screwed

---

Hi S1mon,

Yes. I'm starting to think this motherboard is broken.

mine does the same crap dude and its so frustrating.

i do not believe the mobo is communication properly with the SPD of the ram.

the SPD dictates a whole slow of data to be the defaults for the ram and i am not so sure the mobo is using them. its using its own settings.

i just spent the last FOUR FRACKING HOURS trying to make this system boot and run, without erros my 2 kits of gskill 6400 HZ.

it still isnt error free but atleast i am in windows.

it was even getting errors at default 800mhz 5-5-5-15 1.9v, 2.0v, 2.1v

whats VERY VERY strange is that one run thru memtest might show a sh|tload of errors, reboot do it again and you might have only a fraciton of those errors.

test 5 is REALLY wierd. test 5 is the normal test ot use because its so intensive on the ram.
1 run will give zero errors thru 20+ runs,, the next reboot i do it again and i am getting thousands of errors.
power off, go in and fvck with the bios and i get no errors, reboot and i get all sorts of errors again.

personally, i haven't the foggiest idea wtf is going on but i am about to rip the mobo out..

you have to remember this is 2 very good clocking kits of ram that have never failed me in terms of high overclock and NO errors. i can usually runn 1100+ 5-5-5-15 2.2v or 2.3v depending on which kit and they run like a champ, now this board is totally screwed up and it wont even run stock mhz without getting errors... then no errors, then more errors, then no errors.
arrggg!!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pee4

Okay I set it to 1066mhz 2T 5-5-5-15 and it failed to post with TESTVRAM showing on the LCD display.

Sheesh

---

It could be a motherboard and memory compability problem, and btw 2.1v is way to much as this board overvolts by 0.06-0.08..... so u are at 2.16-2.18 and these sticks are rated max to 2.10. I would wait for the new BIOS, and it is comming very soon out, there are some (crucial) settings added that can help improving ram stability. If that new Bios wont help, u might have a faulty kit and should try to RMA it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lestat

mine does the same crap dude and its so frustrating.

i do not believe the mobo is communication properly with the SPD of the ram.

the SPD dictates a whole slow of data to be the defaults for the ram and i am not so sure the mobo is using them. its using its own settings.

i just spent the last FOUR FRACKING HOURS trying to make this system boot and run, without erros my 2 kits of gskill 6400 HZ.

it still isnt error free but atleast i am in windows.

it was even getting errors at default 800mhz 5-5-5-15 1.9v, 2.0v, 2.1v

whats VERY VERY strange is that one run thru memtest might show a sh|tload of errors, reboot do it again and you might have only a fraciton of those errors.

test 5 is REALLY wierd. test 5 is the normal test ot use because its so intensive on the ram.
1 run will give zero errors thru 20+ runs,, the next reboot i do it again and i am getting thousands of errors.
power off, go in and fvck with the bios and i get no errors, reboot and i get all sorts of errors again.

personally, i haven't the foggiest idea wtf is going on but i am about to rip the mobo out..

you have to remember this is 2 very good clocking kits of ram that have never failed me in terms of high overclock and NO errors. i can usually runn 1100+ 5-5-5-15 2.2v or 2.3v depending on which kit and they run like a champ, now this board is totally screwed up and it wont even run stock mhz without getting errors... then no errors, then more errors, then no errors.
arrggg!!!!!

---

My gskill 2x2gb 8500 sticks have been driving me to the brink of insanity (not a long trip), so I did a search to see what others have experienced with this memory. This thread seemed particularly relevant, especially pertaining to what Lestat said.

I am trying to run my 2x2gb gskill 8500 sticks in my dfi x48 board. This has been a frustrating experience to say the least. I was perplexed by the fact that saved bios settings with this memory that would previously at least let me boot into windows would at times not even post. And even at stock, the sticks could pass a round of memtest but crapped out within a half hour of OCCT. I've lowered the multi to 7x to take the cpu (e8400) out of the equation, loosened tRFC, and slowly increased the NB and CPU VTT voltages to what I believe are pretty high values (1.6v and 1.35v, respectively), and that will let me get into windows but OCCT errors out on mix settings within minutes. And just like Lestat observed, settings that previously let me get into windows will sometimes not even post. I've run the RAM as high as 2.2v but have been reluctant to push the volts any higher. I also ran the sticks in my 780i board and had terrible stability issues, but that board can be flaky to begin with. I watercool the CPU and NB and actively cool the RAM with a corasair ram fan.

So...I'm not sure if either or both sticks are defective since they will pass memtest at stock speed and voltage (haven't repeated this to see if they intermittently fail)...but that's about it.

Lestat, have you found anything else out about this RAM that helps with stability? Thanks for any suggestions.

tRFC>42

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pee4

Hi

I have a Maximus Formula (bios 0906) with GSkill 8500 2x2GB.

I cannot get it to post with both sticks of RAM in the computer. Either stick alone is no problem. The LCD poster freezes at "DET DRAM".

I have manually set the bios as follows:

RAM volts = 2.1
1066mhz
2T
5-5-5-15

Any help appreciated. Motherboard currently sitting on bench with only a video card, keyboard and mouse plugged in.

I have made post by setting 800mhz 5-5-5-15 but this produces a constant stream of errors in Memtest.

Thanks

---

I would flash to bios 1004, it has higher trfc options I think would benifit your ram. Overall better bios imo