P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

[jriker1]

I have a rev 2.0 of the P35-DS4 motherboard. Running F9 bios. I am getting major errors with my ram when running memtest86+ 1.70. Memory seems to work fine in Windows physically though. Fails most all memory tests. I saw a thread that seems to have others having similar problems with the F9 bios. Does anyone know anything about this?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142340&page=73

See post #1823 on the above link.

Thanks

JR

P.S. I know the main thread name GS4 instead of DS4 is wrong, but this forum tool won't let you rename the base thread name.

[Stilly]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

Hey J,

I had the same problems and with Vista in low power state it wouldn't even come back up, just kept recycling. I backed down to F8 and everything was fine again. It appears Gigabyte definitely has a problem with F9.

Tim

[dosign]

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

Daer all

please post your spec when you ask question in order other people can help you.

[Bopster]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

This is interesting. I will run memtest in the morning and post my results. I have no problems in benchmarks or apps so far.
39846-3dMark03 20963-3dMark05 11833-3dMark06
8975-PCMark05
Runs all Everest tests with good results and no errors

[dosign]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

This is interesting. I will run memtest in the morning and post my results. I have no problems in benchmarks or apps so far.
39846-3dMark03 20963-3dMark05 11833-3dMark06
8975-PCMark05
Runs all Everest tests with good results and no errors

I just have to admit.. That is an interesting experience of yours. A rig that actually works the way it is supposed to! What an earth have you done wrong???

[jriker1]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

This is interesting. I will run memtest in the morning and post my results. I have no problems in benchmarks or apps so far.
39846-3dMark03 20963-3dMark05 11833-3dMark06
8975-PCMark05
Runs all Everest tests with good results and no errors

Everest doesn't seem to push the ram to much from what I can see. Never see the RAM usage go up much during it's testing. My system seemed to work flawlessly in 3DMark06 however was erroring on some of the more intense testing tools. If you are on the F9 bios, try using memtest86+ with a boot floppy or SuperPI. Both crashed on mine until I backed down to F8.

JR

[jriker1]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

Daer all

please post your spec when you ask question in order other people can help you.

Although it's probably not overly relevant other than the board itself and the bios version, here are my specs, however I suggest using a forum tool that supports tag lines with your info like other sites do. Entering it each time manually is a real pain. If this supports it, please let me know where to go to set it.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="25%" height=26>CPU
[email protected] G0 Lapped</TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Motherboard
GA-P35-DS4</TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Memory
2GB OCZ DDR2 6400 CL 3 FlexXLC 3-4-4-12 (temp) </TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Graphics Card
XFX 8800 GTS</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Hard Drive
WD 750GB SATA</TD><TD vAlign=top>Power Supply
OCZ GameXStream 700W</TD><TD vAlign=top>Case
Antec P182</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>CPU cooling
Tuniq Tower 120 Lapped + Silverstream Fan</TD><TD vAlign=top>GPU cooling
Stock</TD><TD vAlign=top>Memory cooling
Stock</TD><TD vAlign=top>Case cooling
2-120mm Silverstream (outtake)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[miahallen]

Re: P35-GS4 Memory problems F9

Although it's probably not overly relevant other than the board itself and the bios version, here are my specs, however I suggest using a forum tool that supports tag lines with your info like other sites do. Entering it each time manually is a real pain. If this supports it, please let me know where to go to set it.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="25%" height=26>CPU
[email protected] G0 Lapped


</TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Motherboard
GA-P35-DS4


</TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Memory
2GB OCZ DDR2 6400 CL 3 FlexXLC 3-4-4-12 (temp)


</TD><TD vAlign=top width="25%">Graphics Card
XFX 8800 GTS


</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Hard Drive
WD 750GB SATA


</TD><TD vAlign=top>Power Supply
OCZ GameXStream 700W


</TD><TD vAlign=top>Case
Antec P182


</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>CPU cooling
Tuniq Tower 120 Lapped + Silverstream Fan


</TD><TD vAlign=top>GPU cooling
Stock


</TD><TD vAlign=top>Memory cooling
Stock


</TD><TD vAlign=top>Case cooling
2-120mm Silverstream (outtake)


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"User CP" -> "Edit Signature" ....you'll see mine at the bottom of this post ;)

I recently contacted Gigabyte (via thier online technical support "email") concerning this F9 memory issue...I've posted my communitcation with them on XS Forums, but I'll post it here as well...thanks jriker1 for the intro to this forum, cheers!

System Configuration
VGA Brand : Nvidia Model : eVGA 8800GTX
CPU Brand : Intel Model : Q6600 Speed : 2.4GHz
Operation System : n/a SP :
Memory Brand : Type : DDRII
Memory Size : various Speed : various
Power Supply : 500 W

tested four different sets of memory:
(x2) 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 @ 800MHz 4-4-4-12 2.2V
(x1) 2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500 @ 1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2.2V
(x1) 2x2GB G.SKILL PC2-8000 @ 1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2.1V
tested by pairs & with individual DIMMS. Results never varied.
This is a bug report for GA-P35-DS4 Rev.2.0 ***F9 BIOS***
Running the popluar memory diagnostic tool "memtest86+" v1.7 results in numerous "false positive" errors. Errors always occurring during test 1 and/or test 2 and always at address "0007feedf18" regardless of memory brand/size/configuration. I flashed back to the F8 BIOS and memtest86+ v1.7 runs without issue.
Please refer to the "more detailed configurations" section for more information on tested memory.
I also briefly tested memtest86 v3.2 with the same "false positive" errors.
F8 BIOS

F9 BIOS

The following day, they responded with:

No issue with bios below F9?
Any settings overclocked?
How about running it at default specs?

I wrote back with this:

"No issue with bios below F9?"
No, F7 & F8 work fine, no issues found.

"Any settings overclocked?"
I've tried overclocked, underclocked, and rated speeds for all components with the same results in memtest. I even tried the Crucial Ballistix, rated at 800MHz 4-4-4-12 2.2V, at 800MHz 5-5-5-15 2.2V (underclocked) and still got the same errors with F9. With F8, I can run at 1200MHz 5-5-5-15 2.2V without errors.

"How about running it at default specs?"
Set everything at factory rated spec, still got the same errors in F9.

"Ryouko" alearted me to the issue in post #1823 of the Gigabyte P35 thread (page #73) at XtremeSystems Forums...feel free to read our discussion here (toward the bottom):

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142340&page=73

He has had similar results:
I have been running memtest86+ on it (usb legacy disabled) with 3 different sets of corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 and then I tried the Crucial Ballistix BL2Kit12864AA804 and they both failed, both with using the pc35-ds4 default configuration, and with the optimized configurations that are recommended by the memory companies website.

Then I flashed back to the F9 BIOS and re-ran the tests with the "fail-safe" settings, and the "optimized" settings, just to cover all my bases.
fail-safe:

optimized:


Gigabyte contacted me a final time with:

revert back to the F8 bios for now, we will examine the F9 bios

[tima092384]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

I have a rev 2.0 of the P35-DS4 motherboard. Running F9 bios. I am getting major errors with my ram when running memtest86+ 1.70. Memory seems to work fine in Windows physically though. Fails most all memory tests. I saw a thread that seems to have others having similar problems with the F9 bios. Does anyone know anything about this?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142340&page=73

See post #1823 on the above link.

Thanks

JR

P.S. I know the main thread name GS4 instead of DS4 is wrong, but this forum tool won't let you rename the base thread name.

Interesting! I just tried this myself (Core 2 Duo E6600, not overclocked, 2x Crucial Ballistix 1GB DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 @ 2.2v) and got errors in MemTest. I then ran the Vista boot-time Memory Diagnostic, and it completed without error. I've been running the F9 BIOS for a couple of weeks and have had zero problems in Vista Ultimate, or for that matter, doing some boot-time partition copying with BootIt NG, so it seems to me, there's nothing wrong with the computer, but something in the F9 BIOS is causing MemTest to report spurious memory errors. Absent independent verification, I'm not going to worry about it.

[tima092384]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

Interesting! I just tried this myself (Core 2 Duo E6600, not overclocked, 2x Crucial Ballistix 1GB DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 @ 2.2v) and got errors in MemTest. I then ran the Vista boot-time Memory Diagnostic, and it completed without error. I've been running the F9 BIOS for a couple of weeks and have had zero problems in Vista Ultimate, or for that matter, doing some boot-time partition copying with BootIt NG, so it seems to me, there's nothing wrong with the computer, but something in the F9 BIOS is causing MemTest to report spurious memory errors. Absent independent verification, I'm not going to worry about it.

OK, here's some independent verification. I ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic from CD (this is different than the built-in Vista diagnostic), and I got many errors at 0x7FEEDF18. So whatever is wrong with the BIOS, it is affecting MemTest and Windows Memory Diagnostic in the same way. As for the Vista diagnostic not reporting errors, maybe it isn't testing as thoroughly as these other programs, or maybe the BIOS issue is irrelevant by the time it runs. I haven't had any problems running Vista with the F9 BIOS, but I've gone ahead and reverted to F8. Bye-bye CPU fan, but hey, it's winter anyway, right? (I'll try to ignore the currently 70F night.)

[jriker1]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

Interesting! I just tried this myself (Core 2 Duo E6600, not overclocked, 2x Crucial Ballistix 1GB DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 @ 2.2v) and got errors in MemTest. I then ran the Vista boot-time Memory Diagnostic, and it completed without error. I've been running the F9 BIOS for a couple of weeks and have had zero problems in Vista Ultimate, or for that matter, doing some boot-time partition copying with BootIt NG, so it seems to me, there's nothing wrong with the computer, but something in the F9 BIOS is causing MemTest to report spurious memory errors. Absent independent verification, I'm not going to worry about it.

Not to be a jerk, however your comment is very self centered thinking of you. Although you admit there is a problem that you saw as well, you assume everything is fine because it "seems" to work fine in Windows. I'm less concerned about that, and more concerned about all the memory manufacturer's out there that rely on memtest86+ to verify the stability of their user's memory when they come to them with issues. I can't even begin to think of the cost to the memory companies who are going to be swapping out all these supposably bad memory modules, or the consumers who have to spend time and money to ship back the old ones to find it makes no difference. A problem is a problem, whether it directly effects you or not.

As a side note, Vista's memory diagnostics from what I hear is complete fluf.

JR

[tima092384]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

Not to be a jerk, however your comment is very self centered thinking of you. Although you admit there is a problem that you saw as well, you assume everything is fine because it "seems" to work fine in Windows. I'm less concerned about that, and more concerned about all the memory manufacturer's out there that rely on memtest86+ to verify the stability of their user's memory when they come to them with issues. I can't even begin to think of the cost to the memory companies who are going to be swapping out all these supposably bad memory modules, or the consumers who have to spend time and money to ship back the old ones to find it makes no difference. A problem is a problem, whether it directly effects you or not.
JR

Well, you're not being a jerk so much as you've misinterpreted where I'm coming from and so have attributed motivations, attitudes, and conclusions to me which are false. On second thought, you kinda are being a jerk. Of course there will be people who think their computer isn't working right due to this, and of course this will be a headache for memory companies. I certainly would have assumed the memory was bad if I had run MemTest or the Windows Memory Diagnostic program I mentioned in my follow-up message in a new build that came with the F9 BIOS preinstalled or with new memory. But I didn't. Instead, I did the things I talked about, namely installing the F9 BIOS into my existing system and running Vista and BING for a couple of weeks without issue. Anyone who's been around the block knows that diagnostic programs sometimes produce false positives, and companies get blamed every day for things that aren't their fault; I assume this goes without saying, but if it doesn't here, well, maybe that's the problem. If you think I was defending Gigabyte, or "thinking only of myself", or whatever other nonsense may have ran through your head, well, goto the start of this paragraph. Then try to drop your attitude and understand what I did write in my two previous messages.

As a side note, Vista's memory diagnostics from what I hear is complete fluf.

Cite?

[jriker1]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

Well, you're not being a jerk so much as you've misinterpreted where I'm coming from and so have attributed motivations, attitudes, and conclusions to me which are false. On second thought, you kinda are being a jerk. Of course there will be people who think their computer isn't working right due to this, and of course this will be a headache for memory companies. I certainly would have assumed the memory was bad if I had run MemTest or the Windows Memory Diagnostic program I mentioned in my follow-up message in a new build that came with the F9 BIOS preinstalled or with new memory. But I didn't. Instead, I did the things I talked about, namely installing the F9 BIOS into my existing system and running Vista and BING for a couple of weeks without issue. Anyone who's been around the block knows that diagnostic programs sometimes produce false positives, and companies get blamed every day for things that aren't their fault; I assume this goes without saying, but if it doesn't here, well, maybe that's the problem. If you think I was defending Gigabyte, or "thinking only of myself", or whatever other nonsense may have ran through your head, well, goto the start of this paragraph. Then try to drop your attitude and understand what I did write in my two previous messages.

I could futher argue this point, however it's not worth my time and is detracting from the issue at hand. A problem is a problem is a problem. Gigabyte needs to address it.

JR

[tima092384]

Re: P35-DS4 Memory problems F9

I could futher argue this point

No doubt. People do argue all sorts of things.

however it's not worth my time and is detracting from the issue at hand. A problem is a problem is a problem. Gigabyte needs to address it.

On that we agree.

BTW, when you said, "As a side note, Vista's memory diagnostics from what I hear is complete fluf," were you just spreading FUD, or can you provide the citation I requested in my last message? Given that the Windows Memory Diagnostic, which predates Vista, found errors at the exact same memory location as MemTest, while the Vista Memory Diagnostic found no errors, it's natural to wonder, "maybe it isn't testing as thoroughly as these other programs, or maybe the BIOS issue is irrelevant by the time it runs", which is what I said in my earlier message. I don't know which it is, but I would hope it's at least as good as its predecessor, the Windows Memory Diagnostic. (It's actually in MS's interest to make it good, because people blame Windows for hardware errors all the time.) If it is, then people running Vista and perhaps other OSes aren't in trouble, despite MemTest indicating that they are. That would be valuable to know, and that's what I was talking about; it's terrible to find out you've been using a system for weeks that appears to have been working fine but may have had a deadly flaw all along, that has been silently corrupting data. I have zero evidence that this problem exists outside of programs such as MemTest and the Windows Memory Diagnostic, and since I haven't lost data or experienced crashes in Vista while running BIOS F9 from 12/3/07 to 12/20/07, I'm a little skeptical this is a real problem from this perspective. Then you come along and say that you've "heard" the Vista Memory Diagnostic is "fluf" (sic), and as is so often the case, ignore a request for a cite to back it up. Until you provide such a cite, your claim is what's "fluff".