GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

[shiphtfour]

I am having difficulty getting my PC to boot with new 4x8GB ram sticks that are 1866Mhz frequency (G.Skill F3-14900CL10D). My motherboard is Gigabyte's GA-Z68XP-UD4 paired with an i7-2600K. When I go to the advanced memory settings in BIOS and set the frequency and timings manually to match the RAM specs, every time I try to boot, my PC powers on for a few seconds, turns off, then boots up telling me there was a overclocking failure during post resetting my BIOS back to 1333Mhz and the incorrect timings. I was able to get around this issue by upgrading my BIOS version from F6 to the UEFI U1G BIOS. With this version, I can manually correct the memory settings and get the computer to boot into Windows 7. Now the problem is that I am unable to get a stable OC on my 2600k without the LLC feature. Does anyone now how I can get my memory working in the F6 version of Award BIOS, or how to get a stable 4.5Ghz OC from a 2600k with the new UEFI U1G version? TYIA.

[Vinster]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

Welcome to the forum,

Have you tried setting the XMP profile for that memory? Putting/keeping all memory settings on Auto then selecting Profile #1 will overclock your system. then from there see where it puts you and then we can make the adjustments to get you to the clocks that you'd like.

Could you also post up your complete system configuration including the CPU cooler as that has a lot to do with how high you can overclock.

Vin

[shiphtfour]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

Thank you for the response Vinster. I have tried both the Profile 1 and Profile 2 settings under X.M.P. Profile 1 does not set the correct frequency or timings (sets the frequency to 1600 and timings to 10-11-10-29, and my memory is supposed to be 1866 and 10-11-10-30). I can boot into windows using Profile 1, but it is incredibly slow and laggy to the point where it is unusable (I am assuming because the memory settings are incorrect). Profile 2 gives my the correct settings for my memory, however then I just have the same problem as if I set them manually and cannot get the PC to boot (it gives me the overclocking failure message and resets CMOS settings). I am only trying to get the PC to boot correctly under the F6 BIOS version, so am using the Optimized Default settings before trying anything (nothing is overclocked). If I boot without changing anything, my memory frequency is set to 1333 and I get the same slow, laggy, unusable windows experience.

I have updated my PC specs in my profile, but my CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-D14, so I have never had a problem with overheating before and was successfully able to get a 4.5Ghz OC out of my 2600K that was stable for months before I bought this new memory.

[shiphtfour]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

I was able to get my PC to post by going into the advanced timing settings and changing tRFC to 255 and tWL to 8. However, even though my frequency and timing settings are correct in the BIOS, I am still getting weird lag and sluggish issues once in Windows. It is unbearably bad immediately after booting (think movie/game running at 3 fps) but then seems to settle down some after a few minutes. It doesn't return to normal/acceptable responsiveness though and PC meter is showing my CPU under a constant 20%-60% load for some reason, even without running any processes or doing anything... I do not believe any of the memory sticks are faulty, considering that they work fine without issue in the new U1G UEFI BIOS.

[shiphtfour]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

I have given up trying to get the F6 BIOS working and have just switched over to the U1G UEFI BIOS and am going to focus on getting my 2600k OC'd to 4.5Ghz and stable. So far I have at least gotten the PC to boot with a 4.5Ghz OC using a vcore of 1.65... is that too high? Temps idle around 40c, haven't tried any stress tests yet.

[shiphtfour]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

So I looked into it an apparently 1.65 vcore is way too high, so I quickly went back to lower it. I have now found (hopefully) a stable way to OC my 2600k to 4.5GHz under Gigabyte's UEFI BIOS. I left the overall multiplier alone and changed the individual turbo ratios to 46-45-45-45. Then set vcore to normal and added +.16 dynamic vcore. I think I am now OC'd to 4.5GHz with a vcore of about 1.2 according to CPUz. Will do some Prime95 tests tonight.

[Vinster]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

sounds like you are doing OK. for vcore, try to stay below 1.3v and even that is high to some people... I have that Noctra cooler, it's a good cooler.

Let us know how the testing goes.

Vin

[shiphtfour]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

I have run a few Prime95 tests, and with +.1 dynamic vcore, its appears I have a stable 4.5GHz OC. Under load however, the core voltage is reading 1.392 V max in CPU-Z. Is this still too much? Highest temp is 70c. At idle the voltage hovers around 1.05 V.

[Vinster]

Re: GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 32 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866Mhz

That voltage does seem high, but your temps are in good form... atm I wouldn't worry about anything,

Vin