Settings for Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB dual channel to run above 1.5V

artoodeeto2

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Nov 3, 2013
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10,510
I have a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 MB running the F7 BIOS, Windows 7, and Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB dual channel RAM. I recently updated to the F7 BIOS because my newly installed Samsung 840 Pro SSD was generating occasional "disk read error" messages from windows during bootup. After updating to BIOS F7, that problem went away. Now the issue is the occasional BSOD during bootup after the "starting windows" screen comes up.

I've been seeing that the BSOD is likely caused by RAM timing or voltage issues; it never BSOD'd under the old BIOS. I tried upping the voltage through the Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker to 1.55 volts instead of the 1.5 the RAM is designed to run at. This resulted in a black screen upon all reboots. I had to reset the CMOS to get the computer functional again.

Are there other settings I need to change too to make the RAM work at the higher voltage (speed, timing, etc)? Would upping it to 1.6 or 1.65 be safe and possibly work when 1.55 didn't? I'd prefer not to experiment too much as getting the CMOS battery out is a bit of a pain, and I don't want to fry anything.

Thanks!!
 

artoodeeto2

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Nov 3, 2013
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ok, thanks, so now really my question is this - when I up the voltage, is it necessary to lower the timings or *should* it work to only up the voltage to 1.65? I changed only the voltage to 1.55 the first time (didn't touch the timing) and it didn't work, so I'd like to avoid that situation happening again. Or is this something where it *should* work and the only way to find out for sure is to try it?
 
I have had just 1.5V memory but they seem to work over 1.6V stable.
Depends lot of other components how much you can put more volts.
CPU and mobo + psu are key things. 10-15% cant harm too much.
This is my opinion and cant give you any quarranty it wont broke anything. So if system comes unstable try lower volts.
 

kingstonhq

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Mar 11, 2013
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Hi, I'm Jewel with Kingston Technical Support and would like to offer our assistance. Based on your description, I assume we are talking about HyperX part number KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX or KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G, the default SPD is DDR3-1333 9-9-9 @ 1.5V when inserted. If you are not changing the timings then the voltage does not need to be changed. If the DDR3-1600 set the timings and voltage can be set to 9-9-9 @1.65V. Your motherboard supports up to DDR3-1866 without overclocking so theoretically should not have an issue with that 1600 setting. Regardless of which memory you have since you left everything at default the frequency and timings should be 1333Mhz 9-9-9 @ 1.5V, no changes needed as that is the JEDEC standard for DDR3-1333 and your motherboard should not have any problem handling it. All of our HyperX memory defaults to JEDEC standards to confirm system stability with the modules prior to overclocking. Since you are having problems without changing any settings, changing them is not necessarily the answer. If you haven't already I would suggest running Windows Memory Diagnostic or Memtest86 to see if there are any errors being reported in the memory (with the memory in default settings). If the memory does come back with errors at default settings, it would be best to contact us since that would mean the memory is failing and a warranty replacement would be the next best course of action. If no errors are found with the memory at default settings that would most likely mean something else is causing the issue. Also, when you updated the BIOS did you also update the AMD Chipset Driver (which includes the SATA RAID driver) to version 8.982? The release date on this is 10/24/2012 which is a couple days after the F7 BIOS release date. For any further assistance, please call us at 1-800-435-0640 (USA and Canada only) M - F 6am - 6pm PT and I or another available Technician will assist you. Please be sure to have the part in question on hand when you call.

Thank you for selecting Kingston as your upgrade partner.
 

artoodeeto2

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Nov 3, 2013
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10,510
Thanks for the detailed response! My part number is KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G, and it's currently running at default settings. The BSOD stop error I get (I don't recall the exact error at the moment, but I googled it the last time it happened) has to do with memory access by Windows. I was suspecting the chips' timing or other settings as maybe being a little off in the new F7 BIOS because I never received the error prior to the update. In fact it pretty much never BSOD'd at all.

I'll try the chipset driver update - hopefully that'll take care of the issue. Up until now it's been running fine, and memory tests I've run recently have found no errors.