RAM voltage higher than MOBO's recommended voltage

conan14566 · Feb 6, 2014

Hey guys, I built my PC last year and I just realized that the RAM's voltage is higher than the recommended voltage of my motherboard.

Here's the specs:

MOBO: Gigabyte Z77P-D3
RAM : Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4) It's one of these I believe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104173
CPU : Intel Core i5 3570K
GPU : Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Factory overclocked
SSD : Intel 330 series 120GB
HDD : WD Blue 1TB WD10EZEX
PSU : Silverstone Strider Essential series SST-ST60F-ES 600W

The question is : Will something bad happen if I continue running with these setup? my PC have been doing a black screen crash that requires a hard reboot when playing some games but I don't know if it's related to this or my GPU. I've ran tests on memtest and Furmark but for some reason all the tests passed.

If it is bad to run a RAM that has a higher voltage than the MOBO's recommendation, what should I actually do?

alyoshka · Feb 6, 2014

The Memory Support List of the mobo
http://download.gigabyte.asia/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z77p-d3.pdf

Does support your model of RAM as mentioned in it.
So , logically it doesn't pose a problem.

conan14566 · Feb 6, 2014

If so, then anyone have any idea what's causing the black screen crash? I've heard that Sapphire's HD7870 GHz OC has had some problems that causes the crashes.

alyoshka · Feb 6, 2014

Have you kept a watch on temperatures under load?
What sort of programs are being used when the rig crashes....??
What sort of a crash takes place, reboot, hung, bsod, flickering???

conan14566 · Feb 6, 2014

I have kept a watch on the temperature under load. Highest temp is at around 71 celsius.
I try to keep as much programs closed as possible when I play something, although the AMD Gaming Evolved App is running and maybe something like Garena when I play LoL.
Sometimes the crash looks like this (these are not my videos btw) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OSu1z9BVeLY
And some other time it looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owEun8k8g48
It's pretty random, it can happen anytime and the only thing I can do is resetting the PC.
Also sometimes there can be a looping sound, a bit like a buzzing sound but it's from the speaker.

alyoshka · Feb 6, 2014

What Driver Version are you using?

PS: My god, my heads spinning after that first video.....

conan14566 · Feb 6, 2014

I'm running the very latest driver which is the 14.1 beta driver. Do note I used the current stable driver which is the 13.12 I think and it still crashes.

alyoshka · Feb 6, 2014

Did it crash the same way during the 12.XX revisions?
I don't think so, because problems came up only after the last 12.XX release...

conan14566 · Feb 6, 2014

Yes I believe it also crashed the same way with 12.XX revisions.

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

Anybody help?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Have you checked for new firmware for that card?
Check which firmware your card has and see if a revision is available.

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

How do I do that?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

GPUz to check and then techpowerup.com for upgrades....

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

I'm very new in all this and I'm afraid of bricking the GPU if I do it wrong.

Here's a picture from GPU-Z. Now what should I do?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Click on the BIOS Version tape like icon.... it'll save your current BIOS to your hdd.
Now you'll need to find your card here
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/339/radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition.html

Or Go straight here..
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?did=1002-6818--

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

From what I can tell mine is this one : http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/131669/sapphire-hd7870-2048-120924.html although the image is different. Apparently my firmware version is the same as the one listed in the link above.

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Click on the find compatible bios link....
it'll show you a later revision for the card
2013-01-18 01:45:00 015.031.000.000.000000

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

Oh I see. What do I do next?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Now you'll need to read, you must remeber that flashing the BIOS is at your own risk and is a tricky procedure.
My Suggestion is, if you want to get into that side , do so, but , use extreme caution.
You'll need a few programs from the same website...
like the ATIFlash utility, and you'll need to google reading material to flash your GPU Bios.

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

Does flashing the BIOS violate the warranty?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

.....Are there any other way then?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Nope.....

conan14566 · Feb 8, 2014

If the BIOS flashing doesn't solve the problem, what would you recommend me to do? I think I'll only flash the BIOS as a very last resort especially if nothing else works.

conan14566 · Feb 11, 2014

Oh yeah, if I flash the BIOS but keep the backup, and if one day I want to claim the warranty, can I just restore the BIOS from the backup and still claim my warranty?

RAM voltage higher than MOBO's recommended voltage

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