G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB DDR3 1866 on GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

so I just received another 2 G.Skill Ares series DDR3 1866 ram which I was previously running 8gb but now I have 16gb as of yesterday. Windows 7 64 bit ultimate is showing that I have 16gb but only 12 usable. Now I'm curious if in the bios because it's running at a lower frequency (automatically running at 1600) if that's the reason it's only using 12gb instead of the full 16gb. Also I'm sure I can manual set up everything in the bios to have the memory run at 1866 vs 1600.

Specs:
AMD FX-6200 Zambezi 6-Core 3.8GHz
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev 3.0
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
UEFI Bios Version FC

Dark Lord of Tech · Oct 10, 2014

Most FX setups will only run 1600 anyways , you can go into the BIOS under DRAM settings and enable XMP profile to see if it will run 1866.

Dark Lord of Tech · Oct 10, 2014

Resource Monitor under memory tab , to see how ram is being used.

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

I had enabled the XMP profile to run the 1866 but the BIOS caught the boot failure so I had to set it back. This is what I'm currently looking at in the resource monitor.

http://i.imgur.com/miIvHcs.png

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

guess it can't be done for a 4x4GB ram setup (16GB) on this motherboard, even if I attempt manual settings in the bios. Alright then.

Dark Lord of Tech · Oct 10, 2014

I would say you are correct.

gskill support · Oct 10, 2014

You need to boost the CPU-NB Voltage to stabilize full slots of DDR3-1866.

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

how much? not even sure about the settings either. I was kinda going off what other people were putting from other posts.

Dark Lord of Tech · Oct 10, 2014

Even with the boost it might not stabilize.

Tradesman1 · Oct 10, 2014

Try initially setting the CPU/NB to 1.2 (may also have to add + 0.05 to the DRAM voltage) - the CPU/NB feeds the MC (memory controller) which is weaker, compared to Intel MCs

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

So nb volt to 1.2 and dram volt to 1.505?

Tradesman1 · Oct 10, 2014

1.2 and 1.55

Auxois · Oct 10, 2014

What about the timing?

Tradesman1 · Oct 11, 2014

Is it the CL9 or CL10 set, if the 9 try 9-10-9-27 if the CL10 set 10-11-10-30

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

It's cl9 but still failed to boot

Tradesman1 · Oct 11, 2014

Try at 1600 with same timings, there are few of the 6xxx CPUs that can carry 4 sticks at 1866 - in fact many of the 8xxx FX CPUs have trouble w/ four sticks, this has been a problem going back to the original Bulldozer FXs - AMD finally changed the Advertising to show that the FXs are rated UP TO 1866 T 1 STICK PER CHANNEL, for the 6XXX it's really more like maybe 2x2GB at 1866

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

well the bios has it automatically set to 1600

Karadjgne · Oct 11, 2014

According to the resource monitor, you have the full 16Gb, but only 12Gb available for you to use, the remaining 4Gb is Hardware Reserved.

Are both sets the same timings, or is 1 set cl9 and the other cl10?

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

I set both to the CL9 timings, in the bios it shows Channel A and Channel B, I had to set it to expert and set both of them. It still failed to boot at 1866. I didn't try it at 1600 though.

Tradesman1 · Oct 11, 2014

Try 1600, and may have to raise the CPU/NB possibly higher than the 1.2 - 1.35 isn't uncommon, but I like to take it up slow

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

I will give it a shot in the morning, it's been a long day. When I try it out in the morning, I'll come back with the results.

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

Ok just tried it with cl9 timing at 1.2 and 1600, booted up fine.

Auxois · Oct 11, 2014

Now what's the difference between leaving it on auto or setting it up manually?

Karadjgne · Oct 11, 2014

When you set stuff manually it locks the values at what you set. Left on auto, the values will start with default, then change according to things like buss speeds etc. What it won't do is change things like the Cpu/Nb voltage for stabilization

G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB DDR3 1866 on GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3

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