Problems on Year-Old Build

[red knight alex]

Hi everyone I was hoping I could get your help on two problems I've been having on a build less than a year old. Just two problems but four possible hardware issues.

First, my spces:
-Gigabyte P35-DS3p
-Intel E8400
-Zalman CNPS9500
-Nvidida GeForce 8800GT from EVGA
-2x1GB Patriot Ram PC6400 Extreme Performance (set to work at 4-4-4-12)
-OCZ GameXStream 600W
-A plethora of fans both inside and outside case
-Windows XP and Windows Vista Dual-Boot
-Latest drivers and BIOS (F10)

Problem 1: The most recent and most troubling to me. After installing my new E8400 (works great btw) I ran 3DMark 06 to see the imporvement from my older E2160. The jump wasn't as high as I anticipated and after finding out my processor was fine, I looked at the GPU information. By using CPU-Z, I checked my link width was only at x2 or x4 instead of x16! A few people have had this problem before and I followed some of their advice. I changed the video card from the second PCI-E slot to the first but it only made it worse. Instead of x4 or x2 I now have a steady x1. Other things I have done to help the issue is slowly increase the PCI frequency from 100 up to 110. No difference. I have also increased all voltages up by .05 or .1, whichever their increment is, including PCI-E voltage and (G)MCH voltage. Nothing worked. I also did some research into properly installing a power supply, to make sure all my connectors are working, and made a few changes that may or may not have helped, including making the main power for the mobo a 24-pin instead of a 20-pin, placed two 2x4 into the 12V slot (I think that was it, I'm not so sure. Either way it was the power supply for the CPU that I put two connectors into and removed the cover for). I also changed the power supply to the GPU. Could be either the motherboard or video card, however I'm pretty sure the card was working at something higher than x1 in this slot previously, maybe not up to x16 like it should but at least higher than x1. The idea that it's the motherboard is related to my second problem.

Problem 2: More ongoing and frustrating. No matter how hard I try I cannot get to the 4-4-4-12 timings on my ram. No matter what. I've increased voltage to 2.2 (as specified by the manufacturer) and tried to manually set the timings. Even if I try to manually set the timings to what the BIOS is setting them at now (5-5-5-16), the computer won't even boot! By changing anything, and I mean anything, that has to do with the ram timings, even if I just switch it to manual and not anything else, my computer goes crazy and either doesn't POST and gives me a lot of problems when I do get into Windows. Could this be mobo as well?

Possible culprits:
-Motherboard: Relates to both problems. Also the temperature is higher than normal, at 53C according to SpeedFan.
-Power Supply: Less likely. When I look in my BIOS under PC Health Status all the of the volt readings are very good (aka 3.3V is something like 3.34 and the 12V is around 12.1 or something close).
-Video Card: I got one of the first ones a week or so after release so maybe I just got a bad one and haven't noticed it until now (aka checking my link width)
-RAM: Would this have anything to do with my video card? Occam's Razor anyone?

Any help is greatly appreciated! I have another recent computer I need to put together and I may try placing the video card in there to see if it has the same link width as mine. Should I RMA anything? Maybe pull out some hair? Thanks so much in advance and for reading my complaints!

 

[Andrius]

Are you overclocking your CPU?
Is there dust in the primary (blue) PCI-Ex16 slot?
Make sure you select "PEG1" for Init Display First in BIOS.

Use CoreTemp/cpuid HWMonitor for temperatures. Speedfan has to be calibrated.

What program are you using to read the x4 x2 x1 values (I guess it's CPU-Z)? What does GPU-Z say about BUS Interface ? Should be "PCIE x16 @ 16"
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1095/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.2.3.html

Memory latency settings are a tricky business. The performance impact from 5-5-5-18 to 4-4-4-12 is minimal (most noticable in benchmarks and video encoding or compiling large projects).

I have the same motherboard model and it works perfectly at 4-4-4-12 and x16. I use an F9 BIOS.

 

[red knight alex]

Thanks for the reply and here's what I found.

Tried dusting the blue PCI-E spot, the top one, and reseated the video card. Nothing changed.

I also tried the F9 BIOS and restored optimized defaults. Also changed Init Display First to PEG. No change either.

Using both CPU-Z and GPU-Z the x16 slot is still running at x1. Or PCI-E x16 @ x1 from GPU-Z on Bus Interface. Previously CPU-Z was what I had read the previous values from but now use both programs.

Also nothing is overclocked. I just put in the new processor two days ago and haven't touched the clock settings. GPU isn't overclocked either.

 

[Andrius]

Did it work at x16 before the CPU change?

If not it's very likely the board/graphics card PCIE link is damaged so you should test it with another motherboard/graphics card. No idea what else it could be.

Good luck.

 

[red knight alex]

I'm not sure if it did work at x16 before the CPU change because I had it in the other, x4 slot. That, however, was working at x4.

I forgot to mention that I have two other pieces of hardware. A wireless card into a PCI slot which is really a pain and could be my problem. I'm uninstalling it now to see if it makes a difference. I also have a X-Fi SoundBlaster XtremeGamer Pro sound card in another PCI slot. That, however, has been working fine.

But thanks for your help. I'll keep trying and, on Monday, if the problem isn't fixed, I'll start calling EVGA and Gigabyte to see if they have any answers.

 

[kad]

I'm not sure if it did work at x16 before the CPU change because I had it in the other, x4 slot. That, however, was working at x4.

You said CPU change ??
I bet reset CMOS and update bios (FLASH) to latest version will solve your problem

 

[red knight alex]

Tried the switch on the motherboard and taking the battery out and it's still at x1. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Shadow703793]

Did it work at x16 before the CPU change?

If not it's very likely the board/graphics card PCIE link is damaged so you should test it with another motherboard/graphics card. No idea what else it could be.

Good luck.

+1. Indeed this looks like a motherboard issue.

 

[red knight alex]

+1. Indeed this looks like a motherboard issue.

If it were a motherboard issue, would it also explain another, more aggravating problem I just thought about? I have issues starting either of my OSs sometimes. What happens in XP is it'll show the desktop, start bar, and icons, but will seemingly freeze. The mouse will sometimes respond but the clock and keyboard do not move or respond. I have left the computer like this for over an hour and nothing changes when this happens on startup. And it can't be a software problem as I just reformated and reinstalled (thought that might have solved my issue). On Vista the problem shows as a black and white screen that reminds me of a tv not receiving a signal. A temporary fix involves going into the BIOS and restoring optimized defaults, even if nothing has changed since my last good reboot.

Seems like my computer has a lot of problems but at least it works for the internet...50% of the time.

 

[Andrius]

The motherboar is the core of the system. It's the IO hub and everything goes through it so yes it would explain the above issue if your motherboard has problems. It could also be caused by any other hardware problem(IE the graphics card) as it appears that some driver hangs while trying to do it's work. Overheating of a component is also possible but less likely in this case.

RMA the motherboard and get a GA-P45-DS3x next week instead.