Help with small problem and setting up GA-P55M-UD2

[frenchy70]

Hi

Thanks to some help I received on these boards, I recently built my first system and it seems to be working pretty good so after a week.

However, I really need some help or a pointer to the right article on how to set-up my motherboard as I am hearing a random single, very short, beep from the system speaker when in the Windows 7 64 bit OS.

I have googled this and see a few reports but no definitive solution, except maybe the settings for ram etc need to be right (someone mentioned about setting memory voltage to 1.64 v, and here is where I have questions based on the components I am using).

The beep is sometimes accompanied by the fan speeding up momentarily and sometimes (mostly) not. The beeps can be 10 minutes apart and sometimes 2 hours.

I am monitoring temps and they aren't going over 28° when doing office type stuff, and when light gaming, not above 45°. The system posts fine, with the single beep. I updated the BIOS to F8 with no problems.

I was hoping to set some of the BIOS settings up rather than use AUTO for everything. I have loaded optimised defaults in BIOS after revising to F8 but don't really know what settings I should have in there.

I especially need some help setting up the RAM because I bought stuff that says it is 1.5v because thats what I thought was right for this board. But who knows, maybe I could or should be running it at a different voltage, etc. Open to offers !

So, my components on the board are:

* i5 750 CPU w/ Hyper 212+ cooler

* 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 memory module CT2KIT25664BA1339 http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT25664BA1339

* Sapphire Vapor-X 5770 GPU

* OCZ ModXStream 500w PSU

* Edimax EW-7128G Wireless LAN PCI Card 802.11b/g 54Mbp http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7128G-Wireless-802-11b-Ralink/dp/B000KLNRBS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269891826&sr=8-5

* Windows 7 64 bit OS

I'd appreciate any advice - either "go here, and read this", or basic instruction about what basic settings to go with to run without beeps.

Frenchy

 

[bilbat]

Try going to the "PC Health Status" page of your BIOS, and disabling both the "Fan Fail" warnings...

 

[frenchy70]

Try going to the "PC Health Status" page of your BIOS, and disabling both the "Fan Fail" warnings...

OK - doing that now, and I'll report back if I hear a beep, or not ! Thanks for the reply.

Would still appreciate any advice about settings I could use generally as part of finishing this build.

 

[frenchy70]

After disabling the fan fail warnings in "PC Health Status", unfortunately, the thing just beeped. Twice, about 5 mins apart.

The second time it beeped, the fan spooled up running fast for a split second and then quietened down - I'm only surfing, googling for a solution to this problem.

Looking forward to any further suggestions

 

[bilbat]

I found this about the most convoluted (page/sub-page-wise) BIOS I've ever tried to follow from a manual, so if anything durring the process of

changing setting looks 'out-of-kilter' - post back - by all means!!


GA-P55M-UD2
Intel i5-750 x20mult 2.66GHz .65-1.4V Core B1 sSpec SLBLC CPUID 106E5h
Crucial DDR3 PC3-10600 1333Mhz CT2KIT25664BA1339 (2 x 2GB) 9-9-9-27?-1t 1.5v nominal
(first try will clock RAM close to Intel rated 1066...)

If you haven't yet done it, start with a BIOS' "Load Optimized Defaults"

Before we start ramping things up, I want to teach you a new skill involving the BIOS: Do the <DEL> at the boot to enter the BIOS; notice, at the bottom, the <F11> "Save CMOS to BIOS" - hit this, and you should get a menu that will show a number (the count varies by BIOS) of empty 'slots', each of which will store an entire set of BIOS parameters, to be re-loaded from the corresponding <F12> "Load CMOS from BIOS"; this is a wonderful overclocker's feature. What I do with it, is to save my 'baseline' working parameters, so if I change something that 'irritates' the board, and forces a reset of all the parameters to defaults, or, even worse, get so screwed up I need to do a 'clear CMOS', I can get back to my starting point with no effort, and without having to remember 85 separate settings! Another thing it prevents is two hours' troubleshooting, having forgotten a change to a crucial parameter - like, "wait a minute - didn't I have the Trd at seven?!" It's pretty self-explanatory, and I alway urge people to start right away by taking the time to give the 'slots' names that mean something: in two hours, "Try2" and "Try3" will not be very helpful, but "450@+10MCH" and "450@+15MCH" will! Another use is for 'green' settings; overclocks, as a rule, do not 'play well' with green features, such as 'down-clocking' and 'down-volting'; with the storage slots, you can set up one profile, say "Green", with all the settings at 'stock' values, and all the 'green' features enabled; another, say "Balls2Wall" with a full overclock, and all the 'green' stuff turned off... Another neat feature of this 'slot' system is, for most BIOS, the mechanism itself will keep track of which ones have booted successfully, and how many times (up to, I believe, a max of five)!


From the "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page,
on the "Advanced Frequency Settings" sub-page:

"CPU Clock Ratio" to "20x"
"CPU Frequency" - this one can't be set, it's calculated, and will change when we set the next few items...

On the "Advanced CPU Core Features" sub-sub-page:

"Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech" to "Disabled" (can try with this on later, after stability...)
"CPU Cores Enabled" to "All"
"CPU Multi Threading" (won't be here for 750?)
"CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)" to "Disabled"
"C3/C6/C7 State Support" to "Disabled"
"CPU Thermal Monitor" to "Enabled"
"CPU EIST Function" to "Disabled"
"Virtualization Technology" to "Enabled" - this allows use of Win7's fantastic VirtualXp feature...
"Bi-Directional PROCHOT" to "Enabled"

...back on the "Advanced Frequency Settings" sub-page:

"QPI Clock Ratio" to "x32" (may 'bump' to x36 later...)
Uncore Frequency" (isn't adjustable??)


>>>>>Standard Clock Control
"Base Clock (BCLK) Control" to "Enabled"
"BCLK Frequency (MHz)" to "180"
"PCI Express Frequency (MHz)" to "101" (not auto)
"C.I.A.2" to "Disabled"
>>>>>Advanced Clock Control sub-page:
"CPU Clock Drive" to "900mV"
"PCI Express Clock Drive" to "900mV"
"CPU Clock Skew" to "0ps"


On the "Advanced Memory Settings" sub-page:

"Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P)" to "Disabled"
"System Memory Multiplier (SPD)" to "6x"
"Performance Enhance" to "Standard"
"DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)" to "Auto"


On the "Advanced Voltage Control" sub-page:

>>>CPU
"Load Line Calibration" to "Enabled"
"CPU Vcore" to "1.275"
"QPI/VTT Voltage 1.115v" (first try...) to "1.1875" May need to bump for stability
>>>MCH/ICH
"PCH Core to "Auto"
"CPU PLL 1.800v" to "Auto"

>>>DRAM
"DRAM Voltage" to "1.55"
"DRAM Termination" to "Auto"
"Ch-A Data VRef." to "Auto"
"Ch-B Data VRef." to "Auto"

"Ch-A Address VRef." to "Auto"
"Ch-B Address VRef." to "Auto"

On the "Miscellaneous Settings" sub-page
"Isochronous Support" to "Enabled"

On the "Integrated Peripherals" page:

"USB Storage Function" to "Disabled"

And that should do it!

I should point out that getting two reboots in a row here is perfectly normal behavior; it seems that, when you change certain settings it boots once to 'see where it's at', recalculates its remaining 'auto' settings, saves them, and then boots again. Three reboots in a row, however, usually indicates that the board was 'given indigestion' by your settings, and is going back to defaults. This sometimes goes astray, and it doesn't get back into proper operation - that's time to do a CMOS reset, and use our 'stored' <F12> profile to get back to where you were...

Good luck!


Bill [:bilbat:8]

 

[frenchy70]

Ah, thanks very much Bilbat !

I will make these changes and post back with some feedback. Maybe I could ask a question about one or two of the settings then, also.

Regards



Frenchy

 

[frenchy70]

Well, I'm going to stick my neck out here and declare that the beeping has gone. On the other hand, I've only been at the computer an hour after I changed the settings and an hour later on this afternoon, so I'm still anxiously listening out for it. Could it possibly have been that having AUTO for some parameters like voltage was causing the board to temporarily increase the values in response to some event while using W7 ?

In any case, the settings you suggested to me have been really helpful because I can now read up more about the parameters I've changed. I've also achieved another thing on my to do list - which is to overclock my PC for the first time (which wasn't difficult !!). And I was only after 3.6 GHz too as I'm not doing it for benchmarking - just to get any easy boost available without stressing about temps and stability.

So, can I ask a few quick questions about the settings while I wait to mark this post as solved (better listen out for the bleeps for another 24 hrs) ?

* what did you mean by "(first try will clock RAM close to Intel rated 1066...) " when you were referring to the RAM ?

* is it OK to run with the LLC enabled - I tried to read up on this but found opinions split down the middle, and distinctions about 45nm technology and 65nm (??) and about vdroop being good all lost me.

* should I put c-states back to enabled when running normally ?

* some values weren't available - I think I set QPI/VTT to 1.19 instead of 1.1875 and DRAM to 1.6v instead of 1.55v - is this OK ?

* should i change any other settings or just leave as is for now ?


* is it worth it (performance wise) trying to run the RAM at improved settings or is it not comparable to the performance increase one gets with the CPU ?. I'm sure the settings you gave me has made the ram run differently and I'l read up on this

* what voltage should the RAM be running at ? I notice my RAM is marked at 1.5v and I often see RAM at 1.65v for i5 750. What does this mean ?

* if I keep my computer with this mild overclock, can I just leave it when I'm surfing and don't need the extra power ? I don't like the idea of the wasted energy and increased heat - OK, I'm a bit of a greeny ! With the c-states enabled will it look after itself or do I have to go to the bios to enable the overclock when I need the extra power for gaming, etc. It'd be great to just leave it and not keep changing.

* do I have to do any torture tests like Prime ? I heard someone with the same board as me popped the mosfet (which I understand is a weak spot on this board for some) when they ran Prime.

Hope I haven't taken advantage with the extra questions

I'll report SOLVED tomorrow fingers crossed.

Thanks again


Frenchy

 

[bilbat]

* what did you mean by "(first try will clock RAM close to Intel rated 1066...) " when you were referring to the RAM ?

We are not running RAM at rated: 180 Bclk x 6 memory multiplier gives 1080 RAM; once again,the next memory multiplier is 10, but 10 x your 180 Bclk gives us 1800 - higher than your RAM is rated...

some values weren't available - I think I set QPI/VTT to 1.19 instead of 1.1875 and DRAM to 1.6v instead of 1.55v - is this OK ?

Both should be good there...

* should i change any other settings or just leave as is for now ?

First try - just as it is...

* is it worth it (performance wise) trying to run the RAM at improved settings or is it not comparable to the performance increase one gets with the CPU ?. I'm sure the settings you gave me has made the ram run differently and I'l read up on this

In any trade-off situation, twist the CPU first - better results to be seen threr...

* what voltage should the RAM be running at ? I notice my RAM is marked at 1.5v and I often see RAM at 1.65v for i5 750. What does this mean ?

Fast RAM is gotten to run fast by overvolting it a bit - yours isn't in the class - only want it 'bumped' a tiny biy as we're running it a tad highr than rated...

* if I keep my computer with this mild overclock, can I just leave it when I'm surfing and don't need the extra power ? I don't like the idea of the wasted energy and increased heat - OK, I'm a bit of a greeny ! With the c-states enabled will it look after itself or do I have to go to the bios to enable the overclock when I need the extra power for gaming, etc. It'd be great to just leave it and not keep changing.

* if I keep my computer with this mild overclock, can I just leave it when I'm surfing and don't need the extra power ? I don't like the idea of the wasted energy and increased heat - OK, I'm a bit of a greeny ! With the c-states enabled will it look after itself or do I have to go to the bios to enable the overclock when I need the extra power for gaming, etc. It'd be great to just leave it and not keep changing.

You wanna save the planet - go plant a tree; you wanna fast computer, nix all that 'green' stuff!

* do I have to do any torture tests like Prime ? I heard someone with the same board as me popped the mosfet (which I understand is a weak spot on this board for some) when they ran Prime.

I always run prime to test - you want to watch that you can spill enough heat - sink might be bad, HSF install might be bad, retainingpin loose - don't want to 'fry' anything!

 

[frenchy70]

OK - thanks for your responses and all of the help. I am beep free - before changing the settings, the beeps were fairly regular and constant while in the OS so I would have had something by now. Tried to edit the message title to SOLVED but it wouldn't let me - does a moderator have to do that ??

Regarding your responses to my other questions about settings, I learnt a lot just by the first answer about RAM - I didn't know that the memory multiplier ans the base clock were related sot hat when you overclock the processor, you are also affecting the memory speed. Now I do !!

I'll run Prime95 and start reading up on the parameters you referred me to so I can tweak a bit more.


Thanks

Frenchy

 

[bilbat]

I recently 'stumbled' across this - think it's helpful:

 

[frenchy70]

I recently 'stumbled' across this - think it's helpful:
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1258/i7scheme.png

OK, that is useful. Now I see why its called BASE-clock - it affects everything !

Thanks

 

[bilbat]

Precisely![:fixitbil:7]