Problem with memory

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I just built a new machine running an i7 860 on a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 using G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL.

I noticed a problem with the memory timings being reported in CPU-Z. The CAS# Latency is showing up as 4.0 clocks - when it should be showing up as 9.0. After doing some digging, I found an error message being reported in Computer Management - in the System Log. I believe this error occurs when the computer either goes into or wakes up from sleep or hibernate.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? I'm running Windows 7 RC x64. I have XMP turned on. And I upgraded the board BIOS to F4g hoping that would fix the problem but it didn't.

Here's the error from the system log:
Source: HAL
Event ID: 12
General message: The platform firmware has corrupted memory across the previous system power transition. Please check for updated firmware for your system.

Details message:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-HAL" Guid="{63D1E632-95CC-4443-9312-AF927761D52A}" />
<EventID>12</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000001</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-10-15T03:33:55.331936600Z" />
<EventRecordID>11344</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="3560" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>ekoostik</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="Count">2</Data>
<Data Name="FirstPage">15</Data>
<Data Name="LastPage">57</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

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Any thoughts? Anyone else seeing this error?

Reply to ekoostik

I wouldn't use the XMP profile. Just manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the recommended specs. That would be 1600MHz with 9-9-9-24 timings at 1.5v for your RAM.

Reply to shortstuff_mt

I changed the XMP to be Disabled and I set the System Memory Multiplier (SPD) to 12.0. When I boot and check the memory settings in CPU-Z they are showing as:
DRAM Freq. - FSB : DRAM - CL - tRCD - tRP - tRAS - tRFC - CR
~799.5 Mhz - 2:12 - 9.0 - 9 - 9 - 24 - 74 - 1T

When I was using XMP, the settings were:
DRAM Freq. - FSB : DRAM - CL - tRCD - tRP - tRAS - tRFC - CR
~799.5 Mhz - 2:12 - 9.0 - 9 - 9 - 24 - 88 - 2T


The tRFC and CR are different. Is that okay, or do I need to change them? I did not set the other specs by hand either, they seem to match what is expected so I left them alone. Is that all right, or should I manually set those in the BIOS? The only thing I have changed so far is setting XMP to disabled and SPD to 12.0. Also, Profile DDR Voltage is listed as 1.5V in the BIOS.


Message edited by ekoostik on 10-23-2009 at 06:25:00 AM
Reply to ekoostik

I have also tested this running default RAM settings in the BIOS (that is, XMP = Disabled, speed at 1333) - in which case CPU-Z reports the RAM running as:
~683.5MHz - 2:10 - 9.0 - 9 - 9 - 24 - 74 - 1T

But when it goes to sleep and then after I wake it up I find the same HAL corrupted memory error and CPU-Z then reports the RAM as running as:
~683.5MHz - 2:10 - 4.0 - 9 - 9 - 24 - 74 - 2T

So after waking from sleep both the CAS Latency and the Command Rate are corrupted.

Reply to ekoostik

I noticed this same alert in my error logs also. I found a link to a Microsoft whitepaper through Google (I linked the cached HTML version below). Turns out this has to do with improperly coded bios which causes the first 1MB of memory to corrupt on a power transition. This error code was designed by Microsoft to provide necessary information to system/motherboard manufacturers so they can fix the improper coding.


http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:vvNWEOk5HbIJ:download.microsoft.com/download/7/E/7/7E7662CF-CBEA-470B-A97E-CE7CE0D98DC2/mem-corrupt.docx+platform+firmware+has+corrupted+memory&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


Message edited by ljharper on 10-27-2009 at 04:05:49 AM
Reply to ljharper

Thanks for the link. So you think I'm at the mercy of waiting for Gigabyte to fix the problem in an BIOS update?

Reply to ekoostik
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