Gigabyte z68xp-ud3 cpu installation failure?

[Andriko_08]

Hi, I recently bought a z68xp-ud3 from gigabyte for my new i5-2500k, it was my first purchase from intel, and I have never installed an intel cpu before... I think I did something wrong... well here is what happened in steps:

1) I sat the cpu down on the socket carefully, it was aligned and was in place, I could not move it from side to side or anything.

2) I lowered the 'socket cover' and moved it under the screw

3) I lowered the arm, and pushed it down into place, I noticed there was quite a bit of resistance, similar to the installation of old amd stock heatsinks. And that's when I heard a crunch... it was the most gut wrenching noise I have ever heard in my life... I pulled the cpu out of the socket doing the steps backwards, and noticed 2 dents on the left and right side of the heatspreader... I guess that's what it was supposed to do cause there is no way I installed it wrong, the notches lined up and everything.

4) I assembled the whole system and... omg it worked, perfectly, except my ram doesn't really seem stable at 1600mhz(it's rated speed) I have not done any stress tests yet, and temps look ok at idle so far(26C idle with CM Hyper 212)

Guys... am I doin it rite?

 

[jaquith]

Well I never had a 'Crunch' installing a CPU -- there should be no resistance (sure there's tension on the arm). IMO when in doubt read the manual and IMO watch a YouTube to see the process.

My concern is what 'Crunched', hopefully it was the arm 'snapping' into place.

Regarding the RAM, don't use XMP and instead set the RAM manually in the BIOS. DDR3-1600 is a breeze for the SB so IF the RAM is set properly it should cause ANY instability.

Example only; assuming DDR3-1600 9-9-9-27-2N @ 1.50v

BIOS:
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.) -> Disabled
System Memory Multiplier -> 16 ; 16 * 100MHz = 1600MHz
DRAM Timing Selectable -> Quick
CAS Latency Time ->
tRCD -> 9
tRP -> 9
tRAS -> 27
--
Command Rate(CMD) -> 2

DRAM Voltage -> Auto ; IF the RAM is 1.65v then set to 1.64v

Save & Exit = Yes

Also, as a good housekeeping verify BOTH registry Start values = 0; verify and/or use Fix It -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV

 

[Andriko_08]

Also, as a good housekeeping verify BOTH registry Start values = 0; verify and/or use Fix It -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af254/Jaquith/AHCI_Start_0.jpg

What does changing the registry values do... and mine are at 3 currently

 

[jaquith]

IF you are running AHCI in the BIOS, by default it is, then your analogy (BIOS is speaking Chinese and the Drivers English = Chinglish); Windows is running the wrong drivers!!! Correct is so the BIOS matches-up; BIOS IDE <=> Start = 3 <or> BIOS AHCI <=> Start = 0. Then reboot.

You can get all sorts of 'oddball' issues including corruption and boot failures otherwise.

After you correct the problem you will notice Windows loading different drivers. Once started with the correct drivers then IMO run both options as follows, schedule and reboot; the process take 30 minutes to 1 hour+ depending on the size of the SSD/HDD -- schedule ALL drives.

 

[crowellster]

3) I lowered the arm, and pushed it down into place, I noticed there was quite a bit of resistance, similar to the installation of old amd stock heatsinks. And that's when I heard a crunch... it was the most gut wrenching noise I have ever heard in my life... I pulled the cpu out of the socket doing the steps backwards, and noticed 2 dents on the left and right side of the heatspreader... I guess that's what it was supposed to do cause there is no way I installed it wrong, the notches lined up and everything.

This is EXACTLY what happened to me when I installed my i7 on my Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3. Took a LOT Of pressure, heard a bit of a metal on metal scraping sound, and then noticed two small dents.

Is this what you saw? http://www.tonymacx86.com/download/file.php?id=29229&mode=view

My machine won't even load into BIOS, though, so hopefully that's just a bad board and not a problem with the chip.

 

[Andriko_08]

This is EXACTLY what happened to me when I installed my i7 on my Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3. Took a LOT Of pressure, heard a bit of a metal on metal scraping sound, and then noticed two small dents.

Is this what you saw? http://www.tonymacx86.com/download/file.php?id=29229&mode=view

My machine won't even load into BIOS, though, so hopefully that's just a bad board and not a problem with the chip.

I can't view the attachment, but yeah theres dents in my cpu, it works perfectly now