G.Skill Ripjaws X CAS

[pheroh]

I recently bought a 2x4gb G.Skill ram and this is the model I got:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

However, the CAS rates I am getting in Windows are 11-11-11-28 (CPU-Z & HWInfo) which is different from the advertised numbers. I got an ASRock 970 Extreme 3 (latest 1.7 BIOS) with the FX-6300.

I haven't overclocked or changed any hardware configuration (yet) but when I try to change the latency by changing into the XMP Profile 1 (9-9-9-24), I get an unstable system which BSOD a few moments after booting successfully into Windows 8. I haven't touched the voltages and it's set on
1.5v anyway.

Are those defective modules? should I RMA them?

 

[itzdanielp]

You can try manually bumping the voltage a bit and see if it fixes it. If not, contact G-Skill to see about an RMA.

 

[pheroh]

I suppose I could do that but is my situation normal/common? Is it that sometimes the mobo/cpu/ram combo might make the RAM "behave" differently?

 

[gskill support]

Test each module individually to see if one performs differently. If so, send them in for RMA exchange. The memory should work fine if you enable XMP Profile, so it is strange there is a problem. If the memory is good, and you input settings correctly, the system should be stable. Also, make sure you have the latest BIOS for the motherboard.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

 

[pheroh]

By "testing" you mean I should enable the XMP profile for each individual module and see if it fails or not?

For whatever its worth, I ran Memtest86+ for 10 hours and had no error whatsoever.

Also, I am running the latest BIOS.

 

[gskill support]

Yes, XMP or manual configuration is necessary, then basically test each one to see if it performs the same / work well.

Did you memtest86+ with one module or 2?

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

 

[pheroh]

I did as you asked and removed one module and the PC would not even POST! Put back the other one and removed the first and now it POST. Changed into XMP profile, did some prime95 opened a couple of apps and it's working fine! However, the reported timing was 4-5-5-15 not 9-9-9-24! Is that normal?

Anyway. I figured it might be the RAM slot that has the issue, so I replaced the second module with the assumed-faulty one in the same slot and it worked! So what I did is install in the second dual-channel slots (A2-B2 instead of A1-B1) and my system boots with XMP profile just fine and the reported latency is 9-9-9-24 now.

So it's my mobo that is faulty. I am bummed! If I RMA the mobo, I risk buying a new Windows license

Answering your question, yes, I did the test on both modules together. I am shocked that it wasn't caught. Even more shocked that it "worked" in the faulty slot but with higher latency.