Asus P755D-E Mobo and 16GB XMP 1333Mhz Ram not working correctly...why

[Photojunkie]

HI guys and girls.
So first if I have put this in the wrong forum or sub forum I apologize now but I did not know if my problem is because of the mobo or the ram.

here goes.

My system, is this.

Case and psu HERE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005G3VUGE/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00
Cooling HERE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002G392ZI/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00
Graphics Card HERE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003YL0WPU/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
Memory HERE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003ZDJ42O/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00
Motherboard HERE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002ZVAXPE/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00 and web site for board is HERE: http://www.asus.com/Motherboard/P7P55DE/#specifications
CPU is HERE: http://ark.intel.com/products/41315/Intel-Core-i7-870-Processor-8M-Cache-2_93-GHz
O/S is Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate-SP1

All hardware and software is up to date with drivers, I use a driver agent which is quite efficient and also use asus bios update utility to keep bios up to date.

From the time I built this machine ( and it was my first so probably not best configuration ( but I was proud to have done it never the less )) I have had two problems mainly but as this is the mobo/ram forum I shall talk about that as that is the main problem.

So I have 16GB of ram, Asus web site for this board and also Asus support ( who I am in contact with trying to help with this issue/problem ) also confirm I should be able to use all 16GB of ram that I have.
So there are 4 slots for the ram and each slot should take 4GB of Ram.

But I am only using half of the installed ram, the other half is being reserved for hardware as it shows in resource monitor.

So I have made sure each bank of Ram is firmly seated in the slots.
I have checked CPU for bent pin/s and can see none although I have not used a magnifying glass yet as I dont yet have one.
I have raised my voltage to 1.65 from 1.50 via bios and have made sure that timings are 9,9,9,24 - 2N, and I have tried 9,9,9,27-2N as I saw this was recommended to a member here who had same problem but was using 1600Mhz Ram ( ddr3 of course like me ).
I have also tried raising imc voltage and am now at 1.30v, I think I should not go higher than 1.35 so will try that also.

My next action will be to take side off the case and text each slot individually with each 4GB of ram, if only half of it is being used per slot per stick in all combinations then I shall try some 2GB sticks I have ( I have 4 ) and see if they are being halved. Then that might give me some more info on the problem.

How ever I have noticed that the asus web site for this board, link above, does say this: Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP). Could this be the issuer, is my ram XMP or does it have to be, I know it say it supports it but does that mean I have to use XMP ram?

If all else fails then I would think maybe it is a ram issue and I need new ram as mine probably is not compatible although 16GB is recognized just not more than 50% is used.

I have red the qvl pdf ( I htink that is what the compatible ram guide is called ) for this board, my ram is not on it but also I dont see any 4GB sticks of ram so that a 16GB configuration could be made, maybe I am miss reading it but it is available from the site, link above.

Please could some one or any one give me any more advice that could help and even check the ram and if it defo is wrong ram point me to ram that will definitely work, remembering I need 4x4Gb so I can have 16 GB.
I use Photoshop, after effects and other memory intensive programs and really wanna max out the ram, and as ram is so cheap now it matters not if I have to buy new sticks/banks of ram as long as they are guaranteed to work.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I have looked through other threads on this forum and some of the things I have tried have come from advice given in other similar threads.

But I am at thew moment at a loss with this.

many thanks.

Tom.

P.S; I am going to try and attach as screen shot of task manager/cpuz/speccy and resource monitor showing you that 16 GB is recognized and that each slots is recognizing 4GB but half is being "hardware reserved"
So rather than attaching the screen shot to this topic here is the link to the image: http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/P-J-101/Random%20Images/raminfo01_zps56468f3f.jpg

The image of GPUz is the other issue where it is only running at x8 on pci slot when has the capability to run at x16 but as my card works fine with the x8 and I like to have IO level up to sata 6.0 Gb/s as my boot drive is sata 6.0 Gb/s, Im not to concerned with this right now but later will find out why this is happening when I have disabled usb 3 and sata 6.0 Gb/s. Cheers.

 

[Photojunkie]

Sorry about stating that the ram is XMP in title as I am infact not sure if it is. This is not a bump as I just made this quick reply as I could not edit post.
Thanks.

 

[RetiredChief]

Download CPU-z.
at top there are two tabs:
1) memory - How it is currently being used. ie Amount, Daul or single channel, Sped, and timings.
) the 2nd tab is SPD - This shows what parameters are stored on the Ram itself. The column furthest ight should show XMP profile. This is what the ram the ram reports to the MB when XMP, Profile 1 is selected in BIOS.

Link: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
Come back with info on what CPU-Z shows.

 

[Photojunkie]

here are the screenshots, I already had cpuzx64, fortunately...saved a download!

So memory Tab:

And SPD Tab: ( all slots are same as all ram are the same.

I would add that I have changed the timings following something I read in a post here some where, but will be changing Dram Ras Act back to 24 from the 27 I have it now.
Also cpuz shows voltage as 1.5 which is what the ram is as standard but it has been increased to 1.65 in bios that is for sure.
I did manage to find the pdf guide for ram for this board again and managed to find just one 4GB stick that will work on this board, it is only a 1066Mhz stick but according to asus's own guide it will work. It does not however say any thing about being xmp, but Im not sure if it would or wouldnt any way as Im not sure what it is or why it is, lol.

Here is the ram I found that will work by looking at the P7P55D-E Memory QVL HERE: http://www.asus.com/Motherboard/P7P55DE/#support after downloading it obviously.
Ram; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Valueram-1066MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B001UR61Z0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360688809&sr=8-1

thanks for looking into my problem.

 

[RetiredChief]

Next download and run prime95, to verify that all 16 gigs are recognized and Pass stability test. NOTE: monitor your CPU temps as a poor heatsink will cause the temps to be abnormally high.

But CPUz does show all 4 sticks being read and at the correct speed. Should NOT have to go upto 1.65 volts would try to lower it while verfing at each step down that ram stays stable.

 

[Photojunkie]

HI again.

So I downloaded and run prime95, I had also downloaded intel burn test earlier in the day.

Intel burn test ( IBT )wont even let me test 16GB as it says that the max I can use it xxx, so what is left over after O/S has taken its piece, some thing like 6700MB.
Prime 95 I let run up to 7 thread tests, I stopped to early for the 8 thread test but sure it would not have made a difference to result. Basically it will not use 16GB it will just use up to 8GB.
I have also taken a screenshot of msconfig advanced boot options to show you that they settings are right, basically all unchecked. It is shown below.
Now I do not know how to attach files to posts here, maybe i cant, so I am gonna copy and paste the results from prime95 and also from IBT.

Prime95 results:
[Wed Feb 13 11:59:00 2013]
Compare your results to other computers at http://www.mersenne.org/report_benchmarks
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz
CPU speed: 2942.03 MHz, 8 cores
CPU features: RDTSC, CMOV, Prefetch, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE4
L1 cache size: 32 KB
L2 cache size: 256 KB, L3 cache size: 8 MB
L1 cache line size: 64 bytes
L2 cache line size: 64 bytes
TLBS: 64
Prime95 64-bit version 25.11, RdtscTiming=1
Best time for 768K FFT length: 11.866 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 14.708 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 16.471 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 20.118 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 24.741 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 33.269 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 34.912 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 50.069 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 55.117 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 69.612 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 77.100 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 101.353 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 122.942 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 147.367 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 173.801 ms.
Timing FFTs using 2 threads.
Best time for 768K FFT length: 12.067 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 14.711 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 17.900 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 20.988 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 27.116 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 33.649 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 36.338 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 48.265 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 61.289 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 71.686 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 78.997 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 101.204 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 122.477 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 147.713 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 165.092 ms.
Timing FFTs using 3 threads.
Best time for 768K FFT length: 7.367 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 8.575 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 12.444 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 14.147 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 17.273 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 20.313 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 19.926 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 31.265 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 35.312 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 44.607 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 50.589 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 67.460 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 83.157 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 88.863 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 114.035 ms.
Timing FFTs using 4 threads.
Best time for 768K FFT length: 7.027 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 8.013 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 10.225 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 10.999 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 14.476 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 15.764 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 20.197 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 23.731 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 29.211 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 40.266 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 45.877 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 58.075 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 72.616 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 76.024 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 92.221 ms.
Timing FFTs using 5 threads.
Best time for 768K FFT length: 5.672 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 6.739 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 8.469 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 8.743 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 10.703 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 13.960 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 17.866 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 19.374 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 22.757 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 30.918 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 41.783 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 44.431 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 50.589 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 66.818 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 94.802 ms.
Timing FFTs using 6 threads.
Best time for 768K FFT length: 5.891 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 6.883 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 8.726 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 12.445 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 11.257 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 13.271 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 14.598 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 18.187 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 45.276 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 27.125 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 73.358 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 40.072 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 69.387 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 109.199 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 145.705 ms.
Timing FFTs using 7 threads.



Intel Burn Test results:
----------------------------
IntelBurnTest v2.54
Created by AgentGOD
----------------------------

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz
Clock Speed: 2.94 GHz
Active Physical Cores: 8
Total System Memory: 8190 MB

Stress Level: Custom (6720 MB)
Testing started on 13/02/2013 12:10:06
Time (s) Speed (GFlops) Result
Testing ended on 13/02/2013 12:10:20
Test Result: Stopped by user.
----------------------------


And here is the advanced boot msconfig screen shot:

.

I have rest my bios settings so that the ram, is back to 9,9,9,24 2n and 1.5V and I htink IMC is at 1.25V ( I changed it from 1.15( should I change it back to standard ))?

From what I know of XMP memory is that the bios can sort all the settings out for ya, lol, Im not to clued up on bios and O/C'n etc. Any way I doubt this ram I have is XMP as when I enable it in bios it jjst greys out and wont do nothing for me.
So I have it back on manual or auto, the options for that particular setting are docp ( which wont work as I have tried and the lowest value/speed for ram on docp is 1800 I htink ), also xmp ( i have explained its no good for me ), auto Ive tried and have it at auto manual right now and have manually set the speed to 1333 even though it makes not much difference to me as auto on speed shows up right as my ram is 1333.
If you know of other settings I should try please right them down, I mean for bios in particular, I can use kies to transfer a note pad file to my phone and use that to read the settings as I change them rather than trying to remember them, so ill copy paste to note pad any thing I need to do with pc off.
For your knowledge I also have intel extreme tuning utility. That is set as standard right now except for uncore/imc voltage which I have raised a little via bios as explained above, other than that I have it as norm.

Like I said I am starting to believe that I have the wrong ram for this machine and that nothing I can do in bios will make it work right but I could still be wrong.

CPUZ ( as you can see above in screen shot ( in older post by me )) shows my ram is dual, what does that mean and is that cool for my board and the difference from single? I thought maybe it means it has to be run in pairs, well I have 4 of the same so that should be fine if I| am right, Ill await your answer on that and it will be good to know any way as it will teach me some thing new maybe.

I also found a 4GB stick in asus own qvl pdf guide for compatible ram for this board ( Asus p7p55d-e ) and I linked it above and will do again, here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Valueram-1066MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B001UR61Z0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360688809&sr=8-1

When I run out of options for the ram I have I am going to buy one stick of this ram and try it, if it does NOT get halved ( IE: 2GB usable and 2GB fro "hardware reserved" ), but instead the whole 4GB of this ram gets or is usable in the O/S and shows as such in resource monitor, then I will buy another 3 and run 16GB that way, it works out to about another 75quid pay out but I will have no choice if I want 16Gb right? Also it is slower, being only 1066mhz compared to my 1333Mhz, but if it works I can then think about O/C'n that new ram if I buy and if it works.

My next testing of current ram/issue/problem ( haha call it what you want ) will be to take back off PC, disconnect everything but power switch, mouse keyboard, boot drive etc, but front panel ill disconnect apart from power and try. Then Ill try each stick in each slot and see what it reads as.

And any thing else I am advised in this forum my either your self ( RetiredChief ) or any one else who can chip in constructively please.

I htink thats all I have to report right now. Ill await your reply/s.
Some times I view via mobile but only add replies via PC, so I will read any replies right away is what I am getting at, lol.

cheers for advice so far RetiredChief.

Tom aka PJ.

P.S: Just to add that when running these tests task manager never went about the listed ram, IE: 8190 GB.
And if there is a way to attach files here then please let me know as it might be easier than copy/paste, but maybe it isnt better as some might not bother to download an attached file specially from a new-bee like me.

 

[Photojunkie]

HI guys,

is it ok to just bump this as im still stuck with problem and still need help. 🙁

Thanks and sorry if I have broken any forum rules bumping this, i wont make a habit of it I promise.

Thanks and please any one can chip in with some constructive criticism please?

Tom
aka
PJ