Asus P8Z68-V Pro not working with G.Skill 2133 Mhz RAM

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Ashish_Pundir

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Mar 8, 2016
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I recently purchased G.Skill DDR3 2133 Mhz (F3-2133C9D-16GXH) RAM to upgrade my pc based on Asus P8Z68-V Pro and i5-2500k. Unfortunately, I am not able to run the ram at 2133 Mhz, even though the G.Skill website mentions my motherboard as supported. Whenever I choose 2133 Mhz or any XMP setting in bios, mb throws 'Overclocking failed' error at post. Only speed at which pc will boot or ram will work is 1333 Mhz. Which is even lower than my earlier ram, that ran at 1600 Mhz. Can someone pls help here on what could be the issue? Or can someone suggest dram timings or ram voltage settings to make it work? Specifications mention the RAM voltage at 1.60 V. Besides, since the time I have installed this new kit, I am not able to overclock my cpu, which was earlier overclocked to 4.5 Ghz. It is now fixed at factory defaults. Could RAM be the issue? Pls help and Thanks in advance!!!
 
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I have a very similar set up to you. Same motherboard, same CPU and 2133 ram. The only difference being i'm using hyperX (16gb kit).

The board does support 2133, as it is running my 2133mhz ram just fine, but I have updated my bios to version 3402. You should check what revision you have currently.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

I am using the latest version of bios (3603), so that is taken care of. Prior to installing this ram, cpu was overclocked at 4.5 Ghz (multiplier-45, bclk-100 mhz) with 1600 mhz ram. After I installed this RAM pc didn't boot at all. So, I reset the BIOS which brought my cpu to defaults and since then I am not able to overclock again. Whenever, I try to change multiplier to 45, it changes back to 33 again and also disables the trubo mode automatically. Freak!!!
 
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Thanks for your response!

My bios version is even newer at 3603, so that doesn't seems to be an issue. Can you pls share the dram timings and ram voltage settings in your case? Also, other cpu and related voltages? Which color slots you are using? Probably that can help.
 
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You got the latest bios so we can disregard that then. I'll look up the settings i'm using when I get home tonight (I'm in the UK).

If I had this issue I would want to remove any overclocking and deal with the ram issue first. Then bring the overclock back in.

You could save your current profile to a new save slot, then reset everything to default and just change the ram profile to 2133 and see if it works. If it does follow Tradesman1's advice to bring your overclock back slowly.
 
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Since, I have reset the bios already, all the overclocking stuff is gone too. So, right now my focus is on RAM only, like you suggested. Interestingly, as per some suggestions, I need to overclock my cpu first to make 2133 mhz ram work. So, I now have good list of things which people have suggested. I ll try those tonight (I am in India) and see if anything helps. Meanwhile, I ll wait for the settings which I requested, as that will give me a fair idea of setting I need to be close to.
Thanks.
 
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As requested I had a chance to have a quick look at my current config for you. I am currently messing around with my overclock and testing some voltage settings, so some of this stuff isn't totally usual for overclocking, but on the whole it should make sense.

BCLK / PCIE Frequ: 100.5 (I currently have this on a 0.5 bump up from 100. As I said, i'm playing around with a few things)
CPU voltage is currently set to a static voltage of 1.270 (it will go back to an offset when i'm done testing LLC settings)
PILL is disabled, and LLC is set to Ultra-high (not the extreme setting)
Turbo mode target is set to 45x for 4.5gz (but the 0.5 bump ups that to 4522mhz)

That 0.5 gives me a bump on the ram speed to 2143 (up from 2133). I just selected the speed from the Memory frequency list: 'DDR3-2143'. You should see 'DDR3-2133' in the list.

Manually set the Ram voltage to 1.6 (that was the voltage on the box and instructions for the ram)
Ram timings are all on auto (which look correct to me thus have not altered any as of yet), the primary ones are as follows:
CAS#: 11
RAS: 12 and 12
Cycle/tRAS: 30
Command rate: 2

Ram is running in dual channel mode, 2 sticks totalling 16gb in the Black slots, 1 and 3. Slot 1 being the slot closest to the CPU.

I duno if that helps you out any, I know this config isnt an ideal overclocked one as of now.
However for the most part, I just put the ram in the slots, set it to 1.6v and picked the frequency from the list. Then never gave it another thought.
 
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Hi,

Here are the links to few images of bios screens:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eq7x3sn7ub9kpmh/IMG_0462.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6yqcplpr29zx8q9/IMG_0463.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nv05ppycny3n6ca/IMG_0464.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rr8318yqdccghxj/IMG_0465.JPG?dl=0

What is the maximum tRFC value in my case? Or how do I find out?

Thanks.
 
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Hi All,

So here are the things I tried, with no success, over last two days. This thing just wouldn't boot at anything over 1333 Mhz, which is a step back from my earlier ram @ 1600 Mhz. Here it goes:

1. I cleared the CMOS first by removing batteries. Then, removed and re-inserted ram modules, this time in black slots, just to try new setup.

2. Then, I tried different settings of dram timings and voltages as follows, obviously none of these worked. Throughout, I kept vcore@1.30V, vram@1.6/1.65V and vccio@1.1/1.2V. Didn't touch pch or pll voltages:

- XMP2 - 2133 - 9-11-11-31-1T/2T
- XMP2 - 2133 - 11-11-11-31-1T/2T
- XMP1 - 1866 - 8-10-10-31-1T/2T
- XMP1 - 1866 - 11-11-11-31-1T/2T
- Manual - 2133 - 9-11-11-31-1T/2T
- Manual - 2133 - 11-11-11-31-1T/2T
- Manual - 1866 - 11-11-11-31-2T
- Manual - 1600 - 9-11-11-31-2T

'1T/2T' means that I tried both the modes for these settings (that is lot of restarts :)). So guys looks like I have hit the wall and need some new ideas now. Appreciate all your help.

3. Whenever I changed ram speed manually to 1333 mhz or set speed at auto with xmp profile, there were no issues and system booted with ram speed @ 1333mhz.


**Imp Note**: If you notice the screens I posted above in my response to g.kill, there is no option to change cpu multiplier anymore. Is it due to this ram? So frustrating coz earlier I used to run cpu@4.5Ghz ,1.3V with no issues at all. Seems this ram kit doesn't like this board at all.
 
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@Lee-m

Thanks for sharing the information. Meanwhile, I have tried few things as mentioned in my other post, but unfortunately nothing seems to be working as of now. Would love to hear more ideas if you have. Seems its just incompatible with my config.
 
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Probably you missed it but I posted this earlier too that I am no longer able to OC my cpu, ever since i've installed these rams. reproducing what I said in an earlier post -

" **Imp Note**: If you notice the screens I posted above in my response to g.kill, there is no option to change cpu multiplier anymore. Is it due to this ram? So frustrating coz earlier I used to run cpu@4.5Ghz ,1.3V with no issues at all. Seems this ram kit doesn't like this board at all."

I have posted pics of bios as well, to give you better idea. My cpu is behaving as if it is a non-k series one. no option to change multiplier and pll overvolatage settings. Could bios have been corrupted? I have reset it many times by removing batteries. Would you suggest going back to previous version i.e. 3402?

Thanks for all the help.
 
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I am sorry guys, still no luck. I tried above settings in four combinations - 1.6/1.65V and 1866/2133 MHz, but it just won't work.

What everyone has ignored till now is that I am not getting cpu multiplier (turbo ratio) and pll overvoltage settings, which used to be there just below memory settings (auto/manual/xmp). Could these two issues be related? Probably if I could oc cpu, the ram would work. Just a thought!!!

LLC and phase control settings are the ones which I used to have when cpu was OCed at 4.5 ghz, so just continuing with those. Should I change these as well?

Well anymore ideas, it's weekend so got plenty of time to try everything??? Thanks for all the help and support guys.

Update: Just noticed under Asus AI Suite that even there the option of setting cpu multiplier is gone. Could bios have been corrupted? Should I go back to the earlier version?
 
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You could try 1 stick of ram at a time to see if the bios options spring back to life (I take it you are using 2 or 4 sticks). Could be an issue with one stick or one slot.

As for the LLC settings, you can just ignore that for now until you are back overclocking.

Personally after that i'm out of ideas. Seems like faulty ram or motherboard/bios.
 
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Ok guys, here are some updates after trying few other things and doing some troubleshooting. Seems problem is much bigger than I earlier expected:

1. Everytime I changed the setting to higher speed (anything above 1333 MHz) of ram, the system won't boot and boot_device_led would turn red on mb. To reboot I would have to turn off the power supply and wait for some time. Then, I press power button and system will boot, but all the settings would again reset to 1333 MHz defaults.

2. I mentioned this earlier as well that I am no longer getting cpu oc options. Seems that is not all, even the igpu and related settings are gone from bios. In fact, I removed the external gpu and tried to boot using igpu only, but it was not detected by bios at all and system will not boot. GPU led near PCIe port would stay red and mb would beep error sounds.

3. Finally, I tried the only thing which was left to be tried. I went back to my earlier ram kit. Removed the new ones and installed the old ones, hoping that everything will return to the way it was. But no, even with the old Rams all these problems would stay. No ocing options, ram speed @1333mhz only (earlier it ran fine at 1600mhz), and no igpu options either.

From all this, it looks like that at the time of installing new ram modules something went wrong. Either cpu or mb got damaged. Or may be bios got corrupted. I did some research online, though I could not find similar issue but at few places ppl have suggested that boot_device_led error can also come due to corrupted bios and can be fixed by flashing the bios again. Now, my problem is how that is done? I tried to update using Asus EZ flash utility from bios but it seems to do nothing at all. I don't see any flashing progress or anything. The moment I select update, it gives the message that bios updated successfully. May be that is because the bios that I select is the same version. Should I try to flash the earlier version, say 3402? Or is there a way to re-flash the same version again?

Sorry for this long post but I think I am about to hit the dead end so thought it's better to put everything on the table. Thanks for all the support guys.
 
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I suspected a motherboard issue earlier but didnt want to go too far down that road in this thread.

Maybe the flash until wont re flash the same version (I never tried).

There is little to be gained from bios versions after 3402 (thats why I stuck with it) unless you make use of the storage functions later revisions add.

Anyway, you have every reason to try going to back 3402, which is the version I am using with 2133 ram with out issue.
There is a chance the flash util is corrupted. If you check the asus website I think there is a stand alone version you can boot into via usb or cd. But it has been a long time since I checked for one.
 
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Hello everyone!!! Good news first, I fixed it... Everything is fine now... But, before I get to the solution part, let me first thank everyone here who chipped in with their suggestions and ideas. You guys were just great!!! Thanks a lot!!!

Now, the solution part, it was indeed the corrupt bios as anticipated. Thankfully MB and CPU are ok. While working on the idea of corrupt bios (no oc option or no igpu), and following threads after threads, I landed up on this page:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/cant-enable-igpu.168930/page-4

This guy had the same problem and he fixed it using AMI flash tool. Apparently, the root cause for such behavior is the ME region of bios which got corrupted somehow, and is not updated or written when bios is updated using EZ Flash Utility by Asus (what!!!). So, obviously, I followed the link he shared and tried exactly the same thing, but hold on, I couldn't make the tool work as it was not compatible with my bios and gave a certain error message. I googled that message and again, followed several discussions and landed here:

https://hardforum.com/threads/tools-to-flash-and-recover-bios-on-asus-p8xxx-boards-fd44editor-ftk.1726429/

A detailed guide to update/restore/flash different regions or whole of bios. Using this guide I was able to update just the ME region and, voila, everything is up and running. Now, I can set cpu multiplier, OC it and also can use iGPU (not that it mattered).

***(Just a note, for whoever, with same mobo (P8Z68-V Pro or similar) and is trying the same thing, pl use the DOS version (of FTK) and FTK 8 to update/flash bios, coz other FTK versions will give Error 201. I thought it will save you some time googling around, esp. when you are so close to the solution :))***

Phew!!! I am now able to use the new RAM kit @2133 Mhz and CPU is OCed at 4.5 GHz. Everything seems to be working fine now. So, guys, thank you again and I really appreciate the time and ideas you shared.

@G-Skill - Only question now I have is that is it possible to further tighten tRFC from 255 to any lower value? Can you pls share alternate secondary timings which are little tighter and worth a try. I know I am pushing it here. 🙂P) Thanks a lot.
 
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Gratz on getting this fixed, and was good that you posted back with a full solution. I'm sure it will help others searching for the same issue.

As for your ram overclocking/timing question, it might be worth you starting a new thread on that one with a new title. You'll get more help.

Best of luck.
 
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