Hello, I realize that what I now have is 2 separate problems, however, they both occurred from the same short string of events, namely updating my BIOS in order to upgrade the CPU, and so I'm posting the event as 1. Most generally, it is a BIOS / Motherboard issue so I'm posting in this forum, however if this is not the right place, please move it as necessary, or let me know and I can create 2 separate threads. That said here it is.
For the last year I have been running a Biostar Tpower x79 with a i7 3820 and the Gskill F3-2400C10Q-16GZH RAM. The BIOS revision was X79AE917.BST. The BIOS would accept the built in XPS 2 profile (it had 2 to choose from), and run the RAM at full 2400 MHz as it is rated, without any issues. In order to run the i7 4930k the BIOS needed to be updated to one of the latest 2 revisions, either X79AEA17.BST or X79AEC05.BST. After updating the BIOS there are now 2 problems.
First, neither new BIOS will accept the XPS profiles, XPS1 or XPS2, and even with manual entry I have not been able to get 2400 to run again (*note, see Post Script). 2133 is the best I've achieved so far, however there are so many RAM timing and voltage variables to tweak, I'm not really sure what's affecting success or failure.
Second, with the new BIOS flashed, I enabled the PCI gen3 settings as I now have an Ivy Bridge e PCIe Gen 3 CPU as well as my GPUs which are Gen3 GTX 660Ti. Upon the next Boot, the POST screen clearly now showed the PC running in Gen3 mode where it had always reported Gen2 before. When the desktop came up, NVidia control panel reported Gen3 also.
I wanted to try the other BIOS to see if the RAM would work right, and needed to change the SATA port location of 2 of my drives, so I shut down the PC, flashed the newest BIOS, and swapped the drives location. Neither was my boot drive and neither was on the main SATA terminal. One was a BD drive and the other, a SATAe connect, both running on SATA ports 4 and 5.
After setting the BIOS settings again, when I booted up again, the POST showed that the PC had reverted to GEN 2 mode. It wouldn't run on GEN3. Even when I let it load, NVidia prompted me that my GPU configuration had changed again. So I went back into the BIOS to check the PCIe settings. Sure enough they all still say GEN3 but the computer is somehow stuck into booting and POSTing into gen2.
I have since tried both BIOS revisions again, and have cleared the cmos, both with the cmos clear button, and using the actual jumper. Neither will now accept GEN3. I have tried removing and replacing the GPUs. Within the BIOS the PCIe settings can be tweaked in a few areas. Namely, under the North Bridge settings and under the PCI configuration settings. Under the North Bridge settings there is a sub menu for IOH configuration that lets you choose slot multiplier x4x4, x8, x16 and so on as well as the Gen#. Under the PCI configuration settings you can only alter the Gen target link state.
There is a "JME recovery" jumper near the CMOS reset jumper that I can find no information on, including in the MB manual, on the BIOSTAR site, or on line in general. Anyone know what it does ?
Anyway, no matter what I try at the moment, I can't seem to get it to Boot back into Gen 3 mode and can't get it to run at 2400 MHz again. Any insight into these matters is greatly appreciated.
*P.S. not to complicate things, but, on one, and only one, of the many attempts at changing settings and timings, the PC accepted and ran at 2400MHz, however, I still had to try and default the BIOS settings for the mentioned PCIe reason, and afterwards it wouldn't accept the same exact manual timings I had just used ! Lastly I have noticed that the BIOS won't load the XPS presets, the first Boot after reverting to BIOS defaults. I have to set it to XPS, then save and exit, and then go back in, and then they actually load into the timing and voltage boxes on screen. Then I tweak the multiplier and timings and it accepts them.
For the last year I have been running a Biostar Tpower x79 with a i7 3820 and the Gskill F3-2400C10Q-16GZH RAM. The BIOS revision was X79AE917.BST. The BIOS would accept the built in XPS 2 profile (it had 2 to choose from), and run the RAM at full 2400 MHz as it is rated, without any issues. In order to run the i7 4930k the BIOS needed to be updated to one of the latest 2 revisions, either X79AEA17.BST or X79AEC05.BST. After updating the BIOS there are now 2 problems.
First, neither new BIOS will accept the XPS profiles, XPS1 or XPS2, and even with manual entry I have not been able to get 2400 to run again (*note, see Post Script). 2133 is the best I've achieved so far, however there are so many RAM timing and voltage variables to tweak, I'm not really sure what's affecting success or failure.
Second, with the new BIOS flashed, I enabled the PCI gen3 settings as I now have an Ivy Bridge e PCIe Gen 3 CPU as well as my GPUs which are Gen3 GTX 660Ti. Upon the next Boot, the POST screen clearly now showed the PC running in Gen3 mode where it had always reported Gen2 before. When the desktop came up, NVidia control panel reported Gen3 also.
I wanted to try the other BIOS to see if the RAM would work right, and needed to change the SATA port location of 2 of my drives, so I shut down the PC, flashed the newest BIOS, and swapped the drives location. Neither was my boot drive and neither was on the main SATA terminal. One was a BD drive and the other, a SATAe connect, both running on SATA ports 4 and 5.
After setting the BIOS settings again, when I booted up again, the POST showed that the PC had reverted to GEN 2 mode. It wouldn't run on GEN3. Even when I let it load, NVidia prompted me that my GPU configuration had changed again. So I went back into the BIOS to check the PCIe settings. Sure enough they all still say GEN3 but the computer is somehow stuck into booting and POSTing into gen2.
I have since tried both BIOS revisions again, and have cleared the cmos, both with the cmos clear button, and using the actual jumper. Neither will now accept GEN3. I have tried removing and replacing the GPUs. Within the BIOS the PCIe settings can be tweaked in a few areas. Namely, under the North Bridge settings and under the PCI configuration settings. Under the North Bridge settings there is a sub menu for IOH configuration that lets you choose slot multiplier x4x4, x8, x16 and so on as well as the Gen#. Under the PCI configuration settings you can only alter the Gen target link state.
There is a "JME recovery" jumper near the CMOS reset jumper that I can find no information on, including in the MB manual, on the BIOSTAR site, or on line in general. Anyone know what it does ?
Anyway, no matter what I try at the moment, I can't seem to get it to Boot back into Gen 3 mode and can't get it to run at 2400 MHz again. Any insight into these matters is greatly appreciated.
*P.S. not to complicate things, but, on one, and only one, of the many attempts at changing settings and timings, the PC accepted and ran at 2400MHz, however, I still had to try and default the BIOS settings for the mentioned PCIe reason, and afterwards it wouldn't accept the same exact manual timings I had just used ! Lastly I have noticed that the BIOS won't load the XPS presets, the first Boot after reverting to BIOS defaults. I have to set it to XPS, then save and exit, and then go back in, and then they actually load into the timing and voltage boxes on screen. Then I tweak the multiplier and timings and it accepts them.
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