Black screen, buzzing noise, Phenom II X6

[Uplinkbob]

I recently built a new computer and am having a very strange problem.

15-25 minutes of gameplay in Age of Empires online, the screen goes black, and a horrible buzzing noise comes through my speakers. This process was repeated with AOE 3 more times, then once in Deus Ex Human Revolution, then again, while watching Netflix using Chrome (The screen did not go black, but the computer did lock up, freeze and make the buzzing noise).

ASUS M4A87TD EVO
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black 3.2ghz
G. Skill Ripjaws X 8gb DDR3 1600 (2x4gb) (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL)
Seagate 1TB SATA6gbs (ST31000524AS)
Corsair Professional 750w (CMPSU-750HX)
XFX Radeon 6870 - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC
(I have also had the same problems using a friends Radeon HD 5800 series card)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit


So the install went great, graphics updated no problem, windows installed without a hitch, no errors while updating any of the drivers. I even reviewed the BIOS settings, everything was auto at the right voltage, timing and speed for the memory.

Now one thing I have discovered is that the board's QVL Memory Supported list does not include my memory. In fact, the board itself says it doesn't support 2x 4gb sticks of 1600.

I've also done quite a bit of research on both the compatibility of the Phenom II x6 and DDR3 1600. I've found that some people get a lot of BSOD's using the 6 core processor.

One G.Skill forum recommended to a user with a different problem, but with a phenom II x6 and DDR3 1600, that he underclock the ram, something about G.Skill ram not properly running with the 6 core processors. I have not attempted this yet, wanted to get a community opinion before I tried


My plea to the internet, has anyone experienced a similar situation with this setup or found a solution?

 

[buwish]

This topic has been moved from the section Opinions and Experiences to section Systems by Buwish

 

[nimraynn]

Did you ever solve this issue?

I have exactly the same motherboard, processor and memory as you do, and I'm having the same problem. I get a sort of buzzing whining noise coming from inside the case, but I can't work out for the life of me what it is... And I get the same issue that after 10 minutes or so, it'll lock up. Screen freezes and the buzzing noise sort of jams at a certain tone and will not stop until you reset the machine.

I've been following a guide on the G.SKILL website here: www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=7688

I did that, and it still locked after 10 minutes with just one 4GB stick installed, but I've now switched the DIMMS and installed it in a different socket and so far it seems OK, but it's about now I'd expect it to fail, and I'm not currently using both sticks...

 

[Uplinkbob]

I did solve the issue actually. I underclocked my ram to 1333 and set the timings to 9-9-9-24. I found one article on a g.skill forum, that said, and i quote, "G.Skill 1600 Not compatible with AMD AM3" Apparently, this one particular board, with this one particular chip and this particular memory has a compatibility issue. Once i underclocked the ram and increased the voltage on the CPU from 1.1v to 1.2v, I've experienced not one problem what so ever. No Black Screen, no more buzz, no blue screens. Nothing. This computer is once again awesome. Rocked the BF3 beta on Ultra at 60fps.

I'm going to buy another 8gigs of RAM and put it in.

 

[Proximon]

The memory controller resides on the CPU, as in all the newer CPUs. AMD only officially supports 1333Mhz, and anything more is "overclocked" even though your board may claim to run memory at higher speeds.

It's quite common to have to under-clock your RAM in this case. No need to worry about doing so, the performance decrease is extremely minor.