GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0) 1600 MHz support?

[zalittle]

According to Gigabytes website the GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0) motherboard supports what is written below.


1. 6 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 24 GB of system memory(Note 1)
2. Dual/3 channel memory architecture
3. Support for DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
4. Support for non-ECC memory modules
5. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

My question is, Will the board support 1600 MHZ memory for overclocking or do I need purchase 2200 MHz memory if I want to go above 1333 MHz modules?

This is what I am considering.
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX6GX3M3C1600C7 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

I am also concerned about an after market CPU cooler not clearing the G.Skill modules.

 

[bilbat]

If you look on the memory support list:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3317
you will see most of a page of 1600; there is no real-world reason to pay for fast memory - memory frequency on i7/i5 does not scale to increased, observable system speed - it's only good for bragging rights, and 'synthetic' memory benchmarking (that's why it's called 'synthetic!) - unless you're running a rendering station, or transcoding a huge amount of video. Pay for the lowest latency 1333 or even 1066 you can afford - it'll make your life easier when you go to OC, it'll save considerable money, and you won't have any need for elaborate heat-spreaders. Your processor is never, ever, ever, accessing large amounts of contiguous memory at a time - the only place where high memory frequencies 'shine' - it's always getting dribs and drabs from here and there, every clock tick - that's why latency is the key - every time you call for the contents of another block of RAM, you're waiting on one or another latency cycle...

 

[atpdefiler]

I have same mobo and CMX6GX3M3C1600C7 (same ram) now, still could not set it to 1600 factory settings. Enabling XPM, system crashes -> blue screen. Let me know if you have some suggestions. (CPU = 920 stock)

 

[bilbat]

What does "Load Optimized" give you with XMP disabled?

 

[lwhieldon]

there is no real-world reason to pay for fast memory - memory frequency on i7/i5 does not scale to increased, observable system speed - it's only good for bragging rights, and 'synthetic' memory benchmarking (that's why it's called 'synthetic!) - unless you're running a rendering station, or transcoding a huge amount of video

I am just about to build a system using this mobo and I bought 3x2G DDR3 RAM running at 1600 before I realized the mobo documentation says it only supports 2200/1333/1066/800. But you said the 1600 RAM might still pay off when rendering video. I plan to use this system to edit HD video. How will this mobo use the 1600 speed RAM? Should I send the RAM back to newegg and buy 1333 instead?

 

[bilbat]

Once again, I refer to the official GB memory support page:
http://www.gigabyte.us/FileList/MemorySupport/mb_memory_ga-x58a-ud3r.pdf
It shows 22 different manufacturer's part numbers, 10 of which were capable of running 6 DIMMs, at 1600... The memory you have may or may not run properly simply by running the BIOS' "Load Optimized" function; whether it says it supports XMP or not, doing the "Load Optimized" with XMP enabled may or may not work. Processing video is likely the very best case application to benefit from a high memory clock, as huge sequential accesses are required. The only way you can confirm whether your particular memory (short of confirmation from someone else who has the same memory and motherboard already working...) will work 'out of the box' is to try it. If you are unable to get it 'automatically' configured, either with or without XMP, it still may be possible to 'tweak' it into working, perhaps with support from the manufacturer. What I am saying is not that it won't work, but that I, overall, have seen a huge difference in the number of problems presented by people whose memory is 1333 or 1066 (i.e., actually supported, by Intel, on the 1156/1366 platforms), versus the nearly universal (and sometime insoluble) troubles with 1600-2133; my belief is that the vast majority of these users are being 'hosed' by the memory manufacturers, simply to obtain a larger share of a higher margin market - regardless of who suffers for it!

 

[lwhieldon]

Thanks bilbat for your input. The memory I bought (OCZ3G1600LV6GK on newegg) was on Gigabytes Qualified Vendors List. I'll let you know how it all goes in a few days.

 

[jdazer]

Thanks bilbat for your input. The memory I bought (OCZ3G1600LV6GK on newegg) was on Gigabytes Qualified Vendors List. I'll let you know how it all goes in a few days.

how'd it go? i'm going the same way soon i think.

 

[lwhieldon]

The build went very well with no BIOS changes needed prior to installing Windows 7 (which also installed easily). The BIOS did show the 6.0 GB RAM installed at 1066 Mhz and in tri channel. I went onto OCZ's forums (excellent and well organized), and got a very quick personalized email response from their staff (read: excellent customer support). Here's what I've learned. The core i7-920 doesn't support 1600 Mhz RAM so I would need to overclock the CPU and memory to achieve the 1600MHz RAM speeds. I'll cut and paste below exactly what the technician at OCZ (OCZRoy) told me to do to run the 6GB of RAM (OCZ3G1600LV6GK) on the GA-X58A-UDR (BIOS version F1) motherboard v1.0:

****START***
Lloyd:

Yes you must adjust the Base Clock Frequency upward manually to correspond to 1600 DDR DRAM Frequency.
Yes this over-clocks the CPU so make sure you are covered thermally.

Set the QPI/VTT Voltage to {1.35 volts}
DRAM Voltage to {1.65 volts}
Set tRFC to {88}
Set Command Rate to {2}
Set DRAM Timings to CL 8-8-8-24 (CL-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)

***END***

I haven't tried this yet because I'm using the stock cooler and the CPU is running at temperatures of 60-80C. I've never overclocked and I won't until after I get a better cooler, per the advice from OCZ. But also, because 1) I'm a novice and 2) I'm not convinced the benefits of overclocking will overcome the risks (i.e. shorter CPU life, possible damage etc.). And I've no idea how much the above settings will 'stress' the i7. But if anyone reading this post tries the above overclocking, please post the results. Incidentally, and I still think this is relevant to this post, I read a very interesting article on core i7's temperatures on this site:

http://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2009/02/26/intel-core-i7-temperatures/

In retrospect, I perhaps would have bought 12GB of 1066Mhz memory instead of 6GB of 1666!

 

[bilbat]

Glad it went well for you, and glad to see another memory manufacturer providing decent (and accurate!) support

In retrospect, I perhaps would have bought 12GB of 1066Mhz memory instead of 6GB of 1666!

That is always what I recommend - check which your CPU supports - 1066 or 1333, and spend your money on the lowest latency RAM you can afford at those respective speeds

 

[carolinacorky]

I thought I might add a comment here on this subject, may or may not apply. I have the same MOBO with a core i7-920 OC'd to 3.2 GHz (BCLK set to 160) using a Corsair H50 self contained liquid cooling system. My RAM is 2 kits of Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9, XMP compliant for a total of 12 Gig. I have the CPU voltage set at 1.25 and the RAM set at "PROFILE" in the BIOS XMP settings which forces the voltage to 1.65, the clocks @ 9,9,9,24,2 and the multiplier to 12 which gives you 1800MHz. I set the multiplier back to 10 which dropped that number to 1600MHz. All other settings are on "AUTO". I ran Prime95 for 12 hours and did 4 passes with Memtest 4 and have had no problems. I originally had the CPU set to 1.35v but I was getting core temps in the high 60's to low 70's, when I reduced the voltage to 1.25 the temps dropped to the mid 60's never exceeding 66C. I'm new at this and have only been OC'ing for 3 weeks and through trial and error have found that CPU voltage has a direct effect on the CORE temps and (at least on the Gigabyte UD3R) the X58. (I believe that Gigabyte could have done a better job on the X58 and VR heat sinks.) In other words no matter what you do keep an eye in the MCH temps in the 'PC HEALTH' section of the bios, as the core temps rise so does the MCH (Memory Control Hub). Water cooling seems to be the best bet here.

 

[bilbat]

Be aware that Tcase-max for the X58 IOH is 111°C, Tcontrol is 107°C...

as the core temps rise so does the MCH (Memory Control Hub)

...there is no MCH in 1156/1366 platforms - the CPU contains the memory controller functions, that's why they transitioned to 'IOH' - input/output hub

 

[carolinacorky]

As I said I'm new at this and when I spoke to Gigabyte tech support about the high 'MCH' temps reported by the BIOS 'PC HEALTH' section THEY said that what I was seeing was the temp of the x58 and that it was 'normal'. I didn't mean to mislead anyone just pass along a 'heads up'.

 

[bilbat]

Sorry, wasn't being critical - just didn't want misinformation 'propagating' Tech suppot at GB seems to be 'tiered', and I think the first person you'll hear from probably doesn't have that much command of English, or electronics - is, pretty much, reading off a 'canned' list of responses (and I can't be critical there, either - I'm trying to learn Mandarin, and am continually amazed that the Chinese can learn to, say, write their name by age thirty-five!) - but I looked in a couple manuals, and - MCH! The BIOS writer certainly should have known better

Anyway, they are made to run hot - in a 1U server with passive cooling, it's not uncommon to see 5520s (the 'server equivalent' of an X58) at eighty-five or ninety...

 

[carolinacorky]

Thanks for the info, bilbat, every time I'm fed a new fact I feel my 'education' is progressing! That said then I have to ask, considering the high temps the X58 is designed to run at, is there any point/advantage to changing over the passive cooling provided by Gigabyte to a liquid cooled system? To do the X58 you must also convert one of the Vregs (there are 2). I mean does it even make sense to do anything other than the CPU? And good luck on the Mandarin!

 

[bilbat]

It used to be you cooled the MCH if you intended to overclock memory (anything higher than 2-800); with no memory controller, now, I think it depends on what you intend to 'hump through' the PCIe slots; I'm planning a rebuild in the next year or so, with a Tyan server board & a pair of 5520s; as I intend to use three x16s (two for rendering, and one for OpenCL) and an x8 (Areca RAID), pretty much 'wide open', I will likely put it all under water, including a block for an Areca card's IOP341, which runs hotter than hell... If you're only using a graphics card or two that don't really 'fill' a x16 'pipe, it probably is overkill

 

[traines2332]

I'm also in the process of a similar overclock. I'm working with an i7 920, the X58a-ud3r and 2x2GB G.Skill Trident ddr3-2000. Overclocking the processor went smoothly using an overclocking guide provided by Gigabyte for their ex58 extreme motherboard. In the guide they overclock the processor to 4GHz. I decided to only go to 3.8GHz because I am more comfortable with the temperatures. I am getting max temps from coreTemp of 69C while running prime95. Im using a cooler master v8 cpu cooler.

The only thing in this guide that I didnt follow was the recommended qpi/vtt voltage. The guide recommends 1.5xx volts. When I adjust this setting the voltage values turn red above 1.3xx volts. Does this mean that values in red are above the recommended max volts for the board. Does the ex58 extreme board tolerate higher voltages here or are they setting this at a value that is red.

Overall though I found this guide very helpful for oc'ing the cpu. I only wish that it went a little further and then helped step up the ram frequency which it has you lower before oc'ing the cpu. Sorry for not posting a link to the guide in this post. I will follow up with the links in a post to follow.

 

[bilbat]

I think you're referring to the second of this pair:
http://www.mediafire.com/?txzi1tmf22g
http://www.mediafire.com/?5moyzjmqvtv
The business of 'color coding' items in the BIOS is pretty vague; it will differ by BIOS rev, and often seems to make little sense... Example: for most of the 775 MCHs, the DDR2 supply voltage 'turns red' at 2.1 (or +0.3, depending on how it's expressed by the BIOS), even though nearly every piece of DDR2 faster than 800 needs 2.1 to run 'at speed'

 

[uzbek]

I have a question !
i've GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0)
3x2 1600mhz kingston hyperx
i7 930 2.8ghz

in bios default freq. of memory 1066mhz when i change it to 1600mhz automatically changes cpu clock to 2.9 ghz

how to tune it right both of them i need default cpu 2.8 and memory on 1600mhz

 

[bilbat]

Do you have TurboBoost enabled?

 

[uzbek]

yep

 

[bilbat]

TB is likely 'bumping up' the frequency when only one core is loaded...

 

[FRANKIE RAY]

I have a question !
i've GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0)
3x2 1600mhz kingston hyperx
i7 930 2.8ghz

in bios default freq. of memory 1066mhz when i change it to 1600mhz automatically changes cpu clock to 2.9 ghz

how to tune it right both of them i need default cpu 2.8 and memory on 1600mhz

Hi, im not from USA (sorry about my english). Please i need your help, i want tu buy exactly what u have, Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, 3X2Gb Kingston 1600 HiperX and Intel Core i7 930. I read a lot about 1600Mhz Ram that does not run at 1600Mhz, only at 1066. Its that true?. Can u tell me please about your system, how is your motherboard working?, what speed is running your ram. Thanks for your help.

Frankie Ray

 

[Ozmosis]

I just built this system.

GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0) bios F5
3x2 1600mhz (OCZ3G1600LV6GK)
i7 930 2.8ghz intel
1tb Seagate Barracuda sata drive
2 - DVD burners
Radeon XFX HD 4890 1gb GDDR5
CPU Cooler Hyper 212 plus
932 HAF HIGH AIR FLOW FULL TOWER CHASSIS

Its a great system, however, the memory only runs at 1066mhz without overclocking in the bios. I was hoping one of the bios updates on gigabytes website would help with the memory as they have serveral bios updates but none have worked for me as of yet. So for all of you who are going to run any 1600mhz memory with this mobo be expecting to OC to get it to run at 1600mhz.

 

[Guest]

I have same mobo and CMX6GX3M3C1600C7 (same ram) now, still could not set it to 1600 factory settings. Enabling XPM, system crashes -> blue screen. Let me know if you have some suggestions. (CPU = 920 stock)

Check your Ram listing in QVL datasheet. It may not be supported!!!