GA-X99-SLI XMP Fail

D

|DFA| Havoc

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
203
So I have a build I'm doing with all brand new parts, and after switching from dual 390X crossfire (too hot) to GTX 980s in SLI, the board now crashes consistently on boot with XMP enabled. It was working just fine previously, the crashes only started happening after swapping the GPUs. As far as I can tell, I'm having the exact same issue as these guys:

X99 SLI

Gigabyte X99 boards - RAM sensitivity? - Overclockers UK Forums

Here are the specs of the system:

i7 5820K
Corsair H100i
Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI
32GB (4x8GB) Gskill Ripjaws V DDR4 2400
2x EVGA GTX 980
Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
WD Blue 4TB
EVGA Supernova 1000P
Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Windows 10 64

Updated the BIOS to the latest version, no change. I tried swapping the Gskill kit out for a tested working Crucial Ballistix kit with the same specs (4x8GB DDR4 2400), no change.

After every crash / failed boot, the system will then POST with the 'boot failure detected' error. If I go into BIOS and then exit without saving, Windows will then load. What's odd is that memtest and Prime95 are completely stable, no errors.

I'm completely baffled as to why this would start happening after changing out the video cards - I didn't touch the memory at all during the swap, and it worked flawlessly with XMP enabled previously.

Any ideas?
 
I could sit here and speculate as to why you are having this problem, but frankly none of that speculation would lead to a fix. The fact of the matter is, XMP is problematic at best on the X99 platform. Your best bet is to set all the timings, speeds and voltages for your chosen RAM manually and move on with your life. Obviously, the cards introduce some sort of errata that causes issues with your setup. My guess, based on the work around for the problem that you described is that there is an issue with the video card OROM loading into memory that's causing things to flake out on you.

Possible fixes would include, video card BIOS updates, motherboard BIOS updates (or downgrades even) and it's very possible that a fix for your exact issue doesn't exist at all. My one and only constant complaint about GIGABYTE motherboards is that they often have tons of firmware quirks, many of which are never resolved throughout a motherboards production life cycle.

You may be able to find some sort of setting in the UEFI which resolves this issue. I'd have to look through some UEFI BIOS screenshots to think of one, but ultimately, I think setting the memory values manually is your best bet. If that still causes you POST issues, then further pursuit of a fix would be worth while.
 
Thanks for the input!

I did try setting the memory speed and timings manually, and the results are interesting. For the original (Gskill) kit, the problem persists and crashes the same as with XMP turned on. With the second (Crucial) kit, configuring the settings manually works, but XMP enabling the same settings causes crashing.

I finally bit the bullet and just now finished swapping in another identical GA-X99-SLI board, and everything is working without issue on the new board. I'm not sure what caused the original board to fail, I wear an anti-static wrist strap and I'm careful when handling hardware, but maybe installing the new cards caused the board to flex in just the wrong way? It's especially odd because the failure is manifesting in such a specific and peculiar fashion, with the system being completely stable in memtest and prime95 - it just doesn't like to POST with XMP enabled. I can't imagine any physical damage to the board causing POST failure and not ALSO causing system instability. It seems especially fishy with other people experiencing the same issue, but I guess some motherboards just have their quirks and are prone to certain kinds of failure. :/

I guess at this point it's just going to be an RMA. Thank you again for your suggestions!
 
When you enable XMP, it's actually altering variables you aren't seeing. Those pages and pages of sub-timings get tuned. When you tune the RAM manually, that doesn't happen. You are only tuning three or four things.
 
That's good to know, thanks!

I went ahead and started the RMA process today, so hopefully that'll be the end of it.
 
when xmp doesn't work, it usually means the cpu has a weak memory controller, giving it some more juice should fix it
 
Hello Havoc,

Have you try the latest beta bios F21e to check? I got it from Gigabyte?
Sorry cannot attached the file too large.
 
I did try the F21e BIOS, yeah. It didn't make any difference. The replacement board they sent me is working with the same memory though, so... *shrug*

It seems like I've had a lot more compatibility issues with DDR4 memory in general than I ever did with DDR3. Has anyone else noticed this?
 
been nothing but a gpa swap for a long while for me,have one of these bought at the refund price from Newegg ready to assemble today,along with:
Seasonic 850 gold
5820k
Gskill 2666 32G
MSI 980Ti Gaming 6G
Samsung 500G EVO
X-Fi Titanium
Noctua D-15(found out the s model is needed for X-99 and the top pci-e slot clearance requirement)
Thermaltake V-71
10 pro
the bois flash to F22e will be first
I read the bad reviews too but if I got a good one it should make for a rig I'll like
intending on reporting back with my results
 
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I have had no luck getting this board to post
the Q-flash to the latest bios was completed
bread-boxed with one stick of ram and no other components connected results in a brief power response and off,no post
decided to get an open box Asus X-99-a for this build and probably return this to put in on an Asus work station model
time burnt on trouble shooting doesn't interest me but I may contact Gigabyte tech support before passing on this piece
 
the Asus board does boot with the rest of the parts list
for multi video card configuration like OP has this would be wonderful for the x16 slot layout
I have to admit the rebate price is what attracted me and I stick to single GPU now so I'll send it back
 
EchoWars said:
Just add this to the long list of shit that is flaky with X99.
Click to expand...

The biggest problem with X99 is the terrible XMP support. It's atrocious and even newer X99 motherboards are still suffering from these problems which is frankly, ridiculous. It was one thing when X99 first came out but another thing entirely at this point.
 
my experience so far is good,XMP is set and no problems presented(my ram is on the supported list)
seem to be as stable as my X58 based systems
 
GothamsReckoning said:
Besides XMP is there any reason not to go X99? Is the platform stabile and matured since it was first released in 2014. I remember there was some VRM issues on the X99 Deluxe and some other issues but it seems that was mostly in late 2014, and possibly 2015?
Click to expand...

I've tested a number of X99 motherboards over the years and aside from XMP being a pain in the ass on some motherboards, it's been as stable for me as X48, X58, and X79 was. Feature wise it doesn't feel as long in the tooth as X58 and X79 did after Z77, Z87, and Z97 came out. Really you are only missing USB 3.1 on X99 and even that's not true depending in the board you select.
 
GothamsReckoning said:
That's good to know. I was initially concerned about it seeing as how it was the first platform to use DDR4. I've already got a motherboard in mind and a processor also possibly in mind. Is it worth getting a 5820K/5930K (will be using with GTX 700's in SLI) or just waiting for prices to drop on the 5960X (also do content work in addition to gaming).
Click to expand...


Prices of near-recent past generations of chips from Intel's top models really don't drop much if anything in price on the retail level. ....now, on the private used market - yeah, you should see some drop from folks who are upgrading.
 
GothamsReckoning said:
That's good to know. I was initially concerned about it seeing as how it was the first platform to use DDR4. I've already got a motherboard in mind and a processor also possibly in mind. Is it worth getting a 5820K/5930K (will be using with GTX 700's in SLI) or just waiting for prices to drop on the 5960X (also do content work in addition to gaming).
Click to expand...

I gather you're hoping the release of Broadwell-E pushes prices of Haswell-E down? If you can wait until whenever the release is, plus maybe a month, I say wait, assuming you're willing to buy used. If not, just get the fastest CPU you can afford now and enjoy it. I'm loving my 5820K.

One other option worth considering is the engineering sample Xeons you can find on ebay. I had some trouble with the GA-X99-SLI that I bought for my 5820K build, so I just bought a different board to use with that CPU, and RMAed the Gigabyte board. After it came back, I just had it lying around, so I bought a six core, 2.4GHz xeon for $130 last week just to screw around with, and this Xeon works way better in this board than the 5820K did. None of the boot looping or weird behavior I had with the 5820K, and it POSTs an awful lot faster, even using the same memory.
 
GothamsReckoning said:
Any suggestions on an ES Haswell-E or Broadwell-E 6 or 8 core CPU with a good clock speed and good TDP? I'm hoping it's compatible with the Gigabyte/ASUS X99 motherboard I am looking at.
Click to expand...

Something like this? The one I bought is the 6 core version. This one has eight cores. 10-12 core versions also exist.
Intel Xeon E5-2630 v3 ES LGA2011-3 8C Compatible with X99 i7-5820K 5930K 5960X

The ones with high clock speeds seem to be expensive, but if 2.4GHz is fast enough for you, getting one with lots of cores is pretty cheap. See:
Intel Xeon E5-2658 v3 ES LGA2011-3 12C Compatible with X99 i7-5820K 5930K 5960X
 
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I'm no expert, but I don't think there's actually anything special about them. The one I have just plugged into the board and worked. The multipliers are locked, though. If you want to overclock them, I gather you get to do it old school, through the front-side-bus.

I suspect that as long as it's a Haswell-EP CPU, you shouldn't need any kind of BIOS update, or really need to worry that it will stop working. The seller I bought mine from (same seller I linked to above, I think) stipulated in the listing that you had to send him a message to tell him what kind of motherboard you were going to use, because I guess they don't always work in OEM motherboards (Dell, HP, etc.). He seemed to be under the impression that they should play nice with any retail motherboard, though.
 
I doubt there's any huge difference. The seller I bought mine from posted a screenshot from CPU-Z that he claimed was the actual processor described by the listing. There were a couple of different versions of the same model available that had some subtle differences, but nothing major that I could tell, so I bought the less expensive one. It seems to work fine; I can post a screenshot from CPU-Z tonight, if you want.

If you want a regular retail CPU, I think the 5820K is currently the best deal, unless you need more than 28 PCI-E lanes, or are running multiple really fast GPUs. Mine is basically idling in any of the games I've played on it, with the graphics card, even at 60+ FPS, being the limiting factor. I think there's also a 3.5GHz quad core Xeon that can be had for around $320 that might work too, if you don't need or want six cores.

Edit: Video editing/rendering is about the only content creation task I can think of where I think the difference between a 5820K and a 5960X might be apparent. Depending on what you mean by "content creation," this may or may not make a difference for you, but it's been a long time since I saw even an i5 struggle with Photoshop.
 
Sounds like a plan. one thing to check though, is the ram speed. i7s run their ram at 2133 by default, and allow XMP to increase the speed arbitrarily. The Xeon I have does not, and my ram is thus stuck at 1600MHz. It's quad channel, but depending on what you're doing, this might matter. According to Intel, 1866 is also an option, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Also, the one I have runs a 2 or 3 degrees hotter than my i7 did, even after a couple tries at remounting the water jacket thing (using an H100).

Given what I paid, I have to say I'm pretty happy. Even at "only" 2.4 GHz, this machine is plenty fast for what I intend to use it for (as an HTPC/file server/light/old gaming machine).
 
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