Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P is a hardware model with 4 or 8GB of RAM, designed for x64 operating systems.
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P is a hardware model with 4 or 8GB of RAM, designed for x64 operating systems.
System: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P rev 2.1 2 x 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600 Mhz or 2 x 8GB Samsung 1600Mhz or 2x Kingston HyperX (consistent outcomes) AMD FX-8370E CPU (95W) Sapphire RX-570 8GB video card 600W Chieftec PSU BIOS: Default settings - AUTO in the newest BIOS. Previous attempts have also been tried. OS: Windows 10 Pro X64 v1909 (with latest updates, drivers). Mainboard condition: brand new, purchased just a week ago. The problem started during initial setup and persists. Issue: Unable to use two memory sticks in dual channel mode. Windows marks one as "hardware reserved" memory. For instance, with 8GB installed, only 3,97GB are usable. In Task Manager, an additional 4GB appears as "hardware reserved". Even with 4-4 or 8-8 GB sticks, I've tested various brands. I'm using the correct slots as specified in the manual (slots 1-2 or 3-4 by matching colors). BIOS shows everything normal with default settings. Attempted older BIOS versions too. Restarted OS, results remain unchanged whether chipset drivers are installed or not. During testing, Windows remained stable even with incorrect memory setup. The only workaround so far is operating in single channel mode using the last two RAM slots (slots 2 and 4 - grey and black). This allows full access to 8 or 16GB. However, using two sticks in single channel mode is highly discouraged due to significantly reduced bandwidth. I've explored all common solutions similar to those used with AMD 970 chipset boards: maximum memory settings, driver updates, BIOS fixes, MemTest86 on each stick, CPU reinsertion, multiple RAM types, checking DRAM voltage, adjusting chip settings. I desperately need a solution or insight into the cause of the incorrect dual channel configuration. Most likely, incompatible RAM modules are involved, but I'm uncertain. Could it be that the FX8370E isn't fully compatible with this board? Or is there a BIOS bug that hasn't been resolved? On my previous motherboard (Asus M5A78L-M LX3), the same Corsair sticks and FX8370E CPU functioned perfectly in dual channel mode. It was a much cheaper model.
I brought it back to the shop and swapped it in with an Asus M5A78L-M LX3. I installed the two 8 GB Samsung cards onto the Asus board alongside the FX8370E CPU, using Windows in safe mode first. Everything seemed to work—dual channel was active and 16 GB was available. After restarting, I checked memory performance in Aida 64; bandwidth was nearly double what it should have been. This improvement came because the Gigabyte motherboard couldn’t handle dual channel properly. I suspect the issue stemmed from the CPU not being fully compatible even though it should have worked. The memory controller might be tied to the CPU, or the BIOS had lingering problems that haven’t been resolved. There’s no new BIOS update for the 970A-DS3P rev 2.1 yet. It would help if someone could confirm with FX8370E and the same Gigabyte board that this was the faulty unit.