Is my ASUS Mobo bad?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
Hey all.

I'm wondering if there might be an issue with my ASUS P9X79 Deluxe.
I've got an i7 3930k on it, and the latest bios from Asus (4005). Running W7 x64.
And 2 HD7990 in Crossfire X. Running two OCZ SSD's in RAID 0.

My problem is that more often than not, the startup is halted, and the LED by the mem ok button gets lit. So then I have to push that button. Then the system cycles a few times until I have to push it again, and this often happens three times.
I've got 8 dimms (32Gb) Corsair Vengeance 1866Mhz, and to get it to run on the XMP-profile set at 1866 is impossible.
Some times it'll start just fine on 1333, but lately it's been a hassle.

I thought that my ram was gone, so I recently bought a set of Kingston HyperX Beast 4x8Gb that's supposed to go at 2400Mhz.
However, the system won't start those sticks up over 800Mhz!
So I put the old Corsair set in, and now - after some hassle - it'll start at 1333 as I said.

Is there anything I can do, or is my mobo bad?

Thank you for your input.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510


Hi, and thanks!

I'm actually using the Corsair H100 cooler on the CPU.
Maybe that's the problem - that the mobo gets the wrong readings from the CPU fan socket which drives the H100?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
alexoiu

alexoiu

Titan
Nov 1, 2012
39,818
249
126,990
Hard to say. As the memory controller is integrated in the CPU, I would firstly make sure that there are no bent pins/faulty contacts. Then, if the stock CPU cooler still available, install it and test. I know it's a hassle.
If inserting only 2 RAM sticks does the system work without issues?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

Calvin7

Titan
Feb 19, 2013
11,725
334
76,490
I noticed you don't list the part number of the 8 dimms (32Gb) Corsair Vengeance 1866Mhz you are using. I don't see that Corsair even makes such a kit. If you are using some kind of conglomeration of multiple kits, then there s no guarantee that such a combination will work together.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
Thanks a lot, both of you.

I will remove and reinstall the CPU - even if I ran for a long time without any trouble before I tried the Kingstons; that's when the trouble started. But I didn't run the Corsairs with the XMP-profile.

Installing only 1 or 2 sticks does not help.

To tell the whole story, I bought the parts for this PC in early 2012, and had trouble getting the pc started with the same issue; loads of pushing the memOK-button. After a while the system started working properly (although I didn't run the XMP at 1866Mhz).
I decided to give this Kingston kit a go, and since I couldn't get them to work at all (only at 800Mhz), I threw the old Corsairs back in. But the PC's still not happy - I'm back to pushing the memOK and lots of cycling and restarting.
At the same time I bought the Kingstons, I upgraded to the latest 4005 BIOS from ASUS.
I've also wondered if that had anything to do with the problem.

The Corsairs are not from a kit, but four packs à two 4Gb sticks each.
They're called CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B Corsair XMS3 1866Mhz Vengeance CL9, and I bought them in early 2012.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
TenPc

TenPc

Honorable
Jul 11, 2012
2,471
1
11,960
Put your ram into slots B1 and D1 (refer to the QVL list PDF).

2 DIMMs: Supports two (2) modules inserted into either the blue slots or the black slots as one pair of Dual‐channel memory configuration.
We suggest that you install the modules into slots B1 and D1 for better compatibility.

4 DIMMs: Supports four (4) modules inserted into either the blue slots or the black slots as one DIMM per channel for Quad‐channel memory configuration.
We suggest that you install the modules into slots A1/B1/C1/D1 for better compatibility.

6 DIMMs: Supports six (6) modules inserted into both the blue and black slots as two pairs of Dual‐channel and one pair of the other Dual‐channel for Quad‐channel memory configuration.
We suggest that you install the modules into slots A1/B1/B2/C1/D1/D2 for better compatibility.

8 DIMMs: Supports eight (8) modules inserted into all the blue and black slots as full‐loading of Quad‐channel memory configuration.
-The default DIMM frequency depends on its Serial Presence Detect (SPD), which is the standard way of accessing information from a memory module. Under the default state, some memory modules
for overclocking may operate at a lower frequency than the vendor-marked value.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
Thank you for that, TenPc.
Yes, that's what the manual says, and that's the way I've tested the sticks.

I removed the 3930K, and checked closely for any bent pins, or anything suspicious looking. I couldn't find anything wrong.
I put in the CPU, rebooted (still with the old Corsair sticks in), got the message that a new CPU had been installed, went into BIOS and just loaded the fail-safe defaults. The pc then started without a problem. Turned it off for the night, but when I tried to boot up the next morning it was back to pushing the memOK button. So I really don't know what to do.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
TenPc

TenPc

Honorable
Jul 11, 2012
2,471
1
11,960
Turn off the PC at the rocker switch on the PSU, wait for motherboard light to diminish, remove the ram then reseat, one at a time, ensure each stick is firmly clicked into place, turn on rocker switch on back of PSU, boot up to bios then do Save & Exit without changes and then continue to desktop.

When you checked the CPU, did you notice any unusal discoloration of the thermal paste or whether it was evenly applied?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

Calvin7

Titan
Feb 19, 2013
11,725
334
76,490
CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B Corsair XMS3 is a kit of two modules.

Mixing memory kits, regardless of brand or model is not recommended.

By mixing memory kits together, there may be compatibility issues such as unable to boot or unable to operate at rated specifications.

Each of memory kit is tested to ensure compatibility within each memory kit. There is no guarantee of compatibility when multiple kits are used.

There are 32 GB kits available. If you choose to mix kits together then there is a chance they may work together, but it is likely you will have compatibility problems especially with 4 kits.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
Thank you, I'll try that.

I didn't notice anything special, and the paste (which I myself applied when I first installed the H100) looked fine; neither too much nor too little. I wiped it all off, cleaned the block and CPU before applying a fresh tiny OCZ Freeze pea onto the middle of the CPU before reinstalling the cooler.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510


Thank you for that.
I don't know if you've read the whole thread, but I get the same issue with my new Kingston HyperX Beast set, which - to my knowledge - is a kit of 32Gb (4 x 8Gb). As of now they seem to work worse than the Corsairs, unfortunately.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
TenPc

TenPc

Honorable
Jul 11, 2012
2,471
1
11,960
Your 4 x 8gb ram would need to be Quad channel ram, the Kingston HyperX Beast are not Quad Channel, they are XMP modules.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2098/1/

Quad Channel ram can only be used as a set of 4 or a set of 2 which would then revert to dual channel providing that the memory is actual dual/quad channel memory.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fvh

Honorable
May 31, 2013
7
0
10,510


Thank you for that, that was interesting. I didn't even know that there was a special quad-type RAM. I thought that if I bought a kit of four modules - like the Kingston kit I bought - it would be treated as quad channel.

How will I know if the RAM I buy is specially made for quad channel? What do I look for, and even better: do you have an example for a very good 32Gb quad channel kit?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom