Hi, Tom's hardware gurus. First time writing in, having relied heavily on discussions in this board to troubleshoot the recent issues with my machine. Any help is greatly appreciated as I decide whether I should continue banging my head against this, or purchase a new motherboard (or cpu?).
My build
Motherboard: Asus m4a89td pro usb3
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8gb (2x4gb) and 4gb (2x2gb)
PSU: Corsair TX Series 750w
I built my first desktop three years ago, in November of 2010. Since that time, I've upgraded the GPU to stay l33t re: online gaming, but have never had any issues with my components - when first building, it seemed almost too easy.
Fast track to this September. I move across country, ship my machine via USPS after removing all the harddrives in case it never arrives.
Get to my new home, reinstall harddrives and attempt to boot my machine; no post, solid red CPU led on the motherboard. By following the invaluable steps in this guide, I identified a couple bent pins on my CPU, which I straightened. This cleared the red CPU led, but the machine still would not post and, now, the DRAM led was steady lit.
Fixed that by removing my cmos battery, let it rest overnight (removing the battery for 5 mins, 10 mins, 1 hr was not sufficient) and then tested my RAM sticks one by one. Got the machine to post and made it to BIOS with one stick in the B1 RAM slot.
Replaced the rest of the RAM, made it to desktop but my machine would BSOD after 2 - 3 minutes, every time; ram Memtest86 off a usb drive and it found a ton of errors, so figured I had a bad stick of RAM. I'd been using 4x2gb sticks of the G.Skill Ripjaws series. I decided to buy a new set of 2x4gb G.Skill Ripjaws, bc why not?
Get the new RAM, install it, and machine runs smoothly for a week. Memtest86 finds no errors, but something is still screwy w/ the RAM. Running dxdiag reveals 12gb of RAM, as expected. But Windows Experience Index drops my RAM score from 7.4 (before the move and all these issues) to 5.5. Run CPUZ and see that, although it identifies 12gb of RAM, it says it is running in Single Channel mode.
I figure something must be up so yesterday, I jump in the BIOS. I don't do anything major, just ensure the RAM is running at 1600mhz, has the proper timing and voltages, etc. While I'm in there, I also enable the Core Unlocker.
I wish I remember the last thing I did in the BIOS, but I don't. Again, I still have a healthy respect for my own ignorance, so I definitely avoided anything that "didn't feel safe." I figured if the Core Unlocker was a mistake, my computer would crash and I could try to restore it.
So, I save and exit from the BIOS and bingo - no post. Solid red DRAM light, which is where this story started.
I've now gone through the NO POST guide multiple times, tested each stick of RAM individually ad nauseum. MemOK button, clearing the CMOS, booting w/ no RAM - nothing changes the fact that when I hit Power On, the fans spin, CPU LED blinks twice and then I get a steady DRAM led.
Any suggestions? When do I give up?
My build
Motherboard: Asus m4a89td pro usb3
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8gb (2x4gb) and 4gb (2x2gb)
PSU: Corsair TX Series 750w
I built my first desktop three years ago, in November of 2010. Since that time, I've upgraded the GPU to stay l33t re: online gaming, but have never had any issues with my components - when first building, it seemed almost too easy.
Fast track to this September. I move across country, ship my machine via USPS after removing all the harddrives in case it never arrives.
Get to my new home, reinstall harddrives and attempt to boot my machine; no post, solid red CPU led on the motherboard. By following the invaluable steps in this guide, I identified a couple bent pins on my CPU, which I straightened. This cleared the red CPU led, but the machine still would not post and, now, the DRAM led was steady lit.
Fixed that by removing my cmos battery, let it rest overnight (removing the battery for 5 mins, 10 mins, 1 hr was not sufficient) and then tested my RAM sticks one by one. Got the machine to post and made it to BIOS with one stick in the B1 RAM slot.
Replaced the rest of the RAM, made it to desktop but my machine would BSOD after 2 - 3 minutes, every time; ram Memtest86 off a usb drive and it found a ton of errors, so figured I had a bad stick of RAM. I'd been using 4x2gb sticks of the G.Skill Ripjaws series. I decided to buy a new set of 2x4gb G.Skill Ripjaws, bc why not?
Get the new RAM, install it, and machine runs smoothly for a week. Memtest86 finds no errors, but something is still screwy w/ the RAM. Running dxdiag reveals 12gb of RAM, as expected. But Windows Experience Index drops my RAM score from 7.4 (before the move and all these issues) to 5.5. Run CPUZ and see that, although it identifies 12gb of RAM, it says it is running in Single Channel mode.
I figure something must be up so yesterday, I jump in the BIOS. I don't do anything major, just ensure the RAM is running at 1600mhz, has the proper timing and voltages, etc. While I'm in there, I also enable the Core Unlocker.
I wish I remember the last thing I did in the BIOS, but I don't. Again, I still have a healthy respect for my own ignorance, so I definitely avoided anything that "didn't feel safe." I figured if the Core Unlocker was a mistake, my computer would crash and I could try to restore it.
So, I save and exit from the BIOS and bingo - no post. Solid red DRAM light, which is where this story started.
I've now gone through the NO POST guide multiple times, tested each stick of RAM individually ad nauseum. MemOK button, clearing the CMOS, booting w/ no RAM - nothing changes the fact that when I hit Power On, the fans spin, CPU LED blinks twice and then I get a steady DRAM led.
Any suggestions? When do I give up?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram