8 GB of Memory on the P5Q PRO

[jmacfarlane]

I'm having issues getting my system to run stably with 8 GB installed. My relevant specs:

Pentium Quad Q6600
Asus P5Q PRO
Radeon 4870
NZXT 800W Power Supply
8 GB MUSHKIN PC6400 DDR2 800 (4 2-GB Modules), model # 991580

Nothing overclocked.

I've been playing with memory timings and voltages and benchmarking to see if I can get it running stably. I;m just wondering if people had any experiences like these when getting 8 GB running on their systems.

PROBLEM/QUESTION # 1--

I recently ran an HCI memtest for about 18 hours, no errors. I thought "woohoo," and then I shut the computer down. About 3 hours later, I tried to start up and it would just power up a little then restart -- never got to BIOS, POST, anything.

So I took out all but 1 stick of memory, no dice. Then I swapped slots on the vid card and was able to get into windows. Went back out and re-swapped it, loaded memory sticks again, and got into BIOS.

BUT -- my bios was borked -- it made me reload the default settings.

So my question, since I think it was not a memory error -- can stressing the system for that long (memtest runs the CPU at 100%) corrupt your BIOS?

Does this mean that I could have something else wrong?

PROBLEM / QUESTION # 2 --

Again, while messing with RAM settings / voltage, I ran HCI memtest for 8 hours, with no errors. I then started playing a game -- MMO, Warhammer Online. After about 45 minutes, graphical corruption and had to reboot.

But the system had passed memtest, so I thought it was stable. Should I have rebooted before running the game to clear RAM after stressing it?

PROBLEM / QUESTION # 3 --

Last One!

Finally, I then played the game for two hours and had a spontaneous reboot. So I relaxed my timings and upped my voltage a tic. To me, the reboot meant that my RAM still wasn't stable. I know it could also be overheating, but my temps were good. Also could be not enough power, but I'm running 800 watts on a non-overclocked system, so I think I'm probably fine.

Thanks to anyone who replies. Just want to see if anyone has any pointers and/or if anyone has experienced similar issues.

 

[doomturkey]

Hmm... I have had no issues with 8gb on my P5Q pro. They are OCZ reapers, running @ 400mhz (800mhz effective), 4-4-4-12, 2.1V.

 

[stevez]

I have am having a similar problem. Were you ever able to get it working correctly?

My specs
Intel Q9550
8 gig's Corsair DDR2 1066 Ram (model was "certified" by Asus as 100% compatible)
EVGA GTX 260 Video Card
Cooler Masters 550W Power Supply
PQ5 ASUS MB
(Nothing overclocked everything autoselect)

Background:
My computer was working find for about a week with 4 gigs (2 dimms) of memory.
I purchased and installed the additional 4 gigs and it freaked out; wouldn't post. I quickly realized that I wasn't providing enough power and needed to switch out the 4 pin EATX12V power for the MB to a full 8 pin. Still it was problematic. I then tried resetting the CMOS and reseeding the video card and all the memory.
Things improved temporarily but it would seem that every time the computer was powered off or unplugged it would revert back.

Symptoms:

Sometimes - The computer will start for a couple of seconds then simply quit and reboot. Almost a pulsing type of rhythm (3 seconds to start, then reboot, over and over again.) When it's like this holding the power button in has no effect to power down.

Sometimes - It will power on but not POST and not beep to indicate an error, just light up the fan. Holding the power button seems to get it to boot properly the second time around.

Why I think it's not the memory - I've run the Windows memory test as well as MEM86x both return fine. (selecting BIOS-all it will panic but the say that test is unstable with some motherboards.) I've switched memory slots and tried 4 gigs at a time and the same pulsing symptoms occur.

What I've done: Updated the BIOS to the latest version (although I'm not convinced that would help anything, it did say something about additional memory support but my memory was part of the original "cert" memory)

I don't think it's the power supply - simply because the power supply shouldn't try to turn the board on right after I plug it in. (I guess it might if there is a resume on last power fail but, it happens even when I shut it down correctly.) I also did the specs and I don't have anything that should / would push me over the 550w power that is needed. One last thing, on occasion it would keep the num lock button illuminated after it powered off unexpectedly but that has since gone away.

It's like an old car, doesn't always turn over but seems to run fine once it get's past the initial boot.

I'm almost positive it's the MB but not sure if there is anything else I should be testing?

 

[kishle]

I have am having a similar problem. Were you ever able to get it working correctly?

My specs
Intel Q9550
8 gig's Corsair DDR2 1066 Ram (model was "certified" by Asus as 100% compatible)
EVGA GTX 260 Video Card
Cooler Masters 550W Power Supply
PQ5 ASUS MB
(Nothing overclocked everything autoselect)

Background:
My computer was working find for about a week with 4 gigs (2 dimms) of memory.
I purchased and installed the additional 4 gigs and it freaked out; wouldn't post. I quickly realized that I wasn't providing enough power and needed to switch out the 4 pin EATX12V power for the MB to a full 8 pin. Still it was problematic. I then tried resetting the CMOS and reseeding the video card and all the memory.
Things improved temporarily but it would seem that every time the computer was powered off or unplugged it would revert back.

Symptoms:

Sometimes - The computer will start for a couple of seconds then simply quit and reboot. Almost a pulsing type of rhythm (3 seconds to start, then reboot, over and over again.) When it's like this holding the power button in has no effect to power down.

Sometimes - It will power on but not POST and not beep to indicate an error, just light up the fan. Holding the power button seems to get it to boot properly the second time around.

Why I think it's not the memory - I've run the Windows memory test as well as MEM86x both return fine. (selecting BIOS-all it will panic but the say that test is unstable with some motherboards.) I've switched memory slots and tried 4 gigs at a time and the same pulsing symptoms occur.

What I've done: Updated the BIOS to the latest version (although I'm not convinced that would help anything, it did say something about additional memory support but my memory was part of the original "cert" memory)

I don't think it's the power supply - simply because the power supply shouldn't try to turn the board on right after I plug it in. (I guess it might if there is a resume on last power fail but, it happens even when I shut it down correctly.) I also did the specs and I don't have anything that should / would push me over the 550w power that is needed. One last thing, on occasion it would keep the num lock button illuminated after it powered off unexpectedly but that has since gone away.

It's like an old car, doesn't always turn over but seems to run fine once it get's past the initial boot.

I'm almost positive it's the MB but not sure if there is anything else I should be testing?

I am starting to think that it is the case for this motherboard (ASUS P5Q Pro). It might be the motherboard that is causing these memory and mobo issues. Like you, I haven't done any overclocking with everything on auto, but I have 4GB of OCZ ram installed. I pretty much isolated everything, and still no luck to keep the thing stable. It would do the same thing you mentioned, random restarts whenever it wanted to. Did you manage to find a solution for it? Here is a link to what I have in another part of the forum: www.tomshardware.com/forum/257940-31-random-restarts-built-help

 

[seanstar12]

I am having issues with my P5Q Pro as well. It will post if I install all 8 gigs of the Mushkin 1066 ram, but it will not let me use the on-board ethernet. It just disapears from the network connection list. I also have the same video-card error. It is driving me nuts!