Asus P5K NoPost unless no ram. Ram tests fine though?

[shalafi00]

Rightio, here are some specs:

Asus P5K (just P5K)
Core 2 Duo E6550 - 2.33 GHz - overclocked to 3.1
(Termaltake TMG A1 for cooling)
Corsair CM2x1024-8500C5D - just 2 gig of 1066 ram 5-5-5-15
ASUS ATI 3850 512 MB.

Would list other components but not relevant. (Nor is video card at this point really).

Everything listed below has been tried with 2 power supplies, they are as follows:

Antec Truepower trio 430W. Computer has been using this power supply for 9 months.
Coolermaster 460W. same age, came with case, but never used in that time, thus "new". Or new enough anyway.

Have been running the PC for 9 months now. Everything has been great up until now. Computer fine last night, simply wont post now. EXCEPT for when there is no RAM in. As long as the RAM is in, I get exactly the same result with all component configurations which is no post at all. I do get the fans spinning up and such, i.e. everything went "on", but still no post. The only time I get any response at all is when the ram has been removed entirely. When I do this, I get the ASUS No Memory Detected Post Beep. Thus it goes like this:

MotherBoard + Cpu, and nothing else, no ram beep.
MotherBoard + Cpu + RAM, no beep at all.

It's the RAM you say!

Well, no. I've tested this another PC, memtest on both modules for an hour, no problems.

I've tried each ram module in each slot on it's own. Still no post.

I've searched around a few forums, and the closest situation to this I could find was when people used core 2 8500 CPU's with this motherboard, and then found they needed to update the bios before they could get the computer to work with the 8500 cpu. An older CPU apparently worked in these machines, and with this older cpu, a bios update then allowed the 8500 chips to work. This makes me believe my issue is the CPU, as I am thinking that perhaps the mb checks for RAM before it looks for CPU. Massive speculation here though. Anyway, no spare CPU to test with atm. No mb to test the cpu on either. There are so many threads about the 8500 cpu issue, that I'm really struggling to find a thread about this particular issue. I'm hoping the general consensus here is that the CPU is at fault, and the overclock has simply roasted it in a short amount of time, but I have never had any heat issues, and while I can't remember now what temp it tended to run at, I know it was low enough as I have always run a temperature monitor, and I also manually set the warning levels after consulting google (whatever they were).

Never posted here before, but after a few google searches it became apparent rather quickly that tomshardware was the go for support for this kind of issue.

- Pete

 

[MMclachlan]

Have you tried CMOS reset to default cpu clocks before doing this testing?

 

[shalafi00]

Yes. Attempted with and without vid card, and on both power supplies.

 

[shalafi00]

Oh, and with jumpers and removal of battery, one, then the other, then both, still no go.

 

[MMclachlan]

Sounds like mobo or cpu. 3.1 is is not a huge o/c from 2.33. Can you try the cpu in another board? Its a pain I know but at least then you can pin it down to mobo.

 

[MMclachlan]

...or CPU! Also on your way try testing it outside of the case (with 1 stick ram and gfx) on a piece of card to eliminate possibility of a case short.

 

[marniecrittle]

Can you try with a lower spec ram dimm? I have read that sometimes sysytem will not boot with higher spec ram. Have to boot with say 533 ram and then set bios for higher spec.

 

[Jim_L9]

It sounds like your RAM voltage is too low.

 

[shalafi00]

Hey all,

thanks for the responses so far. At this point I have resolved myself to pick up a new CPU while at work today. While there is a large possibility that the issue lies with the mb, i'm leaning towards the CPU still.

I have it all setup just on a bit of cardboard atm, so no case shorts at this point. (like the thinking though).

I'm relatively sure that the issue is not with the ram either, as when the CMOS is reset, the computer sets the ram to 800 mghz, at a standard voltage. I know that the ram is fine with this as i ran the pc in this mode for the first few days of operation (pre overclock essentially).

If anyone else has any ideas I would love to hear them, particularly in regards to my speculation regarding the motherboard looking at the ram before looking at the CPU.

Either way, keep an eye out on ebay for a "used only once" cpu, as I may be selling the cpu i buy today very shortly.

 

[shalafi00]

Back again....

I live in victoria and and work in the city of melbourne. As previously stated, I was going today to pick up a new CPU. Turns out that idiocy can spread to a multitude of places. One of those being Computer Parts Limited or CPL. It seems I am unable to purchase JUST a CPU. I have to get a motherboard as well! This is just rediculous.

I will never purchase anything from CPL ever again, and I hope if there are any aussies reading here, they may follow suit, as this is one of the most rediculous situations I have had to endure in my life. If you can't sell a product without that product going along with another product, then don't list the singular component! List the package!

Anyway, enough about that. I now have a new E7300 CPU and a P5KPL/1600 motherboard. I will return here later with the results of my testing, as I imagine the results of my testing will be useful for future issues.