ASUS P5Q Pro booting problems

[KarnEvil]

Hi,

I've just finished building and installing a PC. (It's not the first one but everything's changing so fast in this world...) It looks like:

MB: Asus P5Q Pro
CPU: Intel E7400 2.8GHz (not OCd)
CPU cooler: AC Freezer 7 Pro
RAM: OCZ 2x2GB Dual Channel kit 1066MHz
HDD: Seagate 250GB SATA (only for system, I haven't installed the other one yet)
Video: Sapphire HD4670 passive PCIe2.0
PSU: Antec EarthWatts 430W (came with the case)
OS: Windows XP SP2

So, most of the times when I start the PC with the power switch it doesn't POST (blank screen), and when it does, I often get error messages like: "system can't boot because of C:\Windows\System32\Config\System is corrupt". And then sometimes it starts the Windows OK... It's the same with Express Gate, sometimes it starts OK, but sometimes I get the message: "E.G. is not installed correctly"
But when it has started Windows and I restart it from Win it restarts correctly.
Can anyone please help me? This drives me crazy...
Oh, it might be important that my PSU has a 4-pin CPU connector and the manual says that I should use an 8-pin one. But I read that many people use this mobo with a 4-pin one and I don't OC anyway.

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[GhislainG]

Unlike the P5Q Deluxe where Express Gate is available even if a hard disk is not installed, Express Gate on a P5Q Pro is installed on the hard disk. If something is wrong with the hard disk, then both E.G. and the OS will have problems.

Is your Antec EarthWatts 430W new or did you have it for a couple years?

 

[KarnEvil]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. The Antec Earthwatts is brand new, it came with the Antec case. I bought everything last week.

 

[jonpaul37]

i have a question, did the Hard Drive that you installed already have Win XP on it when you built that machine, or did you do a freash install?

 

[GhislainG]

If possible, I would try a different hard disk.

 

[KarnEvil]

No, I did a fresh install.

 

[KarnEvil]

Meanwhile I removed one of the RAM modules and re-installed Windows (because it gave it up finally) and now I've turned off and restarted the system about 40 times without problems. So do you have any ideas?

 

[GhislainG]

Did you set the RAM voltage properly? Using overclocked RAM always requires manual settings in the BIOS.

 

[KarnEvil]

Did you set the RAM voltage properly? Using overclocked RAM always requires manual settings in the BIOS.

Hi,

No, I didn't set it, but both of them worked fine separately. Now I put them back together and the PC didn't POST again. To test the slots I've also tried one module in each slot and in DIMM_A1 and A2 it worked fine, but when I placed it into DIMM_B1 or B2, it wouldn't POST. Does this mean that B1B2 slots are faulty or is it normal?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[GhislainG]

Start by setting the voltage and timings as per the specs. If the modules are on the QVL or OCZ certified them for that motherboard, they should work fine. That motherboard might require that you populate bank A before using bank B.

 

[KarnEvil]

Start by setting the voltage and timings as per the specs. If the modules are on the QVL or OCZ certified them for that motherboard, they should work fine. That motherboard might require that you populate bank A before using bank B.

Thank you! I set up the voltage and timings and then everything was OK, I ran memtest for a whole night, no problem, booted OK until I installed Express Gate... Now it always restarts after showing EG screen. I had to disable EG in BIOS then uninstalled it so now it's working again... What should I do with EG?
By the way, my OCZ RAMs are not on the QVL list.

 

[GhislainG]

Do you have the latest version of EG? Do you use it? I rarely use it on my P5Q Deluxe.

 

[KarnEvil]

Thanks, actually I couldn' find the latest version (1.441) but I would rarely use it so maybe I'll just disable the whole thing. Which is worrying that although memtest runs fine I tried Orthos and it always crashes after a few minutes, because of RAM. If I only stress the CPU it runs fine. Maybe I exchange these modules to some Corsair that's on the QVL.

 

[GhislainG]

G.Skill also have excellent modules. You could try to increase the voltage a bit or use less aggressive timings.

 

[KarnEvil]

It was the motherboard. I got a replacement from the shop, so now it works like charm.