M4A785-M + Athlon II 620 freezing at startup screen from cold boot

[Summer Leigh Castle]

HTPC freezes at the ASUS startup screen during cold boot. A restart will temporary fix the problem but problem comes back when the computer is shutdown.

EDIT: System runs fine after the start.

NOTES:
Latest bios installed (0503).
I've re-seated the CPU and double checked all connections.
CPU and memory speeds are stock. All settings left at [AUTO].
The RAM is motherboard approved (G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK) and passed MemTest+.
Power supply is a Corsair 450w.



I'm certain there's something wrong with the motherboard as I experienced this issue before with another motherboard. Would like to avoid doing a RMA if possible.Thoughts?

 

[rand_79]

did you try reloading bios default settings?

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

did you try reloading bios default settings?

Yes. First thing I did after updating to the latest version.

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

Issue Found: Bad motherboard.

I tested the motherboard using the standard, one piece at a time, test. Swapped the CPU, powersupply, memory, motherboard! (and hard-drive at the request of ASUS support) and all fingers point to a bad motherboard. *Sigh*

 

[badge]

CPU and memory speeds are stock. All settings left at [AUTO].

The G. Skill memory requires 1.9-2.0v. The voltage requirements is on DIMM. The MB BIOS defaults to 1.8v. Bump the voltage to 2.0v. Also increase the voltage to the CPU and to the MB chipsets including NB. I have an ASUS 780G and PII 940. The board requires some voltage tweaking to get it completely stable. That G. Skill kit needs a voltage increase to specs (2.0v) regardless if it passes memtest Obviously as soon as software is run (load OS) it fails.

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

I tested 1.8 to 2.1. I even used F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ G.Skill which is stock at 1.8.

 

[badge]

If the system runs with the exception of freezing when running software, the cause is likely not Motherboard failure. The likely cause of system failure when running applications is RAM. Other than needing a voltage adjustment, curious to what chip (or other hardware pertainting to the MB) do you attribute system freezing to.

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

Not sure at this point really. The computer freezes at bios screen startup before it reaches OS so I'm not sure if it's related to software application.

EDIT: The RAM is motherboard approved and passed MemTest. Something faulty with my RAM you think? Maybe my two sets of G.Skill RAM are bad? Frustrating.

 

[badge]

So, you have already RMA'd the board to ASUS or have an RMA authorization pending? ASUS will likely test the board and send it back to you if there is no obvious problem.

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

About to get it RMA'd but I'll update when I get the board back.

 

[badge]

Not sure at this point really. The computer freezes at bios screen startup before it reaches OS so I'm not sure if it's related to software application.

EDIT: The RAM is motherboard approved and passed MemTest. Something faulty with my RAM you think? Maybe my two sets of G.Skill RAM are bad? Frustrating.

Yeah, if you have any other RAM than the two G. Skill kits it's worth a try. I have the ASUS 780G, PII 940 and 8 gigs of G. Skill PC28500 1066MHz. (same issue as you, but the 1066MHz. version). In my case, the MB and G. Skill have issue at 1066MHz. To get my system stable at 3.4GHz. I have to lower the transfer rateof the G. Skill to 800MHz. from 1066Mhz. In BIOS, an increase in voltage to the RAM, NB and chipset solve the instability problem. Remember, there is an onboard video chip in the micro 785. Increase the voltage a notch to the MB chips and the RAM. You can also try disabling the onboard video if not in use. A good read of the MB manual BIOS section may lead to further system tweaks that lead to system stability. I'm happy with my ASUS 780G, but I want an ASUS 790FX to get the most out of PII940. Micros can picky and need some tweaking from what little ability is there compared to superior chipsets.

 

[badge]

About to get it RMA'd but I'll update when I get the board back.

Yeah, please let us know what happens when you get the RMA back.

 

[Summer Leigh Castle]

Success!

New motherboard came in and everything started up as normal!

However, there is one major difference this time around. Asus has a quick OS startup called Asus Express Gate. Before, it would crash every time I enabled it. Now, I can load it without any problems.

Thanks for the help everyone.