Bad DIMM slot or mobo grounding on case maybe?

[swanny311]

I have been having issues with my Asus m4a79xtd evo mobo since I purchased it in March, and it may just be a bad motherboard but the symptoms and inconsistencies with issues have boggled my tech friends and myself for quite some time so I thought I would visit here. This was my first PC I built myself and when its working it works great.

specs

Spoiler

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO MOBO
PhenomxII 820 deneb cpu
2x2 gigs gskill ram: F310666-CL8D4GBHK, on the qvl
Asus Geforce GTS 450 gpu
Rosewill wireless lan card
Xigmatech heatsink with fan
Corsair tx650w PSU
case: Xigmatech Utgaard

Previously:

Spoiler

The issues started about a month after I had it, I was tinkering around with OC'ing the CPU (nothing crazy, never got above 75 C and never exceeded any voltage parameters) until I had it at a stable and easy 3.3 ghz. I think the OC was stable because I could play demanding games for extensive periods and also memtest and prime95 were stable for >12 hours. A few weeks after I OC'd the CPU and GPU I ran into a spectrum of BSOD's. Also the computer was least stable after it went to sleep and was trying to awake.

This is where it got weird, when the computer was cold, or hadn't been booted for a few hours it would sometimes boot and run fine for 5-10 minutes and then BSOD. Other times it would freeze mid POST. And even other times it wouldnt even POST or give me the 1 beep signifying my GPU was outputting to the monitor. The problem was exacerbated whenever I would try to come out of sleep mode. Usually once the computer was active for over 30 minutes it wouldn't crash no matter how long it was in use.

I began to mess with the ram and found that 1 stick in DIMM_A2 by itself is unstable while the same stick was stable in every other individual slot. The mobo is designed so 1 stick will work in any slot but two sticks must be matched A1B1 OR A2B2. A2B2 were designed for better OC's so thats why I initially chose those. I thought this wasn't a huge deal so I began using A1B1 primarily and reset all OC's to factory settings. A1B1 setup was stable for some time before the issues crept up again, albeit slowly. I decided to take my mobo out of its case and rebuild it on my actual desktop on top of a piece of cardboard. It never had any instability issues on the cardboard, but clearly that is not ideal. After a week or two I placed it back in the case where it was again stable until the issues began slowly happening at an accelerating rate which leads me to now.

Now:
Instability issues forced me to check out each dimm slot with each stick of memory. Either stick works in slot B1 but neither works in slot A1. Using both sticks in A1B1 also is ineffective. When sticks are in this slot the computer does not even POST, the single beep never occurs telling me that no VGA is detected. I rebuilt the entire mobo inside the case and reapplied thermal paste but this did not solve anything, it seemed slightly more stable but the problems snowballed again quickly to the point I'm at now where using slot A1 doesn't allow a POST.

Next, I took my mobo out of its case and built it on my desk, where it sits now on a piece of cardboard, with both sticks of ram in A1 and B1, working flawlessly as I type this.

In your opinion is this a motherboard issue, a ram issue, or a case issue? I am becoming desperate for help and appreciate any insight.

 

[swanny311]

Found a relevant forum post after a little more digging. Going to add some rubber washers to the standoffs to hopefully solve the issue.

 

[swanny311]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/294166-30-asus-m4a79xtd-computer-doesnt-boot-sticks-installed

Found it. Probably should have researched into it a little more this time around. I scoured the net the first time the issue arose and couldn't find anything similar to what I was experiencing so this time I just got frustrated and posted.

 

[swanny311]

The previous post did not solve my problem unfortunately. I started by just removing the "trouble" standoffs one by one (never more then one removed at a time). This did not fix the problem, so I ordered paper washers and used those to sandwich the mobo like: case | standoff | paper washer | mobo | paper washer | screw. This did not solve the problem and also my pc crashed again while startup repair was running, corrupting my entire D: drive.

After a fresh windows install and pulling the mobo out of the case, which had previously been effective, the problem persisted and the computer would crash a few times and then refuse to even POST when both sticks of ram were used. Back to 1 stick of ram while I reinstalled the essentials and searched for more clues. I ran across something suggesting to remove the PSU from the case, which I did. I shut down, turned off psu, installed the other stick, powered on, and booted. And it works again. It has been stable and steady for the past few hours so Im not sure if I found the culprit or have been just given false hope for the Xth time since February.

Regardless, after having to reinstall Windows I immediately put in an RMA request and simultaneously ordered the ASUS M4N98TD EVO. The new mobo should be here sometime next week and if the PC doesn't crash in its current state until the new one comes I'll consider keeping it as a backup, otherwise I'll go through with the RMA and have a spare mobo for a while.

I apologize for bumping this if you didn't want to see it again, I just wanted to update anyone else going through the same situation about my progress.

 

[swanny311]

Received the new mobo yesterday. I'm not sure if its normal to have the mobo box arrive unsealed and what looks like previously opened. Regardless, I set it up in the case expecting it to work, it didn't. I tinkered with it for a bit, stripped it down, reset the cmos, breadboarded it, went through multiple troubleshooting guides, and finally tested my PSU with a multimeter. All I would get, breadboarded with only 1 stick of ram, the cpu, HSF, and GPU, was an error code consisting of 1 long beep, pause, 3 normal beeps, pause, and finally 2 quick beeps. Looking online through bios beep codes I found a lot of different meanings ranging from no vga detected, faulty memory, and DOA mobo.

A few peculiar things happened though during the chaos. Before I installed the new mobo, while the previous mobo was breadboarded on an antistatic bag and piece of cardboard, if I set anything down too hard on the desk, it would instantly power down, due to the desk shaking. Also once when the new mobo was connected I put my hand and some body weight onto the PSU sitting on the desk and the computer powered down momentarily and then resumed. I wasn't able to recreate either of these circumstances though. I can squeeze the psu, shake it, wave it in the air (carefully) and the system stays stable. Since hooking my old mobo back up in the same breadboarded fashion I haven't triggered a reset no matter how hard I drum on my desk.

I RMA'ed my new mobo today through newegg. It would be nice if I knew someone with spare parts that lived close and would be able to swap out different things to see what happens but unfortunately no one does. I also can't afford to take it into a repair shop at the moment. After all these hours working with my setup I feel competent with how a PC works, its components, bios's, etc. However I find it unlikely that I purchased two ASUS mobos that were bad and most likely I am doing something devastatingly wrong.

I'll update again when I receive the replacement m4n98td.

 

[Guest]

Hey, I'm not sure if you're struggling with the problem anymore or not, but reading up on the symptoms your mobo had have just staggered me because I have almost EXACTLY the same problems.

I have the exact same motherboard as you do, and mine has been blue screening a lot too. I first thought it was a faulty PSU and replaced that, but that yielded no results. Then, not long from that, two of my DIMM slots died (I think A2 and B2)

Also, I had the exact same problems as you mentioned in your OP, such as not being able to recover from sleep mode, freezing 5-10 minutes into the first boot of the day or even mid POST.

I've set aside my PC for now, as I haven't been able to get it running stable for more than 2 minutes now. I'm going to tear open the case and see if the mobo is visually cracked.

 

[swanny311]

Hey, I'm not sure if you're struggling with the problem anymore or not, but reading up on the symptoms your mobo had have just staggered me because I have almost EXACTLY the same problems.

I have the exact same motherboard as you do, and mine has been blue screening a lot too. I first thought it was a faulty PSU and replaced that, but that yielded no results. Then, not long from that, two of my DIMM slots died (I think A2 and B2)

Also, I had the exact same problems as you mentioned in your OP, such as not being able to recover from sleep mode, freezing 5-10 minutes into the first boot of the day or even mid POST.

I've set aside my PC for now, as I haven't been able to get it running stable for more than 2 minutes now. I'm going to tear open the case and see if the mobo is visually cracked.

I ended up buying a new mobo, the M4N98TD. When I tried to install my GPU, it wouldn't boot. Took it to a buddies who put one of his weaker GPU's in and it and it booted. So I found a couple GTX 460's being clearanced for 110, installed them and a new PSU and works perfect (given I changed the GPU, Mobo, and PSU).

Last week I used the old mobo and my GTS 450 again plus a few other spare parts to put together a media center. It's ran flawlessly for a few weeks but I think it will probably start crashing again within a few months like it has before. If it doesn't I'll let ya know, and quite frankly the only difference between that one and my old troublesome setup is 1 stick of 2gb ram instead of 2x2.

TLDR: Problem could have been the GPU or Mobo. Tried everything. Gave up on it.