Help with ASUS M5A99X EVO mobo build - RAM issue???

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floatie

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Nov 18, 2011
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So, here's the specs on my machine and I'll give you the lowdown on what's going on after:

motherboad: ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

video card: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

cpu: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX

ram***: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (***from what I see, this ram isn't on the ASUS qualified vendor list***)

hd: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

power: Thermaltake W0121RU PurePower 600W ATX 12V Version 2.0 6-Pin x2 PCI-Express Power Supply

case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower

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Hey all,

I've built several rigs in the past and never had any issues on first boot. Last night I was putting the finishing touches on this build, double checking power connections, cable management, etc. I go to turn on and everything seems good, fans start up, lights blinking and all, then a series of beeps occur and I look on the motherboard and the memory LED is lit and a series of beeps (1, followed by 3, I believe) occur.

I look at the manual for the motherboard and it says to press the button near the memory LED that reads "MEM OK". This is to test the memory and see if its compatible (as I noted above my memory isn't on the ASUS Qualified Vendor List). All the while the pc is beeping (1, then followed by 3 more). The MEM OK test doesn't work and now I think its the memory that I selected that's incompatible with my motherboard. I'm RMA'ing the memory to Newegg right now as a matter of fact and want this rig up and running, so I'm heading to the local pc market to pick up compatible RAM from the ASUS list I previously mentioned.

So, this is the first time I've built with the above hardware all in the same rig and I wanted to know what the general consensus is on what I think might be the issue - the memory. Please let me know if that's what you have experienced with this motherboard, or if you have more knowledge on the issue.

Thanks.

TL;DR Built a new pc. Error beeps and find out memory isn't on ASUS QVL. RMA'ing the memory and buying memory today. Any thoughts as to what I think is the issue - my RAM? Your own experiences? Expertise?

Thanks!
 
I suggest you read your manual for the recommended ram slots to use. Start with one stick in dimm slot one and go from there. If the board posts, try a second stick in the recommended slot, and so on. I've never had a problem with gskill ripjaws ram in three different boards, both Intel and amd chipsets. But asus can be finicky about their bios settings for ram. If you get your board going with just one or two sticks of ram, I would hold off on an rma and give asus a chance to respond. Fill out their tech support form and link this post to the form. Give them 24 hours to respond. My guess is that one ram stick isn't seated or the problem is elsewhere.
 

floatie

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Thanks for the reply.

So, when I first put the ram in - I had them seated in the wrong slots (the 2 sticks were in seats 2 and 4, instead of 1 and 3). So, I changed them over to the correct slots.

Tried to start up again and the same issues occurred. So, I repeated what the manual said to do - press the MEM OK button and see if it was compatible RAM.

I was looking on the ASUS Qualified Vendor List and my RAM wasn't on the list. Several types of G. Skill RAM were on the list, but not my specific model #. That's why I thought to RMA the ram I have and just go to Microcenter and pick up sticks of ram that are on the list provided by ASUS.

I'm going to call them now to see if it's something else that could be wrong.

Thanks again.
 
good idea. Try a breadboard post on wood or cardboard. Using just one stick of ram, video, cpu/heatsink, and keyboard, connect the power supply leads. If the board led is on, I simply touch the case pin cluster section with a plain flat screwdriver and move it around until the board fires up and the post screen appears. It should tell you which "f" key or "del" key to press. If you enter the bios, set the boot order cd>hardrive, etc. and set the ram voltage to your specs; most are 1.5v, then set the speed at 1600, save and exit. If no post screen appears, then I would suspect the new power supply simply may not work with your board. Try a spare if you have one. Good luck.
 
It's to test the board out of the case to be sure it's not touching something such as a loose backplate or screw left underneath, or maybe an extra case standoff touching circuitry under the board. It often works after all else fails. You may also gently pry the motherboard battery clip until it pops up and remove the battery for one minute with the power supply unplugged then press it back in. This resets the bios. A few boards may have the cmos jumper in the wrong position, but this is rare.
 

floatie

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I should have a video card lying around among my older parts. I'll see if that solves the beeping.

After speaking with the ASUS rep he suggested that I purchase RAM that's on the list. I'm not too put off by that, as I want this rig to run nicely right from the first boot up. So, I'm RMA'ing the other RAM and going out tonight to pick up some that is on the ASUS Qualified Vendor List for RAM.

I'll update my progress later on.

Thanks again to all who've replied.

Any other thoughts are still more than welcome.

 

floatie

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Update:

Added some Corsair Vengeance 8gig sdram ddr3 1600 and it booted up like a charm. No error beeps (it was 1 and then 2 before - so an obvious memory issue). The model# is CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9. Model #CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9b sticks will also work - the "b" denotes that they are blue sticks instead of black.

This machine is blazing right now.

Thanks for the help and all the new info I learned.
 

oobumblebeeoo

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Hi, I recently purchased the new 8150 3.6GHz 8-core bulldozer and a pair of [ RipjawsX ] F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL DDR3 Dual Channel memory pairs (The memory is in the correct DIMM slots)

I also have the M5A99X Evo and a nice 1K psu.

My problem is that on first boot/BIOS config after I built the system, the memory is only show @ 1600MHz.
I have managed to overclock to 2100MHz or just above with my CPU overclock to 4.15GHz also by setting the overclock settings manually in the BIOS.

It seems very strange, I think because this still is unsupported memory and needs a BIOS upgrade? I am already on 0813 BIOS to see if it needed a fix.
This still is unsupported and even my 3.6GHz 8-core bulldozer still isn't on the QVL list.

I can boot if I leave it four minutes after the first inital cold boot, but if I leave it switched off and try and switch it on (warm boot it) before that 4 minutes then it just hangs, no POST whatsoever with the VGA light lit until I switch off.

I have tried swapping my gfx card with another one and still the same issue, have to leave it off for 4 mins before trying to warm boot again.
Cold boots are absolutely fine (had the pc off for over 4 mins or longer).




Has anybody got any ideas or a way of contacting ASUS to get this CPU/Memory added, I'm sure there are many people who want this beast of a system :D

I have added screenshots showing that windows runs absolutely fine/stable when it does eventually boot.
Also ran 3DMark06 with a gfx overclock also and hitting 227fps on some parts, score is 18887 with everything set standard and just pressing test.



Hope this all helps, any other questions, just ask!


Ant



(The screenshots are at native res, so you can right-click to download them off of my site to view, it's hard to see on here!)


7score.jpg



sysinf.jpg
 

ub3r-l33ch

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I'm having a hell of a time getting some Mushkin Redline PC 2133 RAM working at it's factory speeds. I loaded the detected speeds in the BIOS, but the system won't POST. Could it be the NB/HT needing to run faster than 2000 that's causing it? I have the BIOS updated to the latest release. BTW, are there any custom BIOSes for this board?

Thanks in advance!
 

oobumblebeeoo

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See, I was getting the same thing, leave it off for about 4 mins, I bet it posts! Mine did everyone leaving it that long, I think they do need a bios to support it.

My G.Skill 2133 8gb dual channel 11-11-11-30's are sitting there doing nothing now, a free data ago I bought some 1866 corsair vengance sticks as it said they were sorted in the qvl list and it boots everytime.

I was told that I needed to overclock my system just to get to that speed.
I manged to get mine going as in the pictures above but couldn't stand out not posting.

guess we will have to see what asus do... I did send the above to them and all I got was some crap reply about trying one dimm in one slot..., looked like some halfwit is employed on the technical side as I told them everything and they seemed to have overlooked that it's dual channel ram and won't run with just one stick! Deeeeeeeerr!
 

noah91

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I have this board as well. I have to leave it off and unplugged for a while in order for it to successfully POST and boot up Windows. When I shut it off and try to turn it back on, SOMETIMES the MEMOK led stays lit, which means that there is a problem with my memory, which doesn't seem right if I can boot into Windows with it and it sees my memory
( which is this stuff here http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6613461 8gb 2x4gb)

And when I try to reset the system with the reset button while the MEMOK led is lit, the led will switch over to the VGA led and stay lit until I turn off the system. I know my Video card is working fine..

Would it be recommended to update my BIOS even if it is already at 0705? I'm so frustrated with this, I've tried everything but this. :fou:
I've seen that revision 0813 improves system stability and memory compatibility...

My specs are:
AMD FX 6100 3.3GHz @3.6ghz
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB
ASUS M5A99X EVO motherboard
Seagate 1TB hard drive
Sony optiarc DVD drive
MSI HD6770 1GB DDR5
ALLIED 500W PSU
 

noah91

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oops! reread forum :eek:
probably should buy that Corsair Vengeance memory eh? the tigerdirect tech support guy suggested the memory that I am using now and he said it would work, I should probably exchange it for that 8gb kit...because I don't see mine on the memory QVL...
 
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