Installed more RAM, system resetting without POST

[bland_cakez]

Hello!

Just finished building my second system and I havea few questions related to a power hiccup im getting.

First off, basic specs:

Intel i5 2500
G.Skill CAS9 1600 MHz (4x2GB)
Thermaltake 430 watt PSU
MSI B3 Military class (LGA 1155) P67 chipset
ZOTAC GeForce 9800

The processor and mobo are new, the GPU and RAM are a carryover from an old system.
Everything boots up perfectly fine with all drives and HDDs connected when I only occupy 2 channels for RAM (4GB) but when I insert the extra 4GB (additional 2 channels), it will power on for 5 seconds, reset, power on for 5 seconds, reset....etc, no beeps, no post, just continuous resetting.

I'm feeling as though this might be that my PSU is not suppling enough power. I used a power calculator online and plugged in my exact specs (including LED fans, optical drives, etc) and it says i need at least 434 watts on a 90% load.

I wanna go return this PSU tomorrow if it's the problem to a hastey response would be nice!

 

[WR2]

Hello bland_cakez;

Is the system stable with just 2 sticks of RAM?

Since your power draw at idle loads is very low I don't think the problem is your PSU.

A bad stick of RAM or the wrong voltage for 4 sticks of RAM would be my guess.

 

[WR2]

How about listing the model of the RAM for us?
That might help shed a clue or two about what's going on.

 

[bland_cakez]

My RAM is G.Skill CAS9 1600 MHz.
Each stick is 2GB and I have four of them which I am trying to plug in.

I came home today and I tried to boot with various setups:

1 stick - boot
2 sticks - boot
3 sticks - no boot (reset cycle...)
4 sticks no boot (reset cycle)

All the sticks are exactly the same. I tried combinations of different ones and any combo exceeding 2 modules being used is causing reseting.

I tried some corsair ram, an old pair of 1333 CAS9 which is a total of 4 GB (2x2GB). It worked! I tried adding another 2 G.Skill ram sticks into modules 3 and 4 and still my build is restart cycling with no boot.

Let me mention once more that I am using a 430 watt PSU while all the online calculators say my setup needs at least 434 W for 75% load.

 

[boiler1990]

It is most likely not your PSU.

First off, try booting each individual stick in the first slot (ie. put in stick 1, boot, replace with 2, boot, etc) to see if you just have one bad stick or a bad set of memory. The combinations you've tried don't tell us anything except that your board isn't handling the extra two sticks.

Also, make sure that the memory is being paired in the correct slots (usually 1-3 and 2-4, but check your manual).

 

[bland_cakez]

It is most likely not your PSU.

First off, try booting each individual stick in the first slot (ie. put in stick 1, boot, replace with 2, boot, etc) to see if you just have one bad stick or a bad set of memory. The combinations you've tried don't tell us anything except that your board isn't handling the extra two sticks.

Also, make sure that the memory is being paired in the correct slots (usually 1-3 and 2-4, but check your manual).

I booted everything up with 1 stick and it turns out the XMP was set to [disabled]. I enabled and suddenly my G.Skill ram was being read as 1600 with 1.49~ voltage.

I plugged the rest in as 1-3 and 2-4 then it all booted! I adjusted the voltage for the rest of the RAM and it works smoothly now


One more question, will using an older GPU like say...a GeForce 8600 bottleneck my system because Im using an old GeForce 8600 while I wait for my GTX to RMA and everything was sooooooo slow....running windows was a pain; screen flickers, color errors and even an occaisonal lockup or just total shut down...

Of course, im only using this GPU until my GTX comes in next week, it's just to update drivers for the new mobo and stuff.

 

[WR2]

Good news there.

More often than not it's something along those lines. With 4 sticks of RAM some systems seem to need minor voltage adjustment.
If your case the MB just needed to be allowed to 'talk' with the RAM to select a XMP profile.

A GeForce 8600 will not bottleneck your system.
Unless, of course, you're talking about gaming.

Did you order a GTX 9800 for this new computer?
If so you're still going to have a GPU bottleneck if this is a gaming system.

 

[bland_cakez]

If that's the case then I'm glad this isn't a gaming build.

This is a concerning issue then I guess, something must be wrong. I'm probably incorrectly using the term "bottlenecking" then.

Im experiencing rather peculiar problems with my system at the moment. This temporary gpu (Geforce 8600) is deliverying wacky issues when I run windows
-Freezing
-Screen blinking
-Color errors
-random shut downs
-lockups
-extreme lag

By far the worst symptom besides random shut downs and lockups has to be with my CPU performance.
I'll boot up windows and sit there for about 10 minutes waiting for Windows to stop hickuping. As thats happening (this is happening in very low-res conditions due to the fact my new mobo has no drivers for this GPU) i notice my Intel i5 Turbo Boost meter is freaking out!

The turbo boost meter rapidly spikes, going from 3.3GHZ to 3.79, then to 3.6, then to 3.3 again...but im not doing anything! I'm just watching windows trying to open up the start menu.

On top of this, windows displayed a task pane balloon saying "Nvidia Geforce drivers failed but have been recovered; nvidia kernal error" so im thinking its because i have not installed drivers.

The funny thing is that windows is connected to the internet and has properly located various drivers for my mobo (plus I installed a bunch from the manufacturer's disk) and even deleted the old ones, including the drivers for my old 9800gtx.

Point is i wanna make sure this has to do with my GPU/drivers because I have installed everything properly so far and my system is functing well from what I can see in the BIOS menu.

As for the bottlenecking, this build is designed as an audio rig for recording and audio rendering so getting max res/optimum gpu performance is not an issue for me.

 

[bland_cakez]

Best answer selected by bland_cakez.

 

[WR2]

I have a suspicion that a new graphics card will take care of those issues.

It might be a good idea to get that card out of your system as soon as possible - even right away.

 

[bland_cakez]

Thanks WR2,

I took your advice with haste and removed it right away. I won't continue to run the system with that graphics card as it feels as though it might be hurting my cpu in some way.

I am as confident as you are that the new graphics card will solve this issue.

Thanks for sticking with me on this one!