Alright PC is built, but got a problem

[fantasticfrank]

Hey guys,

I just finished my first ever PC build. I thought it was going well, but after I finished and I powered the computer on everything seems to come on with no problems. The CPU fan, the case fan, and the video card fans all come on and I have the green LED on on the motherboard, but by my RAM there is another surface-mounted LED and this lights up red as this PC powers on.

I did some research on the problem, and I came to the conclusion that I either got faulty RAM or a faulty motherboard. I'm going to copy and paste a list of the parts I used below. I want to send the faulty part back ASAP, so I just want to know if there is any way I can test either the Mobo or the RAM to figure which is my problem.

ntel i5 3570k Ivy Bridge CPU - $189.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388577

ASUS P8Z77-V PRO ATX Intel Motherboard - $169.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0386887

HIS IceQ Radeon HD 7850 Video Card - $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161405&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=s4deakg7knb4

Crucial M4 2.5" 128 GB STA III MLC Internal SSD - $123.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448


G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8 GB RAM - $46.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=13sb8tbur0ee1


Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200 RPM Internal HDD - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

Windows 7 Home OS - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=nh537jz27fyt

SAMSUNG DVD Burner - $16.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

Seasonic M12 2 620 W Power Supply

ASUS Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor - $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236176

 

[Guest]

take 1 stick of RAM and test it in each slot then do the same with the other stick.

also look around here:
http://support.asus.com/knowledge.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&m=P8Z77-V%20PRO&hashedid=euntYpCDv4qZjTYS

 

[Pinhedd]

Everything looks kosher to me

What I'd like you to do is try to boot the computer with only one memory module inserted into the 4th slot. This should force it to boot at JEDEC timings

 

[fantasticfrank]

I tested the first two slots and even swapped the two sticks of RAM and still I didn't get anything. Also booted up with no RAM and it still came up with the red LED on.

Then I did as Pinhedd suggested and put it in the fourth slot and powered it up. It booted up and the red light only flashed really quickly when I first hit the power button. The light didn't come back on after that, and I actually got the computer to attempt to boot up on my display. It tells me there is a new CPU installed, also that there is a CPU fan error. Does this point more to the stick of RAM? Or to the RAM slots? Also I got a boot device LED on now, but I'm assuming that's because my PC's is attempting to boot up. What do you recommend I do next?

 

[Pinhedd]

I tested the first two slots and even swapped the two sticks of RAM and still I didn't get anything. Also booted up with no RAM and it still came up with the red LED on.

Then I did as Pinhedd suggested and put it in the fourth slot and powered it up. It booted up and the red light only flashed really quickly when I first hit the power button. The light didn't come back on after that, and I actually got the computer to attempt to boot up on my display. It tells me there is a new CPU installed, also that there is a CPU fan error. Does this point more to the stick of RAM? Or to the RAM slots? Also I got a boot device LED on now, but I'm assuming that's because my PC's is attempting to boot up. What do you recommend I do next?

The 4th DIMM slot only trick is used to resolve an unstable boot which is preventing the user from accessing the system setup. Seeing as you weren't overclocking anything and those DIMMs run at standard DDR3-1600H timings I'm going to lean more towards it being a bad DIMM slot. What I want you to do is check and see if there is a firmware update available. It could be something as simple as the board being unable to properly calculate secondary and tertiary DRAM timings. Normally DRAM and motherboards are compatible 99% of the time but the 1% are the extreme edge cases that end up here on Toms and give everyone a headache.

EDIT: The 'new CPU Installed' and 'CPU Fan Error' are normal. The first just tells you that you should enter the system setup and the second tells you that the CPU fan RPM is low/unreported and can be ignored so long as you know that the fan is running.

 

[fantasticfrank]

Ok well it's a handy trick, I wouldn't have known where to start. I haven't installed my OS yet, so should I go to ASUS's website to try to find the firmware?

 

[Pinhedd]

yes. You can use a USB stick to update it

 

[fantasticfrank]

OK I found the updates for my particular motherboard and I've installed the OS on to my SSD. I've put them on my USB, and tried to update the firmware, but since my computer doesn't have any programs on it, it won't recognize any of the files after I extracted them. Any suggestions?

 

[Pinhedd]

You don't need to install an OS to update the firmware, you can do it from within the Asus EasyFlash utility inside the firmware itself (under tools). It is capable of reading NTFS and FAT32 filesystems

 

[fantasticfrank]

Well didn't know that lol, but I finished installing all of the BIOS updates. The PC seems to be running perfectly fine with the one stick of RAM in the 4th slot. If I put the other stick in any of the other ports, and I reboot I get no display and my red LED is lit back up. It seems like I can use the PC with no problems with the RAM in that fourth slot, but anywhere else it gets held up when trying to boot. It looks like I've narrowed my problem down to those DDRAM slots, I'm going to contact microcenter tomorrow, so I can send this motherboard back. Thanks for the help, and if you got any more comments/suggestions, please let me know.

 

[Pinhedd]

Yeah the only thing left to do is RMA that motherboard

 

[fantasticfrank]

Best answer selected by FantasticFrank.