Multiple System Issues **PLEASE HELP**!

[Guest]

Hey everyone. I have a problem that's been pissing me off for ages. I have an Asus Sabertooth 990FX and I have a number of issues with it. First let me give you my system build:

- Asus Sabertooth 990FX motherboard
- 1TB hard drive
- 250gb SSD
- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
- Asus Xonar HDAV sound card
- 2 GTX 570 SSC running SLI
- AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
- Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W Continuous@40°C, 80Plus Bronze Certified,Modular Cable Design,ATX12V v2.3/ EPS12V,SLI Ready

So there you have it! I'm running windows 7 x64.

Here are my issues:

1) The system says "16gb of Ram (8gb usable)" and it shouldn't. The weird thing is, sometimes it says this and then sometimes when the PC boots it just says "16gb of Ram" as it should. I tried the "MEM OK" button on the motherboard and it basically does nothing.

2) The system only boots 25% of the time. The rest of the time, it turns on but the screen displays nothing and the computer does not boot the OS. I can leave it running like that for hours and nothing happens. The screen waits for input and the PC keeps sucking power without actually booting. All the case lighting comes on, all the fans are spinning, etc. When I unplug the PC for 15 mins or so and then try to start it, it usually starts (but not always) and sometimes it will boot normally with the 990FX overclocking my CPU to 3.7ghz and other times it will say "Overclocking failed!" and boot at 3.4ghz.

3) Sometimes if I leave the PC on for a while (like a day) and I come back its showing a black screen with "Could not boot from the selected boot disk."If I press enter it just puts the same message up again. When I restart the PC it boots fine.

Those are my issues. Honestly, #1 and #3 don't matter than much. It's #2 that's really been pissing me off. But basically if someone could help me solve this I'd really appreciate it.

P.S. I am a total noob. I built this PC from parts I got from Newegg.ca. I looked at what each part was compatible with, bought all the parts, and slapped it together. I know the basics of putting a PC together but I don't understand OCing terms, etc. To OC my processor I simply used the auto OC in the Sabertooth bios (it's just one button you click and then restart the PC).

Thanks for the help guys and girls!

 

[Guest]

bump

 

[eshepard]

Even though you said you don't care about problem 1, problem 1 could be impacting problem 2. I would start by checking your ram.

double check your memory to make sure it is installed correctly,

then download and run memtest, program and instruction can be found here..

http://www.memtest86.com/

 

[Guest]

Even though you said you don't care about problem 1, problem 1 could be impacting problem 2. I would start by checking your ram.

double check your memory to make sure it is installed correctly,

then download and run memtest, program and instruction can be found here..

http://www.memtest86.com/

Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned that I already did this.

 

[Jim_L9]

How long did you run memtest for?

 

[Jim_L9]

Do any of the problems go away if you remove the overclock?

 

[chugot9218]

They don't like bumping posts here, just a heads up. Did you try restoring your BIOS to defaults? OC programs like that can cause problems. And you have checked your temps as well to rule out any issues with your CPU cooler?

 

[Guest]

They don't like bumping posts here, just a heads up. Did you try restoring your BIOS to defaults? OC programs like that can cause problems. And you have checked your temps as well to rule out any issues with your CPU cooler?

Yeah I wont bump anymore. I just downloaded the newest update for the bios and applied it. I reset the bios to "auto" which is the default setting and still the problems remain. I tried setting the OC setting to "normal" (there is "energy saver" "normal" and "performance"). As far as I understand, normal puts the processor back to its default speed. Believe me, there is no issue with overheating. I have a massive fan on my processor and the case is essentially a wind tunnel.

 

[Guest]

Do any of the problems go away if you remove the overclock?

No the problems stay unfortunately.

 

[chugot9218]

So does that mean you did not check temps? You may have a quality fan but if there is too much or too little thermal paste on your heat sink it can causing over heating problems as well. Although you are returning the settings to "default", that may not necessarily return every BIOS value that was effected by the OC program, reset all BIOS settings to default should be an option.

 

[Guest]

So does that mean you did not check temps? You may have a quality fan but if there is too much or too little thermal paste on your heat sink it can causing over heating problems as well. Although you are returning the settings to "default", that may not necessarily return every BIOS value that was effected by the OC program, reset all BIOS settings to default should be an option.

I'm be home in two hours. I will try to get the PC started and I'll play a game for an check the processor temp (that's the temp I must check right?). Then I'll reset the bios. I'll report back here later tonight. Thanks for being so helpful!

 

[chugot9218]

Download HWMonitor or CPU-Z and GPU-Z and check the temps on your CPU, GPU, and even the MOBO. Note that if your MOBO does not incorporate a certain sensor they may give erroneous readings (like 250c or -125c, you are probably safe to ignore those readings). And completely resetting the BIOS will undo any settings that the OC program may have altered.

 

[eshepard]

as Chugot said, auto may not be a full reset. Try a hard reset of the bios with a jumper, good way to be certain

 

[Guest]

Alright well I got home and reset the bios. The PC booted fine. I then turned it off and turned it back on and it came on immediately. The processor is at 3.4ghz now but I guess that's better than a machine that doesn't work properly. I'd love for somebody to walk me through overclocking eventually...

Oh, and the ram issue is still there. I must not have run the memory checker because whatever I ran was from WITHIN the OS. I will have to try that in a bit.

 

[chugot9218]

Yes, it is nice to have someone walk you through it but there are sooooo many guides out there it starts to feel a little redundant for those experienced in OCing, and unfortunately, I am not that experienced. But, there are many guides that point out the few important settings so you don't necessarily have to learn everything. Simple overclocks can be done with just a few steps, its when you are trying to squeeze out every last hz that the more advanced settings matter.

 

[eshepard]

Oh, and the ram issue is still there. I must not have run the memory checker because whatever I ran was from WITHIN the OS. I will have to try that in a bit.

yeah follow the instructions on the memtest page, it is low level, from a bootable disc, not from within windows!