Big Problems with New Rig

stedders · 4 Aug 2008 at 22:39

Guys,

I post this in the hope that someone can give me some advice on what could be wrong with my updated system, full kit at the bottom of the post.

Last week I got myself some new kit, ASUS P5Q Mobo, E8400 CPU and 4GB's of OCZ 8500 Platinum RAM.

After sticking it all together I had a problem installing Win XP, after using a backed up copy of my Installation disk everything was fine, had a good time over the weekend setting everything up and testing the system with the Crysis demo.

This morning I logged on and everything was fine, checked the web, updated my spreadsheets, etc...

I got home this evening only to find that the system wouldn't boot, it got as far as the Windows loading screen and reset, tried restoring from a restore point - same thing happened, tried booting in safe mode - loaded quite a lot of the system but again it reset itself, tried restoring from the disk - again reset as the system loads.

I was able to boot using the Express Gate software.

I then tried a reinstall, everything went fine, as it loaded the Windows setup screen after the install it suddenly reset itself.

I have tried installing on each of my SATA drives and the same thing happens, installs fine but when the system starts to load the setup it resets itself.

I have tried booting the SATA HD's from each of the SATA ports and the same thing happens.

Another oddity is since I installed Windows on one of the drives the system isn't happy booting from the CD with that HD attached any more, it complains about selecting a valid boot drive or bootable disk, but if I change the SATA drive then it is fine.

WTF IS GOING ON? :confused:

6+ Years IT Experience, Building and Rebuilding several PC's, a Degree in IT and studying for an MSc in Computer Science....and I have no idea how to sort it out.

I reckon it could be the SATA controller on the Mobo, but why would the Express Gate boot?, or the HD's are dead, possible they are quite old - but all three going at the same time, unlikley.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Stedders

Kit List:

Tagan 1000W PSU
Akasa Eclipse case
Asus P5Q Mobo
E8400 CPU
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) 8500 Platinum RAM
3 x SATA HD's (One, the old main drive is a WD Raptor 36GB)
1 x IDE HD
1 x IDE CD/DVD Combi RW
1 x Nvidia Geforce 6600GT

subzero · 4 Aug 2008 at 23:47

Are you running your 4gig memory at its correct voltages mate,long shot..

keyser · 5 Aug 2008 at 00:23

Disconnect and reconnect all cables, especially power cables into mobo

Yeah and do a memtest off a bootable CD if possible.

It could also be a dodgy PSU.

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 06:52

Cheers Guys,

Voltages clock speeds are stock, haven't touched them.

Will try disconecting and reconnecting everything.

Anything else?

Cheers
Luke

subzero · 5 Aug 2008 at 07:35

stedders said:
Cheers Guys,

Voltages clock speeds are stock, haven't touched them.

Will try disconecting and reconnecting everything.

Anything else?

Cheers
Luke

Could be your problem right there with the memory,check what voltage your memory is supposed to run at ,it will be something like 2.1.

At stock your motherboard puts less volts through the memory,which is usually okay for 2gig,but you will need to up it for 4 gig.

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 08:36

subzero said:
Could be your problem right there with the memory,check what voltage your memory is supposed to run at ,it will be something like 2.1.

At stock your motherboard puts less volts through the memory,which is usually okay for 2gig,but you will need to up it for 4 gig.

OK, thanks SubZero, I did try to boot with a single stick installed.

I will go through the power later.

Cheers
Stedders

lost.prophet · 5 Aug 2008 at 08:58

stedders said:
OK, thanks SubZero, I did try to boot with a single stick installed.

I will go through the power later.

Cheers
Stedders

It would be a better test if you had some older, slower ram to test with. THat should work, and if it does, it is the undervoltage on the RAM. I have a friend who recently had the same problem

Pneumonic · 5 Aug 2008 at 09:12

ensure the RAM is running at the correct voltage... there are known issues with OCZ RAM on Asus boards although for the most part these are sorted run some 9600 OCZ reaper on my asus board no issue.. but defo check the voltage

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 10:18

Two further questions...

Does anyone know what the stock RAM voltage is for the P5Q, I won't get a chance to check until lunch when I shoot home?

Does it matter if the RAM is in the same channel or interleaved?

Cheers
Stedders

Trill · 5 Aug 2008 at 11:20

stedders said:
Two further questions...

Does anyone know what the stock RAM voltage is for the P5Q, I won't get a chance to check until lunch when I shoot home?

Does it matter if the RAM is in the same channel or interleaved?

Cheers
Stedders

The P5Q BIOS DRAM Voltage will be set to Auto by default.
If you only have 2 Single sticks of RAM they should be in A1 and B1 slots.

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 11:52

Trill said:
The P5Q BIOS DRAM Voltage will be set to Auto by default.
If you only have 2 Single sticks of RAM they should be in A1 and B1 slots.

Cheers Trill,

The OCZ RAM indicates that it has a required voltage between 2.1 and 2.3 volts.

I will manually set them to those levels and see what happens.

Cheers
Stedders

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 13:13

Changed the voltage to 2.1, disconnected all the power leads and reconnected...still no joy.

Resets when Windows starts.

Any further thoughts, any idea where the problem may lie?

Cheers
Stedders

Curio · 5 Aug 2008 at 13:18

Have you run Memtest on the RAM? I would say the problem is likely to be RAM, PSU or mobo.........in that order.

Tetsu · 5 Aug 2008 at 13:24

Does sound like the RAM, do as Curio says and memtest.

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 20:51

Memtest has run through two passes now, no error's found.

When I tried to boot off of the Ubuntu disk the machine reset itself while the OS was loading.

Think I can rule the RAM out?

Next - how can I test the PSU?

I may just wait until pay day and buy a new one, any recommendations?

Cheers
Stedders

mitch212k · 5 Aug 2008 at 20:54

for psu pretty much only able to test it in another pc.

can you check cpu temps? Is it possible the heatsink has come away or something causing the cpu to overheat then reset?

subzero · 5 Aug 2008 at 21:12

Strange,there is no possibilty of the motherboard shorting out on anything is there,have you tried running it out of the case with minimal attached,1 harddrive,1 ram,GPU,opitical drive.

BENdage · 5 Aug 2008 at 21:22

You should try getting the latest sata drivers for your mobo, I had a very similar problem when I instaleld XP on my rig and it was the sata drivers supplied with the board causing the problem. To this day whenever I install them, even on vista, they mess my system up

stedders · 5 Aug 2008 at 21:55

can you check cpu temps? Is it possible the heatsink has come away or something causing the cpu to overheat then reset?

CPU Temps look fine under BIOS and if it was the CPU overheating it would have reset while running memtest for three hours.

Strange,there is no possibilty of the motherboard shorting out on anything is there,have you tried running it out of the case with minimal attached,1 harddrive,1 ram,GPU,opitical drive.

Good idea, I have it running on pretty minimal setup at the mo in the, thankfully I can just remove the motherboard section from the case.

You should try getting the latest sata drivers for your mobo, I had a very similar problem when I instaleld XP on my rig and it was the sata drivers supplied with the board causing the problem. To this day whenever I install them, even on vista, they mess my system up

Hmmmm...could be, but I can't even be boot from my DVD drive, IDE.

Thanks for your thoughts, will try just booting from the IDE drive and removing everything out of the case.

Cheers
Stedders

stedders · 6 Aug 2008 at 09:30

Attempted to boot of my IDE drive without any SATA drives installed, as Ubuntu loads it resets itself.

I really am starting to think it is the motherboard.

My new plan is either to...

Replace all my old parts, PSU, GFX, HD, DVD, to verify that it is defo the Mobo.
Replace the Mobo, if it boots then I can be positive it is faulty

I am happy doing either, you can never have enough components lying around.

What's OCUK's policy on returns/refunds?

Cheers
Stedders