Please help diagnose problem between RAM & m'board!

PhilNicholls

PhilNicholls

PhilNicholls

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Joined
19 Jan 2008
Posts
5
Help!

I've just put together my first pc, and it's all gone wrong!

First of all, so there's no confusion, here's the specs I'm working with:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz
(Bought recently from OcUK)
Asus P5N32-E nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
CoolerMaster Extreme Power 650W PSU
4 x 1GB OCZ Platinum Rev. DDR2-800 PC2-6400
(Bought recently from OcUK)
Inno3D GeForce 8800GT 512MB DDR3

The first time I booted the PC up, nothing would appear on the screen. Second time, I eliminated a faulty stick of RAM.
After that, it would appear to boot until I came to enter BIOS, the boot menu or booting from anything at all. Then it would just freeze! :eek:

As I have no other DDR2 RAM, I have no means of testing whether the RAM or the m'board is a fault. I have heard plenty of rumours that OCZ memory doesn't like ASUS boards or the other way, but this doesn't help!

The nature of the problem means that I can't update the BIOS, even by flashing it from a floppy disk. (Which might or might not cure the problem).

Has anyone else had this problem too? Do I need to return the RAM and get another set? If so, which ones? Or is it the motherboard's problem? How can I sort it out?! I'm at a complete dead end. :confused:

Any help gratefully received, even if it's just screaming an obvious answer at me! :)
Thanks.
 
Have you tried POSTing with only 1 stick of RAM first?
Then get access to BIOS and set everything up, install windows then shut down and add your extra modules?
Also, if you can - run memtest to eliminate a RAM fault.
 
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I am not familiar with that particular board, but from a common point of view I would adopt the following.

Firstly reset your cmos, by either pressing the clear cmos button or by moving the appropriate cmos header on the motherboard across as directed in your manual.

This may sound a bit silly but then try a replug in of your components needed for just a bare minimum boot attempt to make sure everything is completely and fully secure incase a piece is not correctly connected, e.g. just 1 stick of RAM in slot 0, make sure gfx card is in the first PCIE slot, make sure all various motherboard headers and power connections are correctly plugged in and the correct way round.

I am not quite sure how that particular motherboard flashes, but it is possible on some variants of motherboards to enable a quick flash using a usb stick as an alternative to floppy if you cannot get that to work.

I've tended to shy away from nvidia mobos, so I am not completely sure on the workings of them, someone with more knowledge of your system spec will probably be of more help.

I would find it very surprising if all 4 sticks of RAM are screwed, it could be possible that a freeze could be to do with your gfx card, nothing surprises me with pc components nowadays.
 
dr. sarf,

I have tried many times with all 4 sticks of RAM just putting 1 module in DIMM 0. Sadly the PC still won't boot further than the manufacturer's logo.

I will try to get hold of some other DDR2 RAM so I can boot it up (hopefully), then update the BIOS so that it should accept my original RAM. Does this sound like a good idea or is there anything else I should consider?

Thanks again
 
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