Pre-Overclock Check

Well something is wrong...

Did a full CMOS reset as suggested. The beep changed from a solid constant beep to alternating beeps, which I recognised as being something to do with memory. So I took out all 4 1GB sticks of memory and put them all back in one by one.

On their own they all work fine. In pairs in the 2 black sockets they work fine. If I put 3 in they work fine. If I put in 4, the continuous beep returns.

Doesn't matter which yellow socket I put the 3rd stick in either. I can put it in slot 1, boots up fine. Put it in slot 3, boots up fine. Put RAM in 1 and 3 and beeeeeeep.

That's a bit weird is it not?

Anyone got any ideas on that before I throw the whole rig out of the window? :eek:
 
Bradley8988 said:
is it just any 4 sticks or a certain stick? You set the correct voltage for your ram in the bios right and not left it on auto?
Click to expand...

All 4 sticks work fine when plugged in on their own, or in pairs. You can even plug 3 sticks in at once. As soon as you plug 4 in at the same time, beeeeeeeeeeep.

I believe I did set the memory voltage. I definately set the memory timings to 4-4-4-15, as the sticker on the memory said. The manufacturer's website said the memory was 1.9v - 2.1v so I think I set it in the middle.

The CMOS is now reset to default and I haven't changed anything again now. But I still get the beeeeeeeeeeep. Why would that be?
 
Ok, so since I got it working with 2 sticks of memory I decided to finish off a few things on an online game I play so that I can afford to be offline for longer.

After an hour or two of gaming. I shut down the computer down for a bit of a rest. I came back later and turned the PC on, only to get the continuous beep yet again, still with just the 2 sticks in!

So I take 1 stick out of slot 2, and leave the stick in slot 4, turn on, beeeeeeeeeep. I take the stick out of slot 4 and put it in slot 2, turn on, away she goes fine. I try putting sticks in slots 1, 2 and 3, turn on, boots up but crashes before I can get in the BIOS. Put all 4 sticks in, beeeeeeeep. So not it looks like I can only run the computer with 1 stick of memory in slot 2 :mad:

This is after a complete CMOS reset. So everything is on defaults. Nothing has been altered. I haven't touched a thing.

I also noticed in the BIOS that my CPU was reading as 1.59Ghz? Pretty strange with it being a E6600 and the BIOS being reset to defaults.

Does anyone have any clue at all wtf is going on here? Do I need a new motherboard or what? Is it the CPU that's faulty in some way?

I'm going to cry...


Edit: CPU-Z seems to reflect the CPU speed?

2974454945_1283994e77_o.jpg
 
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No one has any idea what could be wrong here?

I just tried re-installing Windows XP x64 with 1 stick of memory in slot 2. Windows seemed to install fine. I started to install .net Framework 2.0 so I could install the ATI CCC with graphics card drivers, then the computer just rebooted on it's own and won't even load Windows now.

Have I shot the motherboard?
 
Windows XP SP3 x86 installed with drivers. So far no crashes.

Moved the single stick of memory from slot 2 to slot 1. Got into Windows, soon as I click anything, crash.

I have to assume this is the motherboard at fault no?

Anyone at all ever have anything like this?

Anyone!? :confused:
 
Ok, short of any other input from anyone, I'm going to have to assume it's the motherboard at fault. All 4 sticks of RAM work fine independantly. CPU runs stable all day with just 1 stick of memory plugged in. Tried multiple graphics cards. Motherboard is all that's left right?

That being the case, can anyone recommend me a good replacement motherboard? I started a thread HERE that's had a couple of suggestions.

I'm looking for a similar board to this P5N-E SLi. Good overclocking potential, work ok with my E6600, memory etc.

Guessing it wouldn't be worth moving to the Q6600 would it?
 
New P5Q motherboard installed and working with my old CPU and all 4 sticks of RAM. Also installed the Noctua cooler. Will post my new temps later.

As for the old motherboard, definately something wrong with it, lord knows what. I did notice, when flashing the BIOS, most blocks went to white spots, then solid, 2 block near the end went yellow instead of white. Could that be relevant?
 
That screenie above was showing your E6600 at 1.5GHz cos Intel SpeedStep was on in the BIOS I assume. As you cleared ya CMOS, the BIOS would have put SpeedStep back on (they usually do by default) and that was bringing your multi back down to x6 hence the downgrade in speed.

Make sure you have SpeedStep disabled in your BIOS, then your cpu will stay at a solid 2.4GHz (unless you clock it of course) :)
 
Completely re-installed Windows XP x64 again.
Put my old GeForce GTX8800 back in.
SpeedStep is DISABLED in the BIOS.

I'm still getting this when I run CPU-Z:
2987015388_1010132109_o.jpg


This is on my new P5Q motherboard. Any ideas? :rolleyes:
 
Whats your multiplier set at in the BIOS? I'm sure it won't be defaulted to 6, but if SpeedStep is off, then I can't think what else it would be?
 
There doesn't seem to be a field that informs me of the CPU multiplier in the BIOS.
SpeedStep is still Disabled.

Here is what I see on the Ai Tweaker page:

2989035438_2f9a12fe14_o.jpg


Pressing Enter on that Auto field does nothing at all. I guess I have to manually type in "x9"?

This is a weird BIOS...
 
You'd have to set Ai Overclock tuner to manual first, then it should allow you to select your multi manually. You want to change as many things in there manually and take them off auto as you can, specifically, CPU voltage/DRAM Voltage etc, you should knwo what these should be set to by default, so change them your self otherwise you can get crashes (especially with ram voltage).
 
I've set my memory to the manufacturer's spec for my memory:

4-4-4-15
1.9v - 2.1v (I set it to 2.0v, is that ok?)
800Mhz DDR2 (I set it to 800Mhz)
 
Is it possible Windows XP x64 SP2 is somehow turning the multiplier to x6?

Or another option in the BIOS somewhere?

Or could this be an issue with the CPU itself?
 
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