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Trouble with P5K, does it sound like MB or RAM to you?

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insaneoctane

New Member
Joined
May 2, 2007
My system is moderately overclocked (2.8GHz) and has been running along for months now. I usually just put my machine in standby when I leave it, but Friday night I (for whatever reason) decided to actually turn it off. Oops. Later, Friday night, I tried to use the machine and now it won't POST. I reseated everything, blah,blah, blah.

Here is what I know:
  • System before death was P5K-vanilla (400FSB) with 2 sticks of Crucial Ballistix PC-8000 (2GB total, 1GB each) RAM running at 1066MHz @ 2.25V (this is what the memory is RATED at)
  • During the system build I did TONS of memtest to feel confident in this setup, speed and voltage....machine has been ROCK stable for months
  • Even with Clear CMOS, machine will no longer POST with my 2 sticks of Ballistix memory
  • Even with Clear CMOS, machine will no longer POST with ANY ONE of my 2 sticks of Ballistix memory in ANY slot
  • Machine DOES respond to NO RAM properly
  • Machine POSTS fine with new stick of slower RAM that I borrowed (Kingston PC-5300), but immediately says "Wrong CMOS" and forces me into setup (*)
  • Once, I've got it to POST with slower RAM without "wrong CMOS" error, I can put my Ballistix back in and run at the then current values
  • Once I tell the machine to go to 'default' settings with Ballistix RAM, it's dead...no POST, nothing. And nothing other than the slower Kingston RAM can bring it back from the grave

So, here's my thoughts. I can't believe that TWO sticks of crucial memory went bad at once. I suspect that something went out in the MB and it can no longer negotiate/talk to the faster RAM (or it can talk to it, but once it applies the RAM's suggested settings it dies). I'm planning on RMA the MB, but want to make sure they actually fix the thing....I think they want me to RMA my RAM first! Anyway, thoughts?

(*)Something a little strange about this: When I first got life back in the system with the Kingston RAM, it game me two choices (F1) to run setup and (F2) to load DEFAULTS and continue....EVERY SINGLE time I pressed F1 to run setup (or tried [DEL], it just showed gobbly-gook garbage on the screen and was dead....finally, out of desperation, I hit F2 and it tried to boot into Windows! So, then I Reset the machine and THEN [DEL] into setup finally worked! But, I'm suspecting something is screwed with the CMOS too.
 
asus boards do sometimes get screwd after an oc fails. I've had a commando & my p5k do the same. Best way is to clear cmos & remove battery. Leave for 5~10Minutes You may need to repeat , but it works in the end. Are you using active cooling on ram ??
 
asus boards do sometimes get screwd after an oc fails. I've had a commando & my p5k do the same. Best way is to clear cmos & remove battery. Leave for 5~10Minutes You may need to repeat , but it works in the end. Are you using active cooling on ram ??

I think I've tried this, but I'll try again. Do you recommend leaving the CMOS clear jumper on for 10 minutes?

I've already requested my MB RMA, I'm hoping it's REALLLLY broken, now!

And no active cooling on the RAM, it's only 2.25V and it's running at stock speed....it does have integrated heat spreaders
 
even running 2.25v ram gets hot i'm running my 8500 at 2.25v myself (admittedly running @1200 :D) but using Corsair Dominator Airflow Memory Cooler makes a lot of dsense.

Yep 10minutes with battery out should sort you.

Do these fit over all four memory slots or is it just for two? Meaning would I need to buy 2 to blow on all 4 sticks?

EDIT: nevermind found the answer, pretty cool, I might get one.
 
yep covers all 4 slots. yep for $ they're the best. I tried the ocz coolers which were rubbish. The corsair fit easily & work well.
 
On the first recovery boot with the ballistix in set the ram voltage to the sticks rating. I would also run BIOS 404 on that board if your not already.
 
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