All fans spinning, no signal

Captain_Magic · 07-24-10, 05:17 AM

Ok, so there is one component not working. I've had my pc for more than 3.5 years, replaced motherboard last year (the previous one still works)... here are the specs just in case: Asus P5Q PRO TURBO, Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 @ 2.93GHz 4GB DDR2 1066 (2x Corsair XMS2 8500 and 2x Corsair XMS2 9136), 8800GTX, and WD HDDs... plus a 750W Thermaltake toughpower PSU.

Almost from the very first days of use my pc would once in a while startup with no signal, just all fans and HDDs spinning with the GPU fan spinning full speed, but after turning it off and back on, it would boot.

Now, everything's just spinning and no beep, no boot... Removed the graphics card, still no signal, then all the ram and this time it gave the no ram signal. Does this mean that my motherboard is fine? Also, wouldn't there be a signal for no graphics card detected?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

CompuTamer · 07-24-10, 05:49 AM

Usually for the graphics card there's no error.

Try some RAM from another computer, or try the RAM sticks one by one. Maybe one of them has been going bad, and finally died?

Have you ever OCed the RAM any?

Captain_Magic · 07-24-10, 07:18 AM

Thank you very much for your advice, you were right there's an issue with ram. No I've never overclocked ram, just the CPU...

So basically only one out of 4 rams still works, with the other 3 the motherboard gives no signal at all and I've tried on other slots. Well I would've thought the ram got fried because of my static but I'm quite careful about that.

The only thing I ever did was to set the ram frequency to 1066MHz within BIOS which is normal frequency for XMS2. Maybe there was more to adjust than just the frequency? Latency? Voltage? I understand that you only need to touch those if you're OCing your ram... but maybe I'm wrong and that's why eventually my ram failed.

elThomaso · 07-24-10, 08:11 AM

well... i'm just surprised that you found 3 out of 4 sticks to be defect... I'd have expeted 1 out of 4 to fail first of all, not 3 at the same time. I do suppose you put them individually into RAM slot 1 for testing?
To make the memory run to spec you have to set voltage, latency and frequency all correctly. Specified settings for RAM may differ from default values of your board for any parameter. But other than too high voltage I would not expect a wrong setting to kill the memory like that.

Captain_Magic · 07-24-10, 12:59 PM

Another helpful piece of advice! Thank you very much!

I tested all 4 ram sticks in slot A1 and they worked. I then proceeded to try two sticks of the same kind in A1 and B1 (Dual channel mode) and success. But then when I added the other two in slots A2 and B2, no signal. So basically either pair works alone but not both pairs at the same time. Well you would mention ram incompatibility, but then why did all 4 work with no problems for all this time? Maybe a setting that got modified when I reset CMOS?

By the way, my two kinds of corsair ram seem to be almost identical with the same timing (5-5-5-15) but a different frequency: one supports max 1066MHz the other 1142MHz. Would there by any chance be a voltage issue?

Thanks again.

Captain_Magic · 07-24-10, 01:25 PM

By the way I have the links to both ram types I'm using:

http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/t...48-8500c5d.pdf

http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/T...48-9136c5d.pdf

elThomaso · 07-24-10, 02:40 PM

well I'm slightly puzzled by this behaviour as well.
after just a brief look at the spec you provided, they look pretty similar, however I've heard before of non-identical memory sets that don't work together. Well as you said, it did work before, so no clear answer there. Maybe you have some EPP profile settings in your Bios where you can test settings, or disable, since this looks like one of the few differences between your memory modules. The frequency should not be the issue, one set is tested with a higher frequency, so running at the frequency of the lower set should be fine, voltage is identical, and that's where my thoughts come to an end

Captain_Magic · 07-24-10, 07:33 PM

Checked the BIOS settings and changed the ram latency to manual(it was auto): 5-5-5-15 for both ram types and voltage to 2.1, again they are both the same. This time it works!

Very odd situation then because I did not touch anything to begin with... It's fine for now so thank you for your help, it saved me lots of time!

07-24-10, 05:17 AM	Thread Starter #1
Captain_Magic New Member Join Date: May 2009	All fans spinning, no signal Ok, so there is one component not working. I've had my pc for more than 3.5 years, replaced motherboard last year (the previous one still works)... here are the specs just in case: Asus P5Q PRO TURBO, Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 @ 2.93GHz 4GB DDR2 1066 (2x Corsair XMS2 8500 and 2x Corsair XMS2 9136), 8800GTX, and WD HDDs... plus a 750W Thermaltake toughpower PSU. Almost from the very first days of use my pc would once in a while startup with no signal, just all fans and HDDs spinning with the GPU fan spinning full speed, but after turning it off and back on, it would boot. Now, everything's just spinning and no beep, no boot... Removed the graphics card, still no signal, then all the ram and this time it gave the no ram signal. Does this mean that my motherboard is fine? Also, wouldn't there be a signal for no graphics card detected? Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 05:49 AM	#2
CompuTamer Member with Some Fancy Text Under His Name Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brandon Mississippi	Usually for the graphics card there's no error. Try some RAM from another computer, or try the RAM sticks one by one. Maybe one of them has been going bad, and finally died? Have you ever OCed the RAM any? __________________ Intel Core i7 C0 @ 4.01GHz with 1.388 vCore ..........................................Intel C2D T8100 Intel DX58SO Motherboard IOH + QPI @ 1.250 Volts..............................HP 6910p Notebook Sony Optiarc Blu-Ray Drive.................................................. ...............DVD-RAM 8 GB G-Skill Sniper DDR3 1600 @ 1.65 Volts ...........................................4GB Hyundai DDR2 800 60GB OCZ Solid 3 + 320GB WD Blue+ 1TB WD Green...............................Intel 320 80GB Antec 900.................................................. .......................................Titanium Lid BFG GS-650.................................................. .....................................Various HP AC Adapters XFX Radeon HD 4850 (660/1060 53C Idle 62C Load) @ 1.31 vCore............ATI X2300 Pro Dual Dell E2311H LED 1920x1080.................................................. .......14.1" 1440x900 Windows 8 ProMC.................................................. .............................Windows 8 ProMC Those specs up there? They're silent. Silence is good. Very good. Your Core 2 Quad is based off of the Pentium pro in a few ways.
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 07:18 AM	Thread Starter #3
Captain_Magic New Member Join Date: May 2009	Thank you very much for your advice, you were right there's an issue with ram. No I've never overclocked ram, just the CPU... So basically only one out of 4 rams still works, with the other 3 the motherboard gives no signal at all and I've tried on other slots. Well I would've thought the ram got fried because of my static but I'm quite careful about that. The only thing I ever did was to set the ram frequency to 1066MHz within BIOS which is normal frequency for XMS2. Maybe there was more to adjust than just the frequency? Latency? Voltage? I understand that you only need to touch those if you're OCing your ram... but maybe I'm wrong and that's why eventually my ram failed.
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 08:11 AM	#4
elThomaso New Member Join Date: Jul 2010	well... i'm just surprised that you found 3 out of 4 sticks to be defect... I'd have expeted 1 out of 4 to fail first of all, not 3 at the same time. I do suppose you put them individually into RAM slot 1 for testing? To make the memory run to spec you have to set voltage, latency and frequency all correctly. Specified settings for RAM may differ from default values of your board for any parameter. But other than too high voltage I would not expect a wrong setting to kill the memory like that.
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 12:59 PM	Thread Starter #5
Captain_Magic New Member Join Date: May 2009	Another helpful piece of advice! Thank you very much! I tested all 4 ram sticks in slot A1 and they worked. I then proceeded to try two sticks of the same kind in A1 and B1 (Dual channel mode) and success. But then when I added the other two in slots A2 and B2, no signal. So basically either pair works alone but not both pairs at the same time. Well you would mention ram incompatibility, but then why did all 4 work with no problems for all this time? Maybe a setting that got modified when I reset CMOS? By the way, my two kinds of corsair ram seem to be almost identical with the same timing (5-5-5-15) but a different frequency: one supports max 1066MHz the other 1142MHz. Would there by any chance be a voltage issue? Thanks again.
	QUOTE Thanks

All fans spinning, no signal

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07-24-10, 01:25 PM	Thread Starter #6
Captain_Magic New Member Join Date: May 2009	By the way I have the links to both ram types I'm using: http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/t...48-8500c5d.pdf http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/T...48-9136c5d.pdf
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 02:40 PM	#7
elThomaso New Member Join Date: Jul 2010	well I'm slightly puzzled by this behaviour as well. after just a brief look at the spec you provided, they look pretty similar, however I've heard before of non-identical memory sets that don't work together. Well as you said, it did work before, so no clear answer there. Maybe you have some EPP profile settings in your Bios where you can test settings, or disable, since this looks like one of the few differences between your memory modules. The frequency should not be the issue, one set is tested with a higher frequency, so running at the frequency of the lower set should be fine, voltage is identical, and that's where my thoughts come to an end
	QUOTE Thanks

07-24-10, 07:33 PM	Thread Starter #8
Captain_Magic New Member Join Date: May 2009	Checked the BIOS settings and changed the ram latency to manual(it was auto): 5-5-5-15 for both ram types and voltage to 2.1, again they are both the same. This time it works! Very odd situation then because I did not touch anything to begin with... It's fine for now so thank you for your help, it saved me lots of time!
	QUOTE Thanks

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