P8Z77-V Deluxe doesn't recognize memory!

I've been putting together a newer system. It is based on the Asus P8Z77 -V Deluxe motherboard. The CPU is brand new I7-2700K. I built a new external box for my water cooling stuff. The only water cooling item in the mid-tower case is a new EK Supreme water block. The hoses go out the rear and down to the box containing the pump, reservoir and radiator.

The first Asus Z77 board I received had some bent CPU socket pins. Amazon sent me a replacement. Changed it all out and got it ready for testing last night - late.

The memory consists of four sticks of Corsair Vengeance RAM. I had this RAM working in my previous P8P67 B3 system with a I5 2500K. It worked like a champ. Let me provide everything printed on the label:

CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
then there is a bar code
8GB (2x4GB) 4096MB 52465 112503255
1600MHz 9-9-9-9-24 1.50 ver2.12 MADE IN TAIWAN

The Asus MB has a Mem Check feature. It is supposed to check the memory before booting up. A Red LED near the memory sockets comes on. It is supposed to go out. Mine stays lit. I'm also getting a beep code. The pattern is 1 long tone, then 2 shorts. This repeats over and over. This is the code for Memory not recognized.

The motherboard also has a digital readout that shows what they call diagnostic Q Codes. This one is showing 22. According to the manual, this indicates "Pre-memory PCH initialization is started."

There is a button on the MB that is supposed to allow it to set the RAM timings. I pressed the button. It blinks and re-starts. It is supposed to do this several times until it finds the right combination. It only does it once - then the LED stays lit.

I've removed and re-seated the RAM. Tried just using a couple of sticks. The only other DDR3 RAM I have is in my wife's machine.

I don't know if this is pertinent, but I'll mention it. When I tried to setup the Z77 board with the bent socket pins, a Red LED stayed lit to show me there was a problem with the CPU. This is the same RAM that was in that motherboard when it wouldn't start.

Anybody here have any ideas?

Bach On

Have you cleared the cmos by removing the mobo's battery? Remove the battery for 5 minutes, wait, then replace the battery back and just use 1 stick of ram in the primary ram slot.

Another thing to consider is the video card. The bios beeps will give the same error. Reseat the video card to be sure.

The beep code for the video card on this mb is one long, followed by three shorts.

I'll try the battery thing. But this board is right out of the box.

One thing I'm suspecting is that the memory makers haven't kept up with the latest abilities of the boards and newer CPUs.

Actually that ram is for Sandy Bridge as stated here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

So my guess would be the board is faulty, but unless you troubleshoot by removing the battery and clearing the cmos, you won't know.

Thanks for the input, Nebulous. I'll try the battery trick. I was hopeful the Vengeance would work. That hope now seems poorly placed.

Part of the issue I'm finding is that these Z77 boards are still a little new. I don't see a lot of people commenting about what RAM they are using. So I'm blazing a trail without a map or a lot of people I can ask for help who have already been there.

The Corsair Vengeance worked great on my old P8P67 B3 Pro. I was running 16 gig of it with an I5 2500K. I could routinely overclock to 4.5 or 4.6. But I wasn't happy with the temps.

I watercool. So I re-did my watercooling setup. Newer 120x3 rad and a new EK Supreme water block. I'm hopeful that I'll get better cooling.

Along the way, I damaged my P8P67. So I decided to move up a generation to Ivy Bridge. I also decided to upgrade to an I7 2700K.

I'm going to try running this rig once I find good RAM for it. Then maybe I'll get a newer Ivy Bridge CPU when they are little further along. Early models in a new format often don't overclock as well as some that follow. At least, that has been my experience.

I find myself a little confused by all the numbers in RAM. In general, I'd like to find something wth 2300 or better. The part I really get confused on is that 2400 or 2300 RAM often has higher timing numbers. Example: the Vengeance was only rated at 1600 but had 9-9-9-24 timing numbers. Some of the 2300 stuff I see has numbers like 10-11-10-12 30. My general sense is that 2300 will probably handle overclocking better than 1330 or 1600, though I may have to feed it a bit more voltage.

Anyway, it now appears I've got to spend more money on this rig to come up with a stable system. I sometimes use my system for video editing - that's why I like more RAM. I run Windows 7 64 bit.

Again, thanks for the input.

BO