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ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Date and Time Reset Issue

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syldan

Registered
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Hoping the brain power of this forum will be able to solve this riddle for me. I built two (almost) identical systems last August, and one has had an intermittent issue with the BIOS Date and Time resetting to factory default (1/1/08) after the system being off for more than 5 to 10 minutes. Other custom settings in the BIOS remain (such as disabling the boot logo, or the wait time), so that implies it isn't the MB battery (which I also changed numerous times). If the power is off to the power supply over night (or even for a few hours), then I do loose all custom settings in the BIOS as well as the date and time resetting to 1/1/08. I RMA'ed this motherboard to ASUS, and the one they replaced it with is still having the same issue. I have swapped all the components (including the case) with spare ones from my working rig (except the motherboard of course), and the issue remains. I also replaced the CMOS reset jumper, since the original seemed very loose (not much friction from the pins keeping it in place).

Here are the components being used:

Boot Drive:Vertex 4 128GB Boot VTX4-25SAT3-128G
Data Drive: Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1tb black
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Motherboard: Sabertooth 990FX V1 (BIOS v1604)
GPU: XFX 6950
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) CML16GX3M2A1600C10
Optical: LG BluRay Burner WH14NS40
CPU: AMD FX-8150 Zambezi
OS: Win7 Pro
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am going to open a ticket with ASUS as well, but I'm not convinced the issue is with the MB (since they already replaced it and it is still having the same issue).

Thanks!
 
I thought of two things power supply and CMOS battery, you said you replaced both, so to not let the simple things pass us by. Have you checked the connections on the battery, is there something blocking the connection to it. I'm just shooting for the stars here.
 
I haven't looked at it too closely, but it is worth taking a photo of it without the battery in it and blowing it up to see if the metal connector isn't providing enough resistance. Here is a link to the MB on Newegg. I replaced the PSU with a Corsair 500Watt, with the same results. Here is a picture of the battery location on the MB:
http://picpaste.com/sabertooth_battery-eyNRki4n.jpg
 
It would be the pad under the battery. Some kinda film or corrosion.
 
Try pulling the MB out of the case and setting it up on a non conductive surface and see if you still loose time and bios settings !
 
Haven't had time to take MB out of case and try it on a desk. Here is a picture of my battery and the slot:
http://picpaste.com/Sabertooth_Battery_Slot_Time_Reset-NADQ3JoK.jpg
All looks fine with the picture. Told ASUS support about the issue remaining with this second motherboard, and they said to just RMA it again for a replacement.
Now my attempts to get it to reset the date and time have failed over the last 24 hours, even with the power cable out of the PSU, which used to guarantee it to happen before. Maybe the battery just needed "Charging"? Very confused and frustrated at this point.
 
Maybe the battery just needed "Charging"?
I though you said you changed the battery? I don't thing those batteries get charged by the power supply. It's just what it gets from the factory.
 
You are correct. I did change the CMOS battery with a new one (you can see it in the last picture above), and yes, it is my understanding that these batteries are not chargeable (they just provide the MB with power while unplugged so the BIOS retains its settings). I was just trying to make sense of the symptoms, which don't seem to be very consistent.
 
Problem has been solved. It was the CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+. Apparently the Sabertooth 990FX motherboard is not compatible with it somehow, as it must have been causing an electrical short or surge with the electronics. This also explained the BSOD's from the graphics card in my other post. Who would have thought it! Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
 
wow how did you figure that one out?

Put the stock heat sink and fan in and all my problems stopped. I have the original hyper 212 in another system and it works fine. I have the xigmatek Gaia in my identical sabertooth system and it works great. Must be an incompatibility with the 212+ and the 990fx. Maybe the backplate is shorting or I screwed the heat sink down too tight (I assumed you should tighten the screws all the way which is what I did with the 212 in my other system).
 
An electrical problem? Did considering an RMA. Did you also watch temps? Do you have an extra 3-pin or 4-pin power connector for the fan? One of my fans worked weird an have me a blue screen. All I did was switch It from the 4-pin connector to 3pin (even though it had 4 pins on the CPU cooler) worked fine after that.
 
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