SOLVED Installed GA-990XA-UD3 and 2 memory slots dont work

[alexlongwell]

Ok, it was a noob move on my part, but I ordered this mobo and a case and threw parts from my previous build in to flesh it out, ie. HDD, Ram, CPU, GPU, making sure all were supported by the mobo. Im still somewhat of a novice when building computers. What I failed to note was my optical drive was IDE not sata and this mobo doesnt support it, I figured id just go pick up a sata one today after work and it wouldnt be a big deal.

Now i got everything working fine, except when I installed the 2x4gb ram in slots 1 and 3 i get 3 loong beeps that repeat, ok so i tried 2 and 4 with the same results. The I try just 1 stick in slot 4 (closest to the cpu) and it boots fine, then i put another stick in slot 3 and it works fine. I have 3x4gb sticks and all work if in slot 4 or 3 but not 2 or 1.

Now here is what has me thinking, since i didnt have a dvd drive i couldnt install the drivers from the disk that came with the mobo, also I couldnt do a repair or fresh install of Vista to get rid of my old motherboard drivers. My old motherboard only had 2 slots for memory and im wondering if this is what is causing the board not to recognise the other 2 slots.

Will getting the dvd drive and doing a repair or fresh install of windows then running the disk that came with the mobo fix this?

Or is this board faulty and needs to be RMA'ed. Any help would be appreciated.

AMD Phenom II 965 3.4 ghz
2x 4gb G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1333 (thou i have another 4gb not in use atm)
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC
350 WD hard drive
650w psu

 

[EarthDog]

The OS shouldnt have anything to do with the memory slots not working. So it wont fix the issue.

What slots does the manual say to use when only using two sticks?

 

[alexlongwell]

Actually the memory is set up 4,2,3,1 (4 being the closest to the cpu)

It says to use 1,2 which i initialy had it set up in when i got the 3 long beeps.
The ram works in 4 and 2 only if i put any sticks in 3 or 1 i get the beeps. All 3 sticks of ram have been tested and work.

 

[RGone]

Actually the memory is set up 4,2,3,1 (4 being the closest to the cpu)

It says to use 1,2 which i initialy had it set up in when i got the 3 long beeps.
The ram works in 4 and 2 only if i put any sticks in 3 or 1 i get the beeps. All 3 sticks of ram have been tested and work.

I have seen new boards that i had to put and remove the sticks of ram a few times until the ram was fully seated. Ram socket tight as hale. In your case it seems you have already had ram in and out of slot, so it points toward a mobo issue.

 

[alexlongwell]

sigh I was hoping it was due to old motherboard drivers or something as my old motherboard only supported 2 slots of ddr3 memory. If slots wernt working wouldnt it be one of the pairs not 2 unpaired slots?

 

[RGone]

I copied this from another forum so I did not have to retype it. I was trying to verify the slots were not mis-labeled in the manual and they are not since the other person to whom this was written had not trouble getting his mobo into dual channel using slots 3 and 4.

the figure on p. 16 of manual shows the motherboard oriented with the RAM slots at the upper right, and left to right, the slots are numbered 4-2-3-1. The text block shows that, with two sticks, you can use either slots 1 and 2 or slots 3 and 4. In either case, there will be an open slot between the two sticks.

[I try just 1 stick in slot 4 (closest to the cpu) and it boots fine, then i put another stick in slot 3 and it works fine.] = That is correct for 2 sticks in dual channel.

Have seen a few boards that would not work if the first stick of the dual channel was not a slot closest to the cpu and that is your situation. Since you do not have 4 sticks alike to test for all slots working...you will have to:
1. > make sure your ram is on Gigabytes 'recommended' ram list at their website.

2. > RMA the board with selling dealer if they will when you explain what is wrong.

3. > Contact Gigabyte.

4. > Put ram in slots 1 and 2 and with NO power at all to the board, clear the CmOs and see if the other two slots work after clearing the CmOs.

That is about it as I see it. I feel a little suspicious about the ram you have since it sounds like a 3 stick kit for Intel setups and it might no be exactly right for your board. Partially workable as we see but not spot on so it works in the other set of ram slots that starts a slot away from the cpu, which I have seen such before.

 

[alexlongwell]

I had a bent pin on my cpu, very carefully i bent it back to somewhat where it was, seated back also carefully and now all my slots work. Thank you all for you suggestions.

 

[RGone]

I had a bent pin on my cpu, very carefully i bent it back to somewhat where it was, seated back also carefully and now all my slots work. Thank you all for you suggestions.

That I have actually heard of as well. Once about every 5 years or so. Not something you really come to expect. Glad it is sorted and good luck going forward.

PLease go into your first post where you can get to the thread title and add (Resolved) to the front of the title and then this 'fix' is easier searched from the forum search menu. Thanks man.

 

[trents]

That's a good one to file away in our memory banks as we frequently have users with the problem of memory slots not working.