Odd Issue with X58 System

[PerfectWave]

maybe it is a ram slot that is working badly. on my core duo motherboard i have to use 3 stick of ram instead of 4 cos one is dead

 

[Bill_Bright]

QVL lists don't get updated that often if at all.

And that makes sense. New CPUs and RAM designed for the chipsets (and sockets) on any given boards don't come out that often. But the better board makers certainly do update their QVLs when they update their BIOS firmware that addresses those new devices.

The X58 boards were updated with Xeon support in the later BIOSes. QVL lists don't get updated that often if at all. Only since Ryzen came out did they have to update them because ram support was so bad.

Huh? You are all over the place here. X58 is an Intel chipset. Why are you talking about those QVLs being updated after Ryzen (a AMD CPU) came out?

I think the RAM issues are because the board is tired.

Tired? What, the poor board didn't get its nightly 8 hours of sleep?

 

[Devastator0]

So umm yeah, I think some of my RAM is borked. My friend dropped off his X58 system that is almost identical to mine and I’ve dropped his RAM into my rig and all seems ok with my i7 chip. I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to put the X5690 back in lol. Am needing to now do a Win 10 reinstall as whatever was happening seems to have bricked Windows. Will see what happens once it’s up and running again...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Huh? You are all over the place here. X58 is an Intel chipset. Why are you talking about those QVLs being updated after Ryzen (a AMD CPU) came out?

You missed what @Gasaraki was trying to say and he is correct. Virtually no one updates their compatibility lists after initial release. Only AMD did so because it was needed.

I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to put the X5690 back in lol. Am needing to now do a Win 10 reinstall as whatever was happening seems to have bricked Windows. Will see what happens once it’s up and running again...

Be brave. That X5690 was not the problem. The problem was likely this; You had an existing module of ram that was faulty but you never saw that fault because the faulty area of ram was never or rarely accessed. The WestmereEP series of CPU's have advanced ram access/checking routines built in that do not exist in the original Core i7 series of CPU's and those functions simply brought the ram problem to light.

Try installing your original ram in dual channel mode, without the faulty module, along side the X5690 and test the results. When you do this make sure all of your settings in the bios are at defaults. If you have 6 X 2GB then take 3 of the working modules and install them triple channel and test the results. If the system works in both of those configurations, you will have confirmed you have one bad stick and need a replacement. Go to town and let us know how it goes.

 

[Bill_Bright]

You missed what @Gasaraki was trying to say

No I didn't.

Virtually no one updates their compatibility lists after initial release.

And I addressed this in the same post in the previous paragraph. Many board makers do update their lists - but only when new CPUs and RAM comes out that is compatible with that board. But that is not very often so it would appear lists don't get updated.

 

[Devastator0]

You missed what @Gasaraki was trying to say and he is correct. Virtually no one updates their compatibility lists after initial release. Only AMD did so because it was needed.

Be brave. That X5690 was not the problem. The problem was likely this; You had an existing module of ram that was faulty but you never saw that fault because the faulty area of ram was never or rarely accessed. The WestmereEP series of CPU's have advanced ram access/checking routines built in that do not exist in the original Core i7 series of CPU's and those functions simply brought the ram problem to light.

Try installing your original ram in dual channel mode, without the faulty module, along side the X5690 and test the results. When you do this make sure all of your settings in the bios are at defaults. If you have 6 X 2GB then take 3 of the working modules and install them triple channel and test the results. If the system works in both of those configurations, you will have confirmed you have one bad stick and need a replacement. Go to town and let us know how it goes.

So, some further developments, I've played around with some of my existing memory and have all 6 modules in and the machine seems to be picking them all up with the full 12GB capacity. I did as you suggested and used some of the RAM in a dual channel capacity and that booted fine and Memtest86+ ran through a check fine. I then added 1 module at a time and ran memtest to see if anything was picked up but it all seems ok now. I am yet to put the X5690 back in, so have only just done it with the i7 920 in. When I get home from work today, I'll swap the CPU's and see what happens. Still, with this entire thing happening, I've actually ordered a completely new set of RAM from Amazon. Saw a 24GB Corsair kit on that and I figure, well, if there is still potentially something strange with this kit, I may as well replace it, and double the capacity.

 

[Fluffmeister]

I had this issue many years ago after an good old fashioned spring clean, was running 6GB Dominators at the time and it only detected 4GB on POST.

Had to reseat the CPU, done a CMOS reset then loaded defaults on first POST sorted it for me.

 

[Devastator0]

I had this issue many years ago after an good old fashioned spring clean, was running 6GB Dominators at the time and it only detected 4GB on POST.

Had to reseat the CPU, done a CMOS reset then loaded defaults on first POST sorted it for me.

Yeah, coincidentally enough, prior to me putting in the X5690, I did a full dust clean out of the system, funny that. Still, I'm glad the system isn't completely boned because it performs so well even now. Will need to see what happens when I drop the Xeon back into it. My fingers are crossed that it'll still be good because that CPU is such an improvement.

 

[xrror]

Hey, so I've had this happen with my 1366 systems. For me it was board flex. Take the heatsink and mounting brackets off (to release stress?) then reinstall them. Also (since you have to do it anyway) remounting the motherboard in your case.

I've had this happen twice with my gigabyte 58a-ud3r's dropping channels. If you pull the board and it suddenly all channels work sitting on the bench unmounted this is what it is.

 

[Devastator0]

Hey, so I've had this happen with my 1366 systems. For me it was board flex. Take the heatsink and mounting brackets off (to release stress?) then reinstall them. Also (since you have to do it anyway) remounting the motherboard in your case.

I've had this happen twice with my gigabyte 58a-ud3r's dropping channels. If you pull the board and it suddenly all channels work sitting on the bench unmounted this is what it is.

Hmmm, I don't actually have to pull the mobo, I got a large CPU cutout on the back of the mobo so the last time this mobo was pulled out of anything was when I migrated it to it's current case. For the moment, it's working but if it reoccurs, then I'll try as you've suggested and see how it goes.

 

[Caring1]

Hey, so I've had this happen with my 1366 systems. For me it was board flex. Take the heatsink and mounting brackets off (to release stress?) then reinstall them. Also (since you have to do it anyway) remounting the motherboard in your case.

I've had this happen twice with my gigabyte 58a-ud3r's dropping channels. If you pull the board and it suddenly all channels work sitting on the bench unmounted this is what it is.

As I mentioned in post #15, overtightening of the CPU cooler can cause this issue, it is also what causes board flex, simply loosening and hand tightening the cooler should be enough.
In some cases it has also been known to damage the traces used by the Dimm slots.

 

[xrror]

As I mentioned in post #15, overtightening of the CPU cooler can cause this issue, it is also what causes board flex, simply loosening and hand tightening the cooler should be enough.
In some cases it has also been known to damage the traces used by the Dimm slots.

The 2nd time it happened I did try that and avoid pulling the mobo again, but just loosening and retightening the mounting brackets just made other random channels work/drop. Also of note that the 2nd time this happened, I was using a different cooling than first time - Noctura to CoolerMaster so it wasn't specific to the Noctura mount.

And again it worked on the bench. And remounted it kept working.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that if doing the heatsink mount doesn't fix it then go ahead and pull the whole board out before writing it off.

It's crazy too because each time it would work for like a year and a half. I probably should just get a different case with stiffer motherboard tray.

 

[Devastator0]

Ok, so another bit of an update, I've dropped the X5690 back into the machine and it didn't detect all the RAM again. so I'm currently running a Memtest with the 3 sticks that I believe are all good just to confirm that no errors pop up with using them alongside the Xeon. Once that completes (I hope) successfully, I'll need to again try 1 additional RAM stick at a time. I think @lexluthermiester called it right in his earlier post that it's just one (or maybe 2) of the RAM sticks have had a fault on them but only pop up with the Xeon in as it's trying to use areas of the RAM that the i7 920 rarely, or if ever, touched. Will keep updating with what happens. Hoping that my replacement kit gets here quickly.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Ok, so another bit of an update, I've dropped the X5690 back into the machine and it didn't detect all the RAM again. so I'm currently running a Memtest with the 3 sticks that I believe are all good just to confirm that no errors pop up with using them alongside the Xeon. Once that completes (I hope) successfully, I'll need to again try 1 additional RAM stick at a time. I think @lexluthermiester called it right in his earlier post that it's just one (or maybe 2) of the RAM sticks have had a fault on them but only pop up with the Xeon in as it's trying to use areas of the RAM that the i7 920 rarely, or if ever, touched. Will keep updating with what happens. Hoping that my replacement kit gets here quickly.

Where did you get that Xeon? And did the triple channel testing work out?

 

[jaggerwild]

See if you need a special Bios for that CPU, also Xeon says some feathures may not work with a none server MB

 

[lexluthermiester]

See if you need a special Bios for that CPU, also Xeon says some feathures may not work with a none server MB

That is not an issue. The motherboard listed in the OP has 100% Xeon compatibility. Although, this point does beg the question about the bios revision being used as that may be a problem.

@Devastator0 Do you have the most recent bios version installed on that board?

 

[Devastator0]

Where did you get that Xeon? And did the triple channel testing work out?

A friend of mine gave me the chip. He told me that it came out of an old server. As for testing the rest of the RAM, I only got so far last night as each run through with memtest does take a little while.

That is not an issue. The motherboard listed in the OP has 100% Xeon compatibility. Although, this point does beg the question about the bios revision being used as that may be a problem.

@Devastator0 Do you have the most recent bios version installed on that board?

As per my OP, I am running Bios version 1202 and I even reflashed this version when I started to experience issues just in case.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A friend of mine gave me the chip. He told me that it came out of an old server. As for testing the rest of the RAM, I only got so far last night as each run through with memtest does take a little while.

Cool. You might want to save time by running the short tests. They will still show errors found without running the whole gauntlet of tests.

As per my OP, I am running Bios version 1202 and I even reflashed this version when I started to experience issues just in case.

Saw that, wasn't sure if it was the most recent. No worries.

 

[jsfitz54]

ASUS P6T V2 Deluxe (running 1202 BIOS)

Did you reflash Bios from here?: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...tre-patched-bios-for-x58-motherboards.246101/

 

[lexluthermiester]

Did you reflash Bios from here?: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...tre-patched-bios-for-x58-motherboards.246101/

That is an unofficial custom bios. Recommending it when an unsolved problem exists is very foolish.

 

[jsfitz54]

That is an unofficial custom bios. Recommending it when an unsolved problem exists is foolish.

Not really. OP can roll back if need be.

 

[Gasaraki]

No I didn't.
And I addressed this in the same post in the previous paragraph. Many board makers do update their lists - but only when new CPUs and RAM comes out that is compatible with that board. But that is not very often so it would appear lists don't get updated.

Wait so you're saying you know me better than myself? lexluthermiester is 100% correct. And when I said the board is tired you really thought that's what I meant?
Tired was a joke meaning that's it's old and tired.

 

[phill]

Personally when testing ram, I tend to test each stick separately just to make sure that I know if I have a particular stick that's failed or if it's a faulty slot on the board.. Just something to think about if you do get further issues whilst testing
Failing that have you some other memory that you could try it with?

Have you had any further luck with your testing?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Wait so you're saying you know me better than myself?

I said or implied no such thing. And unless you are a motherboard maker, that comment makes zero sense.

And when I said the board is tired you really thought that's what I meant?
Tired was a joke meaning that's it's old and tired.

LOL. Clearly I was being sarcastic. Sorry if you did not pick up on that. In the case of your RAM and slot swapping, if the board was "old and tired", swapping slots would not suddenly make it "young and rested" again. Your slot swapping likely just scraped the dirt, grime and corrosion off the electrical contacts that had accumulated over time, allowing for a good mechanical connection again, essential for resistance-free electrical continuity.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Telling someone to use a custom bios when they are already having problems, especially ram problems, is very bad advice. Flashing any bios, custom or not, on a system with known ram related problems runs a very high risk that the flash might fail, potentially bricking said board.

Devastator0 came here for help, not for tips on how to potentially make it worse.