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PC only boots with 2 sticks of ram in 2 exact slots

M

MikeTyson

Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
646 (0.11/day)
Location
South East, United Kingdom
System Specs
System Name Swag
Processor Intel Xeon E3110 4GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
Cooling Scythe Infinity I Push-Pull w/ AS5
Memory 2x2GB Transcend 800MHz DDR2 @ 890MHz 1.9v
Video Card(s) Palit nVIDIA GTX460 1GB 800/1600/2000
Storage Crucial M4 64GB
Display(s) LG Flatron M1917TM 1280x1024 @ 60Hz
Audio Device(s) Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
Software Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
right, here is the run down

my pc REFUSES to boot with 1 stick of ram, in ANY slot

it will only boot with 2 OCZ 1GB modules in the 2 farthest slots from the CPU

any other slots in any combination, it will not boot

if i put in different memory in the same slots as the OCZ, it will not boot

so all these problems with the computer DYING at the XP loading bar screen were fixed by reverting back to 2 sticks instead of 1, which i think is ridiculous... because i've been forced to keep one i didn't even want

how is it possible that a stick of ram NOT being present can make an entire system unstable in so much as it won't even load XP from any hard drive (i tried 2 different XP hard drives) but as soon as i put the RAM back in it works fine as if nothin happened

i ordered a new motherboard thinking this one was broken so now im stuck with a brand new motherboard i don't need...

with that said, i'm now willing to sell both my P5N32 SLi SE Deluxe and my P5WDH Deluxe with good offers, bearing in mind they both hate RAM no matter if i clear CMOS, take out batteries etc

they both were perfectly fine other than these issues :| and im never buying ASUS again

but please, does anybody have any thoughts as to why both of these boards are doing this!? and why i can only boot with exactly 2 modules in 2 exact positions? because i've now spent unnecessary money fixing this and i would feel a little better if i could justify why

thanks (:
 
So, two different motherboards, two different sets of RAM and it will only boot with two sticks in the furthest slots from the CPU.

I'm completely stumped! :confused: Call a Priest maybe?

Are either sets of RAM on the compatibility list and have you updated the bios' for either board?
 
It's only 1 set of RAM that I change between the boards to test them

It's 2x 1GB OCZ Platinum PC6400 DDR2 Dual Channel EPP 4-4-3-15

And yes, 2 different boards, both same situation

I've tried putting Generic 533MHz modules in both boards, like in the SAME slots as the OCZ, and both fail to boot

And if I only use 1 slot and not 2, they fail to boot

However if I used 2 slots, but not the ones furthest from the CPU, they fail to boot also
 
Well then I would assume the RAM is shot/bad/wierd.

ALSO! On both boards you want to use the same color slots, staggered.. get it?
 
erocker said:
Well then I would assume the RAM is shot/bad/wierd.

ALSO! On both boards you want to use the same color slots, staggered.. get it?
Click to expand...

It's not bad RAM, I put all 4 sticks of the Generic 533MHz into another board at the same time equating to 2GB and they all work flawlessly. However if I put 2 sticks into either of the ASUS boards in the same slots as the OCZ, they both fail to boot. It's not the RAM.

BOTH boards used to work fine with slots 1 and 3 like any normal board, with the OCZ. Then I put in 2 extra Generic modules to bump it from 2GB to 3GB, and then both of the boards started having this issue. A CMOS clear, removing battery etc all that shit, doesn't fix it.

And I don't wanna hear that like, my Generic RAM killed both the boards cos that's retarded. I have all 4 generic modules running in another ASUS board as we speak, and it's working pefectly.

Lol I have tried using the same colour slots, this is my point. It won't boot with ANY slot combination other than 3 and 4...
 
Well, looking at the QVL list for both boards, the memory (OCZ) isn't compatible. That's all we can tell you. Perhaps Asus support might have better insight, but OCZ ram and Asus has never worked very well in my experience.
 
erocker said:
Well, looking at the QVL list for both boards, the memory (OCZ) isn't compatible. That's all we can tell you. Perhaps Asus support might have better insight, but OCZ ram and Asus has never worked very well in my experience.
Click to expand...

But that doesn't explain why the OCZ used to work flawlessly in slots 1 and 3 in Dual CH mode. Because right now I have 2 motherboards which are virtually unsellable because of this issue, which sucks because I really need money right now and was hoping to sell them once my new GIGABYTE board comes, which doesn't suck!

And with the P5N32 SLi SE Deluxe, these modules were actually SUPPLIED with that board. Why would they ship a PC with incompatible memory?
 
MikeTyson said:
But that doesn't explain why the OCZ used to work flawlessly in slots 1 and 3 in Dual CH mode. Because right now I have 2 motherboards which are virtually unsellable because of this issue, which sucks because I really need money right now and was hoping to sell them once my new GIGABYTE board comes, which doesn't suck!
Click to expand...
You will have to ask Asus support on that one.


MikeTyson said:
And with the P5N32 SLi SE Deluxe, these modules were actually SUPPLIED with that board. Why would they ship a PC with incompatible memory?
Click to expand...

Retailer error. According to Asus, it's not on the memory compatibility list.
 
erocker said:
You will have to ask Asus support on that one.

Oh hell no, support people are the worst because they don't have a clue what they're talking about.
Click to expand...

But I used this P5W DH Deluxe for close to a year with just the 2x 1GB OCZ modules, no problems. Soon as I add the Generic ones, it doesn't boot. So I take them out, and it still doesn't boot. And then I discover I can only get it to boot using slots 1 and 2, effectively the board is saying to me "you got DONE in the ass for no reason because you tried to add extra memory" and ever since that day it's never worked right. But the Generic modules all work fine cos as I say they're running perfectly right now in another ASUS board in dual ch mode.

So to summarise, I have the same problem with both P5N32 SLi SE Deluxe + P5W DH Deluxe (both of which I'm willing to sell)
 
I wish I could give you an answer without making one up. :ohwell: Like I said man, I'm stumped here. Very strange problem indeed. Also, please don't sell you stuff out of this thread. We have a special section for that that requires certain prerequisites to sell.
 
erocker said:
I wish I could give you an answer without making one up. :ohwell: Like I said man, I'm stumped here. Very strange problem indeed. Also, please don't sell you stuff out of this thread. We have a special section for that that requires certain prerequisites to sell.
Click to expand...

I'm not really trying to sell it in this thread as such, I'm just wondering if the problem is only limited to me and therefore I can sell them in the condition they are stating they should work with other normal ram
 
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