Computer wont boot with same memory it used to boot with.

[ibex333]

I am trying to rebuild an older Xeon 5450 PC. You can see the specs in my sig.

The 700w OCZ PSU that's been working for 8 years without a hitch suddely died, and I threw an old Thermaltake 450W in there.

Now, the computer will not boot with some of the ram it used to boot with.

I was using 2x 2gb sticks of G.Skill DDRII 800 1.8v and 1x 2gb stick of Kingston DDR II 800 2.0v RAM for a total of 6GB.

Now, after the PSU swap, I can only boot 4GB and not 6. I thought maybe the slot was bad, or the 2gb stick of Kingston was bad, but sure enough PC boots with just that sick in that slot.

Can an extra stick really make that exact difference in voltage which prevents the machine from booting?!

In the interest of full disclosure, the CPU is overclocked to 3.8GHz, but even if I go down to the default 3.0GHz, PC will not boot with 6GB ram.

Before the PSU went bad, 6Gb used to boot up just fine, even overclocked to 1005GHz from 800. Everything was rock stable in OCCT for 24 hours.

 

[VirtualLarry]

*shrug*. I've seen weird degradation on older components, especially ones that have been "rock solid" overclocked for years. It does take a toll on the hardware, in some ways.

But if it won't run with all 6GB at stock clocks, then maybe there might be something that you could do to fix it.

Are the RAM sticks in the same exact order that they were in before? If you're mixing stick brands / models, sometimes you have to put the slower sticks in the first slot, to set the slower timings for every slot.

Or did you used to have to tweak the BIOS settings, to ease up on the latency, up the voltage, etc., that you forgot about since it has been so long?

You could try putting the RAM in, and clearing the CMOS. Speaking of which, has the CMOS battery been replaced recently? Might try that, it's a long shot, but I've seen weirdness on older boards when the CMOS battery is shot or marginal.

That all said, is this ancient workhorse, being tasked with things that require 6GB of RAM, versus being able to run on 4GB, if you need it to run at all? What's the downside of leaving off the 2GB? Is there any? I would assume that a rig this old would be "put out to pasture", to live a gentle life from now on.

Or you could replace the PSU with a newer, more powerful one.

rosewill_inc on ebay (Rosewill's own store), has a bunch of their "Gamer" PSUs for 1/2 or 1/3 list price. I bought some 600W Bronze Glacier PSUs for ~$33, and some Capstone 650W Gold PSUs for ~$45. They had some other ones, maybe Arc 450W or 500W for $30.

Consider, with prices that good, and longevity of your repurposed 450W uncertain, if you are willing to put another $30-$45 into this one.

Edit: I still have a couple of working Gigabyte P35-DS3R boards, those were really GREAT boards, back in the day. Amazing that they've held up so well.

Given the age of that board, and especially if it's been sitting unplugged for a few years, if you've never changed the CMOS battery, now is the time.

Edit: For cheap CR2032 lithium / CMOS batteries, go to a Dollar Tree or other dollar store. Walmart or Pharmacy stores should have them, but the dollar store has perfectly serviceable ones for cheap ($1).

Or you can order a 20-pack on Amazon.com for like $12-15 (Energizer or Duracell, freshness dated).

 

[DigDog]

I second motherboard degradation. A simple voltage bump should resolve the issue (for a while longer).

 

[ibex333]

Thanks!

By the way, that x5450 @ 3.8GHz is almost as fast as an i5-2400 and faster if OC'd higher(unstable) which is still more or less capable running most modern games. Minus the RAM being less than the required 8GB off course. ; )