System Specs:
ASUS rampage formula and Q9450.
2 x 2GB - TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX Corsair DDR2 800
Asus 4870 1GB
PCIe 1x version of the Creative SB X-Fi
Memory related setup in BIOS (these are settings recommended by Corsair for this mem kit):
DDR2-800 at 2.1V
4-4-4-12
Also:
Disabled PCIE, CPU spread spectrum.
Disabled LLC.
Disabled on board audio and legacy USB.
All other settings are at default values.
Board came with BIOS version 0408
I placed a 2GB stick of RAM in slot B1 and after POST I got a "Overclocking failure. Please enter setup using F1". ASUS LCD poster was showing INIT ROM.
I powered down and reseated the memory and after this did not get this issue. Ran MEMTEST86+ ver2.1 for 2 passes and no failures. I proceeded to test the same stick with MEMTEST in the other slots A1, A2, B2 and did not see any issues.
Now when I put this stick back into slot B1 I get a "Overclocking failure. Please enter setup using F1" message again after POST. Updated the BIOS to 0701 which is the latest version on ASUS website and still get the same issue. Also tried re seating the mem stick and no luck. I know it worked once earlier but now I almost always get this message. The weird thing is the settings are recommended by the manufacturer (Corsair) and I am not trying to overclock at all.
I have another machine with a similar setup and it has the 0410 BIOS. So as a last resort I have flashed to the 0410 BIOS. Now I have tried slot A1, and slot B1 again and randomly see the same message.
Put in the 2nd 2 GB stick of RAM. So slot A1 has 1 stick and slot B1 has another. Managed to get into memtest and the 2nd stick had errors in it. Always errors out at the same address location.
Power down and try a boot up with 2 sticks again and motherboard gets stuck during POST after DET RAM (this is showing up on the LCD poster). clr CMOS did not help. Had to remove the 2nd 2 GB stick (the one with the bad bits). Now it POSTs fine but still randomly get a Overclocking failure message. At this point after the message I can enter BIOS fine. I just quit without saving and then it boots up and goes into memtest usually without giving me the same message again. Sometimes I do not get the message and manage to get into memtest fine.
Investigating further I saw that every time I get this message and go into the BIOS and look at the DRAM Voltage value (which I have changed to 2.1V but was reading back 2.16V) it reads back 1.872V even though the setting is at 2.1V. I played around with this a bit and basically changed it from default of 1.8V to 2.04 and increased in steps of .02 upto 2.1V and it would randomly give the overclocking failed message. So may be a compatibility issue with the RAM? 2.1V is recommended by Corsair for this mem kit.
What is strange is the 2nd machine I have which is working fine so far has the same memory and the settings of 4-4-4-12 and 2.1V work fine there without any issues.
Just want to rule out this being an issue with the motherboard (like maybe the voltage regulator that is supplying the DIMM with power?). I know I have to RMA the RAM as 1 stick is definitely bad but is there any other way to confirm maybe that the motherboard is ok and all these problems are due to the RAM so that I do not have to RMA the motherboard too?
Any suggestions on what I could try?
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give out all the details in case someone else has seen a similar issue.
Thank you.
ASUS rampage formula and Q9450.
2 x 2GB - TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX Corsair DDR2 800
Asus 4870 1GB
PCIe 1x version of the Creative SB X-Fi
Memory related setup in BIOS (these are settings recommended by Corsair for this mem kit):
DDR2-800 at 2.1V
4-4-4-12
Also:
Disabled PCIE, CPU spread spectrum.
Disabled LLC.
Disabled on board audio and legacy USB.
All other settings are at default values.
Board came with BIOS version 0408
I placed a 2GB stick of RAM in slot B1 and after POST I got a "Overclocking failure. Please enter setup using F1". ASUS LCD poster was showing INIT ROM.
I powered down and reseated the memory and after this did not get this issue. Ran MEMTEST86+ ver2.1 for 2 passes and no failures. I proceeded to test the same stick with MEMTEST in the other slots A1, A2, B2 and did not see any issues.
Now when I put this stick back into slot B1 I get a "Overclocking failure. Please enter setup using F1" message again after POST. Updated the BIOS to 0701 which is the latest version on ASUS website and still get the same issue. Also tried re seating the mem stick and no luck. I know it worked once earlier but now I almost always get this message. The weird thing is the settings are recommended by the manufacturer (Corsair) and I am not trying to overclock at all.
I have another machine with a similar setup and it has the 0410 BIOS. So as a last resort I have flashed to the 0410 BIOS. Now I have tried slot A1, and slot B1 again and randomly see the same message.
Put in the 2nd 2 GB stick of RAM. So slot A1 has 1 stick and slot B1 has another. Managed to get into memtest and the 2nd stick had errors in it. Always errors out at the same address location.
Power down and try a boot up with 2 sticks again and motherboard gets stuck during POST after DET RAM (this is showing up on the LCD poster). clr CMOS did not help. Had to remove the 2nd 2 GB stick (the one with the bad bits). Now it POSTs fine but still randomly get a Overclocking failure message. At this point after the message I can enter BIOS fine. I just quit without saving and then it boots up and goes into memtest usually without giving me the same message again. Sometimes I do not get the message and manage to get into memtest fine.
Investigating further I saw that every time I get this message and go into the BIOS and look at the DRAM Voltage value (which I have changed to 2.1V but was reading back 2.16V) it reads back 1.872V even though the setting is at 2.1V. I played around with this a bit and basically changed it from default of 1.8V to 2.04 and increased in steps of .02 upto 2.1V and it would randomly give the overclocking failed message. So may be a compatibility issue with the RAM? 2.1V is recommended by Corsair for this mem kit.
What is strange is the 2nd machine I have which is working fine so far has the same memory and the settings of 4-4-4-12 and 2.1V work fine there without any issues.
Just want to rule out this being an issue with the motherboard (like maybe the voltage regulator that is supplying the DIMM with power?). I know I have to RMA the RAM as 1 stick is definitely bad but is there any other way to confirm maybe that the motherboard is ok and all these problems are due to the RAM so that I do not have to RMA the motherboard too?
Any suggestions on what I could try?
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give out all the details in case someone else has seen a similar issue.
Thank you.
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