noob asus a8n-sli RAM question

[IH8 Money]

I have just put together my first build. It consisted of;
Asus A8N-SLI <--A3 according to cpuz
Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2Ghz Newcastle
Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCU
Corsair VS1GBKIT400 <--A single stick of this type is listed on the asus QVL
EVGA 6600GT
WD 74GB Raptor/ Seagate 200GB
NEC 3520 DVD
450 Watt EPower

Here is my problem, From the first time I powered my system on I have been receiving memory failure errors. The first day I wiggled the sticks, and poof I was up and running. I got windows xp pro installed no problem. I loaded all my drivers, and AVG. The next day, same error "memory failure." I did the same as the first day jiggled the RAM, and I was good to go. I loaded the rest of my programs . Now today ALL I GET IS THE D@MN MEMORY FAILURE. I have tried Single, and dual. I have no other RAM around to try, but I have a hard time beliveing I have 2 bad sticks. This RAM is also listed in the A8N-SLI QVL, or rather a single stick of this ram. The asus probe program told me I still had 11A on the 12V rail.
Could I have damaged the RAM slots by wiggling the sticks?( oh, and yes the power was disconnected)
Could this be the MB
I hate RMAing:disgust:
Thanks

 

[GuitarDaddy]

That 11a on the 12v rail may be your problem. The specs on this board list the min as 18a on the 12v rail.
I'm not familar with Epower, but 11a on the 12v is really low. I think the Antec 430 true power has 18-20a on the 12v. My Antec 550 has 30a on the 12v.

I would suggest upgading your power supply before you give up on the mobo, or the ram.

 

[bap4201]

agreed, i like my psu...see signature.

 

[IH8 Money]

I thought that the asus probe was listing remaining juice.
The PSU itself lists 28A on the 12V rail.
I came to this conclusion because the listing was fluctuating.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

No, Asus probe reports the total Volts output on the 12v, not amps. I got confused when reading your post(sorry), a PSU rated at 28a should be Okay. However 11.0v? on the 12v would still a problem, mine shows 11.968. If yours is dropping below 11.7 that could be the problem.

 

[IH8 Money]

Now that you say that you make me wonder? thanks
Is there anything else that I should possibly look at?

I have unpluged my whole system and even tried booting with only GPU,RAM,Optical.

 

[FastEddie]

Take a look in the memory slot that you "wiggled the sticks" in and see if any of the pin contacts are out of track, crossed, or touching one another.

You shouldn't have to "wiggle" the memory in the slot if it's fully seated.

 

[IH8 Money]

FastEddie
OK I checked them and no they look fine
__
How much would 2 12" cold cathode tubes take to run? It doesn't list on the package.
I turned off 1-80mm fan and the 2 tubes. would this be enough boost, if my psu was the problem?

 

[IH8 Money]

I put a volt meter on the 12V rail as I power up and get 12V. I still get the memory error. Does this mean that I can discount PSU as the source of the problem?

Side note; is it normal to have to remove the graphics card to remove the memory? or is this an a8n-sli thing

 

[Shadizzy]

Screenshot of ASUS Probe

This is what mine displays, Im running whatever is in my sig. Hope this helps

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: IH8 Money
I put a volt meter on the 12V rail as I power up and get 12V. I still get the memory error. Does this mean that I can discount PSU as the source of the problem?

Steady voltage is important, but amps is what you need to be concerned with. 28a on the 12v rail should be fine.

Try clearing your cmos (unplug from the ac source, push the power button to discharge the stored voltage in the caps, then use the CLRTC jumper to clear the cmos--i'd even pop the battery for a few minutes. Then reinstall the battery, move the CLRTC jumper from 2-3 back to 1-2, plug the psu back into the ac source, and see if it'll fire up.

 

[IH8 Money]

Originally posted by: FastEddie

Try clearing your cmos (unplug from the ac source, push the power button to discharge the stored voltage in the caps, then use the CLRTC jumper to clear the cmos--i'd even pop the battery for a few minutes. Then reinstall the battery, move the CLRTC jumper from 2-3 back to 1-2, plug the psu back into the ac source, and see if it'll fire up.

[/quote]

I did this, now I get nothing. No error, but no vid signal. Is there something else I need to do?
My jumpers are on 1-2, and I even checked 3V on the battery. WTF