Please rate my build $1000-$1200

[sigmanova]

yeah there's a red light in the DRAM section for the ASUS P7P55D-E board. i've reseated the RAM and forced it in several times; yet the red light persists...

not sure what else to do. the computer powers on but nothing is on the screen.

i guess i'll try one stick at a time.

 

[mfenn]

Have you made sure to align the RAM in the correct orientation? Can you see any of the gold contacts when the RAM is in place? Can you manually push the latches closed when the RAM is in place?

 

[Davidh373]

Are the clips in all the way? If they are not you're either not putting them all the way in, or they are the wrong kind of ram.

 

[sigmanova]

ram is in the correct orientation; i cannot see any of the gold contacts with the RAM is in place

unlike other boards, there's only 1 set of latches on the right side that can be pushed; the ones of the left are hard-set in and cannot be moved.

i have manually pushed the latches on the right as far as they will go. i'm pretty sure they are in.

 

[sigmanova]

i thought that it might be the wrong set of RAM; but g.skill's website says they are compatible for this board. the ASUS manual says otherwise...which makes me think they are wrong too...

i'm starting to think they are wrong for the board...

 

[sigmanova]

thanks David and mfenn for your help. i think i'll get another set of RAM for next week and try it again.

 

[mfenn]

I can tell you 100% that they are compatible with that board. It sounds like they are being inserted correctly, so I would say to try the sticks one at a time. It's unlikely that two sticks are DOA, so if neither one works one at a time, I would think that the board is DOA.

 

[sigmanova]

that would really suck if the board was DOA! after all that work trying to put it together only to find out all that was for nothing...rawr...

i'll try it one stick at a time then and do my best to get it all the way in.

thank you again mfenn!!!

 

[mfenn]

Also make sure that you're putting the memory in the correct slots (consult the mobo manual).

 

[sigmanova]

per the manual i am putting them in the right slots...

im going to rebuild it again from scratch tomorrow and see what happens. thanks!

 

[sigmanova]

I took everything apart this morning and attempted to reseat the RAM on the motherboard on a flat surface. see pictures. i still see gold contacts despite considerable force trying to put them in...any ideas? (sorry i am really new at this and i appreciate everyone's patience in help)

 

[fffblackmage]

Looks like they're not in all the way. The two latches on each side should lock onto the ram if installed properly.

 

[sigmanova]

thank you fffblackmage. i'll try pushing them in again.

 

[sandorski]

try putting one end in first, then the other. try other end first if it doesn't work the first time.

When I built my current rig I noticed the DDR3 was a little trickier to seat compared with DDR.

 

[beginner99]

I'm always astonished how much force certain taks need to work. I used the same RAM in my build and well I had problems too getting it in. Just needs a lot of force. The shape of the cooler doesn' help either. As far as I remember my fingers hurst a bit afterwards...

Put please don't break anything now put don't be too gentle either.

 

[sigmanova]

damn i'm a newb...i used even more force and managed to push them in until the lever snapped in...so far it's looking good but the fact that it booted and i was able to get into BIOS is a big thing for me.

the computer boots up successfully and it shows as 4GB ram. i'm installing Windows 7 now.

thank you to everyone for their help, and especially patience dealing with a newb like me!

 

[betasub]

W00t! AT forum troubleshooters FTW!

 

[mfenn]

Grats! Glad you got it working.

Now that you've done two, imagine doing 16 on an IBM X3450 with the DIMM slots from hell! Talk about sore fingers!

 

[sigmanova]

yeah many thanks to the Anandtech forum members! without you guys i couldn't have done this myself. thank you thank you again! you've all been a great help!

lol mfenn i got some pretty sore fingers and neck trying to put this thing together!

i have prime95 running right now for stability. highest temp is 68 C on one of the cores with an average of about 65.

my MSI GTX 460 1gb is sitting pretty at 20 C. pretty damn nice! time to go play with this after the burn in is done!