Strange problem resolved on Asus P8P67 Pro

[Zap]

Just wanted to toss this one out here just in case someone else comes across it.

Slowly doing my main rig build, and had problems with my P8P67 Pro. It would POST one time, and then it wouldn't POST again, until I took the CPU out and put it back in.

At first I thought it was my Zalman CNPS10X Flex, because the first time I reseated the CPU I just rested it on the CPU without bolting it down, and it POSTed. So, bolt it down, no POST.

I tried a Cooler Master Hyper 212+, same results. Then, I notice that the VGA LED stays lit when it won't POST (it also does the beeps). So, I try all three PCIe x16 slots, then I try another graphics card (tried a GTX 285 and a GeForce 7300LE). No dice. Was it a bad board?

Nope. Turns out the board didn't like the PNY RAM. I have two 8GB kits. I wanted to use the PNY because it is 1.5v (1333MHz 9-9-9-24) and that's exactly how BIOS detects it, but alas will only POST one time and then the motherboard gives the VGA error.

I tried my other kit, which is Patriot Sector 5 at 1.65v (1600MHz 9-9-9-24) and it POSTs reliably now, though the RAM detects at 1066MHz 7-7-7-20.

Haven't checked, but my guess is that neither kit is on the QVL.

So, my point of this post is that sometimes the problem isn't what you think it is, or what the motherboard claimed it is (VGA problem when it was a memory problem).

Oh yeah, and it really helped to have tested this outside of the case.

 

[bankster55]

Just curious, what does the HSF pressure or lack thereof have to do with incompatible or wrongly configured RAM?
Either one fixes it or the other does, which is it?
Does light HSF pressure post reliably with PNY RAM?
HSF tight - no post - suggests mobo layer manuf QC prob?
Especially with 2 dif HSF same behavior.

With 16GB RAM loaded you are gonna have to up the voltage to like 1.525 - 1.575. Tried that? I'd bet the PNY runs stable with one stick
Have you tried the mem O.K. button with Patriot?
Flip up the mobo TPU switch and full reboot twice and see what both your RAM is running at then

Bios 1503 "increased compatibility"

 

[Zap]

Yes I tried the MemOK button. No dice on the PNY. The Patriot works so I'll leave it alone for now.

Just curious, what does the HSF pressure or lack thereof have to do with incompatible or wrongly configured RAM?

It doesn't. It was part of my troubleshooting. Could have been shorting on something (backplate on 212+ doesn't touch the metal on back of CPU socket).

With 16GB RAM loaded you are gonna have to up the voltage to like 1.525 - 1.575.

The PNY RAM is rated for 1.5v so I would expect it to run on that. It is a 2x4GB kit, not 4x2GB.

 

[bankster55]

The PNY RAM is rated for 1.5v so I would expect it to run on that. It is a 2x4GB kit, not 4x2GB.

Just for giggles, why dont you try 1.550
And it also seems like no one is willing to try the TPU switch,
Doesnt hurt anything to give it a shot. I'd be curious as to what it comes up with using the PNY
ASUS went to a lot of trouble to make the algorithms in the TPU chip on the mobo create a a good stable working config, and its interactions have been improved with ea bios update
What bios you on now?

 

[x26]

Thanks for the Heads-up and informative post!

 

[Kenmitch]

That is strange....This was the microcenter 2500k combo?

Mine booted rite up with 8gb of corsair vengence. Just did a on top of the box build Friday to play around for an hour or so. Seems like a nice motherboard with alot of features. The efi bios is kinda cool.

Gonna swap my combo into my rig tomorrow or tuesday when my daugher is at school

 

[Zap]

Just for giggles, why dont you try 1.550
And it also seems like no one is willing to try the TPU switch,
Doesnt hurt anything to give it a shot. I'd be curious as to what it comes up with using the PNY
...
What bios you on now?

What does the TPU switch do?

I'm on shipping BIOS for B3 revision.

Machine is already built with the Patriot memory.

That is strange....This was the microcenter 2500k combo?

Mine booted rite up with 8gb of corsair vengence.

Yes, Micro Center combo. Yours booted up right away because you used Corsair memory. I went with cheap stuff.

Anyways, the Patriot memory works fine. I just have to manually set up timings/speed.

 

[bankster55]

The TPU switch creates an ultra stable basic overclock taking into account your particular CPU and RAM and Vidcard. Once running - cant change anything in bios to tweak stuff.

The shipping bios for earlier B3 is 1305, the shipping bios for later shipments is 1502, and there is an official 1503 on ASUS website.
The version shows on the EZ page in BIOS.

You originally said this

I tried my other kit, which is Patriot Sector 5 at 1.65v (1600MHz 9-9-9-24) and it POSTs reliably now, though the RAM detects at 1066MHz 7-7-7-20.

It seems to have downclocked because the timings were set too tight with the wrong SPD Jedec
So, you are saying that now when you set the parameters manually, the ram runs at 1600 and correct timings?

 

[Kenmitch]

Yes, Micro Center combo. Yours booted up right away because you used Corsair memory. I went with cheap stuff. Anyways, the Patriot memory works fine. I just have to manually set up timings/speed.

I got the cheap stuff also $110 - 20% coupon = $88 - $20 MIR = $68

Booted up using the stock fan which is shorter than the Vengence ram!

Gonna swap the combo into my main rig today or tomorrow and see if she'll meet my goal of 4.8ghz plus

With stock cooler 4.4ghz was just hitting upper 70's to low 80's with the stock cooler. Under water the temps should be amazingly low I'd think!

 

[dma0991]

How strange, as I recall I did fix the dual POST problem just by tweaking the advanced settings on an Asus P8P67 Pro non B3 stepping with Kingston Value RAM 4GBx2 1.5V.

I can't seem to point out as well the relation between HSF pressure on the CPU and dual POST because the socket clamps down on the CPU pretty hard. It creaked like it was going to break when I installed the Core i7 2600.

Different methods of troubleshooting for the same type of problem, how strange. :hmm:

 

[Zap]

So, you are saying that now when you set the parameters manually, the ram runs at 1600 and correct timings?

I have it set to 9-9-9-24 1333MHz 1.5v. At the rated speeds of 9-9-9-24 1600MHz it is rated for 1.65v. I figure I'd run mine at 1.5v and it seems to do fine.

 

[Majic 7]

I use the TPU and I changed the multiplier back to 100 from the 103 that TPU set. Also changed to by each core? from by all cores. Changed it to the one that says can't change in Windows. These two things lowered my overclock to 4.3 from 4.4 and the core thing seems to make all my cores read exactly the same temp most of the time. Without this they are all over the place within a couple of degrees. It changed my memory from XMP to manual, also. It kept the same voltage, timings and memory speed though. 1600 and 1.5v. Seems stable, does 6 hr. gaming sessions with no problems and haven't had any errors in Prime.