EP45C-DS3 POST Issues

[JimmyKerrigan]

Hey y'all,

I'm losing my mind. I am trying to figure out what part of my computer is dead, if any at all.

I have:
Gigabyte EP45C-DS3
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Corsair H60 Water Cooling
G.Skill PC26400 DDR2 2x2GB
OR
"AMD Performance" (Built by Patriot) PC3-12800 2x2GB
eVGA GeForce 550ti
OR
eVGA GeForce 8600GTS
1 TB Western Digital Caviar Black
older 250 GB Western Digital
Zalman Z9 Plus case
Corsair TX750
OR
Rocketfish 500W PSU
OR
XION 500W PSU

Problem: Computer used to boot with the 550 ti. Then it started acting funny. Then it would take a few attempts or the room would have to be warmed up first. Then I thought the video card was done for. I would troubleshoot by putting the 8600GTS in and voila, the computer would always boot. Hell, the 8600 has literally never once failed to POST in any configuration of RAM (1 stick, 2 stick, ddr2, ddr3) in all my few months of troubleshooting this issue.

The motherboard was bought "refurbished" over ebay from China because they don't make lga775 boards anymore and I didn't want a friend's E8400 to go lonely. I would think the motherboard is the obvious candidate for being the weak link but its flawless performance when it DID post the 550ti as well as the completely rock solid performance hosting the 8600 GTS (even overclocking the 3.0ghz cpu to 3.6 via a 400mhz FSB that also ran the newest DDR3 RAM at 1600mhz) makes me think it is not the mobo. I mean, a dead mobo stays dead right? It doesn't work error free for weeks and months?

My most recent fix for posting the 550ti and the DDR2 g.skill was boot in to the bios with the 8600 in and I volted the ram to the rated 1.9v and voila. Ran for a week perfectly. I would just sleep the pc at night and it would literally play Mechwarrior Online for weeks.

Then I installed Hawken and it forced a reboot on my pc and it's back to dead land.

TL;DR: All configurations of RAM will post the 8600 100% of the time. Voodoo tricks are required to post the 550ti in all configurations (1 stick, 2 stick, red stick, blue stick) but when it does I can stress it for hours and weeks with no crashes, no graphical glitches, no temperature spikes. Nothing! Sometimes I would get it to post by just moving the RAM around.

Wouldn't a grounding fault effect it all the time? Wouldn't a dead video card still at least post to **** graphics? That's what happened to my 8800GT when it died. There is no way the 750w corsair psu can't handle a stupid core 2 and a 550. Thing's built for SLI!

I don't know what to do. Would volting the mobo, like the ich, higher help? I just want to play some damn Mechwarrior.

It's possible the 550 was slowly dying but the fan spins and when it works it works like a dream. I haven't been able to put it in another pc to test it.

[profJim]

Welcome to the forum.

Getting an EP45T or EP45C motherboard to run DDR3 memory at its rated speed can be a real challenge.
Many had to start with lower memory speeds such as 1200 - 1333MHz and work their way higher with a lot of stress testing.
If your G.Skill memory is rated at 4-4-4-12 at 800 MHz, it might be able to run at 1066 - 1100MHz with 5-5-5-15 timings.
If your Patriot PC3-12800 memory is not designed to work with P45 systems, it will probably take a lot of effort be stable.
There might be a problem with the first x16 pci-e slot.
You can try using the second x16 pci-e slot to see if this makes a difference.
Which version of the Geforce drives are you using?
Which motherboard bios are you using?

I suggest getting your system completely stable with stock cpu speeds.
With your P45 system, I doubt that using DDR3 memory at higher speeds will make a noticeable difference.
Mr preference is to run DDR2 memory with cas4 timings at 850 - 875+ MHz instead of using cas5 at 1066MHz speeds.
Please post links to the full specifications for each of your memory kits.
Including a screen-shot for the pre-programed SPD specs will help.

Check out EP43-UD3L with Q9400 wont post, keeps rebooting, post #5 for recommended basic settings at stock speeds.
GA-EP45-UD3P - Won't boot with 450FSB is an excellent P45 overclocking thread, where Dan did an excellent job posting his bios settings and useful screen-shots. The EasyTune6 information is very useful, but I would never use my system with ET6 running or in the system tray. You are hereby warned, it is a very long thread.

It is critical that MCH Core voltage is set correctly, too high or too low will cause boot loops or instability. You will probably want to set DRAM Voltage at or near its maximum rated voltage. There are additional voltage tweaks that will need to be used when overclocking your cpu speed. The best overall performance will be in the 3.80 - 4.0 GHz range using the highest Cpu Host Frequency setting that is stable. Your EP45C-DS3 should easily use 450 - 475MHz and possibly higher.

Let us know which stress testing programs you are running and provide detailed information about any errors or problems.

[JimmyKerrigan]

Hey man,

Thank you very much for your help. This is a lot to process. Stability is a goal for later, for now I need to get it booting to even just the bios in the first place. I just get reset loops or hangs on POST.

I will work on ram specs, screen shots, etc... but to start I will use those settings from the Q9400 post to see if I can get the video card booting. I've been avoiding the second pci slot because I don't want to pop off another bracket on a new case. Pretty stupid excuse for not attempting a troubleshooting step.

[profJim]

Remove one memory module from the #3 slot and see if your system boots without looping or hanging.
I assume that your memory is installed in the #1 and #3 memory slots (as shown in the mobo user manual).

Do you have the same problems when booting with the DDR2 and DDR3 memory kits?

[JimmyKerrigan]

I have tried every combination of RAM and if the 550 is involved it either hangs before POST or cycles reboots.

I just tried the settings from the other post and it didn't help me boot the 550. I tried one stick to no avail as well as the second pcie slot. Didn't try combinations of the ddr2 ram today but it was the same story yesterday and previously when I tried either stick solo in all 4 slots.

I'm now running the F6a bios but that didn't help me POST, either.

DDR2 RAM is: G.SKILL- World leading DDR3 computer memory and SSD manufacturer -Products
DDR3 RAM is: http://patriotmemory.com/product/det...ance%20Edition

Bout to throw the 550 in a friend's Z77 Asus board with an i5 3570k. If it doesn't boot there then the card is dead and I can move on.

[profJim]

Your G.Skill memory is rated at cas5 at 800MHz, not cas4 which would be somewhat faster.
The Patriot memory link had the following message:

The webpage you are trying to access no longer exists. You may have accessed a link that was previously cached.

If you feel this is still an error please email us at webmaster@patriotmemory.com so that we can fix the issue.

Definitely test your video card in the other system.

[JimmyKerrigan]

My friend chickened out. Now I'm getting lines and dots. Something's old and is going to give way. Time for a new mobo!

[profJim]

Where do you live?
Maybe a forum member lives near you and might be able to help you.

Don't post any personal information, just the city and country.