GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

[Brionj]

My daughter decided to build her own machine

MB: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3p
CPU: Intel E8500
Video: GeForce GTX 260
G.SKILL DDR2-800, 2048MB x 2
PS: Silencer 610W EPS12V

I watched over her shoulder to make sure she took care in assembling/installing everything.

Unfortunately, the case has no builtin speaker. So, no beeps.

But the system fires up. All the fans spin, the Phase LED's illuminate. But after a short time, the system turns off. A few seconds later, it trys again. Only thing that stops it is turning off the power supply switch.

There's no video, but you seem to hear the HD rattle and it accesses the optical drive.

Basically went through what there is for troubleshooting, but no results.

Does anyone have suggestions as to what the most likely culprit might be?

Thanks,
Brion

[godto]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

boot with one ram only .... then go into bios ... set the trap to 333 .. and divider .. 2.0 2.6 ... some thing like that .. what ever close to 800 .... also set the voltage to the ram spec. .... then boot up .. shutt down and put the other ram in .. will work fine then .. after that you can do all the tweaking you like

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Try with only one stick of ram for now, in slot one. Then if you get started I will help you with both sticks. If one does not work try the other, also try all slots if slot one fails.

2x2GB needs some adjustments normally, but one 2GB sticks should be fine and the system should start up normally

[Brionj]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

One memory module in slot two has booted. Now to see if my daughter and I can find these memory settings. My daughter is still asleep. She'll be so happy. I'll have to wait until she awakes to do anything else. She wants to be "hands on". So, I don't want to usurp her fun.

Any pointers in setting these memory values for her would be greatly appreciated.

[stasio]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

As Lsdmeasap suggest,try one memory each slot,then change to another stick also each slot.Be sure ,go to bios and Load Optimized Default.
What is type,latency,voltage of memory?

[Brionj]

[Esh]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Dimm voltage seems low, try adjusting it to 1.9v, or 2.0v (which is not necessary i guess)

adjust performance enhance to standart, turbo may cause instabilities.

and listen to Lsdmeasap =)

[Dymblos]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

ur power supply cant hold the GTX280

[x.clay]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

I have had the same problem with this board. Sometimes it won't start up and gets stuck and won't make it to the post screen. It just constanly restarts. The only way to stop the cycle is to disconnect the power supply. I flashed to the latest BIOs last night and don't know yet if this has corrected the problem. Here are my system specs:

MB: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3p
CPU: Intel E8500 @ 3.16 (no overclokcing until I can get motherboard and vista relatively stable)
Video: EVGA GeForce 9800 GT
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066, 2048MB x 2 @ 5-5-5-15 2.1v
PS: SILVERSTONE ST70F 700W Modular

This is my first build so I still have a lot to learn. I considered that this might be a memory problem so I have run memtest, memscan, etc. and haven't had any errors. I did notice recently that the board recognized the correct timings for my memory but was only giving them 1.8v instead of the manufacturer spec of 2.1v so I turned up the voltage but I had the reboot cycle problem happen again so I guess that didn't fix it. If the BIOS update doesn't work, should I try changing the RAM settings (800 instead of 1066, changing the divider, etc)? The only setting I have changed from the default are correcting the multiplier for my CPU and adjusting the voltage for my RAM. Any help would be hugely (is that a word?) appreciated.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

@brionj >>>

Here would be optimal setting ranges for that setup at stock >>>

[b][u]MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)[/u][/b]
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto or Fast
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.16


[b][u]Clock Chip Control [/u][/b]
[b][u]Standard Clock Control[/u][/b]
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 333Mhz
[B][COLOR="Blue"]PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:Set to 100[/COLOR][/B]

C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


[b][u]Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter][/u][/b]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<< 
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<< 


[b][u]DRAM Performance Control[/u][/b][u][/u]
[B][COLOR="Blue"]Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD][/COLOR][/B]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Disabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.40B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

[b]Standard Timing Control[/b]
CAS Latency Time........................4
tRCD .........................................4
tRP'...........................................4
tRAS..........................................12

Set to highest suggested below here, and then later lower one by one testing with memtest86+ as you go

[b][u]Advanced Timing Control[/u][/b]
tRRD...........................................3-4
tWTR..........................................3-6 (use 12 first, then go right to lower range)

tWR............................................4-6 (use 12 first, then go right to lower range)

[COLOR="Blue"]tRFC...........................................52-62[/COLOR] (Use 68 first)
tRTP...........................................3-5
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2

[u][b]Driving Strength Profiles[/b][/u][b][/b]
Driving Strength ............................800-1066 (1066 may be best, try after you get going)

[b]Channel A[/b]
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto 
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto 
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

[b]Channel B[/b]
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto 
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto 
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

[b][U]Motherboard Voltage Control[/U][/b][U][/U]
Voltage Type.���... Manual
[b]CPU[/b]
CPU Vcore�.���.........................:Auto
CPU Termination�..... 1.200V*.......: <<< Please set to stock, same as below
CPU PLL�������....1.500V*.......: << Please set to stock, Auto overvolts this way to much

CPU Referen.����....0.755V*.......: <<< .64% Of Vtt (Termination above) Auto Will set this correctly 

CPU Reference2���,,0.800V*.......:<<< .67% Of Vtt (Termination above) Auto Will set this correctly 

[b]MCH/ICH[/b]
[COLOR="Blue"]MCH Core�����.....1.100V...........: << 1.2-1.3[/COLOR] (maybe 1.24-1.28 will be best)
MCH Reference�.��.0.800V...........; <<< Leave
MCH/DRAM Ref.�......0.900V...........: <<< Leave
ICH I/O������.....1.550V............: <<< Leave
ICH Core����...��1.100V............: <<< Leave

DRAM
[COLOR="Blue"]DRAM Voltage ��....1.800V............: 1.9-2.0[/COLOR]
DRAM Termination .�0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave

[b][U]Advanced Settings[/U][/b][U][/U]
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled] Enabled if you use Vmware/Virtual PC

[b][U]Integrated Peripherals[/U][/b][U][/U]
Legacy USB Storage Detect ..............[Disabled] *Note* Must be enabled to flash from USB

@x.clay, please use the above suggestions only with 3.20B memory multiplier

[x.clay]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Thanks. I'll try those settings. Hopefully that will clean things up.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Good luck and keep us posted if you have any luck, or issues

[Brionj]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

We'll give it a try as soon as my daughter gets off work (6 PM eastern). I was trying a few things. It seemed like one memory stick works fine at any number of settings. The second I put in every slot and she no worky.

I'm hoping these settings will do it, but I fear it may just be an issue with that stick as opposed to being motherboard settings. Wish I had some mechanism to verify whether that stick is just defective and I'm wasting my time on the tweaks.

I really appreciate the help. I actually did attempt to just run with one stick in multiple slots on my own, but apparently just chose the wrong one. Just figured one memory module was as good as the other. At the time, I wasn't sure it had anything to do with memory anyway. It's a bit inconvenient as we currently have it setup to require moving the video card each time we change the memory. I've got to ask her why she chose that slot. It looks like there is another slot option that is actually closer to the power supply.

I'll update with actual results of our adventure once they're known or I run into another impediment <grin>.

Brion

[x.clay]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Have you tried running memtest86+ or the windows memory scanner? If you have faulty memory it should show up when you run one of those tests. Might be worth trying.

[Brionj]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P not going to POST/BIOS setup

Well, it booted with the single stick just fine after setting those values. Put in both and it is back to constant rebooting. Put in the 2nd memory stick and it does the same rebooting. Put the 1st stick back in alone and it boots up again.

I think I'm concluding the one memory stick is simply defective.

Would you agree?