birdie_in_Texas

Well..this is the first time out of probably a hundred machines that I am stumped to the point of posting for actual "help" just to load windows.

Q6600 quad
P5N-E SLI board (is only a 650i)
8 gigz corsair
RAID
Vista Ulty 64-bit


all seems well until it gets to the point where it says "Starting Windows for the First Time" or whatever..

It gets to the "Completing Installation" and for a split second there is a blue screen, then it just reboots into eternity. Virtually the same instant, every time..it is definately getting to a point where it hits a wall, and *poof*..reboot city.

I have tried putting 4 sticks in, 2 sticks in, changing slots for the 2 sticks, re-formatting, dissolving the raid and starting over completely from scratch, over and over and over...the bios is the newest, even went back and tried 3 previous versions (one of which is REAL bad, would not even recognize the Q6600), and now I am to the point of having to beg help, as this is my very first Vista install from scratch.

I tried unplugging every thing i could from the board ie..the front usb plugs and mic/headphone outs, firewire, etc..I tried disabling the on-board HD sound, I tried disabling onboard everything but the RAID itself..still the exact same result..

In the bios, it sees any memory I put in there..2, 4, 6, or 8 gigz..it does not "seem" to be the bios as far as I can ascertain.

I am stumped fellas..what in the great ghost is up..?

I read a LOT of bad reviews about the board on newegg..but mine seems "fine"..I even added a fan/heatsink on to the southbridge..

Any help will be unbelievably appreciated!

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birdie_in_Texas

here is the memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145176

here is the board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131142

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birdie_in_Texas

forgot to mention that moved voltage up and down both ways on the memory as well..still same result..

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Black_V!per

Try installing on just 2GB of RAM and then if it gets threw install the rest.

Up the voltage on ur ram as well.

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Bamboo

What he said. I was thinking same thing. Above you never really say if you tried with just 2 gigs. Try that and report back because I know a lot of people can't get it to boot with more than 2, and then install the RAM update that lets you use more.

Set the ram to what corsair says, like 2.1 or something.

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birdie_in_Texas

I will try it again with only 1 stick in there..

Also saw a couple posts that say the thing does not like USB keyboard and mouse and some serial devices during install..will have to dig out a ps2 key/mouse and try it as well..I have it plugged into my 4-port I/O Gear USB KVM like I do everything else...but if it helps, then I am all over it.

Just got registered at ASUS website..what a PITA..there area literally hundreds of posts involving this board..

I am thinking it is time to try the evga's..

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Bamboo

I think it is time you went with a p35 board

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birdie_in_Texas

OK.the single stick did it..

It loaded and booted to desktop then wanted to install like 200 megs of updates, so i let it run..

then it died..so i started over..got back to desktop, so i thought i would only let it download and install a few updates at a time..did the 1st 20 worked without a charm, next 20..WHAMMO..dead in the water..will not even boot back to windows..

I get an error having to do with the HD sound, and get this, when it stops, it stops with a command line! I can type in anything i want, but it does nothing..no DOS command I know does a thing..so i just have to ctrl-alt-del and tonite will try ti roll it back to last known good with install disk "rescue" function.

I am gonna look and see if anything else is freaking out about the hd sound associated with this board..

I should have just left it alone..it seemed to be working fine with no upates...

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birdie_in_Texas

I had originally gotten an intel P35 board, but decided that I wanted the option of SLI if I decided to later on without having to upgrade. But I do wish I had gone ahead and gotten one of the newer EVGA's..ASUS seems to have gone downhill in a BIG way in quality..and I dearly love my little micro SLI board from EVGA that is in my LAN case..it is a beast and freakin TINY..!!

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Long Bow

Bird I'm googling some info now. The one thing that I have seen, and is common on some of the 6XXi boards is setting all your ram timings and voltages manualy. Double check that.

I assume, but have to ask, your not OC'ing anything at this point correct?

Did you plug in the 24 atx, not a 20? Did you plug in the 4 or 8 pin connector, some boards have a 5v plug down by the video card slot that helps stability.

I will post back with more info as I find it.

Edit: seems like there is a problem with memory slots B1 and B2.

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Bamboo

Don't start blaming ASUS yet
Said many times here before how much crap I hear about problems with Nvidia Chipsets overall, from all makers. Even EVGA's boards have problems.

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birdie_in_Texas

I have read so much trying to pin-point a problem just recently, that I think you are right..it seems that there is more "bad" than "good" associated with the newer gen's of nvidia chipsets..

I was going to try and set the timings and stuff manually on the memory myself, but it gets a little "hairy" in that bios..what's worse, when i go to put in the different timing settings (that I have no idea what mean), when I get to the one that should be "15" (5-5-5-15) there is no "15" to choose from..there is no way to enter a set number, you merely have the ability to choose from a list..

also on adjusting the voltage of the memory, there is not a small incremental setup, or way to type in a set number in the bios...you again only have choices..and there is a substantial voltage increase or decrease from 1 choice to the next..maybe there is software to install that will offer those options..but I have not goten that far yet..

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birdie_in_Texas

Ok..2 steps forward, 1 step back on this freakin new machine. Took 4 hours to get working drivers for 8800gt...the 64-bit drivers from the manufacturers website caused ridiculous blue-screen crashing, so manged to get rid of them and back to booting to desktop with generic vga drivers..got the nvidia drivers downloaded and installed, and after 5 or 6 reboots, it made it to the desktop..Restarted to give me a "Last Known Good" starting point, and it goes to crashign all over me again..sheesh....this is really not that much fun..


The only real positive gain I made last night was getting all 8 gigz o'ram in it and running.

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Bamboo

Birdie, might want to think about going here

http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_3.html

and get the driver sweeper program he talks about. I had some problems earlier this morning trying to get the new drivers installed, and used that, and look good to know now.

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