x58 920 - dimm 3 won't post

(Short version: Assemble X58/920 and wont post with memory in dimm slot 3. Tested all 3 sticks in slot 1 and posted fine. RMA'd mobo and assembled new and it posted fine. Installed windows etc and after a few reboots it locked up and new mobo would no longer post with memory in dimm slot 3. Advice/thoughts?)

Very strange situation, seeking advice. A friend of mine just rebuild his system with an EVGA x58 motherboard, 920, Venemous-X, OCZ DDR3 1600.

He got all his stuff in assembled, wouldn't post. So after hours of troubleshooting found the problem to be the motherboard would not post with memory in Dimm slot 3.

Tried all 3 sticks in dimm slot 1 and it posted fine, any 2 sticks in 1 and 5 post fine. Any stick in slot 3 and it won't post.

Motherboard specifically calls for triple channel to be 1,3,5. Tried 2,4,6 no post.

Checked the CPU no scorch marks, no sign of wear. It was a brand new sealed CPU.

Assumed after all this it was the MOBO so he sent in an RMA and got another brand new X58 EVGA.

Assembled it tonight, all went well posted. Set up bios, installed Windows, installed drivers, set up the OS etc...

Computer locked up and would no longer post. Tried checking all connections, resetting CMOS, nothing worked. Pulled memory from DIMM slot 3 and it posted.... wtf?

We went over QPI/Dimm voltages, tried everything I could think of / find and the result was the same.

The confusing part is why it worked for a little while then just stopped posting.

Any advice/thoughts welcome.

wow so your boards dimm slot just gave out out of nowhere ? Memory incompatibility maby ?

sean11978 said:

wow so your boards dimm slot just gave out out of nowhere ? Memory incompatibility maby ?

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Very odd indeed. The first one didn't work at all, 2nd one worked for a few hours haha.

Lots of people using this combo, its an EVGA X58 with the highest rated OCZ 1600 on Newegg. All of the sticks test ok.

Seems like a 2nd bad motherboard, but its just bizarre.

Bios update on the motherboard?

BIOS update...as was suggested by GreenGoose, is a good place to start. Just remember to get it running stable first with some borrowed ram. After that download Prime95 and stress test memory sticks one at a time for any issues that may pop up under load.

Are you trying to run the memory at its rated speed of 1600Mhz? try underclocking it if so, the i7 920's on-die memory controller only officially supports 1066Mhz memory anything higher than that is considered to be overclocking and may result in problems.

mmj_uk said:

Are you trying to run the memory at its rated speed of 1600Mhz? try underclocking it if so, the i7 920's on-die memory controller only officially supports 1066Mhz memory anything higher than that is considered to be overclocking and may result in problems.

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LOL... so what if it only "officially" supports 1066. There are a lot of people out there running at over 2000.

It should run 1600 no problem.

The only thing that you have to take into consideration is having to manually set the RAM timings and the RAM voltage.

I would guess it is the OCZ RAM that is the issue... I've had the extreme displeasure of using OCZ RAM in the past.... and the same goes for GEIL. I won't touch either with a 50 foot pole.

Well he returned the RAm and MOBO this time, have the new X58a-UD5 Gigabyte mobo and some Gskill Ripjaw on the way.

I wouldn't completely discount the CPU. The three memory controllers are on the CPU, and if it locks up after a few minutes then it could be a heat related issue with one of the three. I've certainly seen stranger things in my life...

Kaliban said:

I wouldn't completely discount the CPU. The three memory controllers are on the CPU, and if it locks up after a few minutes then it could be a heat related issue with one of the three. I've certainly seen stranger things in my life...

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Oh I definitely am not counting it out completely, more of just hoping it's not that .

New X58a-UD5 and Gskill Ripjaw worked great. He is now running at 4.0 solid with his i7 920 and no problems with posting/dimm slot 3.

Gigabyte/Gskill - 1, Evga/OCZ - 0.