z7s ws need advice

[rs4734]

If more detail is needed I'll provide but will start with high points.
I bought the z7s ws with two 2G Corsair FB memory sticks and two Intel E5420 processors, four 500G Western Digital HDs, and an nVidia 8800 GTS video card.

Hooked it all up and no POST or beeps but got 80h on the diagnostic device that comes with the board
Put a piezo device on the board and got bad memory beeps.
Bought two new Kingston 2G mem sticks on ASUS tek advice and same problem.
Pulled CPU1 and suddenly everything starts to work including any combo of Corsair or Kingston memory.
Cleared CMOS, Upgraded to BIOS 0201, turned of snooping, reinstalled CPU1 and same problem.
At some point we switched the E5420s to see if we had a bad processor but it worked fine on either so long as we didn't try to install both.
Made sure the fan dip switches were in their default factory setting (both on)
Made sure both fan cables are plugged in.
Have ample power supply (1000W which came with the Cooler Master stacker 830)
Through all this I've read many other forums and blogs about people who have this same board with the same processors working fine (most prominent was JCOOL on Xtreme Systems) but ASUS won't budge from telling me that the E5420 is NOT supported.
I'm starting to wonder if I need to call for an RMA.

 

[snsr]

Asus maintains that the E5420 is not supported?! WTF? Why not?
Their web site clearly says "Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 5300/5400 Sequence".

Unless you really want the overclocking abilities of the bios, if I were you I'd RMA that piece and get a Supermicro X7DWA-N or X7DWE.

 

[rs4734]

I'm going to check one more thing (make sure the power supply is working properly, duh) then check over all the connections and setup. If that doesn't fix it then it's time to RMA, I guess. This has been going on for over 2 weeks.

 

[ND40oz]

All I've heard is problems with that board, I ditch it and go with a Supermicro or Tyan. Or if you want to overclock, the Intel D5400XS. Haven't had any problems with my Asus DSEB, but I'm not using 45nm chips.

 

[rs4734]

Well, just wanted to say that I finally gave up and did the RMA for another Z7S from newegg and this one worked fine right out of the box with both E5420 processors even before the BIOS update. What I'd like to say about newegg here is that they were GREAT about the whole thing. Even though I was past the month deadline for RMAs they let me return the MB. I had already purchased another Z7S from them and installed it so I had to call them and have the RMA switched from 'return for repair' to 'return for refund' and they gave me NO hassel at all. Thanks, all.

 

[mskroese]

All I've heard is problems with that board, I ditch it and go with a Supermicro or Tyan. Or if you want to overclock, the Intel D5400XS. Haven't had any problems with my Asus DSEB, but I'm not using 45nm chips.

Hey ND40oz, where you able to overclock your DSEB?