Asus P5K Premium black pearl ED very strange issue!!

[SadikP]

If you still have problems try 2.15 vDIMM

[Hicks12]

corsair give you a 5% above the rated volts so, technically max is 2.205V

[azzerc]

I get this exact same problem with the following system spec:-

OS: XP SP2 32-Bit
CPU: Q6600 G0 Stepping
Clock Speed: 3000MHz (9 x 333MHz) or @ Stock
Motherboard: Asus P5K Premium Black Pearl
Memory: Patriot 4GB PC2-6400 C4 Extreme Performance (2 x 2GB @ 4-4-4-12 @400Mhz @2.2v)
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO
Graphics Card: Sapphire - X800 GTO2
DVD: Plextor PX-712A
Hard Disk: RAID 0 - 2 x WD Raptor 74GB
1 x 500GB Hitachi Deskstar

I initially thought that the problem was due to a failed overclock, however, I have since discovered that I have the same problem at stock speeds. I have tried several different ideas to try and resolve this issue and I am at my wit's end. I have tried a different motherboard (ABIT IP-35 Dark Raider), which I had the same issue with and I have just upgrade my PSU from a Tagan TG480-U01 to a Antec Quattro 850 as I thought that it may have been causing the problem.

I have had the system 18hours Prime stable at 3200Ghz so I don't feel that it is the CPU and i have just ran memtest this morning for around 4 hours which I think rules out the memory.

Just letting you know that you aren't on your own mate.

Any ideas?

[Tinners2000]

I get this exact same problem with the following system spec:-

OS: XP SP2 32-Bit
CPU: Q6600 G0 Stepping
Clock Speed: 3000MHz (9 x 333MHz) or @ Stock
Motherboard: Asus P5K Premium Black Pearl
Memory: Patriot 4GB PC2-6400 C4 Extreme Performance (2 x 2GB @ 4-4-4-12 @400Mhz @2.2v)
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO
Graphics Card: Sapphire - X800 GTO2
DVD: Plextor PX-712A
Hard Disk: RAID 0 - 2 x WD Raptor 74GB
1 x 500GB Hitachi Deskstar

I initially thought that the problem was due to a failed overclock, however, I have since discovered that I have the same problem at stock speeds. I have tried several different ideas to try and resolve this issue and I am at my wit's end. I have tried a different motherboard (ABIT IP-35 Dark Raider), which I had the same issue with and I have just upgrade my PSU from a Tagan TG480-U01 to a Antec Quattro 850 as I thought that it may have been causing the problem.

I have had the system 18hours Prime stable at 3200Ghz so I don't feel that it is the CPU and i have just ran memtest this morning for around 4 hours which I think rules out the memory.

Just letting you know that you aren't on your own mate.

Any ideas?

Well, that makes us family lol

Are you running just with 2x 1 GB or with 4 x 1GB sticks? My system runs all the benchmarks I can through at it, just the bloody POST issue is driving me mad!

Tried upping the Nb voltage but it has made no difference to stability with 4GB.

EDIT: Sorry I see you are running 2x GB.

Our systems are completely different...

[Tinners2000]

well we are not the only ones;

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20080208163756484&board_id=1&model=P5K+Premium%2fWiFi-AP&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

[Tinners2000]

Well, to add one of my Dimms have just failed.

[DeSean]

Hi everyone.

I don't know whether to be happy that other have this problem or to sob into my keyboard over it.

My system has virtually the exact same problem. It suddenly would not boot one day. Lights and fans running, but QFan does not start and they do not slow down. There is no display signal. I found a forum ( on [H] I think) where somebody suggested using lower spec memory to get into the bios...

I borrowed a single 1gb Crucial value 800mhz stick from a friend. The system works with that installed in slot 1. I changed some settings and then put in a pair of my own Ballistix. They worked. When I try 4 sticks, the same problem occurs that I have already described. This is even at 800mhz, at 1.8V or at 2.1V. At the old frequency (just over 1100) at 2.2V, which they were running flawlessly at previously, they will not allow me to boot.

To make it work again, I must swap out the 4 or even 2 Ballistix, and insert the single value stick to go to BIOS.

So, anyone have any suggestions? Broken motherboard is my suspicion... which means a horrific rebuild will be necessary during time I am meant to be studying.

SM

[pg53]

Hi guys
Did anyone get anywhere with this?
I've got the same problem - Black Pearl, 4GB, worked for a day, bluescreened.
Now it won't ever boot or beep with 4GB in; it works perfectly with 2GB (any combination of sticks and slots, interleaved or not) Also got the 'Reset BIOS' issue once.
RAM is Corsair Dominator Twin2X2048-8500C5D
All BIOS settings are set to stock. I'm running Vista - I need all the RAM I can get!
I've also had that wierd one where it switches off for a couple of seconds then restarts.
I guess it must be a problem with the Black Pearl - no BIOS upgrade on the ASUS website tho.

Ah well - at least I'm not alone.
cheers
pg

[Stevo3000]

My Black Pearl is running fine with 4Gb, although I have 4 x 1Gb sticks! Have you tried updating to the latest bios and manipulating the voltages?

[pg53]

Hi Stevo - hats off to you - you are the only one with a working Black Pearl 4GB!!
My BIOS is 0504 which seems to be the latest one on the Asus website
I've tweaked the voltages and tried underclocking the RAM too, as per various threads I've found on this topic
What memory are you using, and what voltages have you set?
cheers
pg

[MaddAussie]

mmm I had a similar problem with my P5K and found it was the 'auto overclock' bit in the asus bios, disabled the (turned everything to manual) and it was fine

[Stevo3000]

I'm using 4 x 1Gb OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 as shown in 'My System'! I didn't need to play with my voltages as it was running fine straight out of the box. I have set the timings to 4-4-4-12, but my board was stable for over a month before I set these! I don't think 'Auto Overclock' is on.

As far as I'm aware there is nothing electronically different between a Black Pearl and a standard Premium board!

[pg53]

oops couldn't get 'My System' to work but it seems you have to be logged in . . sorry, I'm new on this forum.
Anyway, no , I didn't mean to single out the Black Pearl in that way - I don't think there's any difference. I think the problem is that the P35 (or the Asus implementation of it) is very picky when it comes to the exact memory that it can work with, despite the different suppliers memory ostensibly having the same specifications. Looking at the QVL list in the manual, I see that my Corairs aren't listed at all; the nearest Corsairs are only ticked for column A and B but not C (1 stick, 2 sticks, 4 sticks) Also, although the Corsair memory selector specifies these exact parts for this motherboard, buried on the Corsair website is the fact that their tests are all with just one stick.
So looks like I'm stuck with 2GB or buying some OCZ sticks like yours.
pg

[python134r]

Same thing happens to me too, with the frequency of it happening getting greater too. As far a memory installed I had 2 x 1gb Gskill DDR667 single bank. I installed 2 more mem modules of the same kind [single bank] as to put less stress on the northbribge. As it goes, double sided mem modules are 2 banked(or rank, I forgot the correct terminology) thus 4 x 2(bank) places a greater strain on the northbridge thus my purchasing single ones. (4 x 1(bank) has much less stress on the NB thus requiring less voltage especially if overclocking.
My specs are:
X3210 Quad@3.6ghz/AC Freezer Pro
P5K Premium/4x1Gb GSkill F2-6400CL5-1GBNQ
EVGA8800GTX 768mb/ ASUS DRW-1814BLT DVD
2x36Gb WD Raptors Raid0/WD 80gb sata
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatality Extreme Gamer
Lian Li Pc-7B plusII[modified heavily]/PC Power and Cooling 850 SSI Turbo
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker system

As shown I had no issues except for when I originally setup the rig with other mem(Crucial Ballistix) which needed 2.2v to boot so I used some plain jane ddr2 mem that was rated at 1.8v, booted up,posted and changed the voltage in the BIOS, powered down, replaced mem with 4 X 1 gb Gskill PC 6400. Worked fine 98% of the time.

Problem arose when I shut down and restarted from a cold boot state. Worked fine from a warm boot. I am getting the exact post error as stated above most of the time.

I have checked out individual components on my teat bed machine and all is well. Generally speaking the motherboard is excellent and performance is outstanding. A 70% overclock [0612 bios] with just a minor voltage bump say's much.

However this issue is quite annoying, I was browsing around looking for others with the same issue and found this forum. Bye the way, this is my 1st post here and I am looking forward to many more, hopefully about other things or to help others.

I am a longstanding member of EOCF[Extreme overclocking forums], PCPER[PC perspective forums] and many of the same type including Good Company Gaming Guild.{Plankholder}.

I will elaborate in the proper section of the forums about my Bio.
Again, nice to meet you all and hope to find an answer to this problem!!!!!!:cool

[python134r]

I disconnected power, removed battery, hit my 3pin toggle that resets the bios. It posts, some what, gets to press F1 or F2 and dies. My take, bad PSU.....I have a 5 year warranty so time to RMA.

[Crylon]

Another frustrated customer
I have the exact same problem with my 4gb(4x1)Ocz Reaper 8500 1066mhz (5-5-5-15).

Q6600 oc'ed @3.2ghz
Asus P5k premium
Nvidia geforce 8800 ultra
Os: Vista 64 bit


Isn't there any solution to this problem. Do I really have to buy another set of ram? If so, which ones will work 100%?