# ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Can't POST



## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

I recently purchased the ASUS 990Fx to get ready for Bulldozer, and low and behold I cannot POST. I get a red light for my CPU , but not for my RAM. I've tried everything from testing each ram stick, plugging in and out my 8pin molex connection, I've unconnected my peripherals (hard drives, bluray player) and still no luck...any suggestions on how I can get past POST?

THANK YOU


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## jasper1605 (Sep 25, 2011)

Did you try resetting the CPU?  It seems like an option of just popping it out and checking it and the socket for any damage.


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## cadaveca (Sep 25, 2011)

Clear CMOS?


Try a MemOK boot?

I so gotta ask ASUS for one of these boards.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> Clear CMOS?
> 
> 
> Try a MemOK boot?
> ...




how do I clear CMOS on this board? I can't locate it

I'll double check my CPU, Im  99% sure I placed it right


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## JrRacinFan (Sep 25, 2011)

Try reseating the heatsink. Had this happen on my m5a when i was doing cable management. Took a reseat of my h50 to get it posting again. 

EDIT:

unless there is now damage done to some cpu pins......




erocker said:


> Like with every other motherboard it's in the manual.



RTFM LMAO!!


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## erocker (Sep 25, 2011)

alexsubri said:


> how do I clear CMOS on this board? I can't locate it



Like with every other motherboard it's in the manual.


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## cadaveca (Sep 25, 2011)

It's the jumper next ot the "COM1" port. Remove the power plug from PSU, remove CMOS battery, move jumper over and leave for 30 seconds. replace jumper, replace battery, replug PSU, give 'er a try.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

erocker said:


> Like with every other motherboard it's in the manual.



I knew that...ill keep you guys posted


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> It's the jumper next ot the "COM1" port. Remove the power plug from PSU, remove CMOS battery, move jumper over and leave for 30 seconds. replace jumper, replace battery, replug PSU, give 'er a try.



Thanks but still no luck :shadedshu


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## Volkszorn88 (Sep 25, 2011)

Try to contact Asus, they have amazing customer service.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

Volkszorn88 said:


> Try to contact Asus, they have amazing customer service.




Yes, i am aware of that. Unfortunately, they are closed now. I'm not having too much luck here  I am calling it a day ill report tomorrow

Thanks everyone


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## Goodman (Sep 25, 2011)

Tried the Mobo outside the case?
You may have miss place a standoff?

Your Board may not officially support your ram?
Apevia PSU...?


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## micropage7 (Sep 25, 2011)

it doesnt beep at all?


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## de.das.dude (Sep 25, 2011)

the ram/cpu/psu work on others? 

i would advice you to read the manal. FIRST TIME BOOTING IS DIFFERENT.
it was written in my manual. mine didnt post the first time i pushed the power. but it worked after i used the reset switch.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

Goodman said:


> Tried the Mobo outside the case?
> You may have miss place a standoff?
> 
> Your Board may not officially support your ram?
> Apevia PSU...?


It's not my PSU, I bought a new CorsairTX 750w V2...For the RAM, maybe but my RAMlight is not red.


micropage7 said:


> it doesnt beep at all?


My case didnt come with speaker built in, however I will double check


de.das.dude said:


> the ram/cpu/psu work on others?
> 
> i would advice you to read the manal. FIRST TIME BOOTING IS DIFFERENT.
> it was written in my manual. mine didnt post the first time i pushed the power. but it worked after i used the reset switch.



yes ram/psu/CPU are good. Please explain more in depth your method. I've tried jumping my mb and still no results


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## JrRacinFan (Sep 25, 2011)

Tried stock heatsink and/or reseating heatsink yet?


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Tried stock heatsink and/or reseating heatsink yet?



My PC came prebuilt, but I bought a new.heatsink, do you think if I have too much silver thermal paste , that can do it?o


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## JrRacinFan (Sep 25, 2011)

alexsubri said:


> My PC came prebuilt, but I bought a new.heatsink, do you think if I have too much silver thermal paste , that can do it?o



Not "too much thermal paste", moreless not secured properly.


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## de.das.dude (Sep 25, 2011)

alexsubri said:


> My PC came prebuilt, but I bought a new.heatsink, do you think if I have too much silver thermal paste , that can do it?o



too much will only flow to the sides. and temps wont be optimum, thats all.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

de.das.dude said:


> read the friggin manual of the friggin motherboard.
> 
> 
> have you check if all the power connections are loose or anything?



I did read the manual. There isn't a troubleshoot page. I took out the battery, jumped the board, and still no changes. I am at work now, but when I get home I will place the motherboard on it's cardboard box and try it from there. Also, I printed out ASUS Support Guide from their website. Here it is if anybody is interested. 

http://support.asus.com/Troubleshoo...0FX&s=24&hashedid=H9GanpgqHG8yN8yQ&os=&no=978

EDIT: I feel a little more content now that I know there are more options on checking. 

This was a noobish mistake. I didn't connect all the 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





"standoffs" on the back on the case so that the motherboard isn't fully secured (in case I had to take the MB out for future modifications easier) 

Just in case, I ordered these 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 , less than $2 because I've read stories where people can't get their MB running because it would short circuit their boards

will post back later in the day


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## de.das.dude (Sep 25, 2011)

my manual had something about booting for the first time.


anyways how old are you?

also, connect everything.

then try to power it on manually by connecting the power pins with anything metallic.


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## erocker (Sep 25, 2011)

de.das.dude said:


> my manual had something about booting for the first time.


It's not different than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. times.




			
				de.das.dude said:
			
		

> anyways how old are you?


Irrelevant?



			
				de.das.dude said:
			
		

> also, connect everything.


It's been asked already, he did.



			
				de.das.dude said:
			
		

> then try to power it on manually by connecting the power pins with anything metallic.



Won't help. The thing powers on but doesn't post. This would help if the power button/connection is bad.

Sounds like the board is dead.


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## de.das.dude (Sep 25, 2011)

erocker said:


> It's not different than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. times.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




i forgot the board lights up.
yep the board is dead alright.


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## alexsubri (Sep 25, 2011)

de.das.dude said:


> i forgot the board lights up.
> yep the board is dead alright.



hoping for the best, but expecting the worst 

I have a 50/50 feeling now. Again, I can't try any more methods since I am away from home. If I cannot post with the MB on top of the the cardboard box, then some heads will be spinning..:shadedshu 

Damn, I was hoping to play BF3 BETA , looks like that will have to be postponed...


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## alexsubri (Sep 26, 2011)

I give up..I've tried everything. Going to call for RMA, don't understand why they have a certificate for passing multiple tests when its DOA:shadedshu


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## Symux (Feb 2, 2012)

*Too late for the original poster, but may help others.*

The Asus Sabertooth 990fx revision one boards came out before the Bios was made compatible with the Bulldozer CUPs.  For this reason they will not post, and from the author's original post I can tell that was the situation he was in.  The cpu light will flick on once, as the board initiates it's original boot test.  It then stops everything, and nothing can advance.  The new revision two boards don't have this problem, as the bios is already compatible with the fx cpus.

You can identify the revision of your motherboard by looking at the name near the PCI slot.  It will say if it is a revision one or two board.  

Solution...
- Remove your fx processor, and place in an older cpu that is compatible with the motherboard.  (Or take it back to the store and have them do it.)  The motherboard will post with a different cpu.  Download the latest non-beta bios from Asus and update the bios.  I chose to flash my bios, but you can use the Asus utilities to update it if you prefer.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Feb 2, 2012)

alexsubri said:


> I recently purchased the ASUS 990Fx to get ready for Bulldozer, and low and behold I cannot POST. I get a red light for my CPU , but not for my RAM. I've tried everything from testing each ram stick, plugging in and out my 8pin molex connection, I've unconnected my peripherals (hard drives, bluray player) and still no luck...any suggestions on how I can get past POST?



I have the rig listed ,crosshair V and when i moved from box(cardboard) built, to putting it in a case i had the same issue wouldnt post cpu flashed then either mem led kept flashing or didnt flash, its a memory settings issue, *these high end ASUS new uefi bios amd mobos DO NOT cmos reset *correctly after a long time unplugged with no battery in and cmos clear shorted i rebooted then out of case and back on cardboard box and with just 1 memory stick to find it posted once more but with original OCd settings still retained tho, it did boot at stock settings with oc settings still there in bios ready to retry, and it was the memory that strangely didnt like a setting it had , i AUOTO'd them all and rebooted  , now works fine and its ocd as it was


that wasnt my first attempt i tried to clear cmos many times prior to above but it would not clear them all(mem timings were retained) and all other OC settings are still set in bios ,just that one reboot is then partially cmos cleared, upon another reboot it would then reload OCD settings again (or attempt) and since your not getting a screen up  to see  thats whats happening like me you just dont see the issue,i didnt realise this


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