# Asrock x58 Extreme-New Build-debug 38



## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

Hey guys, I'm a fairly newbie system builder, but have a fairly good grasp on the basics. I recently picked up the following parts for a build:

asrock x58 extreme mobo
intel i7 920 (2.66) (LGA1366)
BFG Nvidia 9800GT
2x Crucial 2GB DDR3 1066 RAM(240pin, PC3-8400)
Seventeam PSU 750W ATX 12v active PFC\
Hitatchi 640 GB SATA HD
Liteon some generic DVD/CD SATA drive

The build went off pretty smoothly, or so I thought. got everything hooked into my new case, first time I've ever mounted my own MB, usually get a barebones system to start with; The only thing I noticed was strange during the build itself was the North Bridge has two black pins on springs that hold it down, and one seems to have broken off during shipping. I found it in the box and returned it to its place.

I get everything installed, all the cords for the case controlls and such run, hook up my PSU cords, two into the MB, one to the HD and CD, and one to each of the fans (the 9800 doesn't have a power slot .. I think)

Boot it all up for the first time, bios shows up just fine, I hit F2 to boot into bios, don't see any problems, all the hardware it shows looks appropriate. Save the settings and restart, booting to my windows disk. About 2-4min into the install it restarts several times in decreasing intervals. I spend a little while discouraged about this. During this time, if it gets all the way to windows install, the error on the Debug when it crashes is "AA"

It crashes after a min or two even in I just sit in bios, Debug saying "87" (which is the "bios executed" display)

CPU is sitting at about 100-109F. Is this high? Any thoughts on what this could be? I'm perfectly willing to post more info if requested, and I'd really appreciate some help getting this build working. Thanks!

::EDIT::

Also, occasionally when it crashes(read: freezes for about 30-90sec, then reboots) it throws the "38" error to the debug, which is listed as "Starting other devices through DIM" or something very near that.


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## PaulieG (Sep 18, 2009)

Which ram slots are you using?


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

*ram*

I'm using Ram slots 1 and 2, at least according to the diagram that came with the mobo, it goes:
[CPU]

[RAM]
blue-4
white-1
blue-5
white-2
blue-6
white-3
[/RAM]

I'm in 1 and 2 according to that, should I try moving the RAM to different slots?


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

*Details*

Here are the exact components I used, with links to newegg:


Case: Sunbeam Transformer Full Tower ATX
Mobo: Asrock x48 Extreme LGA1336 SLI/Crossfire Compatable ATX
Proc: Intel i7 920 [2.66ghz] Socket LGA1336
Ram: Crucial 4GB [2x2GB] 240 pin DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
PSU: Seventeam 750W ATX 12v v2.2 Crossfire and SLI ready
Vid:BFG Nvidia 9800GT 1gb ddr3 video ram
CD:Lite-On SATA CD/DVD drive
HD: No url, a hitachi SATA 640GB drive.


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## overclocking101 (Sep 18, 2009)

dont you need 3 sticks to run X58?? it could be the cpu overheating or an HDD issue where does it get on the windows install before it crashes? i.e. expaning files, installing components, etc?


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## PaulieG (Sep 18, 2009)

overclocking101 said:


> dont you need 3 sticks to run X58?? it could be the cpu overheating or an HDD issue where does it get on the windows install before it crashes? i.e. expaning files, installing components, etc?



No, you don't need 3 sticks. It just won't run in triple channel. I have this board in one of my backup i7 rigs. I'll try to track down those post codes when I get home tonight.


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## Yukikaze (Sep 18, 2009)

overclocking101 said:


> dont you need 3 sticks to run X58??



Core i7 920 will work in single, or dual or triple channel mode depending on the memory arrangement. You don't "need" three sticks to run X58.


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

From the manual
"87" - Execute BIOS setup if needed/requested
"AA" - Uninstall POST INT1ch vector and INt09 vector. Deinitializes the ADM module
"38" - Initializes different devices through DIM.

I'm pretty sure 87 is just displaying when I'm in BIOS and it crashes becuase it was already there. 38 is what its hanging on now, and AA is what it shows when it dies during windows install.


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## PaulieG (Sep 18, 2009)

Try booting with just one stick of ram in slot 1. I suspect you may have a dead stick of ram.


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

yup, thats what I'm doing now, will report in a moment.

(It'll be odd though, as the BIOS recognized both of them earlier.. oh well, at least RAM is cheap  )


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

Alright, cleared CMOS, back to default settings. with one or two sticks of RAM in, (tried each singly) I get booted into "Windows loading files" followed by "Starting Windows" then get "AA" error again, after "AA" it spits out "68" and "77" before crashing. Neither of which are in the manual >.<


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

anyone with any Ideas? I'm kinda running short of thoughts at this point...Considering taking it to a local Fry's electronics since they have diagnostic equipment I lack, though I'd really rather figure it out myself. >.<


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## phanbuey (Sep 18, 2009)

so the crashes speed up as the computer is on for longer?

sounds temperature related....


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

it does indeed, it appears to crash, the few times I've watched it in BIOS, at 120F, but I don't know if thats a coincidence or not, Should I invest in liquid cooling? I have the fan that came on the processor, two side panel fans, a top fan and a larger back fan.


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## phanbuey (Sep 18, 2009)

Natzapo said:


> it does indeed, it appears to crash, the few times I've watched it in BIOS, at 120F, but I don't know if thats a coincidence or not, Should I invest in liquid cooling? I have the fan that came on the processor, two side panel fans, a top fan and a larger back fan.



At stock it shouldt crash... did you check the mouning on the CPU heatsink...? Maybe its not making contact?


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

Hmm, It looks like it is, I took the heatsink off and put it back on the gunk from the bottom of the fan is now on the top of the proc, so that should mean they're making contact (I think) but .. I dunno


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## phanbuey (Sep 18, 2009)

Natzapo said:


> Hmm, It looks like it is, I took the heatsink off and put it back on the gunk from the bottom of the fan is now on the top of the proc, so that should mean they're making contact (I think) but .. I dunno



if there is gunk then they are...

have you tried running the motherboard outside of the case?

like on top of the box that it came in...  also with no fans plugged into it...  maybe the mounting is causing something to short out a component.  That happened to me with a waterblock backplate mount, caused crashing after post (not to mention the eventual smell of burned PCB as I kept turning it on and off lol)


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## Natzapo (Sep 18, 2009)

Hmm, I hadn't thought it would be delayed like this if thats what it was, I'll give it a shot though, thanks


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## phanbuey (Sep 18, 2009)

Natzapo said:


> Hmm, I hadn't thought it would be delayed like this if thats what it was, I'll give it a shot though, thanks



yeah it usually isnt.... but its worth a shot.  it could be the video card too.

or 

*hate to say it*

Mobo in need of RMA.  Either way you'll be taking it out of the case anyways.


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## overclocking101 (Sep 19, 2009)

sounds like the nb is overheating to me. try putting a fan blowing directly on the northbridge see what happens


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## wevsspot (Sep 21, 2009)

On this board the Northbridge heatsink is part of the integrated heat pipe cooling solution that also cools the VRM.  So the displaced heatsink had to be the southbridge heatsink.  I'm in agreement that this could be a heat related problem, and unfortunately the only way to know for sure if it can be fixed at the "user" location would be to remove all of the heatsinks (n/b - vrm, s/b and cpu) clean off all of the existing TIM, apply new thermal paste and reseat each of the heatsinks.

Never re-use old TIM and anytime you break the mating surface of a chip and heatsink you should clean of the old paste and reapply new.

Your cpu temps are a little warm at idle - but considering you are still using the oem fan to be expected.

Having played with two i7 920s now (mine are D0 stepping - low voltage high temperature) the oem fan isn't anywhere near up to the job of cooling the processor IMHO.

Be aware that if you do remove any of the heatsinks, clean and reapply new thermal paste it may void your warranty.  However if it were my rig here is what I'd do;

1.  Pull board out of case and assemble with minimum components required for board to function i.e. one HDD drive, one stick of memory, cpu, etc.

2.  Remove all heatsinks from the board, clean with 90% isoprop alcohol and apply new thermal paste.

3.  Throw oem cpu cooler back in the box and replace with suitable aftermarket heatsink/fan.

4.  Clear CMOS before next boot.

5.  Reboot and load BIOS factory defaults.

If that fails you'll probably end up sending the board back for a replacement.


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## phanbuey (Sep 21, 2009)

^ what he said.


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## Conflict0s (Sep 21, 2009)

Not sure if it will help much but you could give Memtest86 a try. I know you have already tried your RAM in different slots but I think it is worth doing for a tester,
1. To see if your RAM is ok
2. To see if your pc crashes.

Also if it is temperature related and you can boot into your BIOS, I am presuming you can see your temperatures in your BIOS? if so, then on stock cooling your CPU temperature should be around 40-50 degrees. I am unsure what your northbridge should be at. But I would of thought that you could see if it was over heating by looking at the idle temperatures in the BIOS.


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## newbuilder333 (Oct 4, 2009)

Did you get this resolved yet?  I have the AsRock x58 Extreme coming this week and would love to kow what happened.  Thanks.


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

*Same on my motherboard*

Hello Guys,

On my ASROCK it posts fine but the LED remains with "AA".  Eric at Asrock told me this is suppose to be normal but I have yet to see anyone else mention their LED reading it (unless they had a problem).  My system goes through the usual checks, posts, but the LED has "AA" on it and it never goes away.  Any idea what that's suppose to mean other than..

"AA" - Uninstall POST INT1ch vector and INt09 vector. Deinitializes the ADM module

IE laymans terms? 

I have i7 920 on stock cooler @ 2.66
 6 x 2GB dimms of Corsair XMS ram 9-9-9-24
XFX 1GB 4890

Any ideas? Something wron gor is this normal?


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## Nailezs (Oct 6, 2009)

Yukikaze said:


> Core i7 920 will work in single, or dual or triple channel mode depending on the memory arrangement. You don't "need" three sticks to run X58.



you dont need 3 sticks(tripple channel) but i do remember reading that i7/x58 run much slower in single and dual channel than boards designed for running in single or dual, because it was designed for tripple



Paulieg said:


> Try booting with just one stick of ram in slot 1. I suspect you may have a dead stick of ram.





Conflict0s said:


> Not sure if it will help much but you could give Memtest86 a try. I know you have already tried your RAM in different slots but I think it is worth doing for a tester,
> 1. To see if your RAM is ok
> 2. To see if your pc crashes.
> 
> Also if it is temperature related and you can boot into your BIOS, I am presuming you can see your temperatures in your BIOS? if so, then on stock cooling your CPU temperature should be around 40-50 degrees. I am unsure what your northbridge should be at. But I would of thought that you could see if it was over heating by looking at the idle temperatures in the BIOS.



definitely to what conflict says and make a memtest floppy, i've found it to be an indespensible(read awesome) program
as for the temperature...he means celsius not Fahraenheit 



phanbuey said:


> so the crashes speed up as the computer is on for longer?
> 
> sounds temperature related....





Natzapo said:


> it does indeed, it appears to crash, the few times I've watched it in BIOS, at 120F, but I don't know if thats a coincidence or not, Should I invest in liquid cooling? I have the fan that came on the processor, two side panel fans, a top fan and a larger back fan.





phanbuey said:


> At stock it shouldt crash... did you check the mouning on the CPU heatsink...? Maybe its not making contact?





Natzapo said:


> Hmm, It looks like it is, I took the heatsink off and put it back on the gunk from the bottom of the fan is now on the top of the proc, so that should mean they're making contact (I think) but .. I dunno





phanbuey said:


> if there is gunk then they are...
> 
> have you tried running the motherboard outside of the case?
> 
> like on top of the box that it came in...  also with no fans plugged into it...  maybe the mounting is causing something to short out a component.  That happened to me with a waterblock backplate mount, caused crashing after post (not to mention the eventual smell of burned PCB as I kept turning it on and off lol)



as for these other quotes, i have found that just because the heatsink/cpu is making contact, it does not mean that the heatsink it mounted/seated properly. but, as long as the temperature is not getting to 80-85C+(176F-185F) the board probably wont care what the temp is. the 100-109F i saw u post ealier is perfectly fine.


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## PaulieG (Oct 6, 2009)

Jc100 said:


> Hello Guys,
> 
> On my ASROCK it posts fine but the LED remains with "AA".  Eric at Asrock told me this is suppose to be normal but I have yet to see anyone else mention their LED reading it (unless they had a problem).  My system goes through the usual checks, posts, but the LED has "AA" on it and it never goes away.  Any idea what that's suppose to mean other than..
> 
> ...



Hmm. On my Asrock deluxe, the LED settles on "88" after booting in to windows.


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## Nailezs (Oct 6, 2009)

did asrock have anything else to say when you called them?


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

*My motherboard "AA"*

Asrock had nothing else to say. The guy told me this was normal but I find it odd. I just tried doing a reflash of the bios and clearning cmos but still "AA"  I mean it boots and posts fine but I'm wonder what the heck that error code means...


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

Someone else told me their LED goes blank after bootup. I am wondering what the standard bootup is? Should there be NO ERROR on it at all or is "AA" normal....Going to try calling ASROCK back and getting another tech for a "SECOND opinion".


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

Well I called again and their techs don't speak the best english but another tech assures me that AA is NORMAL and they get LOADS of calls about it.


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## Nailezs (Oct 6, 2009)

well, if its not the MB, and temps aren't an issue, i would start looking at a faulty cpu
did u ever run memtest on the ram to verify that the ram is in fact good?
if the ram is good, try swapping out a hdd and seeing if that helps
if the problem is still there try swapping the cpu or psu(if you have spares)


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

Well  I am just responding to him in terms of error codes.  I called Asrock with 2 techs and they promise me "AA" is normal so his "88" might be the cause and not "AA".. Odd though, someone else tells me their LED shows nothing after post....


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## Jc100 (Oct 6, 2009)

As my motherboard sticks with "AA" after post and doesnt go away.


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## Nailezs (Oct 6, 2009)

oops, my bad, got u 2 confused...though my advice still stands haha


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## newbuilder333 (Oct 11, 2009)

I just built my system yesterday and my motherboard also shows "AA" while it is running in Windows XP 32bit.  I have not had any problems but I have only booted it about 10 times so far.

My system:
Intel core i7 920 @2.66Ghz DO batch A steeping
AsRock x58 Extreme motherboard
3x2Gb OCZ Gold DDR3 SDRAM 1600Mhz Cas 8 Timings: 8-8-8-24 @1.65v
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870
Corsair HX850 PSU
Xigmatech Dark Knight CPU Cooler
2x WD Caviar Black 640Gb HDD
Samsung CD/DVD burner
Antec 902 case


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## Gabkicks (Oct 30, 2009)

I also have an ASRock x58 extreme, and it shows AA and appears to be functioning normally . newbuilder, how high have you gotten your i7? I am @ 3.55 ghz and i get up to 75c under full load stress testing... I still have all the safety/power saving stuff on though.


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## newbuilder333 (Nov 1, 2009)

I have not tried to overclock yet.  I was a little concerned about heat issues.  I was running in Windows 7 at about 42C.  I added a side fan and now it's about 40C.  Running prime95 brfore the side fan I was runningat about 68C, is that too hot?


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## Conflict0s (Nov 16, 2009)

Sounds fine to me, personally I think you still have a little more heat head room to go, I wouldn't like to see it above 75C though.


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