Xeon Owners Club

[Random Murderer]

Alright guys, we tried putting together the P6T system yesterday to no avail, the system would not POST. We have a PC speaker hooked up to the motherboard, the only way we could get any beeps was to try and boot without RAM. We have tried two different processors, an E5620 and an X5650. We have tried different RAM modules in various slots and channels, first with his previous RAM (Crucial D9JNM, 2GB sticks, 1333MHz 1.65V 9-9-9-27) and also with a 2x 4GB kit of G.Skill Ripjaws X (1866MHz 1.5V 8-9-9-24). We have tried moving the GPU to a different PCIE slot. No matter the system configuration, the only time we get beeps is trying to boot without RAM and with the 8-pin CPU power plugged in; if we attempt to boot with the 8-pin CPU power disconnected and no RAM installed, there are no beeps. This tells me that the CPU is being initialized, but possibly not recognized. Is it possible that the board has an older BIOS revision on it that only accepts C0 processors? He has already ordered a new BIOS chip with the latest BIOS on it and we're hoping that will fix the issue.
Both sets of RAM are known working, the GPU and PSU are known working, I find it extremely unlikely that we received two dud CPUs, I inspected the socket and found no bent pins, and the fact that the board gives us any beeps at all gives me good reason to believe the board is fine.
Any ideas, guys?
Thanks in advance.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

what beeps were there?

 

[Random Murderer]

what beeps were there?

IIRC, it was one long beep and two short. As I said, the only way to get it to beep this code was to remove the memory modules and attempt a boot. It's been a long time since I've used beep codes for troubleshooting, but if my memory serves correctly, three beeps on AMIBIOS is no RAM/undetected RAM.
Thanks for the quick response, Capt.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

did any fans spin up? Lights on the board?

 

[Random Murderer]

did any fans spin up? Lights on the board?

All fans spin up, the blue light under the RAM slots comes on (when RAM is installed), the white backlights for the SB heatsink light up, and the power and reset buttons light up. The board seems like it wants to boot, but just won't POST.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Have you got access to i7 920 or similar.

OR

where are you....i can get a 920 for you to use to flash the BIOS.

My P6T loaded a Xeon fine then i flashed the board to the Deluxe BIOS.

 

[Random Murderer]

Have you got access to i7 920 or similar.

OR

where are you....i can get a 920 for you to use to flash the BIOS.

My P6T loaded a Xeon fine then i flashed the board to the Deluxe BIOS.

He has the Deluxe V1. I'm in Florida, USA. Neither of us have any other 1366 chips to try, he has an x5650 and I have a few Xeons (5620, two matching others in a server, i believe also 5620s), but that's it.
Rather than use a compatible processor to flash the BIOS, he simply ordered another BIOS chip that will come pre-flashed to the latest BIOS. That should (hopefully) allow it to boot so we can hot-flash the current chip to the WS BIOS. The problem is we're not 100% sure that the new BIOS is going to fix the issue. Does it sound like it will, or is the board potentially dead?

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

It will work, all the signs are positive.

 

[FireFox]

It will work, all the signs are positive.

Do you remember the Tyan board?
Was the same thing.

 

[Random Murderer]

Do you remember the Tyan board?
Was the same thing.

And? What was the outcome?

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

I couldnt get it to work, you havent gone through all your options yet though.

 

[FireFox]

The problem is we're not 100% sure that the new BIOS is going to fix the issue. Does it sound like it will, or is the board potentially dead?

I was googling and i have found that updating the Bios should fix the problem.

Good look with that.

 

[Random Murderer]

I couldnt get it to work, you havent gone through all your options yet though.

I was googling and i have found that updating the Bios should fix the problem.

Good look with that.

Thanks, guys. We were already pretty sure the board is fine, but I'm a lot less worried now. I guess all we can do in the meantime is wait for the new BIOS chip to show up. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted.

 

[FilipM]

In which ram slots do you have the ram? On my Deluxe V2, (I have 3 sticks of ram), it says that the sticks should be in the orange slots, i.e slot 2-4-6

 

[FireFox]

it says that the sticks should be in the orange slots,

That's right.

 

[FilipM]

On a side note, this weekend we had a 24H LeMans race in iRacing, the Xeon withstood being on for over 30h at 4.2GHz...just goes to prove how stable is 30 passes of LinX at full mem...

PS. Close to 30 pass stable at 4305MHz now

 

[Random Murderer]

In which ram slots do you have the ram? On my Deluxe V2, (I have 3 sticks of ram), it says that the sticks should be in the orange slots, i.e slot 2-4-6

The orange slots are supposed to be populated first, that's correct. We tried first with three sticks in the orange slots, A1, B1, and C1. When that didn't work we tried a ton of other configurations, all the way down to a single stick in a single slot, and that was tried in all 6 slots. Each time, the blue light under the RAM slots would come on, but no POST codes or beeps. When there is no RAM in the system at all is the only time we would get POST beeps.

 

[FilipM]

Ok, just wanted to make sure you're doing it right, cos I (a computer "expert" never reads user manuals) put the rams in 1-3-5 configuration, and I spent the whole day moaning that the board is dead, lol

 

[FireFox]

and I spent the whole day moaning that the board is dead, lol

 

[FilipM]

I got bios 0704 on my board at the moment, didn't really like 0006 in the past (the one that gets rid of the throttling issues) since on my previous chip it needed higher voltages. I've tested with this chip at over 4350MHz now and over 1.3V, my board does not throttle...am i the exception of the rule? Can you guys on Asus P6T board relate? Maybe it's a low leakage chip that prevents this?

 

[t_ski]

Maybe I missed it, but did you try to clear the CMOS?

 

[FilipM]

That meant @me or @Random Murderer

 

[Random Murderer]

That meant @me or @Random Murderer

Still waiting on the BIOS chip to show up, tracking shows it here on Saturday.
What multiplier are you running? It may be that the multiplier you're on is what it would throttle back to without High TDP Turbo mode.

 

[FilipM]

21 bud, turbo all the time.

 

[Random Murderer]

21 bud, turbo all the time.

Pretty sure 21 or 22 is what yours would throttle back to, X5650s throttle back to 22x without "High TDP Turbo mode." If you're so worried about throttling, why not just flash your board to a WS BIOS?