Issues: -System will randomly lock right after post beep and display the asus logo with horizontal graphical artifacts. Rebooting a few times or turning the system off for a minute usually fixes this. -Locking during intensive windows applications -Slow Windows Boot up time sometimes. (3-5 minutes). Specs: -ASUS M2N-E SLI Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 500 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail -AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4600+ Socket AM2 (89W) Retail -XFX PVT80GGHE9 GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Xreme DDR3 PCI-Express Video Card -OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Edition Dual Channel Memory Retail -Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 500W Power Supply Retail -LiteOn LH-18A1P 18x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW -Maxtor 250GB Sata Drive (can't remember specifics model atm) -Linkworld 3210-04-C2628 Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case(3 fans, 2 intake, one exhaust + power supply exhaust) Things I've tried(that I can remember, it's been a long weekend): -Updated asus bios to latest version -Swapped out Power supply for a BFG 750Watt from compusa. Still had post locks. -Swapped out Ram for 1gb of PC2 5400. Still got post locks but no windows locks that I can remember. -Reinstalled windows XP Pro SP2 twice -Tested video card in another system(checked out fine) -We noticed that in bios the 5v is showing around ~4.8v rather then the full 5. Same for both power supplies. Not sure if that's an issue. Upon reading up on the OCZ website I discovered that there seemed to be an in compatibility between the ram I purchased and the board. The motherboard only allowed for 1.95v to the vcore, and the ram runs at like 2.0 or 2.1v. The OCZ tech assured people on their forums the issue has been fixed in a bios update. Digging through their forums further I found a post about settings that provide stability for this mobo/ram combo. I changed the voltage to 1.95v and the timings to 5-5-5-12 as suggested by the post on the OCZ forums and the locks in windows as well as the slow windows boot time seemed to have stopped completely.(although I only had a few hours to test) However the locks at the post screen continue randomly. My roommate believes the locking to be a heat issues since it only seems to happen after the machine has been taxed for a bit. There are heat sinks for the chipset sitting right near the video card as well and the whole bottom section of the case gets quite hot. I unfortunately haven't had a chance to watch the temperatures yet, but I intend to tonight if I have time(finals week :doh. I find it odd that it would be heat issues causing locks that only happen in bios though. If the tests with the heat issue tonight are inconclusive I plan on RMA'ing the Motherboard, but I'm considering returning it outright for a different board entirely. Looking for some second or third opinions on possible causes of the bios locks.
It could be the Mobo fault...:unsure: Try Barebones method first... Pull out mobo out of ur system and put it on a table or any safe place. Run it with only... CPU 1xRAM 1xHDD 1 x Video Card(If onboard is not available) n see if it works... Also if you can check then try your mobo with some other computer..hah:
I'd also check the cpu in another system if possible. I know that's difficult, But. I feel you should not have to set special settings for ram to have the thing not lock-up. Approved ram... ram that has been tested, not necessarily the only types that work. I have an Asus a8v-mx, and I use Kingston ram, but it is not in the approved list for that mobo. (as an example) OCZ ram is highly recommendable and should work fine even at much higher specs. My 2 cents.... Glenn
