[MichaelsTheory]

I built a new PC as im sure you can tell from my previous posts.

When i turned it on the very first time i got no video on the monitor and i got a long beep, a long pause, a long beep, a long pause, and so i shut it off.

My motherboard (Evga 780i SLI 132-ck-nf78) has i little screen that gives you codes, this screen displayed the code C1.

I attempted one more time to boot and it worked just fine and dandy.

Well its been a couple days now. Theres been three occasions where ive powered on my PC and gotton that same beep and code, then reboot and it works fine.

And just a few minutes ago i kept attempting to open up internet explorer and Vista kept telling me "Internet explorer has stopped working and will be closed", it does this also with Windows media player.

Then it completely froze. And the mobo displayed a new code, this time it was C0.

I rebooted and everything is fine.

I looked up the codes in the manual and this is what they mean:

C1 - Memory Presence - Base memory detect

C0 - Base CPU test


Please help?

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Have you adjusted the memory voltages?
James

[james_8970]

Have you adjusted the memory voltages?
James

[MichaelsTheory]

i dont know what that is or how to do it.


U think that is what's causing my problems?

[james_8970]

If your RAM isn't getting the appropriate amount of voltage, it will result in an unstable system.
You are going to need to change this yourself. You'll be required to enter the BIOS if this is your first time and are unsure of how to change anything it may be best that you take pictures of the screen that you are seeing and I can guide you around and show you what to change. This way we can minize any problems, changing the wrong setting could overheat and potentially fry parts in your system.
To enter the BIOS please do the following.

• To enter the BIOS, click the Delete key repeatedly till you enter a screen that looks like something from the DOS days.
• Take a picture using a camera then post it on the forums.

If the Delete key doesn't work, your motherboard may use a different key to enter your BIOS. If you think this is the case, hit the Pause button on your keyboard during the post screen. This will freeze the screen and then you should see various keyboard keys listed on the bottom and what they do. Find the keyboard key right beside BIOS. Hit Pause again, and hit the appropriate key.
James

[stettybet0]

I might be able to provide some assistance here, as I have the EVGA 680i which has a nearly identical BIOS.

First off, the delete key is the one which should access the BIOS. From here, select Advanced Chipset Features, then select System Voltages. From here, you should change the memory voltage to what is recommended for your RAM. It typically states this on the packaging. If you don't have the packaging, try checking the manufacturer's website or Newegg.com for the recommended voltage. Once you have set the voltage to its recommended value, hit F10 to save the changes you have made and exit the BIOS.

Edited by stettybet0, 07 February 2008 - 09:11 PM.

[james_8970]

http://www.geekstogo...ay-t185553.html

stettybet0 will be much better off helping you for this issue. As he said, your BIOS's are identical.
James

[stettybet0]

If you ended up buying the RAM that was in the post James linked to, you should set the memory voltage to 2.0V. If you still experience instability, try upping it to 2.1V. The memory's recommended voltage range is 2.0V-2.1V.

Also, you may be missing out on some performance if you haven't adjusted your memory timings. If you would also like my assistance with that, let me know. But first we should fix the original problem, because if your system is already unstable, messing with the memory timings will only exacerbate the problem.

[MichaelsTheory]

Wow, more quick responses, gotta love how helpful you guys are!

I am familiar with BIOS adjustments, and i did get the RAm listed on that post.

I will adjust it as soon as im through writing this.

The C1 error only happens upon power-on, (come to think of it, only when its been powered off for a little while, if i simply restart it doesnt happen) so ill have to wait and see if it happens again.

The lock-ups ive been getting i am confused about, maybe they are tied into the same issue, maybe it's a Vista issue.

Thanks much James and Stettybet0 i wil let you know the results.


EDIT: Nevermind what i said about it not happening when im only restarting, it just happened when i restarted to get into the BIOS, just changed it to 2.1, hopefully that does the trick

Edited by MichaelsTheory, 07 February 2008 - 11:51 PM.

[MichaelsTheory]

Well, i changed the memory voltage to 2.1, powered off, and left it for the night.

When i came back to it this morning and hit the power button. The POST stopped at C1 again and beeped until i restarted and it started up fine.

So i am totally confused.

According to the manual C1 is Memory Presense - Base memory detect

So does it think i dont have RAM installed? But if that was the case then wouldnt it give me the error everytime? It seems to never happen twice in a row.

I installed the RAM properly, that's the one part of the building process that i was fairly certain about. Its dual channel so i installed one stick in Dimm 0, and the next one in Dimm 1, which is actually the third slot. So if you numbered the slots they are in slots 1 and 3.


Im stumped...

EDIT: I emailed Evga last night and this morning i got the following response, do you recommend i follow these instructions?

Thank you for contacting the EVGA Customer Service Team.
My name is Jake C and I will be answering your question today. Please do not reply to this email, submit any follow up questions here
Question (2/7/2008 5:17:59 PM): Hello. Occasionally when i attempt to boot up my computer the motherboard stops on code C1, and beeps. Then usually if i restart it, it boots up fine. Recently i have had Windows Vista freeze up on me and the motherboard displays code C0, or C4. I am using G.Skill (2 x 2gb) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Ram Q6600 quad core processor and two XFX 8800 GTS nvidia GPUs in SLI Please help me. Thanks
Answered By jcrimmins (2/7/2008 5:25:28 PM): Michael, C1 generally refers to memory issues. I would suggest clearing your bios by removing the round silver Cmos Battery and leaving it out for at least 10 minutes with no power going to the motherboard. After 10 minutes reinstall the cmos battery and insert one stick of memory into the third memory slot from the CPU and boot up. You may have to try multiple sticks until you can find one that will allow you to boot up. Once you boot up enter bios by pressing Delete and click on Advanced Chipset Features then System Voltages and set your memory voltage to manufacturer specifications. Then go ahead and set the timings as well from the memory manufactures. Under FSB and Memory configuration With 2gb sticks make sure the command per clock is manually set to 2 or 2T. Then you can save and exit by pressing (F10 and enter) from the bios. Once memory voltage has set and you've saved and exited from the bios shut down your computer and add the other sticks of memory back in and start up. Please email us back if you have any questions or concerns. -EVGA Tech Team

Edited by MichaelsTheory, 08 February 2008 - 11:56 AM.

[stettybet0]

Faulty memory could be the issue here. To check, you should run Memtest, which is a utility that can spot errors in your RAM.

Click this for a guide to using Memtest

Click this to download Memtest

Run it overnight if possible.

[MichaelsTheory]

Ok heres where im at right now:

I reset the cmos, then i put one stick of ram in the third slot from the cpu. I booted up and everything looked good.

I set the voltage back to 2.1v which is recommended, and installed the second stick in the first slot. Booted up, wouldnt POST again.

Took the ram stick outta the first slot and put both sticks in a second - fourth slot configuration, instead of the first - third slot configuration.

I also at this point noticed that the sticker on my ram says 4-4-4-12. But in the BIOS remembered seeing that auto detect had set it to 5-5-5-15.

So i changed it to 4-4-4-12 and booted. It booted fine. Then i downloaded and ran Memtest86+, but i only had time to run it through one pass, no errors.

Then i put it through a 6 hour stretch of World of warcraft with no issues.

So i am not certian if my problem is resolved as the next time i reboot i might get the error again, but right now all seems good.

If it doesnt happen again then i think that the issue was either that the timings being off with the ram was causing the error, or the first Dimm slot on my motherboard is shot.


This brings me to 2 more questions. Upon boot i can see on the screen that it says "SLI-Ready Memory Detected - Disabled" is this something that i should enable for better stability/performance?

and how often should i really be rebooting my system anyways? I have the option to shut down, sleep, hibernate, etc..., some people never power down, what is best for the system?

[james_8970]

Remember, you motherboard is still very new and there could be an issue that is to be resolved. If you have any further issues, the next step will be to verify your BIOS version and to update it if necessary.

the first Dimm slot on my motherboard is shot.

This can easily be ruled out by booting with only one stick in that slot.

This brings me to 2 more questions. Upon boot i can see on the screen that it says "SLI-Ready Memory Detected - Disabled" is this something that i should enable for better stability/performance?

I really doubt that SLI feature does anything useful.

how often should i really be rebooting my system anyways? I have the option to shut down, sleep, hibernate, etc..., some people never power down, what is best for the system?

It's really based on a matter of opinion, I personally leave my computer in hibernate and once every 1-2 weeks I power it down overnight. If you don't power it down every now and then, you will have a performance loss. It's always good to flush the memory, rebooting does this as memory looses all it's data when it looses power.
James

Edited by james_8970, 09 February 2008 - 01:59 PM.

[stettybet0]

Looser timings won't cause system instability. They are defaulted to 5-5-5-15 because the voltage is defaulted to 1.85V (to insure compatibility with older mobos). You usually need the recommended voltage (2.0V-2.1V in your case) to run the recommended timings.

As James said, try booting with just one stick in the first slot to see if it works. If not, the slot very well could be faulty, but you also might want to download the latest BIOS as James suggested. You can see how to do so here. If that doesn't work, you might want to RMA your board.

The SLI Memory feature should not be used. It slightly overclocks your RAM, but does a really bad job of it. If you want to overclock your RAM, I would do it manually.

Edited by stettybet0, 09 February 2008 - 11:40 AM.