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[kalebmartens]

OK, I have read almost every post in the MSI forums about the 990FXA-GD80 debug errors 54 and FF and I have decided to post a message of my own, and I have also E-mailed the support team about my issue and will be calling them tomorrow morning.

I just put together a brand new computer and I am using this Motherboard with 4x4gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600mhz RAM. When I first started it up for the first time i was able to start loading windows 7 until I got a blue screen of death. Then after restarting numerous times I can get into my BIOS it freezes on me after 6-8 seconds, but before it freezes I am able to see that the BIOS recognizes the 16gb of RAM running at 1033mhz. Now my computer wont boot up and I keep seeing the error message FF or 54, and sometimes I get the 3-beeps to go along with that. I have done everything by taking out my memory and putting only one stick in or putting in 2 sticks for Dual Channel, I've cleared my CMOS twice. My computer still wont boot any longer and I cant even load an OS on my brand new shiny SSD.

I know this must be a memory issue all the clues point to this. But  do I do, I don't even have Windows OS loaded onto it and I cant even get into my BIOS. What can I do?? Do I have to get new memory? What kind of memory do I get? Shouldn't 16gb of Corsair Vengeance RAM work?!??!?!

I have also heard about updating the BIOS to 11.2 but I don't know how to do that, and plus how could I when I can't even boot into the damn BIOS.

BTW I have a AMD 1100T Phenom II CPU installed along with a radeon 6870, but I know these aren't the issue the damn memory is from all the threads I've read in this forum.

[Jack]

What PSU is in your system?

Have you tested your system outside the case on a non-conducting surface?  In case you haven't, please do that first.

[kalebmartens]

I bought a brand new Seasonic X-series 650W 80 plus Gold.

the first thing i did was do a bench test outside the case with just the Motherboard, CPU, 4-sticks of memory, and video card. It seemed to run just fine, the only thing that popped up was "WARNING! the last over-clocking attempt failed, press f1 for set-up press f2 for .." or something along the lines of that. Which is weird cause I've never booted up any of this equipment before ever, its all brand new.

But I can run another bench test, I'll take it all out of the case and do the same thing I did the first time and see what happens. I'll put in all 4 sticks of 4gb memory as well as clear the CMOS.

[Jack]

But I can run another bench test, I'll take it all out of the case and do the same thing I did the first time and see what happens.

 

I'll put in all 4 sticks of 4gb memory

No, please test with just one(!) memory stick for now.

[86sixsix]

one stick'll work as it'll be single channel   2 sticks'll work so long as they're next to each other, 3 will if the board decide's to go 'ganged'...  4...  well, it might post if you can tell it to be ganged beforehand, if it defaults to dual channel unganged at 1600 then you're SOL.

this dude's got the same thing going on as me.  i only got further as i've got an OS to start with so i can see what's happening.

jack, if kalebmartens' board is shot, then mine's shot, wokie's is shot, elude's is shot.  we've either all got dead boards or flaky bios.

dual channel on 990fxa-gd80 at 1600 and still have all your ram made available to the OS = fail.

this isn't a clocking thing, it's not an xmp thing...  it's a not very well written (new chipset?) bios module that hates 1600 DC and really hates corsair.

get a support ticket done if you've not kalebmartens.  there's at least 3 of us just on here with the exact same problem.

[Ex Forum User 3]

1600 on any AMD CPU incl AM3 is overclocking and NOT guaranteed to work.

The memory controller is inside the CPU and NOT certified to do 1600 unless you overclock.

[Fredrik]

Corsair Vengeance memory, isn't that meant for Intel Sandy Bridge processors?

[kalebmartens]

Corsair Vengeance memory, isn't that meant for Intel Sandy Bridge processors?

Well on the packaging it shows the intel logos as well as the AMD Phenom logo. SO it advertises it's for both AMD and Intel. 

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one with this problem, there are others of you in the same boat. I wish we weren't in this boat but I'm glad I'm not alone.

But I will go ahead and benchtest my motherboard with only 1 stick of RAM right now and tell you guys what I find.

[kalebmartens]

Ok well I just did the benchtest. I took out my Motherboard and put it on a non-conductive service. I put in only 1 stick of Corsair Vengeance RAM and flipped it on. Well all I get are 3-beeps and the error code 54 every time now. I even put in two sticks same thing. No sticks, same thing. I don't know what to do now, is my motherboard shot? or is it my memory?

[Jack]

You get output to the screen with no memory modules installed and the 54 error code?

[kalebmartens]

You get output to the screen with no memory modules installed and the 54 error code?

I get no output anymore, even on the benchtest. Just the 54 error code along with 3-beeps.

And I called their tech support and they advised me to send in an RMA request for my motherboard, so that is what I did. They said it could possibly be that the motherboard is bad, so I will send it in and they will test it. I couldn't test the memory or CPU because they were the only ones I had that was compatible with all this new hardware so I really don't have any other choice.

[kalebmartens]

Ok new development here. I just went and started to unplug the power and videa card from the motherboard so I can get it ready to box it back up.

When I started to unhook the CPU heatsink to take off the CPU, i pulled the heatsink off along with the cpu right out of the socket. The CPU is STUCK to the heatsink and I cant even pry it off from the thermal paste to get it off of the heatsink. This can't be good...and remember this is a brand new CPU right out of the box and i just installed it that day. Its a AMD Phenom II 1100T.

Could this be an issue, if it is then  do I do now lol. This brand new computer building just pretty much hit the fan and the  is flying everywhere.

....I just tried to take the CPU off the heatsink again, I tried wiggling it and it slides a little bit, so I tried prying it off and it popped off but it took some effort. Is this normal? No pins were seriously bent.

[Ex Forum Mod]

 What kind of thermal interface material (TIM, paste/grease, sticky pad) was used?

 I have read of others that did the same thing and used dental floss to remove the CPU from the cooler by working a string of it back and forth between the 2 parts. Heat it up with a hair blower/drier to soften the TIM 1st.

[kalebmartens]

What kind of thermal interface material (TIM, paste/grease, sticky pad) was used?

Just the kind that came with the stock heatsink, already pre-applied.

[86sixsix]

did you clear the cmos whilst going for the '1 stick' attempt?  mine'll boot and work single channel 1600  (i've had my chip n ram in 1 other boards to confirm they work at 1600 and they do.  my corsair packet also has a shiny AMD-friendly badge.)

(i found when getting my heatsink on it was 'tighter' than the last board i used it on)

(i've had the same 'stuck to the sink' with a kuma core'd thing in another system.  that was with arctic-silver-5 compound if i remember.  no damage occured to the cpu.  dental floss/piano wire approach combined with a wiggle worked well.  remember to thoroughly get all the old gunk off all surfaces before going for a re-attach and triple-check all the pins are arrow straight.  i quite like mx-2 compound now - doesn't dry up at all)

edit: typo - *2* other boards

[Ex Forum User 3]

Normally you don't pull the heatsink but twist it a bit so the paste gets lose.

[66racer]

I do wanna say I ran corsair vengence 1600 4x2gb in my 890fxa-gd70 before returning and going for 1866 dominator gt's. Both ran fine and called corsair before ordering the dominator gt memory since it didnt say amd and corsair told me all their memory will work with amd but they advertise intel on certain ones to show intel compatability due to voltage requirements. I know its a different chipset you have but good luck, didnt read EVERY post.