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Maximus V Formula crashes and then halts with QCode 55

AusRoG
Level 10
Hi everyone,

I damaged 2 pins on the CPU socket of my new MVF board and was told by the retailer that they can send it to Asus for a socket repair/replacement at cost of $50 + shipping (since socket damage is not covered by warranty). OK, that’s much better than the price of a new board. After 4 weeks I got the board back, seems it’s not my original one because this one has a different serial no, but it’s clearly not a brand new board either. Anyway, it looks fine so I install the 3770K and RAM, boot into Windows 7 and run a few threads of Prime95 to test it. After about 30 minutes it reboots and gets stuck with QLED code 55 (Memory not installed).

A whole weekend’s worth of testing and investigation follows. The board is flashed with latest BIOS (1604). The RAM is GSkill 1866 Ripjaws X (2x 8GB) which is on the QVL. I test it in different slots, with 1 or both modules. I run memtest86+ which starts throwing errors halfway through the first pass. BUT when I test the memory overnight in my old rig it completes 4 passes successfully (with same speeds and settings). In any event I also test the MVF with Corsair Vengeance 1600 (2x 4GB) DIMMs (also on the QVL). I also test the CPU in another Asus (cheapie) board just in case the problem is with the CPU, however it runs Prime95 through the night without a hitch. Note all these tests are run with stock CPU and RAM (XMP profile) clocks.

So now I am stuck. The end result is the same every time: the system boots fine into Windows but after a while the system becomes unstable, reboots and then gets stuck with QCode 55. After that I have to use MemOK or clear the CMOS to get it running again.

So I have 2 questions that I hope to get some help with:
1. Am I right in assuming this board is broken… at this point I am pretty sure but I would like to get some input/advice from the members here before deciding what to do.
2. If the board is broken, what are my options? Send it back to the e-retailer at my expense, who will send it back to the repair center again, wait another 4 weeks and hope for the best? I am considering just buying another board, but these boards aren’t cheap and I am disappointed in Asus now after I had to wait 4 weeks for repairs (at my expense) only to get a dodgy board back. I've only bought Asus boards for my last few builds over the years and I love the MVF, but I expected a better experience that this when I bought RoG.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any input.
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8 REPLIES 8

Chino
Level 15
Welcome to the Republic of Gamers forums, AusRoG.

When you said the motherboard was flashed with the 1604 BIOS, did you flash it or did it come with that BIOS? And if you flashed it, can you tell me which method you used?

AusRoG
Level 10
Hi Chino, thanks for your reply.

The board came with 1408. I flashed it to 1604 using EZ Flash in the BIOS after downloading new firmware onto a USB stick.

Chino
Level 15
Did you flash it before or after you started having problems? And please list your complete system specs for me. 🙂

AusRoG
Level 10
I didn't do much testing before I flashed it. Release notes for 1604 says "Improve system stability" - that's a good thing right 🙂

The board is meant to go into my new fully WC rig that I am busy putting together, but for now the testing is done on a bench with nothing plugged into the board except:
CPU: i7-3770K with stock Intel cooler (and a desk fan blowing some extra air over cpu and board)
RAM: G.Skill F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL DDR3-1866 (2x 8GB sticks)
Corsair AX860 PSU
LCD connected to iGPU HDMI port
USB keyboard and mouse
SSD: Crucial M4 256GB

Chino
Level 15
Always good practice to test everything before putting it into the case. 🙂 Try the following for me.

1. Downgrade your BIOS to the 1408 version using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.
2. After the downgrade is successful, proceed to removing everything and disconnecting everything from your motherboard.
3. Clear your CMOS by removing the battery.
4. Reinstall your CPU with it's stock heatsink and one stick of RAM into the DIMM_A2 slot.
5. Connect your 24, 8 & 4 pin power connectors.
6. Run MemTest86+ again.

Report back with your results. 🙂

AusRoG
Level 10
I followed the steps above and here are the results:

1. One DIMM in A2: Completes 2 memtest86+ passes with no errors.
2. So, I move same DIMM to slot B2: memtest86+ completes 1 pass with no errors.
3. Next, I put the other DIMM in slot A2 so both DIMMS are now on the board: memtest86+ successfully completes 1 pass but starts raising errors during the second pass. I press reset button on board, it resets and gets stuck with QCode 55 :confused:

This is similar to what I found during my previous testing. Single DIMM is stable for longer, or if I underclock the memory it is also stable for longer, but eventually the problem comes up.

I sent it back. What a waste of time. Anyhow, thanks for your help Chino. 🙂