Asus 990FX Sabertooth R2.0

[JFV]

Hello world.

I'm having an issue which I think could be my motherboard.

My place of living has an electric key which money is put on to - but when the money runs out the power is lost to the entire house - inclusive of my PC.

The issue is that if my PC looses power my system completely resets and I have to update the time manually via the clock and then log off and then log back on again in order to see any mini-icons in the bottom right hand corner of windows.

This essentially means that I am unable to overclock at all and have the annoyance of updating the clock (which gets reset to 2007 and in turn stops you from using the internet without the correct time due to HTTPS requirements) so you can't just pretend you're still in 2007.

All fan profiles set by user reset to disabled and I have to manually reset them to a custom profile that I need to remake each time. It just means if I want to use my PC I could have a 10-minute wait and a bunch of things to configure.

DRAM and CPU reset to OEM settings as a result too.

• 
  Pro: AMD FX 6300 (Black Edition)
  RAM: 2 x Ballistix Tracer 4GB
  GPU: XFX 7870 DD Ghz Edition
  MB: Asus 990FX Sabertooth R2.0
  SSD: 2 x 500GB crucial MX100
  PSU: Corsair GS 700
  OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

This issue has plagued me since building the rig around 4 years ago but I patiently waited.

Now I am buying an 240mm AIO and a new case, I would like to be able to use this motherboard in the future rather than a new mobo that is actually worse than my current one.

So, is there any ideas about what this issue could be and why it does this at AC power loss?
I already bought a new CMOS battery and replaced it.

I would appreciate any advice as it could potentially save me having to scrap this board in the hope that will resolve my issue.

I know without a UPS the board could do this anyway but I would like to think the battery would be able to power it for 30 mins or so whilst someone gets the electric back on as this happens even if a fuse trips.

Thanks for your time,

Beardy.

 

[altazi]

I would go with a UPS anyway. It can be problematic to yank the power from an operating PC. The UPS could at least provide for an orderly shut-down. Be sure and get one that communicates with the PC so it can inform of power loss and request shutdown.

 

[JFV]

I would go with a UPS anyway.

Firstly, thanks for the response - it is appreciated.

However, there is an issue with the configuration/hardware and buying a UPS won't resolve it. It will simply shutdown normally and when the UPS dies the PC will reset and on start up.

When it restarted it will require a manual update of:

• 
  Time / Date
  Fan speed profile (If I don't want my room to become a wind tunnel)
  CPU speed profile (which is much slower than stock - for maximum compatibility)
  RAM speed profile (if I want an extra 300Hz)
  
  It doesn't matter if the PC is on or off when the power dies, it hard resets everything.
  
  Any other recommendations?

 

[altazi]

Is the CMOS battery (cell, really) jumper in the proper position? It should not be in the 'clear CMOS' position. Do you have a DMM with which you can check the cell voltage? It should be around 3V if the cell is new and not under excessive load.

Have you tried setting BIOS defaults, power-cycling the system, and checking to see if the BIOS values were retained? Have you then changed some of the settings and saved them, power-cycled the system, and verified that your changes were retained?

Have you ever seen any error messages related to BIOS settings, e.g., something along the line of 'bad BIOS checksum, loading default settings'?

 

[JFV]

Is the CMOS battery (cell, really) jumper in the proper position?

Yes, battery also replaced.

Have you tried setting BIOS defaults, power-cycling the system, and checking to see if the BIOS values were retained? Have you then changed some of the settings and saved them, power-cycled the system, and verified that your changes were retained?

Yes, all of the above. Via MemOK clear (asus specific I think) and via clearing the cmos via the directkey button and manually via jumpers.

Have you ever seen any error messages related to BIOS settings, e.g., something along the line of 'bad BIOS checksum, loading default settings'?

No errors occur, the system is stable other than the fact it resets after AC power loss. I have retained settings once via the recover bios screen that pops up and says "press F1 to continue to setup" when you press F1 you go into the bios and the fan profiles are reset as well as the date and time. I under clocked my processor 300Mhz or so just so the system ran cooler whilst under load. The under clock remains as does the Ram profile.

This issue is really concerning because I'm not the only one - there are mentions of this in other forums but none are followed up, none have a solution to it.

One thing that does spring to mind is on the asus tool in windows I can view the current voltages - one sticks out and that's the 3.3v - I assume but don't know if this is the battery voltage. It's slightly low: 3.288 v could it really make that much of a difference those few vaults?

 

[altazi]

One thing that does spring to mind is on the asus tool in windows I can view the current voltages - one sticks out and that's the 3.3v - I assume but don't know if this is the battery voltage. It's slightly low: 3.288 v could it really make that much of a difference those few vaults?

This should be the main +3.3V supply for on-board devices, etc. 3.288V is perfectly fine - it is only low by -0.036%.

I have this same motherboard (although I'm not sure about rev 2.0), and have had no such problems. I did have to RMA it to ASUS twice for a nonexistent sound output, though . . .

Have you updated to the latest version of the BIOS?