Question on GA-970A-UD3 motherboard

[Betrayd]

Hello,

I just built a new setup using this motherboard.  I got it all together and started it up with no problems.   Went into bios and set boot from cd and started to install windows 7 64 bit.  Now here is the odd part.  I can get past the I agree screen, but after the restart it gets to the starting windows screen then goes to a blank screen.  It just sits on the blank screen, and has HD activity for a minute or so but doesnt ever go into windows to finish installation.  I have tried known good ram and hard drives with no change.   I have also updated bios.  Still no help.  I'm at a loss right now as to whats causing this.  Has anyone had this problem before?  Any help is grately appreciated.

Thanks


Computer Specs
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 975
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
Video Card: EVGA GTX 280
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 7200 RPM SATA

[absic]

Hi there,

there used to be an issue with installing Windows when you had more than 4GB of RAM installed and the first thing I would try is removing one of the sticks of RAM to see if that gets you past this hurdle. You can usually put it back in once Windows has been installed.

If this doesn't help, do you have another Graphics Card you can try, just to eliminate this as a possible cause of the lack of display?

[Betrayd]

Thanks for the quick response!

The other ram I tried was a 4gig kit of g.skill, but I also have a 2gig kit of crucial laying around I will try.   Yes I do have a HIS 5850 sitting around that I can try as well.  Ill have to try those things after work and hopefully itll do the trick.    Thanks

[absic]

Just another thought, are you trying to install the OS from a DVD?
If yes, is the SATA controller set to AHCI as this can also cause problems as a lot of DVD/CD drives seem to prefer running in IDE Mode.

You can install Windows 7 using a USB Pendrive and this is the method I now use exclusively as it is quicker and very reliable.

[Betrayd]

Yes I am using a DVD.  I never looked at those settings, but I'll take a look at that too.

Thanks   

[Betrayd]

I checked the bios when I was on lunch break and the sata is set to ide mode.   So I set defaults and switched in the 2gig of corsair and it was able to boot into windows and finish install.   I then switched back to the 8gig of g.skill and it locks up on the desktop right before the start menu or icons appear.   I have also tried it with a 4gig kit of g.skill with the same effect.  I ran out of time on my break to put the 2gig back into make sure it will start up with it again.  But after work ill put it back in and see what happens.   Its kinda odd having the 4gig and 8gig both do the same thing.   

[absic]

Have you run MemTest to check that your RAM is OK?