Scenario:
So there I was playing dragon age when I noticed the game slowed down on windows 7 to a crawl.
I then walked away help the family do some house repairs. When I came back my PC was shut off (odd indeed)

When I power it up it normally beeps on 2d or 26 then completes post, but it never turns the monitor on for me to visually load bios defaults. Well, I tried various (reset for 3 seconds then power on the mb itself together )No joy, so next I cleaned off the Q6600 G0 processor and applied brand new thermal paste.

This time I go very long and continuous beep codes of C1 that just keep on repeating.

Next I pulled my dominator ram from slots 1 &3
Placed one stick in slot1 - 1d or d1 error code slot 2 1d or d1 error code
removed all ram and placed a single stick in slot 4 (viola it boots  on the very next restart while I am typing this on my notebook... go figure)

I should also mention that one of the very first things even before the thermal paste was to put the video card in pci-e slot
No joy - 26 or 2d error code.

Should I replace the 680i or can the community help me fix the pc?
I have a weird feeling the errors will return on the next boot and right now I am enjoying some dragon age: origins



I should also mention

Lol I didn't mean to do that "I should also mention"

I guess that I was so happy that my pc had came back online I forgot to preview the message. You see I have been battling with this problem for 3 days now. Sometimes when I randomly  keep resetting it by holding down reset, then power for 3-4 seconds it will actually boot. Also it has always had a problem since day one.

I used to use a asetek lightspeed subzero cooling unit.
If I used the pc all day long, once I shut down the pc. The processor it acted like it was flooded. I would have to wait 8-10 hours before the thing would post again. I got rid of phase change for this reason! I even had the problem of the pc shutting itself off after being on for so many hours. 8-10 hours of unsuccessful boot! forget this -25c celcius isn't worth this!

Next I went to watercooling
This worked well and all, but the same problem now seems to occur again. It used to happen rarely, but over the last week I have had problems with c1 and 2b. If the pc is off for 8-10 hours then I press the power button it normally boots.

If I use the pc for so many hours I get a slowdown that comes and goes
Then the pc will power itself off about an hour later
When I press power or do a bios reset it doesn't work!

Now correct me if I am wrong, but a pc should be able to operate x amount of hours without shutting down or have a post issue after the pc has been on for so many hours. Businesses run pc's 24-7

\\\ This problem has occured since the day I bought the board in 2006. I have seen it with phase change first!

Happened with phase change and it happens with water cooling. Air cooling I never saw it happen with

If I had a c1 error I removed the heatsink and reapplied new paste
If I had a 2b error or 7f error I would hold down the reset button first then the power button for 3-4 seconds.
When it restarted everything was fine. (I would simply load bios defaults)

I used to have a stable 3.2Ghz overclock, but now I don't even bother with ocing I run my Q6600 24/7 at 2.4Ghz and my other stuff at defaults.

BTW my os is Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade - maybe its incompatible with my old 680i SLI A1


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2B returned right after I did a windows update to the pc last night (auto restart). I guess it was pure luck the thing worked while I was originally writing this message on a notebook.

I have 2 680i SLI main boards.  Abit's IN9 32X MAX 680i and eVGA 680i SLI A-1.  If I have all 4 memory slots full they wouldn't boot.  I remove one stick and they boot.  That happend more on the Abit than the eVGA.  I bought a Q9550 and cant overclock it past 1354 FSB. believe me I've tried everything. Errors 25 and C-1 

Hey, split I used to run 4x1 gb ram until I found out the 680i has a memory controller problem on stability for overclocking (4 slots is bad 2x2 kit is the way to go). I went from 4x1 kit of 1066mhz ocz sli ready gamers to PC8500 2x2 kit and my system was much more stable under stress and load with a 2x2 before I had all of these new problems over the last week.

Hope this helps you!

My mod data isn't updated:
Lian Li PC-65B case (going to antec 900 next build)
1x Q6600 G0 @2.4ghz (Stock Voltage) Watercooled with D-Tek Fuzion (6x fans push pull on 3x 120mm rad with Liand DCT--01 Petra)
I ran out of coolant so I have be using plain ole water for the time being. (By the time it rusts and corrodes it will be time for a new pc build anyways). I'd say I have gotten my money's worth out of my D-Tek. Money nowadays is tight and coolant is expensive!
2X2 kit of Corsair Dominators 4GB Total 1066Mhz
E-VGA 680i SLI A1
1x GTX 260 896MB (DVI to Samsung 226BW and Port 2 DVI+HDMI out to 42" Video LCD)
Windows 7 Home Premium
Sound (onboard) - Digital Optical Out to a 500w Yamaha 6130 reciever with full 7.1
Sound (onboard) - analogue to Sennheiser PC 161 Headset
I ran out of AS5 so when I last pulled my CPU I reapplied ASC. It was either that or the thermaltake grease that came with an air cooler.
Plextor 760A DVD Burner
500GB Seagate 7200 RPM
NB & SB (Stock Cooling)
Video Cooling (Stock Cooler

Changes over system builds:
I used to go all out to have the latest and greatest, but now I buy the cheapest processor in a new chipset lineup and one version down from the top on video cards. My single GTX260 runs any game at 1680x1050 perfectly fine on max. a 280 would have been $400 wasted.

What do I plan on buying the next 2-3 months?
intel i5 750 (outperformed every single i7 except 965 or above in gaming)
cheap inexpensive 1156 socket non sli with digital out and analogue
Its hilarious a cheap i5 outperforms an i7 in all games. It doesn't have hyperthreading according to anandtech, but it does have turbo boost. It also overclocks well on air and its only 95W.

Total cost $ less than $350.00 to $400.00
I see no reason to make a jump from my 260
 
OT: 7.1 Surround
I can't really say I have every fully maxed out my sound system as I have a police officer living right above me. 95% I use sennheiser. Its great to have a cop around - 3 most respected professions in my book are (Military personnel #1, Police Officers #2, Fire Fighters#3 They are willing to put their life on the line for your freedom and they will put their life on the line to help someone they don't even know.)

I know it has been a while but Abit's IN9 32X MAX 680i SLI does support the Q9550.  I ran it for some time with no issues other than I couldn't overclock it.   The main problem with the 680i boards are they will not suport dual channel Memory in all four slots.  I got a 790i and I could overclock they heck out of the Q9550.  Ended up selling that system.  I have an issue now with a GTX280 running on an eVga 680i it comes on (fan) half way through booting through bios but nothing shows on the screen as if nothing is there.  May be a bad card???