Asus M3N-HT Deluxe Boot Issues with Phenom 9850 and 9950
There is an issue between the Asus M3N-HT Deluxe and the AMD Phenom 9850 and 9950 CPUs that has been addressed with their most recent BIOS update (901). Although not uncommon for motherboard manufacturers to release BIOS updates to address issues, I thought this one should be posted just due to the unusual problem that the system exhibits.
Basically, with either a Phenom 9850 or 9950 CPU, this motherboard upon powering up will power on and off anywhere from two to twenty times before finally posting and booting to the operating system. Most would assume an issue with the power supply or just assume that the board is bad and needs to be replace when in fact all that is required a BIOS update. Some systems run fine for several days or weeks before the problem arises. So it would seem to make sense to update the BIOS beforehand.
The BIOS has been out since the end of May and some of you would question the necessity to post this now. The reasoning behind this is the majority of the Asus M3N-HT Deluxe motherboards available out in the retail chains still carry an older BIOS and you will probably need to update the BIOS when you receive it.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Damm… this happens to me, will update now!!
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Thank you so much for this info. I just bought this MB and the 9950 CPU. I put it all together to find that it would start up and shutdown over and over. I would end up holding down the start button on the case to shut it down. Long story short, I pulled it all apart and bench tested the MB with no luck. Finally I found this post. I am now going to put it all back together again and wait a bit longer for the post this time. Hope this works. Thanks again.
Google is your best friend!
September 1st, 2008 at 9:43 am
My computer won’t even boot, but it will not get passed the POST
So, that means I have to send it back. This is my second I have to send a MB back. I’ve had this computer for 2 weeks, but not been able to use it 
September 12th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Thank you very much for the info, i just run into this problem with my newbuild pc.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:11 am
can you update this bios like the M3A board using a flashdrive in usb port if you get the same fault as spysat
If you can then the bios update can be downloaded from any other computer for it from asus website.
some small computer shops might even get the download for you if you can’t get access to another computer to download.
I have a 9950 processor and would like an answer to this ?
The boards that say they do this type of processor don’t say what model if anything the go out there way not to.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I have just assembled a system and I am having the same problem. But how will I ever update the BIOS if I can’t POST and then enter the BIOS. Right now, I am wondering if the constant boot/off/boot will damage my new system?
BTW, yes, a USB drive worked just fine with my previous system. No floppy disk needed.
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
if the board has the old bios and the 9950 CPU, the board may never post. There are a couple fixes available..
I spoke with Asus.. you can either ship the board back and they will flash it for you OR you can slide an older CPU into the board, flash it and then put the 9950 back in..
Seems the sales literature touts the board for the Phenom chips but they fail to tell you that you may not be able to use the board as shipped.. (Asus could just about care less about the issue.. I purchase 100 or more of their boards a year and this is a show stopper they should have made us aware of.. Time for a new vendor…)
October 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Has anyone verified that this works? my computer is going on and off behind me for the past few mins no with no post to even the bios options.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Just got this combo with the same issue.
well… I get nothing at all, fans kick in, HDD has a spin up but no beeps and nothing on the vga. I have aquired an old AM2 sempron to test if it is the cpu or MB. The thing is the MB acts the same with ram or without ram and with or without the cpu so I dont know what to think. will let you all know when i get the older cpu on 16/10/08.
I am not happy as spent all week building the pc up perfectly, every cable tucked away in its ideal place (the parts came through in drips and drabs it didnt actually take a week to put it together) then had to rip it all to bits! grrr@asus
October 17th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hi guys, just a quick note for all the people coming across this like I did when I had the problem with this mobo/cpu combo
I got hold of an old AM2 Sempron 3000+ and as its been said it booted no problem. Updated the bios from a usb key and now all is great
Naughty asus!
The firmware on the board was VERY old. Version 620 or something. The latest is 1400 or somewhere like that.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Thank you so much! my new build was driving me crazy, i tried
everything…