Losing BIOS Settings, replaced battery, still losing them

[Mayuukosan]

Hello everyone! I am back with another weird issue.

Specs
MSI 870A-G54 motherboard
AMD Phenom II quad core processor
AMD Radeon HD 7700 series video card
16GB RAM
Dual-display monitors
Dual boot - Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and Ubuntu 10.04


The Issue
Whenever my computer loses power, the BIOS settings reset. I replaced the battery on the motherboard twice (both right out of the package batteries) but the issue persists. If my computer stays plugged in, it is fine. But recently they are replacing the power lines in my neighborhood and it is causing me to lose power 3-4 times a day. I inspected the battery-holder (not sure of the correct term) but it is not bent out of place or corroded.

This would not be an issue except I found before that a few of the settings (including the AMD Cool N Quiet setting, set to ON by default) causes my system to lock up and crash. Is there a way to change the default settings? Any ideas on what to do/look for? Thanks for any help.

[patio]

Were both batteries bought from the same vendor ? ?

[Mayuukosan]

One I bought from Wal-Mart the other from a CompUSA. I have an old watch which uses the same type of battery (go figure haha) and all three (the old and the two new) seemed to work fine in the watch. Tested for 24 hours.

[BC_Programmer]

Replace the Power supply. Most CMOS settings are copied to RAM while power is on, and the CMOS RAM is switched to the power supply. If the power supply doesn't provide enough power, the CMOS settings dribble away. But you don't see that problem until the next cold boot.

[Computer_Commando]

One I bought from Wal-Mart the other from a CompUSA. I have an old watch which uses the same type of battery (go figure haha) and all three (the old and the two new) seemed to work fine in the watch. Tested for 24 hours.

CR-2032  ??
Name brand or off brand?  Most of the off brands are junk, good voltage but no current under load.  Voltage on new battery should be 3.2V, on dead battery about 2.7V.  3.0V is nominal voltage.

If they don't light the lamp in the watch, they are no good.

[Mayuukosan]

Replaced power supply, still same issue - shut down, replaced power supply, started back up, and had to reset values, shut down again and unplugged, and had to reset values on restart still.

I checked the voltages for my RAM just for giggles, (1.5v) and found that Windows only recognizes me as having 8GB not 16....Tested with both sticks individually and each ran fine but no BIOS settings saved. Ubuntu recognizes the full 16. Googled a little and found that Windows does not recognize more than 8 sometimes...? Decided to put this here in case it helps. Not sure if related or even important.

Yes, the battery is a CR2032, I brought the battery with me to compare at the stores to make sure I got the right type. Both were Energizer types. All batteries (including the old one) ran fine in the watch.

I bought this Motherboard as a replacement about 2 months ago, still have 90 day warranty on it, should I just return?

[BC_Programmer]

the circuit on the motherboard between the battery and the CMOS RAM could be broken in some fashion.

[Mayuukosan]

All right then, I am just going to return/replace it, still within warranty so it seems the easiest. Thanks!