Board Gone ?

AgedIdiot · 4 Nov 2012 at 23:59

Just completed a new build - including new ram , motherboard & cpu cooler.

The cooler is a sealed water cooling unit made by the company who make the corsair h60.

All installed ok but the cpu cooler pump is unacceptably noisy !!

Decided to unistall the cooler and re-install the old eco alc unit which I had been using which was becoming a little noisier than it used to be but was still a hell of a lot quieter than the new unit.

Re-fitting did prove a little problematical as to get the backplate on I had to remove 6 of the motherboard screws so that I could slide the backplate in (the nzst phantom case cpu hole is offset from the place where the cpu/backplate actually fits) but all appeared to go well.

Booted to find that although the cpu cooler was nice & quiet again the light indicating ram problems was now running permanently red i.e. ram failure!

Tried swapping slots.- no joy

Tried different memory sticks.- no joy (am now on second comp. using the memory which failed on the new machine!)

Will dismantle & re-assemble one last time tomorrow but am becoming convinced that the ram slots / motherboard is shot :eek:

Any suggestions?

The new ram is crucial ballistic and it was working fine before I had to replace the cooler.
The motherboard is an Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3

wazza300 · 5 Nov 2012 at 00:03

you havnt removed the cpu at all have you? tried with just one ram stick installed?

stulid · 5 Nov 2012 at 00:08

Is there a memOK button on the board?

Socket pins all perfect?

rids57 · 5 Nov 2012 at 00:15

You may have over-tightened the screws holding the cooler/backplate and this stress can cause poor contact with the memory controller on the CPU. Loosen the screws and see if it improves matters - in my case it worked and I've had no problems since.

AgedIdiot · 5 Nov 2012 at 00:57

Did remove and replace cpu after remove /replace of cooler.

Did try with one stick - no joy - and no bent pins etc - so far as I can see.

Have just taken the 'old' eco-alc cooler off and have installed Intels own cooler that came with the cpu - no joy!!

It starts up ok (lights on , fans spin etc)- just the memory fail light comes on and stays on - it will not post.- did try the mem ok button - again no joy

Am now a little more worried !! - Cannot be cpu can it ; not my fairly new 2700k surely.

Anyway - am cream crackered so off to bed. Things may look better in the morning

stulid · 5 Nov 2012 at 01:06

You have got both power cables plugged into the board?

Try a clearCMOS.

wazza300 · 5 Nov 2012 at 02:32

if you removed the cpu chances are you have one or some bent cpu socket pins,try taking a close up pic of the whole cpu socket and post here,be careful not to damage any while looking

remember it a staggered install for your ram,so from cpu to front of case its miss a ram slot,install,miss third slot,install

AgedIdiot · 5 Nov 2012 at 07:10

Both power cables plugged in. Cleared cmos - no joy.

Would mention that when I first installed the board it would not run as the Boot Device Led was on permanently; had to clear the cmos and try re-boot a couple of times before it caught for the 1st time and I was able to instal windows etc.

I do recolect that during the various boot-reboot cycles that come with installation of windows & drivers that the ram 'red' light did appear to be on(when I noticed - was not looking for it just once or twice noticed that it was on - and it might have only been intermittent) but just did not think much about it.

I am careful when installing and there are/were no bent pins - as its s1155 I do not see how I could have bent any - it is , simply, drop such in ; which is what was done.

TWiNKLeT0Es · 5 Nov 2012 at 08:36

Have you tried it outside the case to rule out shorting?

NoobCannon · 5 Nov 2012 at 08:52

Is anything coming up on the screen?

AgedIdiot · 5 Nov 2012 at 20:55

NoobCannon said:
Is anything coming up on the screen?

Nothing !

Fans spin , pretty lights for the tracer ram and pretty red light(constant) telling me that I have a ram problem.- which I do not given that the ram in the current machine I'm using works fine (in the p67a board it usually runs in) but 'fails' in the Z68 board.

Have decided that it is most likely the case that when I bent the board gently (& not my much) I broke something on the board resulting in the situation I have.
I did think it thru and realized that the problem only began after the slight bending and later problems(i.e. bit of force being needed to get the screws to bite properly) I had in installing the new cooler; so upon the assumption it was user error I have ordered a new board which I hope will be with me in the next day or so.

Have also bought a new corsair h60 cooler , which I will fit at the same time as the new board.

Keep your fingers crossed for me - it's bad enough wasting £80 on the broken board , do not want to have a broken cpu :eek:

Will report when new one is built etc

AgedIdiot · 8 Nov 2012 at 09:36

New board arrived yesterday. Installed last night - all up and running.

Both board and cooler are running as I hoped they would; although I am running the cooler upon the basis that the fan blows air thu the radiator and out the case rather than sucking cold air in and this may not be this may not be the most efficient. We shall see.

As they say 'all's well that ends well' and I have learned one very important lesson (again) i.e. do not rush and DO NOT bend the board(no matter how slightly)