Getting a C1 error on my 780i mobo after installing new GPU :(

Man of Honour
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If your not getting a picture on the screen at all it won't be a driver issue - drivers kick in after the basic BIOS has booted up and handed over to the main OS.

I'm still hedging on the side of it being the CPU backplate, I've fixed 3-4 of these EVGA nForce 7 series boards where the SMDs have pushed through the insulation on the backplate and shorted on the metal beneath.
 
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Okay I'll give that a try then.

But what exactly should I be trying to do here? I can reseat the fan but I don't know what to look for as far as problems go. I don't know what the SMDs are either I'm afraid. What do I need to do in the reseat to make sure it's in right?

My cooler is a Spire Thermax Eclipse II. One of these: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Spire-TherMax-Eclipse-II-CPU-Cooler-Review/1085/4

Edit: might be of some use, apparently only the blue LED (standby power) is supposed to be on before pressing the power on button, but the orange LED (memory power) is always on on my board. Could that imply a problem with the memory?

I've had this rig for 3 years and the memory has always worked fine. Strange...
 
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Soldato
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New territory for me, but im guessing you would first inspect the backplate to see if there are any obvious holes where something has pushed through, if so turn the back plate so those holes are not where they used to be, then dont tighten the cooler as much as you did before.

Which reminds me, I've read that over tightening those screws can cause board warp with then affects your memory... but I cant remember if that is type of main board specific or not... the solution to this is by loosening those screws a little and seeing if that helps. You might as well try that a few times before taking it off.

When it is off, even if there is no obvious damage to the back plate you could always try your old cooler as well, just to see :)
 
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Okay I'll try that.

Maybe I could cover the backplate with electrical tape also, as an extra layer of insulation?

First though I'll try loosening the screws. That logically sounds like it might be the problem but then that doesn't explain how I could use my rig for 8 hours plus last night and not have a single problem?

Honestly, this stuff is exhausting. Starting to wish I handn't bothered with these upgrades now :(
 
Man of Honour
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^^ Yes overtightening can cause the board to warp on a varity of motherboards.

Theres been indents in the insulation in the cases I've seen which are fairly easy to see its not quite so obvious if they've pushed through to the metal as it can be just a tiny hole is enough to make a connection but if theres 2-3mm sized rectangle indents then a good chance its happening.
 
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I had a 680i that started to develop C1 and C25 errors, cooler used was a push pin freezer pro, no backplate or warping. Thought it also might have been dodgy ram, so i tried some new stuff in it. Unfortunately it turned out to be a dead memory controller on the board.
 
Man of Honour
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I had a 680i that started to develop C1 and C25 errors, cooler used was a push pin freezer pro, no backplate or warping. Thought it also might have been dodgy ram, so i tried some new stuff in it. Unfortunately it turned out to be a dead memory controller on the board.

Fingers crossed didn't affect the 7 series tho was common with the 6 series, especially Asus nForce boards.
 
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You know, the more I think about it the more I think the problem is the heatsink warping the board and causing a problem with the DIMM slots. That would explain why it worked yesterday (because that was just after I installed the heatsink and it hadn't had time to warp) and why it didn't work this morning (because it had warped overnight as the pressure from the screws got to the board).
 
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Update:

Tried reseating the heatsink for the third time and I moved the nuts that usually sit on top of the backplate onto the topside of the board. No luck.

I also bought some new ram to see if my old ram was the problem but no luck.

I also left out the battery all of last night and put it back in this morning. No luck.

I think I've tried everything, unless I'm missing something. Looking like an RMA is necessary.
 
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