memory controller on amd 64 4400

[jimmy_lazers]

Hi there, I'm having trouble getting a POST beep. Lights, fans, drives etc. all on but no beeps. I've read loads of stuff on this problem but mine differs.
Have 2gbs of ram of which I removed one and hey presto! it POSTed and booted-but just the once. Its been dead for months after going through the recommended procedure, (clear cmos, unplug stuff till it works) nothing. Then for no reason it booted!- but just the once.

So I've narrowed it down to 1. The cpu 2. The motherboard 3.the psu

My question to you cpu experts is as follows

Q. If the memory controller is fried is it permanently fried? Because I get sporradic POSTs is it possible that the cpu is sort of broke.
To rephrase:- Is once its dead its dead?
To rephrase:- Can it be shagged yet sometimes un-shagged?

A? (this is the cause of much heartache, I don't have any money,and can't test my components on other peoples pc's because they all have lappies) HELP!

Ps) it stopped working for no external reason, no fiddling no nothing- it was a nice day, the birds were singing.

Amd athlon 64 3800
gigabyte k8n (ultra i think) sli
geforce 6800gs xxx (swapped with another geforce gfx card- still no boot)
seagate baracuda 80meg ide
hiper type-r (forget wattage but ample)
geil cheapest 2x1gb sticks (verified in other computer)

 

[helpimcrap]

i know you're annoyed mate but i strongly advise you to correct the swear words in your post before the mods ban you and you never get your answer.

in answer to your question i have no idea, sorry.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

I assumed there'd be a filter! cheers for the heads up

 

[Big.Wayne]

So I've narrowed it down to 1. The cpu 2. The motherboard 3.the psu

If you think the CPU (or onboard mem controller) is busted then you have to try another CPU/ or test the cpu in another machine.

If you think the mobo is busted u need to swap it out using all the same components (not a lot of people have a spare mobo knocking about though!) or the other way around is to test all the components in another machine.

If u suspect a Faulty PSU then the easiest thing to do it use a PSU tester (£10-£25) or do the usual swapping-out routine!

I recently had a similar scenario where a build wouldn't boot (X2 3800+) and after hours of swapping fiddling I finally got around to thinking it was the CPU which I swapped out and everything worked great??.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

My problem is not being able to swap out- none of my friends have a similar system. Intel most of them. Not even a pci-e. Because of my lack of funds I have resort to trying to solve this based solely on the symptomns. I can't afford to replace one part really let alone get it wrong and replace a working part.

I was going to have go at overclocking my cpu aswell.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Have a close look at the motherboard to see if any of the caps have popped or bulging.

Antec sell a little PSU tester for about £12, its a very handy thing to have in a situation like this, could well be the PSU is dying (any warranty left on PSU?).

How old is the chip? and was it bought New or used? (oem or retail?).

 

[jimmy_lazers]

All the caps look fine, pristine in fact. Bought the mobo, cpu, gfx, psu and ram new from ocuk last summer worked perfectly from the word go to a few months ago- never crashed. The chip was oem.
I'm usually good at narrowing things down, but I can't recreate conditions whereby it functions. It works sometimes, SOMETIMES! why can't it just be dead and leave me in peace.
I'm very tempted to get a cheap x2 to see if it is indeed the cpu. Am I risking blowing it up if its the mobo or psu at fault?
thankyou, kind experts, for your time.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

Ok I've just read elsewhere in the forum that loads of users had problems with hiper type-r 580w psu's! Sorry I did intend this to be a specific cpu related question, and its becoming a general 'help me i'm stuck' type of affair, for which I appologise.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Yes some of the Hipers have blown quite quickly, it happens to most PSUs.

If only u had a PSU tester!

 

[cooljimy84]

Stick your tounge in each of the live cables, then see how much it hurts....

Start with a 5V and then work your way up, they should hurt more and more as the volts go up !!

LOL, managed to get a mate to stick his tounge in a USB socket to see if it was working, i wet my self for about 3 days over that one !!!

 

[jimmy_lazers]

I might have to you know! I have a multimeter actually I might try that- but have no idea where to begin

 

[GeForce]

You need to find a diagram of the ATX plug, to find the voltages that should be on each rail. Then touch the black probe of the multimetre to a ground rail (black) and the red one to the +ve rail. A 5% margin is about the maximum.

To get the PSU to spin up, the green cable needs to be connected to ground. Don't leave it like that for too long, it shouldn't be run for a long time with no load. You'll probably need to keep the green line low for the supply to keep running, as there is no built-in latch device, that's normally down to the motherboard.

Jon