new build disaster

captainl

captainl

captainl

Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2008
Posts
15
i just got these parts for my new build today:

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L Intel P31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz (800FSB)
Antec NSK 6580 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W Earth Watts PSU
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ)

and i'm not having much luck making it work. after putting it all together it won't start - the power is on and stays on for 20 seconds or so then it just restarts, there's never any picture on the monitor and never any beeps. if i take the memory out then it does beep, so i know the speaker works but if i put that back it doesn't.

i tried starting with just graphics card, cpu and ram but it makes no difference. in fact even if i start with just cpu and ram it does the same thing - no beeps then restarts every so often. i noticed that when it initially starts the cpu fan spins briefly (a second or two) then stops. it doesn't move again until the restart when it moves briefly again. could this be normal? just due to the mobo not activating the fan as the cpu isn't hot enough.

i'm totally stuck. why would it restart like that? what would you do if you were me?
 
thanks for the replies.

it actually turned out to be the ram slots on the mobo. there are two channels each with two slots and if anything is in the first channel it does the weird restart thing. if i just have one stick in the second channel it starts okay, but that's no good as i have two sticks and they are supposed to go in separate channels.

so this means my mobo is screwed right? any bios magic that i can try?
 
well, i've flashed the bios to the latest version and still no joy. neither putting both ram sticks in the yellow slots or both sticks in the orange slots works.

a quick google suggests that some people are using these sticks with this mobo, so i guess i've no choice but to return it, which is a bit disappointing.

ah well, thanks for your help.
 
thefishdude said:
hmm yeah iwas wondering about ram volatges also. if you put one stick in can you get to the bios check the ram voltage in there it may be set to default which si normnally 1.8v the ram you got can is recomended at 1.8v-2.1v soo maybe worth upiing it to 2v then saving it closing down and puting the second stick in and then see what happens.
Click to expand...

i tried this and still no joy. i set it to +0.2 (which should be 2.0) and then +0.4 and while one stick was fine still, two didn't work. i might try +0.1 and +0.3 and maybe flash back to the non-beta, but i'm not optimistic.
 
fobose said:
I would send a webnote to OcUK, explaing your problem, mention things you have tried. Then request a replacement.You could try asking them to send you a replacement and have that courier pick up the duff board at the same time, would save them in postage and your time ;)
Click to expand...

that would be absolutely awesome. surely they wouldn't be so trusting though, after all, they don't know that i'm not an idiot and that the board is fine.
 
i imagine it'll be fun getting them to cough up for that. would be good to get it over with though.

i wonder if i should just order another one and ask them to refund once the RMA is all done. risky if it's not deemed faulty i suppose, but i'm pretty sure it is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom