New Build Help

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 09:51

Hi all.

I hope someone can help me with my very first new build, i recently bought

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 850 "95W Edition" 3.30GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel
Cooler: AMD Stock Cooler
OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' 500W ATX Power Supply
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache – OEM
Im using the same case and disc drive.

Unfortunately when i turn on the computer on its works for about 20 seconds before turning the system off completely, i have tried going in to the bios screen or using the disc to install windows but it turns off before i can do something.

Please can you help me?
Thanks in advance

Admiral Huddy · 12 Sep 2011 at 09:54

Hi, Welcome to the forums.

Firstly, I know it sounds daft but have you installed the motherboard on risers.. We do get people who forget.

Secondly, do you have spare PSU you could try?

Lastly, for now, try removing the motherboard from the case and test the motherboard/CPU/memory/Video card outside the case... Start the PC by shorting the power on pins using a flat head screw driver.

Make sure you connected a speaker in case of any POST beeps.

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 10:13

Thanks Admiral i really appreciate the advice.

I didn’t have any risers, as the previous motherboard didn’t have any, unfortunate im at work at the moment so cannot try it till tonight. ill have a try tonight and let you know.

i dont have a spare cpu except for a 250 watt one and its probably not powerful enough for my parts.

thanks again

Admiral Huddy · 12 Sep 2011 at 10:17

You're welcome.

I'm concerned you have fixed the motherboard directly to the motherboard tray thus causing a short. The risers lift the motherboard away from the case:

Read the first half of this page :

http://www.huddysworld.co.uk/index....art-3&catid=40:techie-talk-hardware&Itemid=72

does this sound familiar to you?

pastymuncher · 12 Sep 2011 at 10:56

The risers should come with the case, not the motherboard. They are usually brass standoffs and go between the motherboard tray of the case and the board itself.

If all else fails build the motherboard/cpu/ram/gpu etc up outside the case on something like a cardboard box to see if it all works.

Your cpu is'nt on the motherboards cpu support list although the 840 is. Maybe it just has'nt been updated.

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 14:35

Hi Both, i've added the risers to my case, but still no joy im afraid. it still seems to shut down before i can get anywhere after about 20 seconds. any more suggestions?

Vtec9k · 12 Sep 2011 at 14:52

Could be thermal cutoff.

Reseat the heatsink on the CPU. Make sure the thermal paste looks ok and it well spread out.

Make sure the heatsink is fastened properly too. Sometimes these things can feel like the need too much pressure and people get scared they will beak the CPU but you wont!

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 15:00

Hi, i wasnt given any thermal paste, its came with, i believe a thermal pad? so i used that instead. could this be a problem?

Vtec9k · 12 Sep 2011 at 15:03

Pad should be fine yea. normally it's attached to the heatsink already? Not sure about AMD...

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 15:05

thanks anyway, might just have to take a hit on taking it to the computer shop for them to fix, i suppose its a small price to pay for sorting what ever's wrong with it.

Admiral Huddy · 12 Sep 2011 at 15:08

Hang on, when you say you've now added the risers, does this mean you installed the motherboard and switched on the pc without them at some point?

hadson · 12 Sep 2011 at 15:11

yeah. i think my case might already have some risers already. its certainly got bumps on the bottom of the case for the motherboard to be just off the bottom.