nightmare build help please

ritcH

ritcH

ritcH

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5 Apr 2004
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Just put together a system but I think there are at least 2 problems.

It's a GA-P55-UD2 with core i5 750 (Arctic freezer 7 pro rev 2), corsair 2x2gb 1600Mhz RAM, sapphire 5750 gfx card, samsung f3 500gb, ocz 500W modular power supply, cooler master silo 500 case.

Anyway, so I put it together, then first time I tried to boot the power LED light flashed and the system didn't power on. So I checked the power leads and made some corrections.

Next time, it power up but didn't post and I thought I heard one long and two short beeps. Which according to the manual meant either a monitor or graphics card problem. Not sure about monitor problems so I tried a graphics card from another machine.

With the new graphics card it does post (1 short beep) and I get the welcome screen asking if I want to go into the bios. But then it crashes / restarts almost as soon as that screen comes up.

I've noticed that the CPU cooler fan has never turned not sure if this was because the CPU wasn't hot enough to need it, or if that means there is a problem with the CPU. According to the manual if the CPU fan isn't turning that could be a problem with the "Power supply, CPU or CPU socket might fail". So I dunno what's happening! Could the CPU really be the problem despite a successful post?

Is it possible that by having the power switch and led leads in the wrong way at the start that has some how short circuited / ruined all the other components? Anyone have any good ideas for what makes a system crash after a successful post? And what should I do next?

Thanks
 
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To me this sounds like it's not happy with the cooler, i.e. it isn't working. Not sure how long it would take to overheat the CPU on a heatsink requiring a fan, without the fan running?

Also, having the LED leads in the wrong way should have no effect on the board, the only thing that happens if theyre in the wrong way is that the LED will not work (to my experience anyway).

Have you had a poke around in the BIOS?
 
can't get to the bios because it crashes too quickly, might try installing the intel heat sink then
 
There was a recent thread i helped with where that particular heatsink fan was faulty.

Plug the heatsink fan into the chassis header of the mobo instead of the cpu header. Power on (keep finger hovering over button!) the fan should kick in at full pelt off the chassis header. If it doesn't the fan is most likely dead.

If it doesnt spin then hold the button down till the system powers down. Let us know what's what we'll try from there.
 
nice suggestion, the cpu cooler fan didn't spin when plugged into the chassis header, so I take it that is the problem. I do remember when I put the CPU in that I forgot to tighten the screw I only closed the latch. Do you think that matters?

So I guess I'll try and find another fan or install the stock intel cooler. Going out now but when I've done it I'll update.
 
Yeah looks like the fan is duff. I suggested this to save the hassle of swapping heatsinks just to find the replacement heatsink does the same.

Swap to the stock heatsink, if it's all good then RMA the arctic freezer. Anymore probs update the thread. There are other possible causes but im not typing them all out unless necessary
 
I would be pretty suspect that this only due to an iffy fan. I wouldnt imagine you aren't hitting shutdown temps in such a short space of time purely on the basis of an iffy fan.
If you want to test the theory you should be able to up the shutdwon temp in the bios and also disable any actions caused by zero fan speed.
Definitely worth checking the HSF is making good contact with the CPU though.
 
It's not the fan, I changed it to stock which does spin but I can still only get to post then crash? So what could it be?
 
atm, could be anything... try using only one stick of RAM, and try in different slots - could be one of them is faulty.

Could also be PSU, can u test that in another system?
 
I tried plugging in a non USB keyboard and the computer restarts just after post when the keyboard lights flash, I see the post screen asking if I want to enter bios but can't press delete to enter bios before it restarts.
 
ritcH said:
It's not the fan, I changed it to stock which does spin but I can still only get to post then crash? So what could it be?
Click to expand...

It's a problem with the CPU_FAN header. Use a different header or use a molex cable to power the fan instead.

I believe that Gigabyte are working on a BIOS update that will sort this issue out - it's something to do with not supply enough voltage to start the fan.

You can check this by leaving the connection to the CPU_FAN header and giving the fan a nudge when you start to post. The fan will spin up and everything should be working normally.
 
It's not the CPU fan header in my case because the chassis fan header results in the same problem. I can't test with molex because I only have molex converters for 3 pin chassis fans not the 4 pin CPU fan.

I tried using 1 stick of ram but whichever stick I used I got a continuous short beep error which according to the manual means a power supply problem. Using both sticks it makes no difference if they are in slot 1/3 or 2/4

I tried using a psu from another computer but it didn't work and crashes after post. Time to return the motherboard? Second power supply also results in continuous short beep (power supply) error with one stick of ram in any slot despite it working fine in another computer.
 
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It does indeed sound like it may be a mainboard issue, time to get out the RMA, never fun. :(
 
What were you talking about closing a latch and not turning a screw when installing the CPU, what screw?
Have you tried removing the CPU to see if you damaged it or the socket upon installation?
 
Well this is proving troublesome. It is possible the board is faulty. What i suggest is to remove everything from the case (you can leave the HDD and DVD in).

Put the mobo ontop of it's box it was supplied with. Check that you have secured the heatsink correctly (did you clean the thermal paste off when u changed heatsinks?). I know you tested with one stick of RAM but did you try the other stick by itself too?

Plug in the power connectors, ensure you have the 4 or 8 pin additional power connector in aswell (some people forget). Have one stick of RAM and gfx card if necessary in and put a flathead screwdriver on the two powerpins for a second to start the system.

Let us know what you find. It sounds like hassle but if you have to RMA the board your gonna have to remove it anyway.
 
Yeh I made a mistake with the CPU screw thing it was just a latch.

Tried ram in all configurations no joy.

Just going to send it back and get an asus.

Thanks for the help anyway.
.
 
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