New system woes

[Mr Clive]

I assembled my new system last night. All was going well untill just now.

I wasnt doing anything critical (bios fiddling and the like) just uninstalling a program. It suddenly shutdown but the fans kept going instead of powering down.

Now it wont do anything. when its switched on, the fans fire up and stay on(they used to fire up then drop down to idle speed) and nothing else happens. The monitor stays off, there is no POST bleep(s) and it just stays like that.

I have reset the CMOS and checked the connectors but its no change.

I fear the worst (dead mobo) but is there anything else it could be?

[thepassenger]

Usual diagnostics apply. Remove everything bar the CPU from the mobo (i.e. hdd cables, add-on cards, memmory) obviously keep the power and switch power connected
Turn on.
If it starts beeping you know it's somewhat alive. Add a peice of hardware, try again. Repeat until the culprit is found.
If it doesn't beep. Then it's a knakkered mobo and your on your way to RMA city I'm affraid.

[arcturus]

You can also get these symptoms with a faulty PSU.

[Mr Clive]

Well, I tried pulling some hardware out. Out came the HDDs and it fired up fine. plugged them in and still worked ok

[thepassenger]

*scratches head*
Well that's semi-conclusive it's not the HDD(s), mobo, RAM, Gfx, Sound or anything else.
Keep a very beady eye on your PSU.

[mr clive]

It MAY be something to do with the mobo.

I just had the same problem this morning and after a number of restarts it finally booted, it seems to just be a temporary thing when it happens. When it loaded in though, it said "The overclocking attempt failed"

Im not trying to overclock it, so im wondering if it has something to do with the "intelligent" overclocking stuff on the mobo. I disabled it in the BIOS and will see how it goes.

[lockstock2sb]

This isnt a asus mobo by any chance ?

It could be inadvertently overclocking without your knowledge - maybe somethings got a bit too hot and its only when its cooled down that its coming back up ?

Other than that the PSU could be up the khyber... best bet is to run it with the minimum amount of devices attached and add one back a week or so...

>> Edited by lockstock2sb on Thursday 30th March 13:08

[chim_knee]

Could be a RAM problem - especially if they aren't man enough for the motherboard.

I bought a new mobo and used my "old" PC2700 RAM and it just shit itself.

I had to buy better/faster RAM (though I did upgrade to 2GB!)

[Mr Clive]

lockstock2sb said:

This isnt a asus mobo by any chance ?

It is

I have disabled the auto overclock and will see how it behaves.

I dont think its a heat issue, its got a big heatsink on it and the temp sensor seemed to show normal readings (not that they are that accurate). Todays problem was from a cold boot anyway. will keep an eye on it though.

[thepassenger]

Now that it's working you might want to grab some diagnostic software (is there still a trail version of Sisoft Sandra?) and let it rip on your PC over night.
It should push your system around and see if anything falls off.

[Mr Clive]

Well, disabling the auto overclock hasnt helped.

I think I have ruled out everything but the memory, CPU and IDE drives though.

Im wondering if its a PSU problem. The system is an AMD 4800+ with 2 gigs of ram, 2 SATA HDs, 2 chassis fans, 2 IDE drives and an ATI x1900xtx.

I have a 500w enermax PSU which I would have thought would be up to the job but i could be wrong.

A friend suggested the additional 12v supply to the MB may be at fault as the motherboard comes to life but it wont complete the POST, im not so sure, as it seems to run fine when it does boot up though.

The only other thing he could think of was the lack of floppy drive causing some silly hardware conflict though again, im not so sure.

[chris watton]

Mr Clive said:

I have a 500w enermax PSU which I would have thought would be up to the job but i could be wrong. .

Say no more, these 'cheap as chips' PSUs were the bain of my life last year, the two I bought were binned almost straight away (so cheap, I really could not be othered RMAing them!), and bought a couple of 500W Jeantech PSUs from, of all places, PC World, no probs since!

If the fans are the only things that are still running, I'd almost bet my life on the PSU not really being 500W, as stated

[Chim450]

ASUS boards have always been "fussy" about the RAM put in them. What type and how much RAM do you have? Are they matched pairs? If the RAM is at fault then CRUCIAL will have a database of what RAM is suitable for each motherboard CPU combo.

[Mr Clive]

lol, if only was as cheap as chips, it wasnt that expensive but it wasnt a budget 20 quid one though.

are there any hispec ones people would reccomend?

Im running 2GB of RAM in the form of a matched pair of corsair DDR3200 modules. Having said that, they are supposed to be CAS 2 but show up in the BIOS (when it works) as CAS 3?

[chris watton]

Mr Clive said:

lol, if only was as cheap as chips, it wasnt that expensive but it wasnt a budget 20 quid one though. are there any hispec ones people would reccomend? Im running 2GB of RAM in the form of a matched pair of corsair DDR3200 modules. Having said that, they are supposed to be CAS 2 but show up in the BIOS (when it works) as CAS 3?

Have you got a spare PSU that you could 'jury rig', just find out if it is the culprit or not?
My RAM's the same, but on my board, it shows as CAS 2.5!

[mr clive]

im afraid not. its going to be a case of shelling out for a new one and trying to get a refund on the old one or trying to sell it on ebay if it works

[FunkyNige]

Try whacking a floppy drive in and see what happens (it could be some weird-ass boot up problem), if that fails take everything off the mboard (the cpu, RAM, all IDE devices) and see what happens.

For what it's worth, my vote's for a dodgy PSU.

Just re-read the OP-
Fans keep going though? Try disconnecting the fans and IDE devices? I've known both to draw silly amounts of power,

[Mr Clive]

Well, Ive pulled everything out but CPU and it all seems to have no effect.

Will order a new PSU off the net. Can anyone reccomend a good make?

I will go for a 600w one I think too.

[Mr Clive]

Well, the mystery is solved, if not sorted.

A new PSU and a floppy drive didnt sort it.

I called overclockers support line and the bloke at the other end seemed to think the problem was the memory.

I tested it again and what do you know, one of the sticks is duff. I tried it before and it didnt seem to be that, plus it worked for a day or two (on and off) before it died so its a bit odd.

Still, its good to know what the problem is

So if your fans spin up but dont drop down to idle and it wont so anything else (monitor stays dead, no beeps, nothing) then check your memory

Thanks for all your suggestions.