New machine won't boot (possible overheating CPU?)

A

afairjudgement

I just built my first machine with parts I ordered through newegg. AMD
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU, Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo, 2 GB of G-Skill DDR2
800 MHz, Soundblaster Audigy2, one Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM 36 GB
SATA, one Western Digital Caviar 320 GB SATA, a Lite-On DVD burner, and
a brand spanking new XFX GeForce 8800 GTS card, all running off of an
Apevia 680W PSU in a Lian-Li case.
The problem goes as follows:
Hit power button
Lights go on, fans start going (except video card) including LED power
indicator on mobo
Power goes off, the end

Here's what I have tried so far:
-Re-re-re-re-re-checking the power, reset, LED plugs onto mobo
-removing every last non-essential power-consuming part (stripped down
to one GB stick, and video card)
-switching PCI-E power cables to video card
-using the reset switch as the power switch (not a faulty switch, and
is at proper polarity)
-re-seated the CPU and heatsink fan (when I checked this, the paste
looked splotchy, possibly not making a good connection? I ordered some
more paste to see what happens.
-unplugged power to video card
-switching out both RAM sticks

-Now I know this isn't smart but since I've done it, the same condition
remains...but I hit that voltage switch on the back of the PSU up to
230V. What it did was it actually powered everything (video card
included) but I wasn't getting a signal through my LCD monitor (using
DVI-to-VGA adapter unfortunately).
I fear that didn't do any damage, but it's still doing what it was.


That's about all I can think to do. I believe it may have to do with
the CPU and/or RAM.
It wouldn't surprise me if the PSU had a problem getting enough power
to every part (if it were all hooked up) but right now all it's only
powering is the CPU, one stick of RAM and the video card. That's it.

I'm stumped. HELP! Very anxious to get this thing going!
 
N

Nigel Brooks

I just built my first machine with parts I ordered through newegg. AMD
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU, Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo, 2 GB of G-Skill DDR2
800 MHz, Soundblaster Audigy2, one Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM 36 GB
SATA, one Western Digital Caviar 320 GB SATA, a Lite-On DVD burner, and
a brand spanking new XFX GeForce 8800 GTS card, all running off of an
Apevia 680W PSU in a Lian-Li case.
The problem goes as follows:
Hit power button
Lights go on, fans start going (except video card) including LED power
indicator on mobo
Power goes off, the end

Here's what I have tried so far:
-Re-re-re-re-re-checking the power, reset, LED plugs onto mobo
-removing every last non-essential power-consuming part (stripped down
to one GB stick, and video card)
-switching PCI-E power cables to video card
-using the reset switch as the power switch (not a faulty switch, and
is at proper polarity)
-re-seated the CPU and heatsink fan (when I checked this, the paste
looked splotchy, possibly not making a good connection? I ordered some
more paste to see what happens.
-unplugged power to video card
-switching out both RAM sticks

-Now I know this isn't smart but since I've done it, the same condition
remains...but I hit that voltage switch on the back of the PSU up to
230V. What it did was it actually powered everything (video card
included) but I wasn't getting a signal through my LCD monitor (using
DVI-to-VGA adapter unfortunately).
I fear that didn't do any damage, but it's still doing what it was.


That's about all I can think to do. I believe it may have to do with
the CPU and/or RAM.
It wouldn't surprise me if the PSU had a problem getting enough power
to every part (if it were all hooked up) but right now all it's only
powering is the CPU, one stick of RAM and the video card. That's it.

I'm stumped. HELP! Very anxious to get this thing going!

If you remove the ram and reboot, the board should give a bunch of beeps
indicating that there is no ram. If it does that then the problem is likely
the ram. i had the same problem with an asus board it turned out that even
though they advertised it would work with 800 ram - you needed to set it for
667.

The Asus website forums provide quite a bit of help
http://support.asus.com/default.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
 
M

Mike T.

I just built my first machine with parts I ordered through newegg. AMD
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU, Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo, 2 GB of G-Skill DDR2
800 MHz, Soundblaster Audigy2, one Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM 36 GB
SATA, one Western Digital Caviar 320 GB SATA, a Lite-On DVD burner, and
a brand spanking new XFX GeForce 8800 GTS card, all running off of an
Apevia 680W PSU in a Lian-Li case.
The problem goes as follows:
Hit power button
Lights go on, fans start going (except video card) including LED power
indicator on mobo
Power goes off, the end

Here's what I have tried so far:
-Re-re-re-re-re-checking the power, reset, LED plugs onto mobo
-removing every last non-essential power-consuming part (stripped down
to one GB stick, and video card)
-switching PCI-E power cables to video card
-using the reset switch as the power switch (not a faulty switch, and
is at proper polarity)
-re-seated the CPU and heatsink fan (when I checked this, the paste
looked splotchy, possibly not making a good connection? I ordered some
more paste to see what happens.
-unplugged power to video card
-switching out both RAM sticks

-Now I know this isn't smart but since I've done it, the same condition
remains...but I hit that voltage switch on the back of the PSU up to
230V. What it did was it actually powered everything (video card
included) but I wasn't getting a signal through my LCD monitor (using
DVI-to-VGA adapter unfortunately).
I fear that didn't do any damage, but it's still doing what it was.


That's about all I can think to do. I believe it may have to do with
the CPU and/or RAM.
It wouldn't surprise me if the PSU had a problem getting enough power
to every part (if it were all hooked up) but right now all it's only
powering is the CPU, one stick of RAM and the video card. That's it.

I'm stumped. HELP! Very anxious to get this thing going!

Ok, order a new:
- motherboard
- CPU
- RAM
- Video card
- hard drive
- sound card
- DVD burner
- Power supply, seasonic or enermax this time

Your original problem was most likely a bad power supply. If the mainboard
doesn't receive 'power OK' from power supply, it doesn't POST and will shut
itself down. That is exactly the original symptom you had. I don't know
what the system was doing with the power supply set to 230V, but I do know
that every connected component was way over-amped due to a forced brownout
(low voltage) condition. By moving the switch to 230V, you changed the
secondary induction coil setting on the power supply transformer. This
means your line voltage (~120V from wall) was cut in half. It is
unfortunate that the power supply fired up at all, as it's certain that the
DC voltages coming out of it were way out of spec. So it's almost certain
that every component EXCEPT the power supply is fried now. But I think the
power supply was bad to begin with. So start over. Good luck, -Dave
 
C

chufchuf

try reataching the cooler again but this time, do it properly!!!
did you use old atx???
some mobo's can't be inserted in to a old case ,so i sugest you get the
motherboard out of the case and try to boot
hope that will help ;)
 
A

afairjudgement

Okay guys I figured out the problem. The PSU manual didn't say anything
about the 4/8 pin ATX power connector that you can split in half. Once
I plugged that mofo into the ATX12v plug next to the CPU, it booted up
without a hitch. Thanks for the responses! You've all done well to help
me, as well as freak me out. Thanks!!
 
J

JAD

Mike T. said:
Ok, order a new:
- motherboard
- CPU
- RAM
- Video card
- hard drive
- sound card
- DVD burner
- Power supply, seasonic or enermax this time

Your original problem was most likely a bad power supply. If the mainboard
doesn't receive 'power OK' from power supply, it doesn't POST and will shut
itself down. That is exactly the original symptom you had. I don't know
what the system was doing with the power supply set to 230V, but I do know
that every connected component was way over-amped due to a forced brownout
(low voltage) condition. By moving the switch to 230V, you changed the
secondary induction coil setting on the power supply transformer. This
means your line voltage (~120V from wall) was cut in half. It is
unfortunate that the power supply fired up at all, as it's certain that the
DC voltages coming out of it were way out of spec. So it's almost certain
that every component EXCEPT the power supply is fried now. But I think the
power supply was bad to begin with. So start over. Good luck, -Dave

Are you that guy that sits out in front of ciy hall with that "THE END IS
NEAR!" sign?
 
S

SteveH

Mike T. said:
Ok, order a new:
- motherboard
- CPU
- RAM
- Video card
- hard drive
- sound card
- DVD burner
- Power supply, seasonic or enermax this time

Your original problem was most likely a bad power supply. If the
mainboard doesn't receive 'power OK' from power supply, it doesn't POST
and will shut itself down. That is exactly the original symptom you had.
I don't know what the system was doing with the power supply set to 230V,
but I do know that every connected component was way over-amped due to a
forced brownout (low voltage) condition. By moving the switch to 230V,
you changed the secondary induction coil setting on the power supply
transformer. This means your line voltage (~120V from wall) was cut in
half. It is unfortunate that the power supply fired up at all, as it's
certain that the DC voltages coming out of it were way out of spec. So
it's almost certain that every component EXCEPT the power supply is fried
now. But I think the power supply was bad to begin with. So start over.
Good luck, -Dave
Or of course the o/p could have just failed to put a plug in..
 
M

Mike T.

Or of course the o/p could have just failed to put a plug in..
Yeah, I saw that he got the system running. But I know that the system was
hit with some VERY funky DC voltage, if only momentarily. I wouldn't bet on
that system lasting more than a few months with original hardware. I'd be
happy to be proven wrong, however. -Dave
 
A

afairjudgement

Ah no worries. The thing is running beautifully now.
I actually remembered that I made the same mistake of switching to 230v
with an old computer of my fathers a few years back, we've only
upgraded parts like the video card, ram, etc since then. Haven't had a
single piece of hardware crap out yet from doing that voltage switch. I
understand that "funky" voltage would cause the components to react on
odd ways; but from my understanding from talking with Asus, since I
didn't have that second ATX12v plug plugged in, it didn't get anywhere
near any sort of operational voltage for it to have powered anything up
or be bad enough to screw the mobo or CPU over. No worries.
 
R

Rod Speed

Ok, order a new:
- motherboard
- CPU
- RAM
- Video card
- hard drive
- sound card
- DVD burner
- Power supply, seasonic or enermax this time

Pathetic, really.
Your original problem was most likely a bad power supply.

Unlikely. FAR more likely to be ram the motherboard doesnt like.
If the mainboard doesn't receive 'power OK' from power supply, it doesn't POST and will shut
itself down. That is exactly the original symptom you had.

It aint the only problem that can produce those symptoms.
I don't know what the system was doing with the power supply set to 230V, but I do know that every
connected component was
way over-amped due to a forced brownout (low voltage) condition.

You dont know that either.
By moving the switch to 230V, you changed the secondary induction coil setting on the power supply
transformer.

There is no transformer. Its a switch mode power supply.
This means your line voltage (~120V from wall) was cut in half.

Utterly mangled all over again.
It is unfortunate that the power supply fired up at all, as it's certain that the DC voltages
coming out of it were way out of spec.

You dont know that either.
So it's almost certain that every component EXCEPT the power supply is fried now.

Or that.
But I think the power supply was bad to begin with.

It aint the only problem that can produce those symptoms.
So start over.

Ignore his pig ignorant drivel.
Good luck,

Bet he'd get exactly the same result if he was stupid enough to take your 'advice'
 
R

Rod Speed

Yeah, I saw that he got the system running. But I know that the
system was hit with some VERY funky DC voltage, if only momentarily.

You dont know that either. The power supply may well have managed that fine.
I wouldn't bet on that system lasting more than a few months with
original hardware. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, however.

You will be, as always.
 
O

OSbandito

Glad you got it worked out. Don't worry about the 120/240VAC selector
switch on pwr. supply. On any decent supply, the PSU would just go
quiescent - no output - rather than deliver an out-of-spec DC to the
machine. Picture a machine in Europe or wherever, running on 50~
230-240VAC; a brownout drops line voltage at casa bianca to 100 volts.
You can bet all the computers in town would not suffer component
undervoltage. The PSU would simply do what it was hired to do: provide a
stated regulated DC voltage, or else go into protection.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top