Problem With A7V8X-X Power Shutoff

[beachnut]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get a new A7V8X-X MB working
with a used Athlon AXDA2400DKV3C. I worry
that I may have fried the chip by having it
powered up for several seconds w/o CPU fan
in another MB.

Now that I know better ;-), I've been powering
up the new MB with fan always on the chip.
I can only get about 1-5 seconds of system
power-up before it's shut down automatically.

I only have the power, CPU, one RAM DIMM, CPU Fan,
power switch, reset switch, HD led, and speaker
connected. The MB is floating, not connected to
the case by standoffs, etc.

Even after cooling off completely for hours, I may
only get one second of startup before it shuts down.
I then have to cycle the power supply's power switch
on the back of the case to drain all power to the MB
before the soft switch works again.

Any ideas? Thanks!
beachnut

 

[Ed]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get a new A7V8X-X MB working
with a used Athlon AXDA2400DKV3C. I worry
that I may have fried the chip by having it
powered up for several seconds w/o CPU fan
in another MB.

Now that I know better ;-), I've been powering
up the new MB with fan always on the chip.
I can only get about 1-5 seconds of system
power-up before it's shut down automatically.

I only have the power, CPU, one RAM DIMM, CPU Fan,
power switch, reset switch, HD led, and speaker
connected. The MB is floating, not connected to
the case by standoffs, etc.

Even after cooling off completely for hours, I may
only get one second of startup before it shuts down.
I then have to cycle the power supply's power switch
on the back of the case to drain all power to the MB
before the soft switch works again.

Any ideas? Thanks!
beachnut

Probably a silly question , but do you have the CPU heatsink installed
the correct way around? There is a notch on the HS and the CPU socket
that must match up or the heatsink won't make full contact to the CPU
die, it will get real hot really fast, Asus COP will detect this and
shut down the system so the CPU won't burn up, at least that's the way
it works on my "A7N8X".

AMD Athlon XP CPU and Heat Sink Installation Guides
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_4348^6678,00.html

Ed

 

[beachnut]

Not a silly question at all, Ed, thanks! I'm away from
the PC right now, but I'll check soon. I think there was
only one way of four 90-deg. options that it would fit
due to some caps or other passive components.
Oh, there's still some goop left over on both CPU
and sink...does this need to be 'freshened'?

bn

 

[Ed]

Not a silly question at all, Ed, thanks! I'm away from
the PC right now, but I'll check soon. I think there was
only one way of four 90-deg. options that it would fit
due to some caps or other passive components.
Oh, there's still some goop left over on both CPU
and sink...does this need to be 'freshened'?

bn

I'd clean it up and re-apply a very thin layer of thermal paste if you
need to re-do it.
Ed

 

[Fuzzy John]

I just started having this problem about a week ago. Once the startup fails
I either unplug the power cord for a little while or press and hold the
power button for 5 seconds. The computer may start after this but lately it
just takes longer and longer. Today I had to do at least 15 attempts.

When the computer starts it goes right into BIOS at the CPU settings page.
If I go to manual speed settings for the CPU the right side of the screen
says that there was a startup failure due to a mismatch between the CPU
speed and the memory and that the memory should run at 333 MHz or more. I
press F10 at that point (leave the CPU speed at 1917 for the Athlon XP
2600+) and the computer reboots normally and goes into Windows XP. It can
run now for the whole day without a problem. The cycle repeats next day when
I try to restart.

The CPU fan is operating and the CPU temperature is below 90 degrees F.

I have seen this kind of problem mentioned here several times. Can it be
that a hidden fault in the A7V8X-X motherboards is starting to show up?

John