Ghost|

Recently I have been having problems with booting my computer.

If my system has been shut down for a few hours, I seem to be getting a few problems with it booting up.

At times it appears that it isn't even running POST, I don't get the initial beep and the monitor fails to pick up the signal.

I've tried resetting the BIOS and thats had no effect.

If I turn the system off then back on then after a few attempts the system does POST and load up. Sometimes it loads the operating system, sometimes it gives me a checksum error and sometimes it tells be that the post was interrupted or something.

A few months back the old PSU went bust (OCZ GameXtream 600W), I got onto the supplier and they sent me out a replacement being a PurePower™ RX 600W ATX 12V 2.2. Since then I have been having problems with my system.

My current specs are;
1x Nvidia 8800GTX 768mx
1x Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
4x OCZ DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 5-5-5-12
1x Western Digital 400GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache
1x Maxtor 300GB SATAII 7200RPM
1x ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 Cooler
1x AMD Athlon 4600+ x2
1x Asus M2N-SLI Motherboard
1x DVD-RW Drive
1x DVD Drive

Over the past few days, I turn on my computer and within about 3 to 5 seconds the computer shuts its self off, before it POSTs. The 8800GTX is a greedy card I was wondering whter this could be a problem.

Also if I unplug the 4 pin EATX12v connector from my motherboard the computer seems to stay on for a while longer, what does this 4 pin power connector run, maybe its that compponent that is the problem.

Do you have any other ideas on what this could be and do you have any ideas on how I could fix this problem?

Thanks.

(LINK to video of system starting and closing down)

dai

it sounds like when the previous psu went it has taken the m/b with it
have you tried a cmos reset
i would be running a min of a 650w corsair in it
the only thermaltakes we recommend are the toughpower series

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Ghost|

I thought this could have been a possibility for some time I think its either the CPU or the Motherboard.

The Thermaltake was given as a replacement :(.

Thanks for your response.

Ghost|

Sounds like a daft question but what would be the power/bot squence of the components? As in what order would the components start once I press the power button?

dai

something i have never thought about i would think
bios
ram
video
drives

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Ghost|

Cant get into the bios, removed the battery to reset it nothing.
I have 4gb of ram, I tried it by remving all sticks bar one and alternated the oensI tried.
The video card is newish, its a 8800GTX, I dont have a second card I sold the last two, but when I unplug the power to the card all I get is a loud whining noise.
Tried removing the harddrives as well and the DVD drives.

Just something I noticed though the fans on the fan dont sart when the power iss turned on, should they right away?

A Flat CMOS battery would not have this affect would it?

dai

cmos reset
turn the computer off
remove the power lead from the back
take the side off
remove the cmos battery
move the cmos jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3 and the back to pins 1 and 2
replace the battery
put the side on
replug in the power lead
boot the computer
some psu's the fans only come on when needed,not sure but i don't think the t/power is one of them
what do the rest of the fans do
is the m/b light glowing
send the psu back to them

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Ghost|

Okay tried resetting the CMOS, seemed to stay on a little longer, but didnt POST.
It was the GPUs fan that caught m attention, not the PSU fan.
All fans start other than the GPU fan.
Theres one light below the soundcard labelled 'SB PWR' that remains on.

Would a CMOS battery that is running low be a big problem and possibl cause these issues?

dai

rma the video card if the fans not running
cmos batteries are cheap worth replaceing to check

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Ghost|

Removed the Grpahics card, the sound card and optical drives to see if the system would get any further, no luck.

Replaced the CMOS battery no luck.

I was advised to buy a PSU tester, so may give that a go, I think the problem may be either the motherboard or the CPU.

What one do you think is the most likely cause of the problem the motherboard or CPU? The system starts and shuts down within 5 seconds, no error beeps, just cuts the power.

dai

take the ram out and see if you receive the bios error beeps

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Ghost|

Removed all four sticks of RAM and nothing. Just the usual, it shut itself down withing a few seconds of me pressing the power button.

dai

redo the paste on the cpu with some arctic silver
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

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Ghost|

Tried re-greasing the CPU Friday, again didnt do anything.

It quite annoying that the problem isn't that obvious! :(

dai

set it up out of the case on a piece of cardboard with
cpu
video
ram
speaker
and see if you get post
while you have it out check both sides of the m/b and the slots for any sign of damage
check the capacittors for swelling or leaking

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Ghost|

Thanks again!

Seems the board was shorting, had the same problem before where I removed the motherboard and components, cleaned the case/components and it worked again must have positioned it so it wouldnt short again, until it did recently. Did realise what the problem was though.

The holes for the screws seem a little worn, so im thinking this could be where the board is shorting, how would I go about stopping it from shorting? Buy plastic screws/clips? Any idea where to get these from?

Thanks for the help dai!

Any idea what these plastic clips are called? lol. Or anything that would have the same result?

dai

put some fibre washers between the back of the m/board and the standoff
check you only have the correct amount of standoffs for the board and they line up with the hole
usually 9
the holes should not be worn they usually have a silver top for a required earth point for the m/board

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Ghost|

How is the earth point on the screw holes going to work if washers are added?

dai

the screw goes through into the standoff which is in the backing plate
the problem occurs when the back of the m/board makes contact where it shoud'nt
if you don't have the fibre washers you can stick a bit of electrical tape to the back

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Ghost|