A7N8X - My tale of woe

[TourGuide]

I was ready for an awesome weekend of upgrading!

The A7N8X arrived, along with my 2 sticks of Corsair XMS3200C2 and my 2400+. I was STOKED and ready to see what this baby would do.

I break every thing out, plug the board into the box (being careful to set the standoffs in the right places, etc.) connect everything and I am ready. I leave the side panel off, just in case I have to reverse the HDD led or whatever - I seem to have a talent for reversing them even though it is a 50/50 proposition.

So I am looking in the case as I hit the power button to make sure the fans spin up normally, etc. and I see the fans make a 1/4 turn or so - all of em - then they stop.

I reseat the IDE cables, etc and power on again - 1/4 turn - stop.

Now I am starting to get ticked off, because this is a new board here and it is preventing my benchmarking/installing fun. So I reseat some cables again, take the AGP card out, reseat it, pull the 2nd stick of mem, now there is just one.

Power on - 1/4 turn - stop.

$#%#@! - Pretty ticked off now, I press the power button and hold - I hear a loud POP!

SH*Z!

Mobo is in transit on an RMA pilgrimage. I am disappointed. I hope the new arrival is better.

 

[Adul]

sadly it happens to the best of us.

 

[First]

Usually it helps to setup your entire system outside the computer case. That is, lay your board out on the foam that came with it and then install all your components/devices. Then, press power. You be surprised how much can go wrong with setting up a system, even the best of them get it wrong.

But since you already RMAed, well...

 

[CraigRT]

had the same problem with 2 pc's in semi recent future
i'd have checked the grounding to the case
take it out of the case, put it on a static bag on top of the case and try and power it on that way.
2nd option.. make sure all peripheral add-in cables like extra usb ports and stuff are plugged in the right way, or remove them to see if it boots... 90% of the time, that's what the problem is.

 

[NicColt]

I purchased two identical systems the mobo would work in one but not the other. It all turned out to be one louzy screw..... that was shorting the board out. Why I don't know, took the screw out and powered up nicely. Weird.

If I would have had just that one system I would have thought that it was the mobo also. All sorts of silly things can go wrong.

 

[TourGuide]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

By the time I pulled that board from the case it was toast. I wasn't getting ANY activity at all when I'd hit the power button.

Evan - Next board that comes in, I am going to try just that - Put it together outside the case to fire it up the first time. Thanks for the reminder.

This was a wierd one for sure. First time I've ever heard that sound from a board. Oh well. Now we'll see how good Newegg's service is I guess.

 

[RPM]

Have you tried other memory?
The A7N8X has issues with only the Corsair PC3200.
It tries to set the timings to CAS3 by default and the mem won't work at that speed.
PC3500 doesn't have the problem. You may want to look at other forums for info. Do a search on A7N8X and Corsair PC3200.

If the board works with the other mem. You have to set the timings manual and then put in your PC3200.
It should work from that point on.

 

[bad-ass]

I have the ASUS A7N8X with Corsair XMS3200 x 256 c2 and it wouldn't post with this memory. But it would post with PC2100. Found the link below and changed the bios settings from optimal to agressive and swapped the memory back in and it works like a champ now.

Corsair Forums

 

[RPM]

Hey bad-ass
Good deal on the link. I knew I read it but couldn't think of where.

You like the A7N8X so far?

I love mine. I went from a 8K3A+ to ASUS and sure am glad. I need to get another XMS3500 to get system up to 200mhz fsb.
I have a XMS3500 and XMS3000 in it now and do 183 easy at CAS2,2,2,5. I keep my system at 180 to run every day since I burn alot of DVDs and don't want any instability. I think when I get my other XMS 3500 I will go to 200fsb and see if it will burn DVDs reliably.

Later

 

[TourGuide]

Thanks for the mem information. I'm placing my order tonight for the 3500 stuff. WOW, who would have figured it would be Corsair sticks? Sheesh.

 

[RPM]

TourGuid
Did you try some different mem?
You can still use the PC3200 if you get it running with any other DDR.
It may not be the mem that is causing your problem.

I was trying to help you with the problem you are having and don't want you to get new mem and the board still not work.

Later

 

[RPM]

TourGuide

It would help if I read the original post you made without missing the part about the "loud pop"
I don't think mem is going to help that one out.
Sorry for the confusion.

Later

 

[TourGuide]

RPM,

Thanks for your help. The board is (at this moment) on a plane headed to CA for replacement. When I get the replacement I will have 2 sticks of 3500 waiting to plug in. This ought to solve my problem.

Now, to solve the problem of a restocking fee. humm, - me scratches head.

 

[Palek]

Have you considered that you might have a lousy power supply? Maybe that is why you could not power up your new system. The 2400+ is a power-hungry monster. I think you HAVE to have an ATX 2.03 PSU for the latest Athlon systems. How old is your PSU? Are you sure it was the mobo that went "pop"? What if it's your PSU? Have you checked for burnt capacitors and traces on the motherboard? You might have RMA'd a completely functional mobo, and you could very well have a dead PSU.

 

[zeruty]

I second the thought that it might be the PSU...

 

[TourGuide]

Well,

I'm going to pull that PSU and try it in another box to see what happens. I really think it was the RAM though. I did go over to corsair and checked their support boards and they have plenty of posts relating to this very issue.

Some people over there, sheesh! Peeps do some VERY wierd things with their boxes. Like running 2100 Crucial with Corsair sticks, I mean does that sound like a good idea to anyone here? I NEVER mix mem brands or speeds. That is asking for problems IMO.

 

[TourGuide]

Not the PSU (Thank GOD). I would die if my Turbo Cool 425 went up in smoke.

That investment continues to be trouble free. It has been the sh*z!

 

[etowngeek]

Well boys, I just got my shipment today from newegg. Radeon 9700 Pro, 2 sticks of 256mb Corsair XMS PC3500, Athlon XP 1800+ Thoroughbred core, and the A7N8X.


I get everything installed. The fans spin the green light comes on aND that is freaking it!! NOTHING I have tried makes any difference. Different ram, processor, agp video card, pci video card, jumpers, and clearing the CMOS. the board is just dead. This is the first time I have recieved anything DOA from newegg. Makes me wanna cry.

Hey TourGuide, I feel your pain. I am calling newegg tomorrow to get the thing RMA'd. I hate the waiting part!!

This is not good karma for building a new box....

 

[BigJ]

try assembling it outside ur case with the bare min config, a screw could be shorting you out as stated before.

 

[filmore crashcart]

I really would take that last suggestion.... My last two boards would have been rma'd if I hadn't stopped everything, pulled the board out and put it on the shipping box with nothing hooked up but the cpu (with fan of course) and memory. If I can't get it to power up and beep telling me I don't have a video card, then I know that it might well be a bad board (if I know for a fact the power supply is good). If it works doing that and it won't when intstalled in the case, then I know I'm shorting out somewhere. Just my 2 cents.....

 

[MithShrike]

You people having problems wouldn't happen to be IT professionals would you? Anyways, yah, you should ALWAYS try it with the minimal POST requirements and outside the box. LOL!

 

[TourGuide]

etown,

I am sorry to hear that man. It is a real disappointment when you are jacked about the new hardware setup and it takes a dump. I am going to try and get a minimal config outside the box to boot on my RMA. Keep us posted on your progress hey. It sounds as if there may be problems with the first run of these boards (as if that is any surprise.).

Mith - You crack me up. huck, huck.

 

[etowngeek]

IT Professional, how did you guess? This was the config. no case, static bag. motherbaord. ram; one stick, tried in every slot and then again with two. I tried the brand new 9700 pro in the AGP slot. I tried my known working PCI video card in 4 different PCI slots. I tried the brand new 1800+ thoroughbred in it. I tried known good 750 athlon in it, with the appropriate jumper set. I had no hard drive or floppy drive connected. I tried disabling the onboard SATA and that also did not work. I tried it installed in a case. I tried a different power supply. One was a 350 watt generic after I tried the Enermax 430 watt that works fine. It would turn on, the fans spin. That is all I could get it to do. I have built more machines then I can count. I have overclocked almost all of my own. I just sold my P4 rig 1.6@2.4 to get a new machine...huh figures.

 

[Palek]

Ouch. That brings the number of disgruntled A7N8X owners on AT to two. Right now I am seriously reconsidering my plan to buy the A7N8X this week... Sorry to hear about your troubles, guys. Hope it all works out.

Does Asus have a forum for their customers somewhere on their website? I wonder how many failed A7N8X-es are out there...
<EDIT>Here it is. It seems there are many others with shutdown problems during POST. Have a look!</EDIT>

 

[CinderElmo]

Not sure if this will help anyone. When I opened my new A7N8X I noticed one of the capacitors was bent over and physically touching one of the pins on the FAN power outlets. It was the capacitor with the wire spun around it located next to the dual fan ports right smack in the middle of the board. I ever so gently bent it back (there was no physical damage to anything else, nor was there any damage to the box itself). Must have been a worker at the factory or something

Anway, I can only surmise what problems I might have had if I started the MOBO while those two pieces of metal were touching. It might be worth checking for some of you with problems?

Hope this helps.