argh... mobo? cpu? or video card?

[snouter]

New build. Was going well. Then I started going for better temps and that led to messing with a working computer which has led to massive fail.

Computer was working fine for 24 hours. I was using Core Temp to monitor temps and had seen no overheating. Then, twice, the computer shut down with NO warning. Just off, like someone pulled the plug.

I took everything apart, reinstalled the CPU and heatsink and everything else. No boot.

Now my problem is several. I don't know what was causing the original shut down? Did the videocard overheat? Computer was stable except for the hard crashes.

When I try to boot the computer, the lights all come on, the fans all come on, but that's it. I never hear the hard drive make any noise and I never get video signal. There is no speaker (I'm trying to find one in my boxes of junk) so I have no beep codes. It does look like it's failing early in the process, well before the hard drive tries to boot the OS. The CPU is not getting hot, nor is the video card. Fans work on both.

I took everything apart again, no visible signs of burning on the mobo or the CPU. No burn marks, no smells. Reset the CMOS and all that. Reseated the ram.

Did I kill the motherboard? the CPU? or did the video card overheat? Argh, which $250 component is to blame!

I'm thinking motherboard? But it almost works? Lights up, fans work, etc.

How does one know that the CPU is fried?

Do computers still have beep codes? Seems like I need them right about now...

i7 920, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P, Diamond HD4890, Antec Truepower 650w

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

what did you start doing for better temps.

 

[snouter]

reseating the CPU, re-applying thermal paste (I think I had too much initially), nothing major, but it meant taking everything apart...

I was seeing 38c idle and 60 under load with stock speeds with a CoolerMaster V8, which seemed higher than some people were seeing with the Intel cooler...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Repost sorry. Anyways have you made sure all power connections are in good? Also try taking out some of the ram. Boot up with one stick. Do you have any spare parts to check stuff with

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Do you see a post screen?

 

[snouter]

no post screen. hard drive does not make "churning" noises like it's doing anything... CPU does not get hot, but CPU fan is on... seems like it's failing before initializing the CPU?

lights come on, fans come one (ps, video, cpu)

$250 cpu, mobo and video card, so I don't have extra parts to try out...

need to get beep codes or figureout these LED lights on the mobo...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Did you try all of my suggestions?

 

[snouter]

Connections have been very checked.

I have reseated the ram, but have not tried juggling sticks.

Also worried since I don't know what caused the initial hard shutdowns.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Do you mean the computer went completely dead suddenly as in out like a light when you say hard shutdown?

 

[snouter]

like somebody pulled the plug style...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Sounds like a power issue. I can't think of any scenario of any cpu, ram, or gpu going out and your rig going out like someone pulled the plug. Wiggle all wires around to see if the wires are causing a short. Check to see that nothing is touching the mobo to cause short and then see about getting a different power supply from a buddy to check it out. Or you could see if you can get one on this forum cheap on the for sale/for trade forum. Have you used this particular power supply before your new build?

 

[snouter]

Brand new Antec TruePower 650w. Worked well for a day?

I have a 500w in another computer I could try.

No weird smells. No burned smells anywhere.

Board powers up. CPU fan works, case fans work. Hard drive never makes noise but does spin up. Never see any BIOS information.

Power supply? Yikes, I think it's going to be a lot of work to find out which expensive component (PS? mobo? CPU? video card? ram?) is giving me trouble.

Drat. First real problem after many successful builds...

 

[snouter]

ok, the good news... my core temps have dropped 5c at idle to the mid thirties. oh, the other good news... computer booted... so, the CPU and the video card are ok...

the bad news...

thanks for the tip oilfieldtrash... I pulled all of the ram and installed one stick. Booted fine. Can't get any other combination of 3 or 6 sticks to boot.

What might this mean?

I have 2GB of RAM in my computer, and 10GB on a table top. Not how I envisioned this.

[EDIT] Got into the BIOS. Found some spooky stuff in there. My QPI was up there. Here's hoping the ram comes back. Loaded default BIOS, and here we go.

 

[snouter]

Reset BIOS, still won't start with all 6 sticks

It says if using 1 stick, use slot 3_1 or 3_3 - that does not work

1 stick only works in 3_5

ALSO:

All 6 sticks work individually in slot 3_5 (all 6 sticks boot the computer from slot 3_5 (so ram seems good?))

has the mobo gone loco?

 

[snouter]

Can I exchange the motherboard? or is this something I did and I have to eat the loss?

I'm not sure what caused it, and there is nothing visible like burn marks from a short

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

If each of the ram are ok individually then it sounds like you should exchange your mobo. I had a computer do this same thing to me. I exchanged the mobo then things worked fine. Lets hope you bought this thing from a reputable seller like newegg. I would admit no fault on your part (even though you probably did nothing) and exchange board.