Asus P8Z77-V Pro Failure?

Ten Ninety

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2012
6
0
0
Hello

If anyone could provide some direction with the following issue, it would be greatly appreciated. Last night I completed a new build, as detailed below:

New parts:
Asus P8Z77-V Pro
4x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz DDR3
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
Intel Core i7-3770K
Arctic Freezer i30

Existing parts used:
OCZ600SXS 600W PSU
Gigabyte GTX560Ti
2x320GB WD Caviar Blue HDs
Cooler Master Case

On first power-up it started up fine and I was able to get in to the UEFI setup. It was running 0906 which I didn't update. I made some changes including setting up a new RAID stripe for the two HDs. The CPU and RAM were left to run at stock settings. I did a couple of restarts with no problems and on the final one left it to run through to the boot device error screen. All good, I thought and powered it off, leaving the OS install for today. It was not touched or moved at all after that point.

Problem:
This morning I powered it on and it ran for about 5 seconds and then powered off again. No beep, no screen display. Pushing the power button again did nothing - completely dead. After disconnecting/reconnecting the mains and opening up the case, I tried again. The green power light on the MB came on when the PSU was switched on. When pushing the power button, the red CPU light on the motherboard lit up for less than a second and then everything went off. Subsequent pushes of the power button did nothing until the mains cable was disconnected/reconnected, at which point it would give me a single 1-second LED followed by complete unresponsiveness.

Further Tests:
Doing the BIOS reset with the jumper. No change.
Disconnecting all other components apart from CPU and RAM. No change.
Removing the MB from the case completely and running it on its box. No change.
Removing all sticks of RAM. No change.
Removing the heat sink and its mounting point. No change.
Removing the CPU. No change. (No bent pins spotted either)
Disconnecting the two 4-pin CPU power connectors. It would then repeat a cycle of running for a few seconds with the red CPU LED on, then switching itself off.
Reconnecting each of the two 4-pin CPU power connectors. With either one connected, it went back to the original problem.
Connecting the PSU up to my old AMD setup. This worked fine.

I am thinking it seems most likely to be a MB failure, but any other suggestions would be welcome before I send it back.

Thanks!
 

utahraptor

Golden Member
Apr 26, 2004
1,052
199
106
I don't see that you tried removing the video card and booting without it. I would try booting with the integrated graphics provided by the z77 / CPU and see if that gets you anywhere.

Another thing to try for your board would be to use the MemOK! Feature described below:

memok.png
 
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Ten Ninety

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2012
6
0
0
Sorry - should have made it clearer. I removed the graphics card along with everything else when I took the MB out of the case.

I don't think the system stays on long enough to push MemOK - it's literally less than a second before it powers off again. I have still tried, but no joy.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway. :)
 

Ten Ninety

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2012
6
0
0
Thanks, tried that - no joy.

For reference, the only LED on the board which shows any sign of life (other than the large green power LED) is the red CPU LED which flicks on and off very quickly.

The DRAM LED does not light at all, regardless of whether there is any RAM inserted or not.

I am going to try to test my CPU in a different machine at work tomorrow (if I can find one with an 1155 board) just to rule that out. It just seems odd how it all worked fine last night. I do recall seeing the CPU temp was mid-30s in the BIOS so I don't think it was overheating or anything.

Any other ideas gratefully received.
 

utahraptor

Golden Member
Apr 26, 2004
1,052
199
106
What type of thermal interface paste did you use? If you went with a conductive paste (anything with silver in the name) it is possible a small amount has entered the socket.
 

Ten Ninety

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2012
6
0
0
I used the compound which came with the Freezer i30. It's not labelled, but looking at their website the MX2 and MX4 compounds which they sell are both non-conductive so I'm guessing the stuff I used is as well.

I've had a quick look anyway and the socket appears clean but there was some excess compound on the CPU which had gone over the gold dots on the top side of it. I have cleaned it off and will test tomorrow. Had enough for today!

Thanks for the input - it was something I hadn't thought to check. :)
 

Ten Ninety

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2012
6
0
0
I tested the CPU in a different rig at work and it works fine.

A replacement MB is now on its way from Amazon. I have also ordered a new PSU just in case it was that which caused the problem.