can't get system to turn on (old df nforce4 mb)

[you2]

I have a rather old system with an interesting puzzle that I was hoping someone(s) could provide some suggestions.
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The simple problem is that the system won't turn on. The things I thought of and tried:
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psu: if i unplug the psu from the motherboard and use a paper clip to touch green line the psu starts up right away and the 5volt stuff (which was still connected) spins up (fans, hd, led on motherboard, ...) so this suggest the psu is ok (the psu is only 2 years old silverstone)
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switch: I tried to things here; first this motherboard has a onboard reset/start button - neither seems to work; second is i unconnected the start button wires and used the reset switch as the start button but that also didn't work.
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so i'm a bit at a loss here. could the motheboard itself be so bonkers that botht he external and onboard switches don't work? Are there other things I can test to figure out why the system doesn't turn on ? I realize that the opty 65 is a bit dated but it was still fine system

 

[Z15CAM]

AH! The nForce 7 and 8N400's where the fastest MB's of their time, particularly with an AMD Single core Barton or Dual Core 64 X's2 which could hit 3G's at 450Mhz's.

Great OC'g BIOS - Remember CTRL/F1 ;o)

Their BIOS is rather fickle when it comes to Peripheral I/O hook ups - For instance, if you inadvertently connect a Floppy the wrong way the system will not post.

Believe it or not but both Win7 and 8 still support the old nForce MB's.

Suggest you disconnect everything except the VGA Card and load only one DIMM to start with to see if you can get into BIOS - Then work from there.

Be prepared to Clear CMOS let stand then boot, enter BIOS and Config your CPU, Frequency Ratios and Dimm Timings to get most out them MB's. They had great Voltage Options.

Running a single Core Barton at 2.5G's with Dimms at 2-2-3-5 1T or 64 X's at 3G's with Dimms at 2-2-3-5 2T's is still very rewarding.

Is your Board DDR1 or DDR2?

Intel was out of the equation back then. I still run a Gigabyte N8400 SLI with a GTX280 using an AMD Toledo 64 x's 2 at 2.6Ghz's with 3G's of OCZ 2-2-3-5-2T at 420 Mhz's running Win7 32 Bit 24/7 - Love that old board ;o)

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Nforce 4 Ultra-D? SLI-DR?

This board is picky as hell remember. Did you remember the 5v and 12v molex connectors? I forgot those once and I wanted to tear my hair out. This was like 2011 too when I was mining Bitcoins trying to get it to work. If you even look at this board the wrong way it can fail.

Graphics card bad? RAM in the right slots? Try the Orange slots first then the yellow slots. 1 slot at a time too.

Clear CMOS also as suggested because any wrong setting and this board seriously goes whacko. If you've done all that just makes sure to disconnect everything and set it up again. EPS 4 pin? 20+4pin?

 

[Z15CAM]

Truly the nForce4 is the last AMD MB Warrior - And a Charm if you get it working.

I believe, after Intel's retaliation, the nForce4 was the end of EPOX, IWILL and DFI from which AMD CPU's never caught up. Remember the industry was going between AGP Vs PCIe VGA plus RAM DDR to DDR2 changes at the time.

As said: Don't look at them the wrong way, be prepared to Kill CMOS and re-config but man do they SING when you got them TUNED.

Frequency Settings and Ratio's, DDR Timings and Voltage options are abundant under CTRL/F1.

Last of the 3Ghz Old School AMD MB's ;o(

Only GEEK's look for and buy parts for them today - She's a HOTROD.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I remember the old nforce boards having the insert key tied to a default state.
Hold down the insert key on boot and it'll revert to the default bios settings

I'm not sure if this was present on all nforce boards, but it's worth a shot imo

 

[Z15CAM]

I remember the old nforce boards having the insert key tied to a default state.
Hold down the insert key on boot and it'll revert to the default bios settings

I'm not sure if this was present on all nforce boards, but it's worth a shot imo

Power off the PSU, KILL CMOS and on Boot, hold the "HOME" Key.

Back then we were in search of a 3Ghz Platform and this did it and without a doubt the FASTEST for it's time.

How long ago was that - I'm getting old considering I telephoned University BBS to DL Drivers for my MB Chips!

I doubt any of you will see BBS UMD ISA Megatrends ChipSets - Been there and done it under DOS.

Guess holds power today "MEGATRENDS CORP".

If you can run that Board you can run any Mainboard.

DEAD and end of BLOG. I'm: "SafeMode"

 

[Compman55]

Remove MB from case and set on a antistatic bag.

Test PSU in another system just to be certain. Install only CPU, One stick of ram, and a known good video card, (preferable one that has a power plug). Clear the CMOS, and keep fingers crossed. Inspect for leaking or swelled capacitors, it does happen on almost all boards of that era. People can rant and argue, but I have still seen it.

 

[you2]

It was running fine for 8 months and then suddenly stopped working (won't power on when power switch is hit).

Nforce 4 Ultra-D? SLI-DR?

This board is picky as hell remember. Did you remember the 5v and 12v molex connectors? I forgot those once and I wanted to tear my hair out. This was like 2011 too when I was mining Bitcoins trying to get it to work. If you even look at this board the wrong way it can fail.

Graphics card bad? RAM in the right slots? Try the Orange slots first then the yellow slots. 1 slot at a time too.

Clear CMOS also as suggested because any wrong setting and this board seriously goes whacko. If you've done all that just makes sure to disconnect everything and set it up again. EPS 4 pin? 20+4pin?

 

[Soulkeeper]

It might have just decided to retire.
Maybe some blown capacitors on the board or in the psu.

 

[you2]

I'll double check the capacitors next time I have access (I gave it to a relative who is out of state). As i mentioned above the psu seems to come on fine if I use a paper clip and it is relative new; i might be missing something but given the paper clip trick works on the psu it self I would think I would get some sort of start up if the issue was the psu. Kind of wish I could figure out how to force the psu on while it is plugged into the motherboard.
(I have to unplug it to use the paperclip).