- Mar 8, 2013
- 7
- 0
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Hey guys,
So, for the first time in almost five years, I'm building myself a desktop system. I've built tons of systems in the past for myself and others with no real problems, so I've been going absolutely crazy with all of the problems I've been having with this build.
To make a short story long, I gave my old AM2+ system to my dad several years ago. The system used an Asus M4A79 Deluxe motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131361), an Athlon 64 FX-62, 4Gb (4x1Gb) of Geil "Golden Empire" RAM, and a pair of embarrassingly piss-weak Radeon X1600 Pros. I needed to do this relatively cheaply, and since the type of computing I do doesn't even come close to topping out the power even on this old rig, I decided to use some used/old stock parts. The M4A79 Deluxe is one of only a few AM2/AM2+/AM3 motherboards (the only one I know of, in fact) that has 4 Pci-E x16 busses and two PCI busses, which I wanted given the peripherals I need, so I decided to buy another one of those and build from there. Of course, two days after I order one, the system I gave my dad dies out of nowhere, I suspected a PSU failure, but I didn't get to look it over too thoroughly and just ordered him a new Dell.
I eventually test all my new parts except the mobo which was still en route - all of which checked out when tested in other working systems - in the M4A79 Deluxe that I pulled from the dead system I gave him. I got nothing - no POST, even after going through the typical motions of checking all the parts and trying new ones, looking for shorts and bad grounding (as much as one can), replacing the CMOS battery, clearing BIOS, etc. Finally, the (supposedly) new, unused/old stock M4A79 Deluxe I ordered arrives, so I sprawl everything out of the table, and see if it'll boot with just the basic parts - all of which had, again, been tested and worked independently. No luck, same symptoms - no POST, but everything gets power. I phoned Asus, and they confirmed that my parts should all work, even on the oldest BIOS version. Of course, even if this new one had been DOA, it was still out of warranty, so I was out of luck.
So, in what was admittedly probably not a very bright move, I ordered ANOTHER M4A79 Deluxe over eBay, from a guy who had updated it to the latest BIOS version and had screenshots proving it worked. It arrived, I set everything up, and voila! It posted, and tried to boot Windows 7 Ultimate (old HDD already had it installed). Ecstatic, I put it all inside the case, spent hours routing the cables and setting up the fans, etc. Finished, I booted up, and again it got to "Starting Windows" and would restart. Debian and Mint LiveCDs both froze in the final process of loading, even in 'failsafe', so I opened it up to try with just one GPU.
At this point, trying to simply get the system to boot into an OS, I simply unplugged the second GPU and tried to boot again, and the gods must really have it out for me, because now I'm getting the original problem again - no POST. As was the case with the previous two mobos, I also removed all the RAM to see what beep codes I would get, if any. I only got the "no RAM" code - long, short, short - and no POST, of course.
Since then, I've tried the usual: tried different working RAM types independently in each DIMM, tried each GPU independently, as well as another one, reset BIOS, replaced the battery... all to no avail. The kicker is, that I'm one of those builders who's super cautious about static and such. I wasn't, like, wearing sweatpants and socks and doing this over carpeting - I had rubber-soled shoes on, discharged myself on an empty chassis prior to touching ANYTHING, was working in a static-free environment and on an insulated surface, etc. I'm at a loss for words, and I'm going crazy! I've perused help threads here before; long time lurker and first time poster, just hoping someone here can shed a little light on what I may be missing. I really can't imagine that I've shorted this thing out, even though in my mind that seems to be only possible answer.
To recap: Each time, with three different motherboards (except for a brief few minutes the third one worked), I've had everything get power, HDD's spin up, but nothing on the screen - no POST.
Sorry for the super long post, but I'd be very appreciative of any help you guys can offer.
My specs, if it helps:
Asus M4A79 Deluxe motherboard (used)
Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (used)
Noctua NH-D14 CPU Heatsink (new)
8Gb (4x4Gb) Micron Technology PC2-5300P ECC RAM (used - have 4x4Gb sticks, got no POST even in the previously working build when all four were inserted)
Corsair AX860i Power Supply (Bought brand new)
2x GeCube ATI Radeon x1600 Pro (RV530 Pro) w/Vantec Iceberq 6 Coolers
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (SB0350)
TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 PciE 1.0 WiFi Adapter
Corsair 600t chassis (I know, I know... expensive case on a budget build)
So, for the first time in almost five years, I'm building myself a desktop system. I've built tons of systems in the past for myself and others with no real problems, so I've been going absolutely crazy with all of the problems I've been having with this build.
To make a short story long, I gave my old AM2+ system to my dad several years ago. The system used an Asus M4A79 Deluxe motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131361), an Athlon 64 FX-62, 4Gb (4x1Gb) of Geil "Golden Empire" RAM, and a pair of embarrassingly piss-weak Radeon X1600 Pros. I needed to do this relatively cheaply, and since the type of computing I do doesn't even come close to topping out the power even on this old rig, I decided to use some used/old stock parts. The M4A79 Deluxe is one of only a few AM2/AM2+/AM3 motherboards (the only one I know of, in fact) that has 4 Pci-E x16 busses and two PCI busses, which I wanted given the peripherals I need, so I decided to buy another one of those and build from there. Of course, two days after I order one, the system I gave my dad dies out of nowhere, I suspected a PSU failure, but I didn't get to look it over too thoroughly and just ordered him a new Dell.
I eventually test all my new parts except the mobo which was still en route - all of which checked out when tested in other working systems - in the M4A79 Deluxe that I pulled from the dead system I gave him. I got nothing - no POST, even after going through the typical motions of checking all the parts and trying new ones, looking for shorts and bad grounding (as much as one can), replacing the CMOS battery, clearing BIOS, etc. Finally, the (supposedly) new, unused/old stock M4A79 Deluxe I ordered arrives, so I sprawl everything out of the table, and see if it'll boot with just the basic parts - all of which had, again, been tested and worked independently. No luck, same symptoms - no POST, but everything gets power. I phoned Asus, and they confirmed that my parts should all work, even on the oldest BIOS version. Of course, even if this new one had been DOA, it was still out of warranty, so I was out of luck.
So, in what was admittedly probably not a very bright move, I ordered ANOTHER M4A79 Deluxe over eBay, from a guy who had updated it to the latest BIOS version and had screenshots proving it worked. It arrived, I set everything up, and voila! It posted, and tried to boot Windows 7 Ultimate (old HDD already had it installed). Ecstatic, I put it all inside the case, spent hours routing the cables and setting up the fans, etc. Finished, I booted up, and again it got to "Starting Windows" and would restart. Debian and Mint LiveCDs both froze in the final process of loading, even in 'failsafe', so I opened it up to try with just one GPU.
At this point, trying to simply get the system to boot into an OS, I simply unplugged the second GPU and tried to boot again, and the gods must really have it out for me, because now I'm getting the original problem again - no POST. As was the case with the previous two mobos, I also removed all the RAM to see what beep codes I would get, if any. I only got the "no RAM" code - long, short, short - and no POST, of course.
Since then, I've tried the usual: tried different working RAM types independently in each DIMM, tried each GPU independently, as well as another one, reset BIOS, replaced the battery... all to no avail. The kicker is, that I'm one of those builders who's super cautious about static and such. I wasn't, like, wearing sweatpants and socks and doing this over carpeting - I had rubber-soled shoes on, discharged myself on an empty chassis prior to touching ANYTHING, was working in a static-free environment and on an insulated surface, etc. I'm at a loss for words, and I'm going crazy! I've perused help threads here before; long time lurker and first time poster, just hoping someone here can shed a little light on what I may be missing. I really can't imagine that I've shorted this thing out, even though in my mind that seems to be only possible answer.
To recap: Each time, with three different motherboards (except for a brief few minutes the third one worked), I've had everything get power, HDD's spin up, but nothing on the screen - no POST.
Sorry for the super long post, but I'd be very appreciative of any help you guys can offer.
My specs, if it helps:
Asus M4A79 Deluxe motherboard (used)
Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (used)
Noctua NH-D14 CPU Heatsink (new)
8Gb (4x4Gb) Micron Technology PC2-5300P ECC RAM (used - have 4x4Gb sticks, got no POST even in the previously working build when all four were inserted)
Corsair AX860i Power Supply (Bought brand new)
2x GeCube ATI Radeon x1600 Pro (RV530 Pro) w/Vantec Iceberq 6 Coolers
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (SB0350)
TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 PciE 1.0 WiFi Adapter
Corsair 600t chassis (I know, I know... expensive case on a budget build)
this is an odd one
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