My RMA'ed DFI board will not post just like the last one

[Sean Maxwell]

Well it will light up like a christmas tree but will sit at 4 light diagnostics. My older A8N-SLI Deluxe works fine. I just don't get this bullshit. They sent me back the exact same package I sent them. I am assuming they put a new mobo in the packaging. Robert at DFI said my old board was confirmed as bad. But the packaging had the same tear in the box when I initially opened it. So it's definitely the same stuff I sent them.

Any troubleshooting tips on this?

I'm about to put everything on cardboard........... again

Thanks in advance,
Sean

see sig

 

[mechBgon]

You got a pretty good PSU to drive that stuff? And you have the floppy-style 4-pin plug hooked up? It's located right above the top PCI-E x16 slot.

 

[Sean Maxwell]

535w enermax sli 2.0 and yes, FDD style cord is plugged in

 

[Sean Maxwell]

please help me someone

 

[Sean Maxwell]

pleassssssssssssse

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Does the PSU you are using have a -5V line? I know some of the DFI boards require this. Good luck...

 

[Sean Maxwell]

Yes, it's loaded heavily (535w Enermax SLI 2.0)

 

[thescreensavers]

MSI or ASUS FTW

 

[JSFLY]

Noobies shouldnt buy mobos labelled "expert"

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
MSI or ASUS FTW

I agree. I will never buy a DFI mobo...

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i second, will NEVER buy another DFI product because they are crap. thats why they need to hire personnel just to run dfi-street.com for the MANY MANY people with problems using motherboards.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Although mine would be more like "SuperMicro, Tyan, and Asus FTW".

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i second, will NEVER buy another DFI product because they are crap. thats why they need to hire personnel just to run dfi-street.com for the MANY MANY people with problems using motherboards.

its already been said; noobies shouldn't buy dfi nf4 boards. they're enthusiast boards and not for everyone.

claiming dfi.street is a bad thing is ludicrous and naive. its a support forum for Gods sake. most people who have no problems have better things to do than to post on a support forum. dfi.street is a great resource even if i don't like some of the mods.

personally, i've installed 6 dfi sli-dr's and ultra-d's and they're all running strong without any issues. my main rig has an sli-dr running for about 15 months without an issue.

when i shop for another board, dfi will be at the top of the list.

 

[Yoshi911]

aye, another vote for DFI, my DFI board Runs stable up past 330mhz, have'nt tried any higher than that yet, it's easy to use.. I don't know why everyone always complains...

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i second, will NEVER buy another DFI product because they are crap. thats why they need to hire personnel just to run dfi-street.com for the MANY MANY people with problems using motherboards.

its already been said; noobies shouldn't buy dfi nf4 boards. they're enthusiast boards and not for everyone.

I heard this BS when the Abit KA7 RAID first came out and 25% of them were dead. "It was the 'noobies' fault." Turned out the board was just crap quality.

Fact of the matter is one board works and another, with all of the same parts, does not. The RMA'd board was confirmed DOA and the parts continue to work on the OP's Asus board.

Just in the past four months, I've used three DFI NF4 boards and one NF3. Not by choice, but because the people I've built them for all work in the channel and wholesale cost on DFI product is so dirt cheap it's a difficult deal to turn down.

One of the NF4 boards died after two months. Replaced w/ Asus and all is good w/ all the same parts. Another NF4 board died, but that user insisted on another just like it. So I swapped it out and now all of the same components are working on another of the exact same board. The NF3 would only post 50% of the time. I replaced that with an Epox board and now it's rock solid. Fortunately, one still works.

Oh sure, they're "high performance boards," but I'll take stability from proper PCB engineering and quality components any day of the week.

I will say that the DFI based PC I built for myself works great, and one of the other NF4 boards that eventually died was working perfectly up until the point where it wouldn't post anymore. I'm sorry to say that the third NF4 and the NF3 board were never right. Always flaky, so it was a relief when they died completely and I had a good excuse to yank them out completely.

I will hand it to DFI that their hearts are in the right place and the customer service is second to none. In fact, I'd say for a motherboard manufacturer, they actually deserve every fan boy they've earned. But when my DFI board finally dies, an A8N32SLI is going in it's place.

 

[jonnyGURU]

OP:

Basic mobo troubleshooting....

Take the board out of the case, off of the motherboard tray. Set on top of DFI box. Install only CPU and CPU fan. NO RAM, NO VIDEO. Attach NO drive cables, USB cables, etc.

You want this as STRIPPED DOWN as possible. Just hook a case speaker up to the speaker header because I don't think the DFI had an on board piezo (can't remember.)

Now hook up the PSU and all of it's power leads. Clear the CMOS for about three seconds and return it to the normal position. Press the little "pwr on" button on the board.

Yes, there's no video card, but what we're listening for is a beep code.

The board SHOULD beep a "no memory" beep code. If it doesn't, and the only two other parts involved are known working (per the Asus board) then you have a dead board.

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i second, will NEVER buy another DFI product because they are crap. thats why they need to hire personnel just to run dfi-street.com for the MANY MANY people with problems using motherboards.

its already been said; noobies shouldn't buy dfi nf4 boards. they're enthusiast boards and not for everyone.

I heard this BS when the Abit KA7 RAID first came out and 25% of them were dead. "It was the 'noobies' fault." Turned out the board was just crap quality.

Fact of the matter is one board works and another, with all of the same parts, does not. The RMA'd board was confirmed DOA and the parts continue to work on the OP's Asus board.

Just in the past four months, I've used three DFI NF4 boards and one NF3. Not by choice, but because the people I've built them for all work in the channel and wholesale cost on DFI product is so dirt cheap it's a difficult deal to turn down.

One of the NF4 boards died after two months. Replaced w/ Asus and all is good w/ all the same parts. Another NF4 board died, but that user insisted on another just like it. So I swapped it out and now all of the same components are working on another of the exact same board. The NF3 would only post 50% of the time. I replaced that with an Epox board and now it's rock solid. Fortunately, one still works.

Oh sure, they're "high performance boards," but I'll take stability from proper PCB engineering and quality components any day of the week.

I will say that the DFI based PC I built for myself works great, and one of the other NF4 boards that eventually died was working perfectly up until the point where it wouldn't post anymore. I'm sorry to say that the third NF4 and the NF3 board were never right. Always flaky, so it was a relief when they died completely and I had a good excuse to yank them out completely.

I will hand it to DFI that their hearts are in the right place and the customer service is second to none. In fact, I'd say for a motherboard manufacturer, they actually deserve every fan boy they've earned. But when my DFI board finally dies, an A8N32SLI is going in it's place.

I have built two computers with this motherboard and have had no problems. Noobs needs to stay away from this motherboard.

 

[rise]

well, i wasn't addressing the OP, just the people who jumped into a thread to only bash dfi.

imo, they sent him bacjk the very same board, not just the same packaging. its a confirmed bad board from robert at dfi but that doesn't mean robert sent him a new board or that robert is even the one who would send the board.

anyway, you speak from experience which is more than what many dfi bashers can say. i also speak from experience, a far more happy experience although your board is still going strong so whatever.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: rise4310
...although your board is still going strong so whatever.

Exactly. It works GREAT, in fact. Knock on wood.

And I know what you mean about addressing the bandwagoneers. I'd do the same thing if the tables were turned.

But it's why forums are THE WORST place to get advice. Have you ever noticed that most people that work for a living don't hang out at forums? It's because it's frustrating.

One person has a good experience with one specimen and it's god's gift to the compuer industry.

One person has a bad experience with one specimen and the biggest piece of crap since Ishtar.

The fact is NOBODY here is made to make a qualified judgement on any particular product unless they have first hand experience with more than a couple specimens.

Take arcenite, for example. This jackass built two and hasn't had a problem. Therefore, I am a noob. Doesn't matter that I've been doing computer hardware professionally for 10 years, software for twenty and have been writing hardware reviews for six. I'm the noob.

Noob or not, you take a motherboard, and install a known working CPU and PSU and fire it up stripped down of everything else, outside of a case, and you don't even get a beep code... board's dead.

Sure, DFI's have had power supply compat issues. But to my knowledge, the Enermax 535 isn't one of them.

And noob or not, arcenite, you have a machine that worked the first time it was put together and four months later ceases to post, yet all components fire right up when migrated to another motherboard.. How does being a "noob" have anything to do with a PC dying simply sitting on a desk doing what it's supposed to do?

arcenite, good luck. ODDS are that you'll not have a problem. Because despite my own horrid experiences, I'm perfectly aware that the RMA rate on DFI product is less than 10% and most of those aren't even bad.

The DFI board that I swapped out with another DFI board? The replacement was an RMA. A DFI board some "noob" returned because he couldn't get it to work. Of course, it did work, nothing was wrong with it and I decided to give it a shot because it was the last one in stock.

So yeah... I sound really negative. The board isn't really THAT BAD but all of these NOOBS telling the other NOOBS how they shouldn't be using this motherboard because they're NOOBS instead of trying to HELP THEM and TEACH THEM basic troubleshooting THEORY is really quite asinine.

 

[JSFLY]

My friend bought a DFI-Lanparty Expert SLI last month

He built his computer, but it wouldnt boot. Gives me a call to bitch and tells me hes gonna RMA the faulty DFI Mobo. I tell him to bring it over. Turns out his ram was in the Yellow slots instead of orange. We reset the ram and everything booted up flawless.

I see this time and time again. Some noob buys a DFI lanparty Mobo, cant get it to boot or post, and RMAs it believing the board was faulty. Then they complain on forums such as this one about how DFI sucks.

To reiterate:

Noobs Shouldnt Buy MotherBoards Labeled Expert.

 

[JSFLY]

doubled trouble! oops

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURUall of these NOOBS telling the other NOOBS how they shouldn't be using this motherboard because they're NOOBS instead of trying to HELP THEM and TEACH THEM basic troubleshooting THEORY is really quite asinine.

QFT

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: JSFLYTurns out his ram was in the Yellow slots instead of orange.

Motherboards that are picky on ram placement are not just reserved for "expert" mobos... n00b. It's called "read the manual for installation instructions". Maybe you'll be an expert when you can explain these troubleshooting tips to your less experienced friends.

 

[Bozo Galora]

Oh wow, I suddenly had a flashback. Is this the johnnyguru who used to post pics of the idiotic things people did to hardware who returned stuff to his workplace?

And FWIW, most RMA's are tested by vendor and sent right back if they pass. I have found vidcard suppliers are least likely to return same stuff. However, before sending, I always take an electric pencil and mark the item with 3 tiny dots. Tho if they send it back, it does tend to say that complainer did do something wrong, but if so, I need that info also.

 

[Sean Maxwell]

i've been building computers for 6 years.. i'm not the most knowledgable person but I definitely wouldn't call myself a newb.