New Build Won't POST - Asrock P67 pro3

[Moses Baxter]

Can't get my new system to post. Let me know if you see anything I missed. Thanks for any help.

My issue is no beep codes or digital display codes at all (with barebones components in).

My vid card is 9800GT. Just verified it works fine in another system. My 600w PSU also works fine with different mobo. Eneramx PSU is about 8 years old and all molex but I have all necessary power adapters like 20 to 24 pin main power and 4 pin to 8 pin power adapter.

Fans spin on boot and keyboard lights up once.

I take the memory out I get the expected memory error and beeping.

Tried just one stick of ram in all 4 slots but still no error codes and no post.

I take the vid card out and get the console output "d6" digital code and beeping.

Vid card does have the power plugged in to two molex plugs.

Also my fan2 3pin header does not work for some reason. The fan1 does work.

CPU always stays ice cold to the touch. I do have a large cooler but I should be able to feel some heat near the base after 60 seconds, probably sooner. I can't see any daylight between the hs and cpu so I think it's installed correctly. I verified that pin1 of the cpu was where it should be during installation.

Same results when taking the board out of the case completely.

Tried reseating everthing

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Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Scythe SCMG-3000 120mm Heat Pipe CPU Cooler

9800 GT Silent Cell PCIE 2.0 16x

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

 

[Moses Baxter]

The problem is now fixed so I wanted to post the steps I took in case it may help anyone else.


- removed the cmos battery

- removed the heatsink and CPU. Pin 1 was correct and seating appeared good.

- inspected all socket pins with a magifying glass and light, no damage found.

- I noticed that I used too much thermal compound. A small amount had touched the substrate. I don't know if this could mess anything up but since it may be conductive I carefully removed any excess. Inspected the LGA arrray also, no issues.

- carefully replaced cpu. I noticed that the lever makes a disturbing crunching sound and takes much force. I guess this is correct because it works but hey whatever happened to Zero Insertion Force sockets.

- replaced cmos battery. I did clear the cmos many times before this using the jumper and the handy clear button the back pane but had not pulled the battery. Not sure why that would have made a difference but should have done it since it was easy. It was probably out for 15-20 min.

- placed heatsink on cpu _without_ tightening the base at all. Would never run like this but it should be ok to check post for a few seconds.

- installed one stick of ram in the first slot, closest to cpu. A1 I think.

- installed vid card. I believe I used different molex connectors on the card power pin that I did the first time. I did not note the original molex I used. Just saying in case there was a voltage issue to the card with the original connectors. I did not have a multimeter to check the voltages.

- made sure it was well seated

- had the mobo outside the case still on insulated pad.

At this point it posted. I tightened up the cooler carefully and added things one by one and it continued to post after each. Finally got everything installed and no problems.

As you can see I changed more than one thing at a time so I can't say for sure but it has to be one or more of these:

1. Maybe I had overtightened or unevenly tightened the heatsink base screws from the bottom of the board. I have a very large tower cooler so i didn't want to take any chances. I did try to do each screw evenly.

2. reseating the cpu? It looked fine to me when I took it apart but who knows.

3. clearing the cmos by removing battery

4. reseating the vid card

 

[denis280]

(I noticed that I used too much thermal compound. A small amount had touched the substrate) there it was