No power with 2 845e Motherboards

[Aragorn]

I have built several computers and do not know why these boards are giving me so much problems. Heres my story. I got 2 2.4a northwoods recently. I ordered 3 boards a new ps and 2 gforce 4 4200s. I am building 2 computers (1 for me 1 for my wife and the third board is for a friend who is also building 1) I bought the MSI 645e maxc for my wife the Gigabyte 8IEXP for me and the MSI 845E max for my friend. I needed the PS for my wifes older case and I have a good PS. Now you know the background here is my problems. I installed the 645 Max-c (sis 645dx chipset) and hooked everything up including the new video card and the processor only will run at 1.2 Ghz (here is a link to this problem here at anandtech Post So after that problem stumped me I decided to start building the next computer. I installed the Gigabyte board (845e chipset) and new video card and it will not power on. I tried both her power supply and my power supply no luck. I tried reversing the power switch cable going to the MB. No luck. Thoroughly frustrated I decided well maybe I should try the third board (845e chipset). I installed it in her case and hooked everything up again and no power just like the Gigabyte boards. I am completely stumped. Any ideas of what to try. I take newer cases have a connector that hooks up all the LEDs and switches to the MB because the 845e boards have the same pinouts as each other. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bigzeo69]

The only thing I can think of is to check to see that the mobos weren't grounded to the case, also check the clr clk jumper to see if it is set to clear or normal. Now about the other thing have you updated the bios for the MSI 645DX mobo? I would go to MSI's website to check for any probs that board might be having in the faq section. Hope I was some help.

 

[o1die]

If your gigabyte board has one, check the cmos jumper. Some boards are shipped with this jumper in the "clear" position, and you have to change it before powering up. Also check the switch on the back of the power supply.

 

[Aragorn]

Ok i built the the Bigabyte board outside of the case still no power. I tried updating the Bios on the MSI yesterday no luck. The Cmos jumper came with none on. The manual says that is how it is supposed to come. I cleared the cmos then put the jumper on the other 2 pins no luck. I am going to start on the 645 max-c board soon and am looking at MSI's forums now. I havn't gone to Gigabytes forum yet. Thanks for the help still looking for the answers.

 

[gururu]

645 is taking power, but it may be insufficient resulting in a downclock
neither 845 boards are taking power

I have to think one of the following (in likelihood):
1) Non P4 compliant power supplies (wrong power supplies)
2) Power supplies not connected properly
3) Power supplies defective.

Since you only had to buy one power supply, I take it that you were running a P4 beforehand.
If not, then your old power supply is not P4 compliant. If you bought your wife the same power supply that
you had, then neither is correct.

The newer power supplies have two board connectors, consisting of a main and 12V connector for additional power.
You may have already known this, and not made this error. In that case, I would recommend finding a P4 supply from a friend for testing. I doubt that your motherboards are defective or broken.


good luck!

 

[Aragorn]

I have a nice 350 watt Enermax. I had to buy her a new one because hers didn't have the P4 auxillary connector. I am connecting both connectors and have tried both PS in both computers.

 

[flawedexistence]

This may sound really basic, but is your RAM properly seated? It just seems odd that two new boards would exhibit the exact behavior.

 

[Aragorn]

I will try reseating the memory. But generally it would at least power on without the memory seated properly. I fully agree with you on the 2 different boards with the same problems as probably being my fault, that is why I asked here first before RMAing it. I am getting some really good advice I just want it to work out. Thanks again guys.

 

[mechBgon]

Could the pinout for the power button be different or something? Might want to do a close-up study of the manual and make sure the pins aren't oriented differently than you'd expect (90 degrees off, perhaps).