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P8Z68-V PRO system for son's birthday

G

gredhead

Member
I am putting together a system for my son's birthday present, based on the super system in Anandtech's latest guide. Here are the components:

Asus P8Z68-V pro mobo
core i7 2600
4 GB x 2 corsair 1866
crucial 128 GB SDD
1 TB 6gb/s HD
2 TB 3gb/s HD
antec nine hundred case
antec 900w P/S
EVGA 1.5 GB overclocked GTX-580
asus 24x DVD
cooler master hyper 212 plus

I have built about 12 computers in the past.

The problem is that it won't post. The light on the mobo reset and pwr switches are on, when I push the case power switch, all fans, including the processor fan, turn for a second or two then everything powers down.

The only other time I had something similar happen, I had forgotten to plug in the separate 12v power supply to the mother board.

I have checked all plugs, cables, and switches and jumpers on the motherboard, but don't see anything amiss.

Any suggestions on how to proceed in troubleshooting? - thanks
 
I had the exact same problem with my build before i bought the new psu, iwanted to reuse my old Cooler Master M520, but for some reason ihad this 1 sec fan spining problem, changed psu and everything booted fine. could be a psu problem but im not so sure especially if your psu is brand new :hmm:
 
gredhead said:
I am putting together a system for my son's birthday present, based on the super system in Anandtech's latest guide. . . . .

I have built about 12 computers in the past.

The problem is that it won't post. The light on the mobo reset and pwr switches are on, when I push the case power switch, all fans, including the processor fan, turn for a second or two then everything powers down.
. . . . . .
Any suggestions on how to proceed in troubleshooting? - thanks
Click to expand...

I HOPE THIS GETS TO YOU BEFORE YOU BECOME MORE PANICKED, or arrange for RMA of the mobo.

DO YOU HAVE THE MONITOR HOOKED UP TO THE VIDEO PORT AT THE MOBO'S I/O PLATE? BECAUSE . . . . IF YOU DO . . . . THE SYSTEM DEFAULTS TO THE HIGH-END FERMI CARD YOU HAVE IN PLACE.

ONLY OTHER THING I SUGGEST AFTER THAT: CONNECT THE MONITOR PLUG TO THE ALTERNATE DVI ON THE FERMI CARD, AND SEE IF YOU CAN "SEE" IT POSTING.

BUT I WENT THROUGH THIS -- TRYING TO GET IT TO POST WHILE MONITOR WAS CONNECTED TO MOBO. Powered down, put the plug on the nVidia 570 GTX, and all was wonderful. . . .
 
Sorry - failed to mention, have not actually installed the GTX-580 yet. I wanted to see if everything so far was OK, and do the basic windows, etc installs. So the monitor is cabled to teh mobo VGA port.

Also, FYI - the four mobo POST LED's, which light to indicate a problem, are all out (CPU, DRAM, boot dev, VGA).
 
The last time I had a problem like this it turned out that I had the board jumpered to hard-erase CMOS and then turn off. Are you getting any POST sounds at all? Unless you are getting the single "passed" beep from POST I doubt the problem is what Bonzai suggested. I'm more inclined to believe the PSU should be double checked as necc said.

Trying hooking up another PSU (which u must have if u built 12 other PCs!) to the basics: just the 24pin ATX, and the 4/8pin ATX... NOTHING ELSE. Try to POST and see how far you get.

Something else you can try: Disconnect everything from your new PSU, and use a paper clip to jump the green pin on the 24ATX to any ground pin. that should jump-start the PSU, just to ensure it turns on and stays on.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Well, I had checked the clear RTC/CMOS jumper, and it is OK. So I unplugged the four drives and the 24 pin and 12v plugs from the mother board. Turned on PS, jumpered pin 16 (green) to ground, and power supply came up, all fans (did not unplug them) in case turned on and stay on (nine hundred case has blue LEDs in 2 front and 1 rear fan).

I am thinking next step is to plug 24 pin and 12v mobo plugs back, leaving four drives unpowered. Sound right?
 
Yeah, thats pretty much exactly what I suggested. I would have unplugged the fans to minimize load on the PSU but if it still passes the test (if it POSTs) then that rules out the PSU.
 
With 24 pin and 12v mobo plugs in mobo, and no drives connected, have original problem - power supply turns off after 1 second. I guess I still can't be sure the PS is good under load and will have to remove the PS from a working PC and try that - will post results after.
 
Well given the results of the tests so far it could now be only one of 4 things.

1) Bad PSU. Best test, as u said, is to hook up another PSUs 24pin and 4/8pin ATX mounts ONLY and try to post, if it works your PSU is bad.

2) The Mobo. This is a tough one to 100% ID, but it certainly sounds plausible.

3) The CPU. Again, kind of a pain to test; do you have another 1155 CPU or board you could try? One or the other could test for both failures if you see what I mean...

4) The RAM. I should have mentioned this before, but at this stage of trouble-shooting make sure you are only running one DIMM in the primary (first, usually) slot. No more than that. If you have more than one stick, try alternating them...

Good Luck!
 
Check for a short first
Suggest you remove the mb from the case lay it on your desk top to be sure you have no shorts.
Only use 2 sticks of memory and your boot drive.
Plug in your PS and jump out the start pins for a split second.
Your memory sticks may not like your mb.
 
Thanks Blitz Kriege R and john3850 so much for your advice.

(1) Removed PSU for this new system, took to other system with more installed hardware - mobo, SSD, 3 HD's, video card, etc. Other system boots fine with new PSU - PSU OK.

(2) removed mobo from case, set on floor, hooked to PSU, same problem as before - no shorts in case.

(3) have two sticks RAM, in A2 and B2 as per mobo manual. Removed B2, with single stick, same problem. Replaced A2 with what was B2, still one stick in - just other stick - same problem. Tried with no RAM, same problem, expected RAM POST LED to light, didn't - don't think RAM is the problem.

Additional info on mobo and RAM. The mobo has 4 POST LED's (DRAM, CPU, VGA, boot device) onboard, to light when a problem is detected in POST, and remain lighted until problem is resolved. If incompatible DRAM is installed the DRAM POST LED lights continuously, and then if you push and hold the MEMOK switch next to the DRAM LED and hold it, the LED starts blinking and the memory is tuned to allow a successful boot.

All the more reason to believe RAM is not the problem - the LED does not come on at all.

(4) there is a TPU switch that when enabled allows the mobo to automatically optimize the system for fast, yet stable clock speeds. And there is an EPU switch, which when enabled allows intelligent moderation of the power consumption.

Both switches were tried enabled / disabled in all combinations and the problem remains the same.

(5) and most important - when I press the power switch and the power is on for a second, the onboard mobo POST PROC LED lights briefly. My son and I did not notice this before taking the mobo out of the case (and think we would have noticed a bright red ;LED in a dark case), but it definitely does it now - during all the above tests.

CONCLUSION - I think the processor is bad.

NEXT STEPS - ??? - the last system here I built for another son, has a 775 socket processor, so I have no other 1155 processor to try in the new mobo.

Any other things I could try before an RMA request to newegg to replace the processor?
 
It is very rare a processor is faulty out of the box. Since you took some tests I'd suggest to remove the CPU and examine the socket on the mobo for any damage that might happen during instalation, use a magnifier. If everything seems OK then I'd say RMA the mobo.
 
Quick ps test using a paper clip connect between the green wire and any black wire on the 24 pin connection also connect any fan to a standard 4 pin plug to act as a load to see if ps starts.
 
John, I've already had him run that test. PSU passed the jump, and it booted another PC so it is out.

I agree with Crap Daddy, it is highly unlikely a brand new CPU is bad. In all the PCs I've built I've never once ran into a bad CPU; RAM, multiple PSUs, multiple Mobos and GPUs, but never ever a CPU.

Back in the 939 days I had a system which would boot with all MB error lights on no matter what I tried. It turned out to be a bad board. On the other hand, it never shut off, it just sat there with is various post error LEDs on.

Does anyone know how a system would behave with no CPU/bad CPU? Would it just shut off after 1 sec like his is doing? If no one chimes in I might test that myself. Try booting with no CPU fitted and see what happens.

Sorry I can't give a better final answer; it really is a tough call here between the CPU and Mobo.

Good Luck!
 
If I had I guess i will still say your memory.
Bios starts but you mem led comes on it wont accept the memory.
Odds are its the memory plus its oc memory which means theres a greater chance of it not woking on all boards.
I would go to to local store and buy one 2 gig stick of 1300 memory before I rma that board.
There are less memory problems with the sb because many people just use standard memory.
Over time there are many posts here about new mb not starting just like yours.
Two out of three time it ends up being a memory problem.
One out three its the board only one way to be sure.
Thats why I ask you to check your corsair 1866 memory on asuss Qualified Vendor List.
Go to the egg and check the reviews for corsair 1866.
On my 1366 mb a few people had problems with corsair its not thats its bad you just get problems with certain memory on certain mb..

Wish you and your son the best luck getting started.
 
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The CPU POST LED will flash when you turn on the system, this is normal.

Based on everything you have said, I would say its the board, not the RAM.

I say this because the P8Z68 boards are pretty good at detecting bad ram. For example, in my P8Z68 I had the ram just slightly out of alignment and the RAM LED stayed on the whole time. Reseated RAM and the system worked perfectly.
 
I'd guess board also. I have a P8P67, and it went bad (5 weeks after purchase) with the exact same symptoms. I'd try different memory if you can get a hold of it, probably a single stick of known good DDR3-1333 1.5v, another PSU, and if neither of those fix the problem RMA the board.
 
thanks again everyone for all your help

I took the cooler off, and the processor out and looked with magnifier and bright light. There are 3 or 4 pins in the center left of the processor socket that are bent.

Does anyone have any idea how this could happen? The mobo had a protective cover when we got it. And believe me, I am much more careful and gentle than the average person (based on observations of friends and coworkers). I gently dropped the processor into the socket, it was correctly aligned, the socket was carefully closed and latched, etc.

I just don't understand how 3 or 4 pins in one spot got bent, and believe they must have been bent before I put the processor in, but would have thought this was as unlikely as the processor being DOA from factory (Crap Daddy and Blitz KriegeR).
 
Granted hindsight is 20/20, but checking for bent pins is something you should do before you seat the CPU.

Anyway, given that this is an LGA configuration, bent pins are not likely to be the result of a defect in the CPU. I'd give the underside of the CPU the same checkup with bright light and magnifier to check out the area where the pins were bent. Especially look for any scorching or discoloration that could be the result of a short.

Also, how bent are we talking about? 1mm? less? more? (pic)? Fixing bent pins is a very cautious endeavor, but can be accomplished if the deflection is minor and there is no electrical damage.

Depending on how serious the damage is and if there is any evidence of shorts on the CPU or around the socket, it may or may not be necessary to RMA the board and/or CPU. Of course if you do/did any tweaking just leave that out of your RMA request....
 
I don't have the tools or skill to straighten pins like that, so I returned the mobo and got the replacement yesterday (Newegg is great). INstalled, everything works first time, like it should.

I still don't understand - (1) I can't believe there was some way I bent the pins, but (2) I can't believe I got a new mobo with bent pins. So - ????

I have a pic of the pins, but can't figure out to paste it into the post. The supposed button is missing, and it says I may not post attachments.
 
I remember bending some pins on a CPU years ago. I was so upset, but my wife said calm down maybe you can fix it. So I got a magnifying glass, and some tiny tool, a sewing needle or something, and managed to get them straight. (Of course these were different than what we have now)

But anyway, I'm just glad to hear you got the system working. I think your son will love it. The Asus board with the new BIOS is so smooth. It's really a pleasure to work with.

Dave
 
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