Problems with starting up my own build.

[jedisponge]

Copied and pasted from General Hardware. Didn't realize which section I was posting and I apologize.

Hey guys, I'm extremely distraught right now!

I recently ordered parts from newegg and a p5w dh from two places before finally getting a good one. I've put the system together and now its going kaput.

The first motherboard wasn't taking any power from the power supply. The light on the bottom corner didn't light up. After returning it and getting a new one from zip zoom fly (i got a 1305 bios rev from there if anyone's interested) and it took power! I was extremely happy, as I had to wait 10 days for my previous motherboard to get here. All this time and effort again, is causing me extreme mental anguish.

Anyway on to the problem now, I installed everything and I plugged the power in, and the system starts up by itself without me pressing the power. Everything's spinning, then stops in about 5 seconds. And its continuing to do this over and over again when I unplug the power and replug. I took the system to Best Buys and a Geek Squad dude looked at it, moved the memory in, out and about. He diagnosed the problem with bad memory, as when he left one stick in the power stayed on.

Now the problem is that he left it on for only a few seconds and turned the system off. Immensely relieved that I finally found the problem, I returned to my dorm and i tested it to make sure. I'm moving the sticks in and out and of course it continues to power off after a few seconds.

Now my question is... is it really a memory problem? Or could it be something else? Could it be a power supply problem? My power supply is a Rosewill 600watt SLI ready unit. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. I requested an RMA from newegg, and before I send it I want to make sure if it really is a ram problem.

 

[idgaf13]

Memory is particular about many things.
The list of examples would be long and
some quirks are specific to certain motherboards only.
Is your memory of the same type ?
Are the sticks different capacaties ?
Are they being placed in the correct slots ?
Ck your owners manual for the board to answer those questions
before doing an RMA

 

[bwatson283]

it always helps to buy matched memory, I bought matched memory and my mem has been working flawless for about 2 to 2.5 years.

 

[jedisponge]

Same type of ram: Corsair XMS 6400 (800DDR).

My question is, can it really be RAM that makes this sort of thing happen? This... starts up without me pressing the power button for 5 seconds then shutting off on its own? Afterwards if I press the power button it doesn't turn on as well.

 

[maverick2604]

you sure you have the power button wiring set correctly? double check the manual. if so, i agree... doesnt sound like a memory issue, but it is always a good idea to swap memory out for known good memory... and even a power supply, for a known good one, so that you can be sure what your problem is before you sit waiting for an RMA

 

[muftiman]

Sounds like a wiring problem to me. Somethings shorting the circuit. You might have set the reset button to the off button - that would explain the 4 seconds and then off.

 

[jedisponge]

Alrighty thanks guys, I'll be trying these suggestions. I am very grateful.

 

[mechBgon]

Agreed, this sounds like the case's actual power-button switch is jammed in the always-pressed position. So as soon as the PSU gets power, the mobo sees that the power button is being pushed, and it fires up. But it also sees that the power button is being held down, which is the signal to shut off again, so it shuts off.

Remove the case's bezel and try again. If the bezel was jamming the button, maybe that'll fix it. If the problem persists, wire your Reset button to the mobo's power-switch pins and try that instead. If that fixes it, then you have a bad switch on your case.

 

[Captante]

Another possibility is that your CPU isn't being correctly recognized by the BIOS in your motherboard... I've had the exact symptoms you describe happen to me when attempting to do a CPU upgrade with a recently released chip ... quick power-up & then shutdown with no beeps.

If thats the case, you'll either need to get ahold of a cheap CPU & flash the BIOS on your board to a version which provides correct support, or contact the motherboard maker for a new BIOS chip.

 

[jedisponge]

Alrighty guys, I've tried some more things. Along with the recommendations by some about the case wiring, I tried leaving the case power wirings unplugged. So now it's just the motherboard connected to the power supply. I plug in the power, and it still turns on and off without the case wires being connected. Now I'm gueninely stumped.

 

[boomerang]

Have you reset the CMOS?

List your system specs.

 

[brikis98]

also, if you can get hold of a different PSU, try that.

 

[mechBgon]

And try with the motherboard outside the case as a fact-finding step. Lay it on cardboard. If it's been shorting out on the case somewhere, that'll be eliminated.

 

[jedisponge]

Originally posted by: boomerang
Have you reset the CMOS?

List your system specs.

I have, but I'll try it again.

Specs:
ASUS p5w DH bio rev 1305
Rosewill 600 watt power supply (forgot exact model #)
Intel E6700
Corsair XMS 6400 with 5-5-5-12 timings
Sapphire 1900xtx
Zalman C9200

I also just bought an antec 550 psu (insert sadness at the money I'm putting into this). I did it because my university was gonna charge 80 bucks to just look at the computer.
I figured if the new psu worked then yay, if not then I'll refund it at least for store credit.

I'm beginning to think I got another faulty motherboard.

 

[maverick2604]

take mech's advice... he is wise. that way you wont question the board if it works

 

[mike3411]

yeah try with the new psu, i guess swapping ram and cpu would be good to check as well. otherwise the mobo is probably bad, eliminating the possibility of shorts would be good to check for too