Problems with Supermicro P4DCE

[buddmann98ca]

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Hi,
Just bought a supermicro p4dce with a pair of xeon 2.4 processors mounted and 1 gig of rambus installed. After buying a case and power supply for this particular m/b, I cannot get it to start with the 8 pin connector plugged in. And with it removed, it starts and cycles, no beeps or video.After searching through the posts here, I'm reading that I may need a Voltage Regulator Module. Am I correct in this assumption ? And, if so, where do I get one ? Is there a specific type that I need ?


After talking with the person who sold me the board, he figures that it's my video card that the m/b doesn't like.
What is a good card to put in this system ?
He used an evga Geforce MX board. would this be a good card ?
still doesn't explain why it won't start with the 8 pin connector pluged in ...

Any and all help is appreciated.
Regards,
buddmann98ca:confused;

 

[snoturtle]

Not sure the deal with the voltage regulators
Supermicro says there is room for them but I don't think I have seen a board that needed them since the P3 Xeon or a few of the early OEM P4 Xeon boards

What video card are you using now?

 

[buddmann98ca]

I've tried 2 different vid cards ,both the same brand. First one was an Asus AGP V3800/32M and the second one has 16megs of onboard video. Neither one shows up on the monitor.

 

[GrammatonJP]

I had this board, is it p4dce or the dce+ ? One of the two has VRM built in.

I had fx 5200, fx 5700 in mine, and it works. Are you using a 24 pin psu or 20 ?

If you can borrow a PCI one.. try to clear cmos and retry again.

 

[buddmann98ca]

I have the P4DCE.
The previous owner said he did not have to use a VRM. I have an adaptor for 20 and 24 pin and have tried it both ways. Purchased a supply specific for server mainboards with the 20, 8 and 4 pin power connectors for this board. But when I hook up the 8 pin connector, the system won't start, even with all peripherals disconnected.

 

[snoturtle]

What PSU are you using?

 

[buddmann98ca]

It's a Power Watcher PW-480-102DF. It has the 4 pin connector, 20 pin connecter and adapters for 24 pin and 8 pin connecters.

 

[snoturtle]

have you tried with just one cpu?

The 12v on that PSU is low which probably isn't helping

Also how is the memory setup?
4x256 meg sticks?

 

[buddmann98ca]

No, I have just installed it as it came with 2 cpus and 2-512 sticks of rambus. Previous owner said that he tested it before shipping with no problems. The recommended PS is 420 for this mainboard (taken from supermicro manual). So, I took the 480 Watt supply to get a little extra protection. Is it still not enough ?

 

[snoturtle]

Not sure but it might not be

The 2 cases/psu's that they recomend are at least 25amps on the 12v rail

The single P4 Xeon I had ran fine on a 18amp 12v line

Can you pull one of the cpu's and try that?

 

[snoturtle]

Also what slots are they memory sticks in?
and do you have Crimms in the other 2?

 

[buddmann98ca]

Okay, I've pulled the #2 cpu and system starts with no peripherals attached. Cleared cmos and tried vid cards in AGP, still no video. no code beeps or display for bios showing up on monitor.
So, that mean psu is too low for dual processers ?
ram is in bank 0 and blanks in bank 1

 

[GrammatonJP]

Weird, thats a recommended psu..

I power mine with a 350W sparkle with adapters and I had 8 scsi drives and 4 ide hdd with 3-4 optical in dual 2.4.

I'm assuming you have your speaker hook up correctly ?

 

[buddmann98ca]

Yes, speakers are hooked up properly. even put in a sound card and disabled on board sound and tried it that way also.
As far as power, yes it is strange that it's notworking properly.
Still have no idea about video though ...