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Replaced Northbridge heatsink, now computer will not start

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Here are my system specs:

3700+ San Diego Retail
ASUS A8N-E
2 GB Corsair XMS (1 GB x 2 in dual channel)
430 TruPower Antec Power supply
ATI X800XL PCI-Express
Seagate 120 GB (Operating system HD)
Seagate 300 GB (Storage)

I was running an ASUS A8N-E and the Northbridge heat sink/fan crapped out. I replaced it with a Zalman heat sink (as a few people have already done here). I pulled the motherboard, took off the old one and put the Zalman on. I put everything back in, and now the computer won't turn on. When I hit the power button I can see the fans kind of twitch but then they stop. I figured there might be a short on the motherboard somewhere, so I pulled it out and plugged in only the video card, power supply, and 1 GB x 2 of Corsair XMS in dual channel. I had the motherboard completely out of the case, not touching any metal. Same thing, fans twitched but computer didn't turn on. I also tried clearing the CMOS as well.

I'm out of ideas, you guys have any suggestions? Thanks.


 
The Asus has a Northbridge fan connector that may need to be used in order for the board to start up. I would check that and if need be attach a fan to the connector.
 
Originally posted by: newwind
The Asus has a Northbridge fan connector that may need to be used in order for the board to start up. I would check that and if need be attach a fan to the connector.
Click to expand...

Gee, that's a surprise. What should you do if you have to change the northbridge cooler and get a Zalman fanless? Can a regular case fan be connected to that?

 
I have no idea with the motherboard he has I would read the manual. But I owned a MSI that without the fan attached would not run. I simply attached another fan to the lead and all was solved.
 
He may have zapped the motherboard by discharging static and not realized it. I did that once to a motherboard and killed it.
 
I just looked at a picture of the Asus K8N4-E Deluxe and it shows the northbridge chipset without a heatsink. Anyway, did you put thermal grease on the core only or all over it?
 
Originally posted by: superfly27
I just looked at a picture of the Asus K8N4-E Deluxe and it shows the northbridge chipset without a heatsink. Anyway, did you put thermal grease on the core only or all over it?
Click to expand...

You only put a THIN layer of grease on the core area that touches the heatsink!
 
Alright. I found my problem. Dead power supply. Great, this is the second part in this build that was defective. Anyone know if Antec has an RMA policy? 😛


Anyway, thanks for the help. I wonder if this 300 watt Enermax can support this system lol.
 
Originally posted by: DLeRium
You really need to get a 24 pin native PSU, like a TruePower 2.0 or something better...
Click to expand...

Native? Do you mean it shouldn't be a 24 pin with detachable 4 pins (to make 20)?
 
I didn't notice any problems with the 430watt 20 pin Antec though (well, until it died lol). What performance gains would I get out of buying a new PSU?
 
No performance gains. As a matter of fact, the devices only draw as much power as they need and not all of them are running at once. Anyway, the advantage is knowing you have a reliable piece of equipment.

I tried a cheap power supply that came with my Enermax case on my brother's old computer. LOL, it made a loud bang. Now he has a new machine.
 
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