setup out side the case

[worlad]

Hi,
Not sure where to post this. I've just received a load of gear for my first build, set the mobo up outside the case. I have cpu/hsf set up, one stick of 512 memory in third slot and the AGP card in place. When I power up there's a mighty screech from the card. Any Ideas/thoughts, I,m just clueless. When I take the card out no screech.
Could someone cheer me up. Thanks.



Antec Sonata-380W TruePower
Asus A8V Rev 2
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Corsair 2x512 CAS2 Pro Twin X
Gigabyte GeForce 6800 128MB (AGP)

 

[dieselfrog]

Just a stab in the dark but is there anything obstructing/rubbing the fan on the card's heatsink? Sometimes they get outta whack and create an aweful noise.

 

[theorignalAMD Overclocker]

yeah I have that same problem too. i hear the noise when the card is working. I dont know what it is. I am gust going to return it and get a GT

 

[worlad]

Thanks for your response dieselfrog, but this card doesn't seam to have a fan, it must be cooled by pipes.
I really don't know enough about these things.



t o a o/c, I like the name but its hard work for a one fingered typist. How long have you had your card?

 

[worlad]

Hi,
I guess this is a difficult one for most people but I'd like to think I did all I could before trying to return it.

Any more thoughts? Anyone?

Hey theoriginalamdoverclocker I meant to put a smilely in my last message.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: worlad
Hi,
Not sure where to post this. I've just received a load of gear for my first build, set the mobo up outside the case. I have cpu/hsf set up, one stick of 512 memory in third slot and the AGP card in place. When I power up there's a mighty screech from the card. Any Ideas/thoughts, I,m just clueless. When I take the card out no screech.
Could someone cheer me up. Thanks.



Antec Sonata-380W TruePower
Asus A8V Rev 2
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Corsair 2x512 CAS2 Pro Twin X
Gigabyte GeForce 6800 128MB (AGP)

Doesn't sound good but 2 questions. Does it begin to post when you apply power (before you shut it down because of the screech) and can you put a different video card in the slot to test? Also make sure the video card is in the slot perfectly. Remove and replace a couple of times to seat it.

 

[Theslowone]

How loud is the screech, compared to other system fans and such, does the fan still spin up and as buz2b asked does it post?

 

[worlad]

Hi,
I'm really embarrassed, I had something plugged in the back of the card, and it wasn't power. How dumb was that? This is only the first stage, what will I do next? I can only say sorry and thanks for your replys.

 

[hundesau]

hope u got good insurance

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: worlad
Hi,
I'm really embarrassed, I had something plugged in the back of the card, and it wasn't power.

What was it then? :roll:

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: worlad
Hi,
I'm really embarrassed, I had something plugged in the back of the card, and it wasn't power. How dumb was that? This is only the first stage, what will I do next? I can only say sorry and thanks for your replys.

Well, everyone makes mistakes here and there on their first build. Have you tried to boot the system with the "correct" power connected? It sounds like you were, for the most part, on the right track. Booting the system outside of the case is a good precaution to take. Hook up the monitor, plug in just one stick of ram, vid card, PS and floppy drive. Then see if it will boot to a floppy boot disk. If that works, start your assembly. Make sure you are careful about ESD precautions though.

 

[worlad]

hundeshau, card still good



Trente, it was a 4 pin plug that doesn't supply power, "silly me".



Buz2b, did as you said and it was good. Put mobo in case, then off to bed. This morning I powered up, "smoke from cpu"holy s-- t . 2 seconds at the most. When I first heard the screech from my AGP card my first thoughts were the cpu and like a prat I took the hsf off, realised noise was coming from the card, and put the hsf back on even though the thermal was a little stippled. God I hope the cpu is still good. Going shopping for some thermal grease right now . I've cleaned old thermal off and everything looks okay. I'll post back.

 

[hundesau]

lol, my predictions coming true...dont blame me pls.

Did u say u turn on Comp on the other day and there was coming smoke out of the case? Erm...iam caught between a grinning face and a face of horror. And if ur video card makes loud noises than its obious that the fan isnt working at its best.

and - but dont take that as an insult - maybe, i say maybe it was better to let a someone else do the work, at least with installing motherboard and devices? Ur killing ur hardware and its such good hardware .

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: worlad
hundeshau, card still good



Trente, it was a 4 pin plug that doesn't supply power, "silly me".



Buz2b, did as you said and it was good. Put mobo in case, then off to bed. This morning I powered up, "smoke from cpu"holy s-- t . 2 seconds at the most. When I first heard the screech from my AGP card my first thoughts were the cpu and like a prat I took the hsf off, realised noise was coming from the card, and put the hsf back on even though the thermal was a little stippled. God I hope the cpu is still good. Going shopping for some thermal grease right now . I've cleaned old thermal off and everything looks okay. I'll post back.

Make sure you clean the cpu with some alcohol (on a lint free cloth) or at least some fingernail polish remover, followed by the alcohol. It's important to get the remnants of the old stuff cleaned off before you put any new thermal paste on. As always, only apply an uber thin layer of paste. In case you are not totally familiar, there is a link here that can give you some assistance in understanding the process. Whether you use Arctic silver or not, the process is the same for the most part. Good Luck. Let's hope the CPU is ok.
Don't feel bad either. Early on in my building experience I once forgot to lock down the Heat sink on both sides. Oops! I got lucky and the cpu survived my mistake. Let us know how you fair with yours.

 

[worlad]

Hi hundesau, (schadenfreude I think that is) no, the first time I switched on( the card screeched because it had no power in the back of it.)

It doesn't have a fan, it must be cooled by the pipes it has on it. I've had to send for some thermal grease as I can't buy it here. I've had another look in the case (gulp) I had forgotten to plug in the ATX12v four pin plug.

I'm thinking I may have done more damage than first thought ,but I won't know till I get the grease and start
it up again, which I dont think will be till Saturday.

I'm hoping someone will post some encouragement saying "all is not lost". It's going to be a miserable weekend in this house otherwise.

Oops, I didn't see your post Buz2b.

Yes Iv'e cleaned as best I could, its looking very clean. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Buz2b]

Ok, All is not lost! J/K. Actually, there is no need to worry until you actually find out for sure. If you are talking about the four pin power plug to the MB, that may not be as big a concern as you thought. That is the extra power for the MB that it needs to supply to other components. Not having that power might not be that dangerous to the components. Only time will tell.
The only thing I'm concerned about is the fact that the "screeching" sound seemed to come from the video card when, you say, it doesn't have any fans; only heat pipes. I could see a fan making some sounds but the lack of one is kind of befuddling.

 

[hundesau]

maybe a chemical reaction, i think the heatpipes are filled with some kind of "stuff" that circulates when getting hot and will bring heat to the outer areas of the pipes. like a refrigerator. Maybe a pipe is damagad and somehow producing a noise....okay, okay, very unlikely its that but where should the sound stem from if it has no mechanical components moving?

I once had the same problem, ripped of the hsf cuz temperatures was too high and i wanted to clean the cooler, when i suddenly recognized that i didnt have any thermal grease left. As a child i always watched this McGuyver on TV and i thought, maybe toothpaste wil do it! Dont call me a lier its true, though i would not suggest u to use it, except in cases of emergency which it was for me when it happened, i couildnt even order new thermal paste without the PC. To shorten it....it worked. didnt get good temperatures but it worked. With thermal grease i had 45° idle and 55 load, with toothpaste i had 55° idle and maximum 75° load. Dangerous it was. when the thermal paste arrived 2 days later i would go on with the toothpaste to test how long it works but after 3 weeks i got scared and better did it the way it has to be.

and concerning schadenfreude: ya, u got me sometimes iam relly envious when seeing the state of the art systems and looking at my crappy p4 northwood :/. but didnt mean to make u feel worse. when i build my first system - i was 20 already but had no idea what i was doing and all the advice of my friend who i thought was good in comps and stuff turned out to be fatally wrong advices...well, that was some bad days when i just couldnt get it to work, so i decided to give the comp to the repair service of a computer dealer and the guy would look at Comp and then at me and say: dude, u made everything wrong here, be lucky that it still works. Had to give him 20 bucks for his work and learned my lesson. Now the comp is 4 years old and iam ways better in building systems. useless story , i know but my point is, whenever i see people in the same situation i remember how i felt once and a smile comes in my face and in most cases iam sure it will end all good.

sry4offtopic

 

[worlad]

Buz2b, you've given me hope and as you say time will tell. When I first heard that screech I thought , first the memorey, it wasn't, next the CPU, no, took out the card, no screech, then realised the card had no power, plugged in power no screech.


hundesau, no, I knew you were pulling my leg. Anyway, I liked your story, made me laugh. I doubt if I'd have the nerve to use Toothpaste or anything, if it wasn't the pucker thing..So many people know I'm building this thing, I just have to manage on my own " with help from people like yourselves" goes without saying.

 

[imported_slippy]

Thermal paste... I was under the impression that you shouldn't use any when using the stock athlon hsf. I believe that the heatsink already had a thermal pad.

I have to find out if I was wrongly informed about that.

 

[hundesau]

i think ur right slippy, if it is a boxed version then the hsf must have a thermal pad aplied to the cooler already. but taking the hsf off maybe has already destroyed the pad. i wouldnt use it a second time if half of it is stuck to the cpu and the other half to the cooler. too risky if it doenst fit equably imo.

 

[imported_slippy]

Ok, I think I misread his original post about taking his hsf off. His thermal pad was stippled, I guess, so he had to clean it off and get some thermal paste. Good to know in case I ever have to take the hsf off. Did the thermal pad melt to the cpu?

Yes, yes... newbie builder here for the world to see. Haven't had any problems with my a8n-sli build though.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: slippy
Ok, I think I misread his original post about taking his hsf off. His thermal pad was stippled, I guess, so he had to clean it off and get some thermal paste. Good to know in case I ever have to take the hsf off. Did the thermal pad melt to the cpu?

Yes, yes... newbie builder here for the world to see. Haven't had any problems with my a8n-sli build though.

You are correct that a "boxed" cpu w/hsf will have a thermal pad included. Once you fire up the system, even for just a couple of minutes, that pad is designed to and begins to melt. Once that happens, if you remove the HSF, you MUST clean off the remnants of that pad and either apply a new one or apply thermal paste (sparingly..... check out the link in my previous post). Once that pad starts to melt it will begin to adhere to both the cpu and the hsf; filling in the tiny imperfections in the surfaces of both items. The "stippling" that was mentioned was no doubt the beginnings of that process. At this point, if you remove the hsf, you compromise that pad.

worlad
The best bet now, once you get the paste is to (as mentioned) clean off the cpu and hsf completely with a lint free cloth using alcohol. If the pad is still thick in some areas you can use somehting like a credit card or other semi-soft plastic piece ti scrape the pad away carefully. Then follow up with the alcohol.
At that point I would "drop back and punt". Remove EVERYTHING from the MB first. Then, one by one, double checking all connections and instructions, reinstall each piece; one at a time. Then after finishing the reinstallation of the components, walk away for at least a half hour and then come back and recheck ALL COMPONENTS again. Its always a good idea to look at things with fresh eyes from time to time. Make sure and keep the number of initial install components to an absolute minimum needed.

 

[worlad]

Buz2b
My paste arrived at noon today. I took everything out of the case as you suggested, and couldn't believe I'd put the mobo in on only five spacers when there should be nine. These spacers were already screwed in when I got the case, I honestly didn't notice the missing ones. It was late in the day; bad light, tired and probably too keen to get started. I'm going to restart the build shortly. (here goes).

I think it's going to cost me an arm and a leg to get this thing built. Not a peep; fans are working and zilch. The memory have leds and they arn't showing.

 

[Vtach]

what is the best thermal paste to get? Cause I will need to rma my board just as well order it now...

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: worlad
Buz2b
My paste arrived at noon today. I took everything out of the case as you suggested, and couldn't believe I'd put the mobo in on only five spacers when there should be nine. These spacers were already screwed in when I got the case, I honestly didn't notice the missing ones. It was late in the day; bad light, tired and probably too keen to get started. I'm going to restart the build shortly. (here goes).

I think it's going to cost me an arm and a leg to get this thing built. Not a peep; fans are working and zilch. The memory have leds and they arn't showing.

There's a few troubleshooting things you can do before you pronounce things dead. BTW, even though it's a pain, it is best to do this withthe MB outside of the case, sitting on something like a phone book or piece of cardboard. it will require you to either hook up the switch wires or just "short" the two pins for the switch with a flat blade screwdriver. Read through all of this before trying anything. First, remove all components and disconnect the Power Supply from the MB. Second, remove the coin battery from the MB for about one minute, then put it back in. Be careful in removing and reinstalling this. This will reset your BIOS. Next, hook up the power supply, CPU w/HSF, video card, the floppy drive (with a boot disk inserted) and NO ram. . Again, make sure that ALL components are good and snug in their connections.Try to boot the system. Without the RAM you should get some beep code(s). Also check the monitor light to see if you are getting a signal. If that happens, so far so good. Now put in one stick of RAM and repeat the process. If it doesn't boot, exchange the RAM stick with another and retry. If you don't think you are getting a video signal, see if you can beg, borrow, (steal?) another video card to try. LMK if you don't get an error beep when booting without the RAM. Please remember to use only ONE stick of RAM at a time and try both if need be. Also, change slots on the RAM if need be. BTW, did the fan on the Heatsink spin? Don't hook up ANY more fans that that one when you try the boot process. Only hook up what I mentioned.