Strange boot problem - please help!

[Cheesetogo]

I recently had a strange problem start occuring. When I turn on my computer, all the fans run at full speed, and stay at full speed. No video appears, although it does boot into windows. If I leave the computer like this for a while, turn it off, and turn it back on, it will boot up fine, with the fans going to regular speed and video showing up after a few seconds. Also, I can turn it on and off multiple times and it will eventually work. It seems almost like it has to "warm up" before being able to turn on properly. My system is:

DFI NF4 SLI-D
Opteron 165 @ 2.6 (have tried it at stock, problem still occurs)
2x 1 GB sticks ram
X1900XTX
2 HDDs
1 Optical
Enermax 420 watt psu

At first I considered the that the psu might not be providing enough power, but I'm not sure about that as I was running the same setup with 7800gts in sli without problems before, and they draw about the same amount of power. This problem started occuring after I bought the X1900XTX, but I can't be sure it's the problem either, because it didn't occur for a while after I bought it.

Also, one more problem - if I try and put the computer in standby mode, the cpu temps shoot up to about 65 C after turning it back on, and the fan sounds strange. Because of this, I can't use standby, which is really annoying. This started happening after I got the 165.

 

[Cheesetogo]

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[ParatoOptimal]

Same problem happens to my friend's AMD Athlon with 3dfx VooDoo 300 (I think it is) Video Card.

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[letdown427]

Unstable much? That's a very weak PSU for an XTX and a heavily OC'd Opteron.

Are all of the extra mobo power connectors plugged in? Plug them in. All of them.

I'm willing to bet if yo've got a PCI vid card around, you could probably boot everytime with just that and the CPU at stock.

Try bare minimum, 1 stick RAM, stock CPU, vid card, no disks/optical. That will hopefully work aswell. Honestly, if you can borrow a hefty PSU from someone, it's definately worth trying. I mean, didn't you notice the sticker on the ATX plug on that board? 420w PSU is barely recommended for a weak nv6xxx / ati9xxx card. Sticking that hugely power hungry x1900 in there is crazy. (IMHO )

Also, open the case, under the bottom PCI slot (probably) there'll be four red LED lights. Which of those stay on when it doesn't boot? That's what is happening btw, one of the checks is failing.

If all four stay on, it can't detect the CPU.
3 on = Where's the RAM?
2 on = Where's the Video?
1 on = No problems, once you're into the OS, it'll go off.

Oh and what BIOS are you running? (the date in the bottom left of the first screen, have to turn off DFI logo in BIOS if it's on...)

 

[Cheesetogo]

Thanks for the reply!

All plugs on the motherboard have been plugged in. I'm leaning towards buying a new psu to replace this one at the moment (535watt enermax), but I'm still not sure that this thing can't supply enough power. It powered my system fine when I had 7800gts (everything else in system was the same), and it didn't start to have trouble for a while. In addition, gaming is stable. Do you think that the psu may just have become defective? Also, it does go into windows to my knowlegde, as all the lights do eventually go out, meaning it booted. I'll check the bios in a few minutes.

Bios is 6/23/2005.

 

[letdown427]

Hmm. If you haven't already, check out dfi-street.com.

They'll give you loads of advice as to the best PSU to get etc. The sstandby issue sounds odd, but I think DFI's don't like being stoodby/hibernated. Again, check dfi-street. I'm really just regurgitating stuff I've read over there.

Might be worth trying a newer BIOS, I don't know TBH. Again, Clicketh Good luck.