New PC built problems

Our "pub" where you can post about things completely Off Topic or about non-silent PC issues.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

New PC built problems

Post by mcstark » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:25 pm

I'm building up a pretty nice system -- should be relatively silent -- and hit a snag. I finished installing everything this weekend, plugged it in, hit the switch and nothing. Well, not much of anything. The mobo standby light glows, but the fans turn on for a second, then off, then on again, etc.

I bought a PSU tester and that passes with flying colors. I've unplugged everything except processor and memory -- board has video on it -- and still the same. I pulled the CMOS battery, waited a minute, and something new. The CPU fan spun for a few seconds then stopped. It didn't start again. I repeated the battery procedure and it did the intermittent fan thing.

Any thoughts? I'm thinking the processor is bad.

Here's what I have:
Antec P150
Intel DG965WH board with Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz) processor
2gb DDR2 RAM
250 Seagate HD
ATI X1900GT PCI-E card
DVD-RW
Internal memory card reader

Dik1985
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:35 am
Location: UK

Post by Dik1985 » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:23 am

I had this problem, turned out it was my memory.

What make and speed is your memory?

jaganath
Posts: 5085
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:55 am
Location: UK

Post by jaganath » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:23 am

Are you using the stock power supply? It's known to be problematic:

Massive NeoHE problem thread in PSU forum

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:01 am

Dik1985 wrote:I had this problem, turned out it was my memory.

What make and speed is your memory?
Kingston DDR2 667MHz -- I have two 1 gig sticks (dual channel board).

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:05 am

jaganath wrote:Are you using the stock power supply? It's known to be problematic:

Massive NeoHE problem thread in PSU forum
That's what I thought at first, especially because my case was built last December. So I picked up Antec PSU Tester at C.C. last night. It tests all the rails and passes or fails each one, and then tests if the psu is sending a boot signal to the board. I had green lights across the board, so it's definitely not the psu.

floffe
Posts: 497
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 4:36 am
Location: Linköping, Sweden

Post by floffe » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:09 am

Try it with one stick of memory at a time, to see if it's one of those.

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:59 am

floffe wrote:Try it with one stick of memory at a time, to see if it's one of those.
That's next on my list after work tonight. A buddy I work with has the same board and is bringing it in for me to try. Hopefully it's just the RAM.

Thank you all! I appreciate the helpful suggestions.

jaganath
Posts: 5085
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:55 am
Location: UK

Post by jaganath » Tue Dec 12, 2006 7:44 am

So I picked up Antec PSU Tester at C.C. last night. It tests all the rails and passes or fails each one, and then tests if the psu is sending a boot signal to the board. I had green lights across the board, so it's definitely not the psu.
If Antec ships faulty PSUs, what are the odds they ship faulty PSU testers as well? :lol:

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:47 am

jaganath wrote:
So I picked up Antec PSU Tester at C.C. last night. It tests all the rails and passes or fails each one, and then tests if the psu is sending a boot signal to the board. I had green lights across the board, so it's definitely not the psu.
If Antec ships faulty PSUs, what are the odds they ship faulty PSU testers as well? :lol:
That's just wrong, but funny! :lol:

So the tester is in cahoots with the psu...an electronic revolution is at hand.

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:59 pm

OK, here's what I tried tonight:

Uninstalled both memory sticks and reset the CMOS. Still got the intermittent fan thing. It should have thrown off an error beep with no memory installed, but nothing.

Installed one memory stick and reset the CMOS. Same result. Tried the other one and more of the same.

Mind you, I'm doing this without a monitor installed, but it's not even beeping when it fires up, so we're not even getting that far in the boot cycle. I'm betting it's a bad board, plain and simple.

Oh, also tried another trick: removed the CMOS battery and put a screwdriver across the contacts to see if the battery was somehow dead. Same results.

Any other thoughts?

A buddy is letting me borrow his board -- exact same one. I'm going to try it with my processor and memory. We shall see...

Dik1985
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:35 am
Location: UK

Post by Dik1985 » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:11 am

Hi, this is sounding exactly the same as my problem.

I only managed to sort it out by going to 533MHz RAM. Is there any way you can try a stick? I went down to my local shop and bought a cheap stick so I could test.

I initially thought it was the board too, but just changing my RAM from 667MHz (OCZ) to 533MHz (Generic) allowed everything to go as planned.

I thought it was because of the OCZ incompatibility problems but it may be the speed.

Hope this Helps.

andyb
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 3307
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Essex, England

Post by andyb » Wed Dec 13, 2006 3:28 am

If your mothrboard doesnt have a bleeper built into it, make sure an add-in speaker is wired in the right way round.

Then test the CPU mobo and RAM outside of the case, it could be a short, if that doesnt work test YOUR CPU and RAM on your friends board, that will give confirmation as to whether your board is toast or not.


Andy

NeilBlanchard
Moderator
Posts: 7681
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2002 7:11 pm
Location: Maynard, MA, Eaarth
Contact:

Post by NeilBlanchard » Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:16 am

Hello,

Simplify!

Run it with just one stick of RAM, and the video card to get into the BIOS. Then hook up a CD-ROM, the floppy, and one HD, and try to install the OS. Then add all the RAM, and after than any other drives, and the USB ports, etc.

If something doesn't work right along the way, you may find the Ultimate Boot CD very useful, for testing RAM, etc.

Dik1985
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:35 am
Location: UK

Post by Dik1985 » Thu Dec 14, 2006 2:53 am

When I had this problem, I tried individually with both sticks and it still didn't work. But after selling the RAM (love eBay) there was absoloutly no problem with it at all... or my board with different RAM.

alexander
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:43 am
Location: United Kingdom

Post by alexander » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:48 am

I had this probelm last week with my new E6600 system.

May sound stupid but make sure you push the power lead into the motherboard FULLY.

My fans turned on for a split second but nothing.

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:24 pm

OK - I tested my buddy's motherboard tonight and it did the same thing. So it comes down to the RAM or the processor. Each time I've checked all the connections, so I know they're not loose. My mobo does have a little speaker on it, and actually says in the manual that if no RAM is present it will give off a warning signal.

Seeing as his board and my board have the same results, and I tried my board without any RAM and didn't get a beep I'm betting the processor is bad. It's not even getting far enough to recognize if memory is present or not.

As far as simplifying, I'm down to the bare minimum now. My board has video built in, so I just have RAM and a processor installed.

My board will support 533, 667, or 800mHz RAM, but I'd rather not downgrade to 533. Hopefully I can try the RAM on a different machine this weekend to double check, but my suspicions are the processor right now. I'd like to think Intel's quality control is better than this, but things do happen....

Dik1985
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:35 am
Location: UK

Post by Dik1985 » Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:35 am

Going to 533MHz on a Core 2 Duo isnt really a downgrade anyway (actually a bit better than 667MHz when not overclocking as runs synchronus with FSB).

But this is deffinatly the same problem, I really recommend either trying 533MHz RAM or trying a different make.

When I tried removing my RAM and powered on with just my board and CPU, I got no beep either... but my CPU was fine. Once I had the new RAM in it was all working well.

mcstark
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:10 pm

Post by mcstark » Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:35 pm

OK, finally got 800mHz memory from Kingston. Intel has a VERY short list of memory that they certify is good. Still got the same problem.

So, at this point, I've tried another mobo with the same results. And I've tried new memory with the same results. I've tested the power supply and it checks out. It has to be the processor. What else could it be?

And YES I've checked both power cables and they were plugged in properly.

I'm lost, frustrated, and very tired. I should have spend another $600 and bought a Mac. :evil:

Post Reply