Power LED comes on.

[xerop]

Power LED comes on. and nothing more (even fans dont come on) than a random time later the whole system comes on. Also after turning off the computer I cannot start it again for hours unless the switch in the back of the power supply is toggled twice. I can't think of anything but this being a problem with the mainboard. Any Ideas? Also the power LED blinks as the system comes on is this normal?

 

Also if the switch in the back is toggled prior to attempt to turn on the comp after a shutdown it doesn't do anythin at all. Like the power button wasn't pressed but then comes on at a random time.

 

I checked the power supply it comes on instantly. Maybe a load difference? I will check it under a more power hungry system a bit later.

[davidhammock200]

Antec 480W NEO Power

Try a different PSU.

[xerop]

Just noticed something else. There are two LEDs on the main board one power the other ram power when the power light comes on (by it self the ram light is off while the other orange led is on on the mainboard (near bottom edge)

[SeanDude05]

Definately try a different PSU. OCZ GameXstream 600W would do you fine. Heck, at Newegg they are selling the 700W for the same price.

[tasr]

Here is the way to read the Diagnostic LEDs.

 

4 LEDs on = Power applied, checking CPU

3 LEDs on = CPU has been detected OK, checking RAM

2 LEDs on = RAM has been detected OK, checking VGA

1 LED on = VGA has been detected OK, entering BIOS

0 LEDs on = System has booted to the Operating System.

 

As long as you are in the BIOS including running memtest from the BIOS option, there will be one LED on.

 

Example: If you are getting 3 LEDs on, it means the rig is having trouble detecting the RAM.

 

The lower(PCI) Amber LED is the 5VSB indicator. The upper Amber LED is the RAM voltage indicator. Once the rig has started and been shut down the RAM LED will go out until the PSU is power cycled.

 

 

Nice rig, best do yourself and your motherboard a big favor. Get a PSU from recommend list. DFI Recommended Power Supplies (UPDATED June 14th, 2006!) If it is not here forget it.

 

 

You can take Dave’s good advice or test tourself.

 

Testing Your PSU Voltage Rails

 

HOW TO JUMP A PSU

 

 

I can list several threads of people using certain types of PSU’s that once they went with a recommended PSU their problems disappeared. It is your choice.

[xerop]

Well hello (the diagnostic LEDs never lit up until the whole system turned on. I dont want to spend money on a new PSU. I happen to have a 400w Mad Dog PSU (5 year warranty) liying around. So this morning I swaped the two and it works great. It starts as it should.

 

But I don't think any of you realize that your rigs do not eat 700w. Mine at peak only eats 300w I tested with the Power Angle. So having a 700w PSU is overkill. I think most of you should realize this too. Also with SLI configs the vidcards only eat like 80 watts (tops, each). Unless its a quad sli...

 

Anyway should I RMA the NEO 480? Or is there no point in it. I will test in another system if similar results occur I will try to RMA. By the way I have already RMA'd it once just the PSU (without cables) they sent back a brand new one! ^_^

 

Also I do have a lot of spare parts liying around so I am not willing to spend more money. (I want a laptop... But debating whether it might be better just to upgrade my rig Maybe a dual core vid card.)

[xerop]

Another side effect. I have a 256mb flash stick i havent used in two years. Because everytime I tried to access it it would turn off. Now thats fixed too it works great... Maybe I will buy one of those recommened PSUs.

[Praz]

Maybe I will buy one of those recommened PSUs.

That would be a wise decision. DFI states these motherboards require a minimum of 480W. This is based on a system with minimum components running at stock speeds. Once we start overclocking, adding multiple drives, fans and whatever this minimum increases rapidly. Thats why 520W minimum is mentioned so often here. Most of the companies that consistently produce quality power supplies don't even offer any below this rating. And that's because they know as a lot of us have found out that to run today's high performance systems stable requires this kind of power.

[tasr]

Well hello (the diagnostic LEDs never lit up until the whole system turned on. I dont want to spend money on a new PSU. I happen to have a 400w Mad Dog PSU (5 year warranty) liying around. So this morning I swaped the two and it works great. It starts as it should.

 

But I don't think any of you realize that your rigs do not eat 700w. Mine at peak only eats 300w I tested with the Power Angle. So having a 700w PSU is overkill. I think most of you should realize this too. Also with SLI configs the vidcards only eat like 80 watts (tops, each). Unless its a quad sli...

 

Anyway should I RMA the NEO 480? Or is there no point in it. I will test in another system if similar results occur I will try to RMA. By the way I have already RMA'd it once just the PSU (without cables) they sent back a brand new one! ^_^

 

Also I do have a lot of spare parts liying around so I am not willing to spend more money. (I want a laptop... But debating whether it might be better just to upgrade my rig Maybe a dual core vid card.)

 

Power Angel Review

 

Well that’s is a great tool for determining the PSU draw from a 110V source. It has nothing to do with the PSU power output ability to the motherboard.

 

Ok here is my opinion.

 

The DFI motherboards where designed from the ground up to overclock. Stability is the name of the game. To get the stability you need in a DFI rig you need good clean power. PSU can disrupt so many things in ones rig. The stability can go at 1st, which then gets worse and worse as time goes on. Then major power issues with the motherboard and it will seem stability related. Components can also fail or seem to cause stability issues. Basically the PSU is slowly dying and may take your motherboard and or components with it. A PSU failing can happen all of a sudden or slowly over time. There is no one person that can not say a PSU will not degrade over time. I’ve seen this many times.

 

The DFI LanParty mother boards were built only with overclocking in mind.

 

You don’t put unleaded gas in a Funny Car, NO you use nitromethane.

 

DFI LanParty mother boards were not meant to just surf the Web or check email, NO they were thoroughly design, testing, and then produced to maximize your hardware ability to overclock.

 

A top marksman doesn’t buy generic off the shelf ammo, NO they use fast burning powder, precision cartridges and loads.

 

Tony Sinclair said it best, “You wouldn’t put a donkey in the Kentucky derby, would you”.

 

I’ve seen many people that have changed their under powered PSU to a quality recommended PSU on their DFI motherboard and were amazed. I have also seen the people that changed their under powered PSU and still their DFI motherboard wouldn’t work, why because those pos PSU fried the motherboard. Then they blame the DFI mother board and that is BS. Here’s another thing that get me, when someone tells someone else that you can use the 400W PSU on your LP nF4 Ultra-D it work fine on my Asus A8N-SLI Premium. no, nO and NO! DFI power requirement are much higher. There is no way you can compare a Intel, Tyan, MSI, Asus, Abit or DFI motherboards power requirements as the same. Come on; go check the manufacturer web site a read for yourself.

 

PSU are the life of your rig. If you’re really overclocking, gaming and really using a DFI motherboard with a under power PSU you will eventually pay. Then when it fails, you blame the motherboard, wrong it was that cheap PSU. Yes you may get lucky and it is your choice to use what ever you want, but I’m not risking my $800, $1500 or more rig on a $50 PSU. Good luck to all that do. Using any NON-recommended power requirements on any components is not a good idea. So why do it? There is no reason to.

 

Look I’ve been building computers a long time, since 1985 and started around the Intel 386. However, I’ve been around longer than that. I can honestly say I’ve built well over 600 hundred workstation pc, gamming pc, high end rigs and servers. And I’ve overclocked several hundred of those. I’ve learned you can’t use under powered, cheap generic PSU they just don’t last they damage your components and fry your motherboards. For a final note I have never lost a rig while using a good quality PSU nor have I run into terrible stability issues due to it. Sad thing about that is I probable will one day. Whether you agree or disagree it you decision to run what ever you want in you rig.

 

Your rig is nice and even if you think of upgrading to a better video card or dual core CPU you’re going to need better power. The OCZ 700w is a bit much for your rig currently in your signature. RMA that NEO then sell it. Read DFI Recommended Power Supplies (UPDATED June 14th, 2006!) half way down the list about Antec. The recommended list has plenty more options. This wasn’t meant to be harsh so please don’t take it that way. If I can reach one to change, I can reach a thousand to change.

[xerop]

Agreed I will change the PSU. your completely right if you have a good rig use a good power supply. (the NEO was a good power supply for my rig before I upgraded that is why i use it.)

Power supplies are a bit expensive though... But it may let me clock it further...

I also dont know if I will upgrade to SLI because I can run all games with my current config with decent settings on my samsung 204b (1600x1200).

 

By the way to your speech I would add that you can lose your good hardware for a bad power supply. I know a guy (I repaired his computer) who lost:

2 hdds

2cdrom

1 mainboard

1 video card

2 256mb stick of ram

 

all due to a power supply failure!

[KikBakBro]

Agreed I will change the PSU. your completely right if you have a good rig use a good power supply. (the NEO was a good power supply for my rig before I upgraded that is why i use it.)

Power supplies are a bit expensive though... But it may let me clock it further...

I also dont know if I will upgrade to SLI because I can run all games with my current config with decent settings on my samsung 204b (1600x1200).

 

By the way to your speech I would add that you can lose your good hardware for a bad power supply. I know a guy (I repaired his computer) who lost:

2 hdds

2cdrom

1 mainboard

1 video card

2 256mb stick of ram

 

all due to a power supply failure!

 

Hey Xerop, Tasr & others are most certainly right about the source of your problem being the PSU. I had almost the EXACT same problem with my PC when my Enermax EG565AX 535 Watt PSU had a 5v rail fail on it. Another thought is that Tasr, ExRoadie, Sharp & Angry Games (or is it Happy_Games now?) know their .. Any recommendation from these guys should be taken seriously.

 

This probably looks familiar according to your first post:

Pwr---->LED power on,--->wait---> wait--->HDD's spin up & computer boots--->possible random shutdowns.

That's pretty much what happened to me.

 

To echo whats already been said, get yourself a new PSU. Myself and many others on this forum are using the OCZ GamerXtreme 600W & 700W and they work great. That's not the only PSU on the market, but definitely buy one off the "Recommended list".

 

I would check out either Newegg.com or Zipzoomfly.com. I've bought several items from each, and never had a problem. Zipzoomfly maybe be a few dollars more than Newegg (usually not though), but often times they offer free 2nd day air through fed-ex, which usually ends up saving you a couple bucks over Newegg in the end.

 

Stay away from Monarch, I've had a few friends get burned from that site trying to deal with RMA's

 

Good luck!