DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI-DR Expert: Cold Boot Problem or Dead?

[ksuWildcat]

Hi all! I've got a problem and I'd like to get some advice.

 

I have a DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI-DR Expert, which I've owned for almost one year, but now it fails to start/boot. I don't know the board revision #, but it came loaded with the latest BIOS. I've never had any problems with the board until this week when I turned off the computer (via Windows > Start > Shutdown) and it failed to do anything the next time I tried to start it. Pressing the power switch on the case and motherboard has no effect whatsoever. But I can see the amber LED for Power/Standby is on, and my power supply seems to be OK, although I have not tried it in another machine. I've tried the official no-boot CMOS clear several times to no avail, reseating & connecting all components/cables, minimal hardware config, etc. Nothing has worked.

 

Here are my system specs:

 

DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI-DR Expert

Athlon FX-60

2 GB OCZ Platinum DDR-400 @ 2-3-2-5

EVGA 7950 GTO KO 512 MB PCI-Express Graphics Card

Corsair 620HX Modular Power Supply

2x Western Digital Raptors (150GB)

 

After reading other posts similar to this one, I believe that either I have a dead motherboard, or a manifestation of the cold-boot problem. I went ahead and ordered an OCZ GamerXtreme 700 watt power supply, as many have suggested that this resolves the issue. But I'd like to get some additional feedback and try to figure out what my options are? Thanks!

[radodrill]

Very likely an issue with the PSU; Let us know when you get the GXS 700W

[ksuWildcat]

Very likely an issue with the PSU; Let us know when you get the GXS 700W

 

Thanks for the reply. That is kind of what I thought (and am hoping for). It seems unlikely the motherboard would simply die on me. It has a low duty-cycle, is not overclocked, and has worked flawlessly...until now.

 

But from what I have read, certain DFI Expert boards can become picky about the PSU, even if it has worked in the past, especially with modular power supplies. It seems that the power supply doesn't go bad, it simply won't allow the motherboard to draw the power it needs on startup due to ATX specs.

 

I'll post back as soon as I get the OCZ power supply installed and tested. I also picked up a backup S939 Foxconn motherboard, just in case. Geez, there aren't many good options now for S939, are there?

 

[Sharp]

I need a replacement 939 but over here (England) there is nothing.

 

Have you tried powering just the board, CPU and memory.

Without hard drives/drives/gfx card.

[ksuWildcat]

Have you tried powering just the board, CPU and memory.

Without hard drives/drives/gfx card.

 

Thank you for replying! I did try powering just the board with the CPU & 1 stick of RAM in slot 2, but still nothing. I've tried with & without the GFX card too. I really hope that this is a part of the cold boot issue with certain expert boards and that the board just doesn't like my PSU.

 

If it turns out that the MB is dead, should I contact DFI for warranty/service? I picked up a spare Foxconn MB just in case my DFI is dead, but I'm not sure what the return/repair policy is.

 

Oh, and I apologize for not posting this message in the correct location. I had read the sticky, but somehow I managed to post this originally to the main section by accident.

[Sharp]

Yeah contact DFI, these boards are now discontinued so they may not be able to replace it.

[ksuWildcat]

Well, this is just an update. I swapped in my new OCZ GamerXtreme 700 watt power supply, and I got the same result. The amber standby/power LED comes on, but I cannot get the motherboard to start booting. Pressing the power switch on the motherboard does absolutely nothing.

 

So, I proceeded to swap in this "el cheapo" S939 Foxconn motherboard, and what do you know, it booted right up. I've been running solid for 3 days, so I'm guessing that my DFI Expert is dead.

 

I'm going to try putting the DFI in another case with a different processor, with each power supply one more time, just to see what happens. Maybe I had a short, but it is looking more and more like she's kaput. It's a shame too, since the DFI Expert was noticeably faster than this Foxconn board. Oh well.

 

Thanks to everyone who offered help! It is much appreciated.