SnooSnooKachu Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Ok, I'm getting a hair frustrated with my computer and the fine users of the OCC forums usually help me out, so I'm gonna ask for some of your input. About a month ago my computer stopped posting randomly. I tried the following to try to diagnose the problem and their results: -Remove all of the RAM: sometimes the motherboard beeped at me, sometimes it didn't. Already something is fishy... -Remove all pci cards with 1 stick of ram in: same inability to post as with them. -Unhooked all cd drives and hard drives: same as above. -Unhooked everything hooked to the power supply except the motherboard and CPU fan: same results. I told the good fellas at EVGA, the manufacturer of my motherboard, about my dilemma and they suggested that I RMA my motherboard. I took their advice and did so. Today, I received my replacement mobo and shoved that thing into my computer. When I plugged the beast in, it resumed its inability to post. When I was assembling my stuff, I noticed that the mounting bracket for my heatsink that gets stuck under the motherboard was missing some of the adhesive stuff that helps the thing stick to the bottom of the motherboard. Is there any chance that this means the mounting bracket is touching the motherboard and is shorting something out? Or could this be a processor problem? Or is it something else all together? Any input as to more diagnostics I can do or any solution to this riddle would be more than greatly appreciated. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Damn, tricky use of the title! I was expecting a dead rodent or something! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iKillSteal Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 It's possible that the rear bracket is shorting something out. Throw some tabe on it(couple layers if it's thin stuff) and if it still continues I'd look towards your PSU. Seems like the only thing that you haven't yet attempted to diagnose. Besides that, give running the rig at stock speeds a shot. Could be that your OC is finally showing instability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
get_saif Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 It's possible that the rear bracket is shorting something out. Throw some tabe on it(couple layers if it's thin stuff) and if it still continues I'd look towards your PSU. Seems like the only thing that you haven't yet attempted to diagnose. Besides that, give running the rig at stock speeds a shot. Could be that your OC is finally showing instability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnooSnooKachu Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Actually, my processor pretty much has to be running at stock speeds because I can't even get to the bios of my new motherboard to actually change anything. If anything, it is being underclocked. The last time I installed this same model of motherboard it auto detected the processor to run at 1.6gHz because it detected the multiplier wrong. But that was a bios error and there was a bios update to fix that. Anyway, it is gonna be tough for me to test the power supply because I don't know anyone with a spare computer/psu they are willing to let me fiddle with. If I use electrical tape on the heat sink bracket, will that cause any heat issues or will the tape corrode after a while? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iKillSteal Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Won't cause any more heat issues than the original pad on the bracket would have and the tape won't corrode away. Might loose it's stickiness over several years but it'll stay in place unless you mess with it often. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Ok...here's my recommendation...it's what I'd do if I was in your situation. Take all the components out of your case. Put the motherboard on top of the motherboard box. Reseat the CPU Place one DIMM in a slot (DFI NF4's are picky...not sure if that's your case for which slot). CMOS clear Attach power supply Power on...listen for beeps None that are indicative of broken hardware (CPU / RAM)..? Add a graphics card attached to a monitor. See if it gets anywhere. Plug in all your timings in BIOS, check RAM voltage. If your BIOS doesn't have memtest86 in it, get a friend to download and create a bootable disk (files are on the memtest website). Requires addition of a CD drive... Fire up memtest, verify ten passes on tests 5 & 8...then at least a couple hours on all tests. Add more memory Memtest again Add harddrive Reinstall windows...if you're like me, you'll have everything backed up...or an extra, small harddrive just for this purpose. Prime95, 8 hours minimum...I go for at least 24, but I'm rather...um...crazy. Watch your temperatures... 3dmark suites / any other stability testing programs you want... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
apocracy Posted July 4, 2008 Posted July 4, 2008 what i have noticed with mine is it hangs at checking mem when my mp3 player is pluged into usbport(even though its on powered hub) so try unpluging all but most vital usb devices ie all but keyboard and mouse see if that fixs it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnooSnooKachu Posted July 4, 2008 Posted July 4, 2008 (edited) I'm gonna try the mobo on a box method today to try stuff out. I'm gonna try it without putting the mounting bracket on the back of the motherboard to see if that is the issue. When I was trying stuff earlier, the only stuff plugged into the back of my computer was a power cord and my monitor. My motherboard has an LCD readout that gives the post codes and it was only displaying FF and nothing was showing on my monitor. I know when my computer is operational, the post code display starts at FF, flashes a bunch of hex numbers, then stuff appears on the screen. Currently, it just hangs at that initial FF. UPDATE: I took my motherboard out and left only the processor and heat sink on it. I took off the back plate to the motherboard to see if that was the issue. When I hooked up my power supply and started it, I was getting the same symptoms. I received no annoying "Where's the RAM?" beeping that I've heard before, even though the RAM wasn't in it. I took the processor out and just tried to power up the motherboard on its own. I didn't get any beeping, but a red warning LED lit up. Later today I'm going to take my psu to a friend's house and hook it to his computer to see if that could be the problem. Edited July 4, 2008 by SnooSnooKachu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsinister Posted July 4, 2008 Posted July 4, 2008 (edited) It sounds like a mobo problem to me. Edited July 4, 2008 by mrsinister Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d4w50n Posted July 4, 2008 Posted July 4, 2008 UPDATE:I took my motherboard out and left only the processor and heat sink on it. I took off the back plate to the motherboard to see if that was the issue. When I hooked up my power supply and started it, I was getting the same symptoms. I received no annoying "Where's the RAM?" beeping that I've heard before, even though the RAM wasn't in it. I took the processor out and just tried to power up the motherboard on its own. I didn't get any beeping, but a red warning LED lit up. Later today I'm going to take my psu to a friend's house and hook it to his computer to see if that could be the problem. Doubt it'll be a PSU error, mate, the mobo usually handles those with a long beep (depends on the make and model) each time it boots. It seriously sounds like a mobo error, try EVERY component other than the mobo in a different system to see if everything works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compxpert Posted July 5, 2008 Posted July 5, 2008 I'm gonna try the mobo on a box method today to try stuff out. I'm gonna try it without putting the mounting bracket on the back of the motherboard to see if that is the issue.When I was trying stuff earlier, the only stuff plugged into the back of my computer was a power cord and my monitor. My motherboard has an LCD readout that gives the post codes and it was only displaying FF and nothing was showing on my monitor. I know when my computer is operational, the post code display starts at FF, flashes a bunch of hex numbers, then stuff appears on the screen. Currently, it just hangs at that initial FF. UPDATE: I took my motherboard out and left only the processor and heat sink on it. I took off the back plate to the motherboard to see if that was the issue. When I hooked up my power supply and started it, I was getting the same symptoms. I received no annoying "Where's the RAM?" beeping that I've heard before, even though the RAM wasn't in it. I took the processor out and just tried to power up the motherboard on its own. I didn't get any beeping, but a red warning LED lit up. Later today I'm going to take my psu to a friend's house and hook it to his computer to see if that could be the problem. I second on whoever told you to try a different psu. That sounds EXACTLY like a problem I had with my Biostar P4M900-M4. Board uses both onboard video and PCI-E and every time I have the video card in it would give me ram errors. Video card out I would get no error and no POST. Tried a different psu and it fired right up. Not to mention its the only component you haven't tried to replace yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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