New motherboard, CPU and GPU combination not working :(

[savage]

I have installed my recent mother board bundle and graphics.
The machine starts up, displays the graphics card information, but does not display any RAM or HDD information ( which I find very odd ).
Then power is only applied to the keyboard for about 1 second before the "Press DEL for Setup" message appears. Then the keyboard lights go out and does not respond.

After about 3 seconds of seeing the ASUS logo the machine reboots itself and this process continues until I turn off the machine. :cry:
I have a 350Watt Power supply ( they recommended 300W as minimum ) in my base unit.

Can anyone suggest what may be going wrong?

I've also submitted this same message to the novatech support people.

[JernejL]

i'm almost absolutely sure this would be too weak PSU, i'm not an expert tho..

[savage]

i'm almost absolutely sure this would be too weak PSU, i'm not an expert tho..

I fear you may be right. I did not think that the new graphics cards required so much juice ( oh so naive I am ). After some Googling it seems I need 550W+ for a 7600GT card!

[Robert Kosek]

It says (The page on the 7600gt) 350 minimum, I'd reccomend a 450 watt. Remember that your entire PC draws current.

[technomage]

My pc is running a 7800 GT on a 500W power supply, you should be ok with one that size

[savage]

Looks like I'll have to find another £50 which was not factored into this bundle's budget. I hope it all works after that, the wife is getting very edgy :).

[Clootie]

I don't believe that it's a PSU (unless it's a totatly crap PSU).
I've succesfully run at one time FX57 (~80W), 2Gb memory, X1800XT (~120W) and usual set of components on the same class 350W PSU - and everything worked [almost] fine. By "almost" I mean what at full load, i.e. running some 3D game - PSU starts to exhibit some crackling noises :lol:

So, your 350W PSU, should be fine at least to start OS. Do you have 24pin (20+4) power connector in it? Some Intel motherboards refuse to start with just 20pin power connected to them. SO you could probably need new PSU for that - i.e. ATX2.0 PSU with 24 for MB and 4 for CPU power connectors.

[savage]

I used a 20 to 24 pin convertor as the MB only accepts 24. The only thing I'm not sure about is if my PSU is ATX2.0 certified. It'a couple of years old, so I don't think it is.

[jdarling]

To quote: "Well there's your problem!"

The newer motherboards require an actual 2.0 20+4 PSU. I ran into the same problem a few times when I was placing unofficial upgrades into some friends systems. Grab another PSU and call it golden.

[savage]

OK I've just ordered...
1 x HYP-4M580 Hiper 580 Watt, ATX v2.2, Temp control Act. PFC, Sli Cert
@ GBP 49.05 each (Ex Vat)

A little expensive cause it comes to just under £70 to get it delivered on Tuesday, but I hope it will be enough to get this baby up an running.

[Sascha Willems]

Well, I already build I couple of new AM2-systems (including mine) and I don't think that it's a PSU-only issue. The only really important thing about the PSU are the amp?©re on 12V and 5V which should be at least 20A per Rail, and as long as you have the additional 4-Pin Connector (it's needed for the CPU's power) and the PSU has around 20A on the 12V rail it should be OK.

So I think it's a memory issue (especially as it takes some time till your system goes down).
The new AM2-socket is VERY picky about the memory, and in the other thread I saw that you ordered memory with only 533Mhz, which is far below what the AM2-Socket is able to use (800 Mhz, PC6400). So your issue could be an icompatibility between the board and the memory (did you take a look at the memory compatibility list for your board?), and in the worst case you also have to exchange your memory. ASUS' AM2 boards e.g. are known for having troubles with even expensive OCZ-modules, so as I build my system I went for G.Skill modules and made sure that they'll work with that board. But not everything is lost, as you could try to relax the memory-timings in the BIOS. And it's also possible that the board didn't recognize the memory and tries to use totally wrong timings, so try to change them somehow. Another possibility is that your board doesn't deliver enough voltage to your memory, modules usually have a voltage operation range (e.g. 1.9 - 2.1v for my G.Skill memory), so upping this by 0.1 or 0.2v could help too.

[tux]

hmm, i think it could either be a weak PSU or a DOA motherboard. i'm pretty sure its not an incompatibility because he bought a bundle

during the initial boot is the most stressful time for the PSU as everything powers up and goes through the POST. you didnt say if you tried booting the system with only the cpu, ram, graphics card (or no graphics card if its onboard). if it completes the POST and returns with a "no bootable media" error then you can try add the hdd etc. just keep adding each component back in until it doesnt boot and try the system with only that item.


also, while its struggling to boot up can you hear the hdd spinning up and down? that usually indicates a weak psu.

[savage]

Sascha, it was a bundle and they say that they test the whole MB with memory etc before sending it out. That is why I bought it as it was supposed to have been pretested. The 350W PSU was for my old MB, which I hoped would work with this new MB.

This evening I decided to use that PSU in an old machine I had and the machine booted up for about 1 second and then did not respond again. When I stuck the old machine's, old PSU back ( both were 350W ) in, the old machine started up again.

The support guy from Novatech reckons that with the new PSU everything will be fine as well. I have told him that it better be because if not I will send everything back for a refund.

It is due to arrive on Tuesday before 12pm, so hopefully Tuesday night everything will be hunky dory.

[savage]

It's alive! But I had to Re-install Win2K on it. I can't to play HL2 on it to see what all the fuss about HDR is.

[tux]

lost coast video download link here : http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2005/09/21/lost_coast_benchmark/2.html