Computer Problem

S

SippieCup

Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
762
Alright, my friend has been having a strange problem with his computer and i can only talk on the phone about it to him. so yeah, heres whats going on.

My friend was basically building a new computer in an old dell case. and spare parts lying around.

so here is the basic setup.


Mobo: Gigabyte P35 (reference link )

Processor: C2D E6400

Video Card: EAX850XT

PS: well 2 of them, Antec Truepower 480W (Works Perfectly, NOT BROKEN), and some crappy dell one, ill get to why later.

Ram: 2x ddr2-800 1GB sticks from Geil

Hard drive: 350GB 7200.8


now for the problem...

he got the P35, put it in the case, ptu everything together, and connected the old dell power supply he had to everything and tried running it. it turned on for 1/4 of a second, then died.

he called me, and it sounded like a PS problem.. so i sent him my old (but perfectly fine) Antec truepower 480W PS. (i used this literally 2 weeks ago, powering my rig in the sig, full power/overclocks too) so i know it works well.

he put in the new PS, still didnt work. so he thought maybe the board was DOA and RMA'ed it to newegg.

now while waiting for his new board, i though he should test the old powersupply and other parts. so he put his old dell board in, connected everything to the old power supply, and turned on the board. the same thing happend to that board... 1/4 second then it turns off.

then he tried using the new PS, but the same thing happend to him again on that one.

then he got the new p35, he connected eveythign up, put the new PS on started it up... and it shutdown immediately again.

no matter what i tlel him to do, clear the CMOS, check the jumpers, etc etc etc...

nothing works.

so anyone have any idea what it is? i seriously am completely lost now. as are the gigabyte techs and everyone i have talked to.


Cliffs:

-build doesnt work (symptoms are of PS failure)
-new PS has the same problems with multiple boards,
-completely lost
-need help
-i just wanted to have five cliff notes... :D


thanks guys, and keep being [H]ard
 
Well I have not been keeping up with what Dell has been doing in the last few years but I was under the impression that some of their power supplies were NOT ATX power supplies. They used the same power connector but were pinned out differently. I'm not sure if this is your friend's problem or not but it would be worth checking into.

Also perhaps his boards are grounding out on something in the case. I think he needs to take some time and carefully examine the board and how it sits in the case. Considering he's had effectively 3 boards exhibit this problem it's very possible that there is a standoff in the wrong spot or some random piece of metal that is making contact with the board.
 
Were both power connectors from the psu connected to the board?
I'm sure the 24/20 pin was connected, but was the 8/4 pin connected also?
 
SippieCup said:
and some crappy dell one
Click to expand...

How old is the Dell PSU?

The above poster is correct, older (pre 4600 series, I think) Dell PSU's are not ATX compatible, although the 20 pin connector will fit an ATX board.... and if the PSU in question is one of the older Dell units... I think you just found the problem.....
 
Coincidentally, I am experiencing the exact problem with my friend's computer at this very moment. So any feedback from forum members would be much appreciated.

E6600
Asus P5B
1GB (2x512) Mushkin HP2-6400
eVGA 7600GS
Enermax Liberty 620W PSU

Here is what I tried:

1) Closed the power on pins with a jumper to rule out a faulty power button.
2) Shorted the power on pin 14 with the neighbor ground to see if it's a PSU issue. It turns on and stays on, so most likely not PSU related.
3) Swapped the P5B with an Intel DP965LT board. This should also rule out a grounding problem because I ran the Intel outside of case on a static free mat.

Totally at a loss at the moment. I'll post back if I figure out what's going on.
 
try pulling one of the sticks of memory, and see if that lets it post, if not take the other one out and put in the one you pulled first. and try again.
 
As un update, the particular problem I had was a faulty video card. I'm not 100% sure how or why it would cause such a strange behaviour, but the problem was detected after one of the caps on the card literally exploded when I attempted to boot one of the configurations during my swap out testing. Perhaps a short in the card prevented the BIOS from getting past that point, forcing the system to turn off.
 
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