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Motherboard replacement help

J

Jon55

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
2,349
I have a friend who wants to get his old computer up and running again. We've basically narrowed it down to the motherboard being the issue. It will not start up. The power kicks on, for a second, then it shuts down. The lights on the board are orange instead of the usual green. Yes, it's probably possible to get it running again, but we've already tried a few different suggestions to get it working with no luck, plus he really just doesn't care and would rather replace it. It's an EVGA nforce 680i SLI (newegg link).

He built the computer a long time ago and wants to get it running again. He is only using one XFX 8800 GTX, so the SLI bit is completely unnecessary. I imagine a 775 chipset based mobo nowadays would be dirt cheap, so I was exploring the possibility of just replacing it instead of doing a whole new build (he'd rather not spend the money). Any 775 chipset recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
If reliability is your priority make sure you get something with an intel chipset, the nvidia chisets were notoriously unreliable.
 
Did you try other troubleshooting procedures such as clearing the CMOS, trying only one stick of RAM (try one stick, then try the other if need be... try them in different slots, etc.), trying a different power supply, trying to boot it with everything unnecessary disconnected, etc.?

For replacement, I agree with plugwash. Only go with an Intel chipset, and go with a name brand motherboard, one that's had a decent amount of BIOS releases (meaning that the manufacturer has continued to support the board). No garbage like "PC Chips." Go with a [GPQ]4[135] chipset. (That's RegEx, by the way). You'll most likely need to reinstall the system due to the big chipset change, but that will get you the best running system.

I bought a cheap Biostar "A780L3L" for a relative who needed a cheap, basic computer. First of all, Biostar were douchebags - it's a 760 chipset even though the model says 780. They've only released like 2 or 3 BIOS versions. The AHCI mode just crashes Windows 7. etc... You get what you pay for. I won't be touching cheapie components again.
 
Don't blame Biostar for the 780 in the model name. AMD's code name for the 760G chipset is RS780L. See here for more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700_chipset_series#760G

I have owned 3 of the A780L boards and they all worked fine, but I don't remember using AHCI so I can't comment on that issue. I have used Biostar boards from time to time going back to the Socket A days and the ones I have had worked fine.


Anyway, back on topic. Those 680i boards all seemed to have problems. Yes, get something different.
If you try the oven trick, be careful, the caps don't take heat very well and will probably die and puff up on the top. Overall it's not probably worth it. I would just get a new board. Intel P35 chipsets were pretty good and should be cheap.
 
diizzy said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121389
Should be pretty decent, wont work if he has some funky/leet overclocking memory that doesn't follow JEDEC though.
//Danne
Click to expand...

Nice. My only gripe is that it's micro ATX. In fact, after looking on Newegg, most of the standard ATX boards are fairly expensive (for their age). Maybe I'll have to settle with a micro ATX board. :\

plugwash said:
If reliability is your priority make sure you get something with an intel chipset, the nvidia chisets were notoriously unreliable.
Click to expand...

So I've heard over the years. Again, if it had been my choice back in '08 or whenever he built it, I would have gone with something Intel-based. P35 chipsets then were the mid-range like the P67 is now, correct?


As far as the oven trick or anything else trouble-shooting-wise, the only effort he or I want to put into this shit board is the removal of it. No point in spending hours troubleshooting something that was never good to begin with (but yes, we did try different RAM slots/combinations). I don't want to rule out the PSU, but I guess that could also be a possibility of our troubles.
 
Does it really matter that its mATX?
Most people doesn't use the additional slots anyway.
//Danne
 
diizzy said:
Does it really matter that its mATX?
Most people doesn't use the additional slots anyway.
//Danne
Click to expand...

My bad, it didn't occur to me the board you linked had 4 RAM slots (most mATX boards only have 2). In that case, that's a very awesome board at an awesome price too.
 
So I ended up replacing the old motherboard with an MSI G41M4. It was $55 at Fry's (we needed thermal paste too, hence why we just got it from Fry's).

So removed everything, cleaned and dusted, and completely set up the new motherboard. I go to power it on, and all at once the fans start spinning and the blue light in the front of the case turns on, and then it all shuts off. This all happens within a second. I've triple checked that everything was plugged in, that the case connectors are all set in right. The PSU is plugged directly into the wall. Trying starting up again and I get the same thing. 1 seconds worth of fans spinning up and a light turning on, then it all shuts off again.

So I remove the motherboard from the case thinking maybe something is shorting it. I place it on a cardboard box with the just two power plugs connected to the mobo (24 pin and 4 pin), the CPU, and the power sw case connector. No RAM, HDD, GPU, or anything else was plugged in. Tried starting up again, still the same thing. So now I remove the power sw connector from the case and use the end of a flathead screw driver to make sure the case button isn't busted. Still get the same thing.

I can only assume it's the PSU going/gone bad. It's an Apevia atx-as680w. Please, any thoughts or input is appreciated.
 
I had a customer's system last month did the exact same thing (POS generic HP P4). First suspect- PSU. Swapped it, same thing. Unplugged everything except mobo 20 and 4 pin, same. Checked for bad/bulging caps- none. Disconnected power switch, shorted pins-same. I was about ready to pull the mobo and see if an ancient screw/piece of metal had dislodged and shorted the board. I pulled out a stick of mem so I could get to a connector, and just decided to try it....and it booted.

Never have run across that one before. Bad stick, and no beeps, just power cycled on and off every 3-4 seconds. Replaced the faulty stick and it ran in all of it's glory, which wasn't much.
 
punisher said:
I had a customer's system last month did the exact same thing (POS generic HP P4). First suspect- PSU. Swapped it, same thing. Unplugged everything except mobo 20 and 4 pin, same. Checked for bad/bulging caps- none. Disconnected power switch, shorted pins-same. I was about ready to pull the mobo and see if an ancient screw/piece of metal had dislodged and shorted the board. I pulled out a stick of mem so I could get to a connector, and just decided to try it....and it booted.

Never have run across that one before. Bad stick, and no beeps, just power cycled on and off every 3-4 seconds. Replaced the faulty stick and it ran in all of it's glory, which wasn't much.
Click to expand...

Haha, interesting. The thing is in my case, I took out all the RAM and it still failed. So who knows. I think we're going to pick up a new PSU to at least test out, but I would love for everything just to work as is.
 
Well, that PSU is certainly junky, but we don't have enough info to tell you it's dead for sure. I will tell you to replace it either way, though. You may very well have gotten a DOA board. And don't try running with no RAM. Try one stick at a time and try them in different slots. Clear the CMOS and see if that does anything.
 
dandragonrage said:
Well, that PSU is certainly junky, but we don't have enough info to tell you it's dead for sure. I will tell you to replace it either way, though. You may very well have gotten a DOA board. And don't try running with no RAM. Try one stick at a time and try them in different slots. Clear the CMOS and see if that does anything.
Click to expand...

Well the reason I'm pointing at the PSU is because this exact same thing was happening with the old EVGA nforce 680i SLI motherboard he had in there. I wouldn't throw out the possibility of a DOA board, but it still seems fishy. I'll report back after we try out the new PSU.
 
We ended up getting a Thermaltake TR2 600W from Best Buy (yeah, I know). And guess what? It works. Everything works flawlessly. And damn is this PSU quiet. So yeah, it was the crappy Apevia PSU all along. Thanks again for your help guys!

The only thing I'm worried about now is the stock CPU cooler. I'm not sure how many of you remember the shitty stock fans that came with Intel CPU's around the 775 aera, but they were awful. You had to push in these little plastic things and then twist down these other plastic things to "lock" them into place, except they never stayed locked and would always come out or just simply break. So right now the BIOS is showing 80C idling temps for the CPU (like 5 minutes after powering it on), so that worries me a little.
 
That's too hot. I think you are on target, one of the push pins must have popped out.
 
Er, you don't twist them after installing them. Twisting them (in the direction of the arrow) is for removing them. The way they come in the box, you just push them down. After it's already been removed, you twist the pins in the way OPPOSITE the arrow and reinstall.

80c at idle? You've done something wrong. Stock coolers aren't GOOD, but they are not THAT bad.
 
dandragonrage said:
Er, you don't twist them after installing them. Twisting them (in the direction of the arrow) is for removing them. The way they come in the box, you just push them down. After it's already been removed, you twist the pins in the way OPPOSITE the arrow and reinstall.

80c at idle? You've done something wrong. Stock coolers aren't GOOD, but they are not THAT bad.
Click to expand...

Figures as much. So far I've installed Windows 7 and a bunch of other programs and the it's been running for the past 12 hours without an issue, but I'm still not happy with this cooler. I checked it again and it seems to be sealed properly now. I wonder if it's worth picking up a cheap CPU cooler from Fry's or something like that (this comp isn't doing any overclocking at all, so all I'm worried about are temps).
 
Get some MX-2/3 paste, clean the stock garbage off with >90% isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol, apply the correct amount of good paste, and try again. Make sure he's got at least one working case fan, that things aren't too dusty, and that the CPU fan is working properly. Shouldn't need to do any more than that.
 
dandragonrage said:
Get some MX-2/3 paste, clean the stock garbage off with >90% isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol, apply the correct amount of good paste, and try again. Make sure he's got at least one working case fan, that things aren't too dusty, and that the CPU fan is working properly. Shouldn't need to do any more than that.
Click to expand...

I actually did all that yesterday when I installed the new mobo. I cleaned everything in the case (which has two fans). Completely cleaned off the CPU + stock cooler and applied BB's worth of brand new thermal paste. The stupid stock cooler isn't sitting right (because they were shit to begin with). It's a Quad Core Q6600 and the Windows Experience Index score gave it a 4.1 :confused: Something is definitely not right there, I mean I know it's not a fantastic CPU but still, that's a very low score. Everything else on his machine got a 5 or 6 (and he's using an old 8800 GT with 2GB of RAM).

I'm going to try reinstalling the CPU + stock fan (reapplying nee thermal paste as well) to see if I can fix it.
 
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So I cleaned/reapplied new thermal paste on the CPU and fan and installed it again. It was still a pain in the ass but I managed to get it in (that's what she said), and now I'm see idle temps of 30C (down from 80C). The Windows Experience Index went from 4.1 to 7.1, and the whole system overall is much faster.
 
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