CPU LED on Sabertooth Z77

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi guys,

Bit of a story here. This morning I purchased a new graphics card (LEADTEK Nvidia GTX 680) for my prior (i'll explain later) gaming rig. At that point in time my setup was as below:

Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 (replaced by the GTX 680)
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mobo
Antec Quattro 850W PSU
i7 920 CPU

So I got home all excited to finally get a decent frame rate in BF3. I installed my 680 with no problems at all, connected everything up - I always double check to see if I've missed anything silly. So I plug my HDMI cable in and turn on the power and away it goes. It starts up in 800X600 and gets to login screen. I enter my password like usual and I get to desktop. At this point in time I start to hear a little bit of a crackling noise coming from my PC. It was very faint so I didn't pay too much attention to it, however a couple of minutes later as I'm beginning to download drivers, the monitors signal completely drops out. The PC stays on so I'm not too worried, I go to check if all of the connections in the back are still fine and they are.

I test my monitor with a new HDMI cable - still nothing. Test a new monitor with my PC - still nothing. Now I start to worry that its my new GTX 680. I disconnect my PC completely, put in my old 5870 again and reboot it to make sure it wasnt just the ATI drivers stuffing it up. Unfortunately, now when I boot the monitor recognises HDMI is connected, and then disconnects again, and switches between "analog" and "hdmi" about 4 times before powering off.

I test my monitor against my PS3 to see if its my monitor but its working fine... So at this point in time I'm assuming its either my mobo or CPU (other google searches brought me to this conclusion). I've been meaning to upgrade for a while and this was the final straw so I go out and buy an ASUS Sabertooth Z77 and Intel I7 3770K.

My current rig is:

ASUS Sabertooth Z77
Intel I7 3770K
Antec Quattro 850W
Leadtek GTX 680

I get home excited that my PC will probably work now... I remove all of the old components from my case, install everything new perfectly, once again double checking connections (i.e 24 pin and 8 pin etc.) and then go to boot it up. :fou: Still the same problem!! My monitor is not recognising its plugged in at all.

But here is whats weird- the CPU LED on my mobo is now lighting up (didn't have this light on previous mobo) as if to point the problem at my CPU. I've fitted it correctly, and checked it twice now. I don't think the problem is to do with my CPU as I've actually replaced it! Could the problem be with my PSU? All of the fans are still working when powering up- the only thing i've noticed is that it no longer "beeps" on power up.

Sorry for the massive submission, just trying to provide enough detail. Can anyone please advise if they have had a similar problem/ any ideas on how I can narrow this problem down?

Thank you
 
Solution
if it not a bios not having the right code to post. the red cpu light will come on if you forgot to plug in the 8 pin atx power on the top of the board. other issues will be a to tight cpu cooler..crushing the cpu..a bent pin under the cpu or the mb being grounded out...missing standoff or the i\=o shield finger in the usb port or shorting the mb out.

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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So I just went to a mates place - Took over my whole box.

We plugged his CPU into the sabertooth and once again it did not post. We did however plug my GTX 680 into his PC and it works. Yay, thats one less piece of faulty hardware.

So I have a theory- when I first put my 680 into my old rig, my PSU fried. Thankfully not affecting the GPU. When I plugged the same PSU into my new set up, it either fried my CPU or mobo - I'm willing to bet mobo considering I've had the same fault with completely new hardware (bar the PSU). Does this sound logical, or could there be something I'm missing?
 
Ozz the asus mb and other z77 mb had issues posting with the 680 video cards. in under asus bios updates for the sabertooth.
what you want to do is download the 18xx bios the newest one on another pc and run the bios renamer on the bios file. it should rename it for the sabertooth as z77st.cap. copy this file over to a usb stick and put the usb stick in the usb flashback port. then hit the flashback button. if the file is names right the port led will blink blue..change speed then turn off as it flashes the mb with the newest bios. you dont need a cpu or main power to do this just standby power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADcdnwMjd_I
 

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi Smorizio - thanks for the reply mate and information. I'm not near my PC atm so I can't test this but will do when I get a chance.

I did try to boot it with my 5870 however and it still didnt post? Do you think this issue might be different?

Thanks again
 
if it not a bios not having the right code to post. the red cpu light will come on if you forgot to plug in the 8 pin atx power on the top of the board. other issues will be a to tight cpu cooler..crushing the cpu..a bent pin under the cpu or the mb being grounded out...missing standoff or the i\=o shield finger in the usb port or shorting the mb out.
 
Solution

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi Smorizio,

Still not near my PC but I can confirm the 8 pin was connected, CPU cooler is stock so hopefully shouldnt be too tight, cpu pins arent bent, and the mobo is on rasiers so its not shorting out.

Not sure what the standoff is or the shield finger? However if the mobo was shorting out would the fans still be spinning? it runs (without beeping/posting) but just has no display.

Thanks for your help mate
 

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi Smorizio, flash has finished but still getting red CPU light.

Not sure where to go now. The retailer is closed until tomorrow so I might just have to get the board replaced? Can't think of what else it could be
 

Ozziemitch

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi Smorizio,

Yeah I've tried that... Still the same result. And yep the 8 pin was plugged in. I'm really at a loss now.