My CPU won’t play ball….

[davrosthegeek]

..have a Biostar M7VKB mobo – socket A, 200FSB VIA KT133 chipset (not KT133a), which should, according to Biostar, handle anything up to an Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHz 200FSB. I got a 1.3Ghz 200FSB and installed it (board is jumperless), put in the new fan etc.

When it powers up, everything starts up, but there’s no video signal – after about 15secs, the whole thing powers off. I find I can’t turn back on straight away – have to wait (for the PSU I feel), as I don’t get that familiar crackle when I plug in the cord until it’s ready to run again.

Not sure if it even POSTs, as it never gets that far. Was thinking it could be one of 3 things:

1. BIOS support – it can’t handle the cpu in it’s current revision, and needs to be flashed – even then, would there be settings in the CMOS for FSB etc?
2. heat – the chip powers down (can it?) after those 15s due to generated heat – shouldn’t do this – I’ve applied the thermal paste, a copper shim & the heat sink (which is powered… have a 300W PSU – is that ok?)
3. knackered chip – it’s dead – and the mobo powers down, as it “sees” no CPU.
4. Biostar lie, and this board isn’t compatible – I think I have rev 2.1 of the board, but this shouldn’t matter as Chipset etc are identical.

I've flashed to a later BIOS, but it doesn't seem to make a difference...

Any ideas?

(Apologies if this isn't the right forum - also posted in CPUs...)

 

[ChipDeath]

Ummm... Have you tried another chip? that would hopefully tell you if it's the chip or the mobo...

Are you sure you've plugged the CPU HSF into the right header on the mobo? some mobos won't boot if they think the fan isn't spinning - which they wouldn't if it was plugged into the wrong header.

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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.

 

[vargasjhu]

I agree about checking the hsf connection. I plugged that in wrong once and it spent a good hour or so trying to debug until I realized what had happened. It would power up fine but fail to post and shut itself down.

 

[chandanarahul]

likely to be overheating issue

 

[davrosthegeek]

OK – I’ve managed to stop the power tripping (don’t ask how) – still no video output though.

I’ve been running a Duron 750 on this board forever with no problems – so definitely no problem with grounding. The fan spins up, and seems to run at 5000rpm – about the same as my Duron fan, worryingly (checked by plugging it into my Duron… could this be sensor error, or is this normal?) Also rules out any refusal to boot because of incorrect HSF header being used (I used exactly the same one…) Don’t seem to be any beep codes either…

As for overheating – I notice the HSF is hot/warm when I power it off – so the CPU is chucking out some heat (and so is doing something….) – but can faulty CPUs still output heat like that? If not, then what can be the problem??!!

Thanks for taking the time to help me out, guys – really appreciate it!!