No POST - Fried Mobo suspected

[kremit]

Hi all

im not sure where i should be posting this but hopefully i have the right place

i recently bought a new graphics card (XFX 4850 HD, XXX edition) and since installing it i can no longer reach POST on my computer. My specs are/were

Gigabyte ga-ep45-ds3r
e8400
2 gb (2*1024mb) corsair xms2 CL4
Sapphire X1950pro
650W silverstone olympia PSU

I have tried running my PC again with the x1950 and i can no longer get it to reach post with that card. i have also tried with an old x850 i had lying around - same issues. I booted up an old mobo with the new 4850 and it worked fine so that card is definately not the fault. I noticed that my old x1950 has a few resistors (i think theyre resistors, small rectangle components) burnt out (leaking some weird black substance) near the frontof the card. The reason i replaced this card is because i bought it 2nd hand and have always had trouble with it, previously i was running it downclocked to avoid it constantly running VPU recover. I have previously had trouble with overclocking my cpu (couldnt even bump vcore above ~1.1v almost any changes would cause instability even though I've never seen the temperature above 50C) and running my memory at the timings it should (i could not get it to run at CL4 even though its specced to). My theory is that my northbridge is damaged however i cannot see any obvious damage to it. Is it possible that the damage on my x1950 caused this damage and then further is it likely that my RAM or CPU are also damaged?

any help or ideas would be appreciated. thanks alot

 

[kremit]

oop the memory is 800mhz. not that i think that matters. i have ordered a new mobo (asus p5q) but woudl really like to know if anyone thinks my RAM and CPU could be damaged and could they damage the new mobo if i test them out?

 

[kremit]

ok sorry about the triple post. new info here though. i recieved my new mobo and upon powering it up with just the CPU installed the fans spin (~1/2 second of power) once then the computer powers down. if i try to boot with no cpu installed the computer stays on but there are no PC speaker noises, should there be? Im hoping my motherboard is buggered but i havea sneaking suspicion my CPU may be fried also 🙁. any comment would be appreciated

thanks

 

[Stiffex]

Check that your pwr switch, HDD, Reset, and LED`s are connected properly and make sure the positive and negative are on the correct pins.
Check that the stand offs are screwed into your mobo tray and are flush; make sure nothing is getting caught behind the mobo when its fitted and also check your I/O back plate is fitted properly. ( Actually it might be better to leave the I/O back plate off until you have your system running properly)

Use 1 stick of RAM for now and if you have another machine you could borrow a stick of RAM from, that might be helpful for testing purposes. Make sure the RAM is seated properly and use 1 stick at a time trying a different slot if you have no luck.

Make sure that the 24 pin & 8 pin power plugs are clipped into the board properly, some cheaper PSU connectors can cause a bad connection due to the individual pins popping out and may need to be pushed home with a thin screw driver or safety pin.

I dont need to tell you this but always work with bare arms and make use of the anti static packaging to place your parts onto and if you dont have wrist straps be sure to discharge yourself against metal every 2 mins or so.

Its very unlikely to be you CPU that is the problem but again, make sure it is seated properly and there are no bent pin in the socket.

Use the gfx card you know is working, connect the hard drive up and try to get into the bios by hitting the delete button when you power up.

Please post back and let me know how you get on.

 

[kremit]

hi stiffex thanks for the reply
ive tried reversing all of my front panel connectors to no success. i get the exact same problem. ive tried the motherboard both inside the case and outside the case (sitting on a wooden board ontop of the anti static bag). in the process of trying the motherboard in each situation ive reattached the 8 and 24pins numerous times so im sure that's not the problem. i have also retested the PSU and pc speaker on my old old working mobo and confirmed they still work. i tried booting with 1 stick of ram and a working graphics card and had exactly the same problem also. and yes i regularly touch my case to discharge static.

im baffled. the only conclusion i have is that something is malfunctioning. However, ive never heard of a cpu going bad before without some kind of spectacular event (eg flames coming out of the computer or booting with no heatsink).

I think im going to RMA my motherboard and hope a new one has better results.

 

[Stiffex]

Do you know the RAM is ok ?

Have you tried booting with 1 stick in a different slot ?

Have you changed your mobo from Gigabyte DS3R to ASUS P5Q ?
That particular ASUS board has generated a hell of a lot of RMA`s.

I think your problem is likely to be PSU, Mobo, or RAM or compatibility one or more of these things. You could have a situation where they work individually with other parts but not combined in your present system, ive even come across a psu that wont power 1 mobo but will power another thats why its always a good idea to have spare parts handy for testing.

Good luck Kermit let us know how you get on.

PS try an ABIT IP45 if you can get one, the 35 was an excellent board.

 

[kremit]

yeah this is all on the p5q. i couldnt get anything at all working on my DS3R even though it used to work. the RAM was/is ok. it was previously working on my DS3R. even if the RAM is not working i should be hearing beeps without RAM installed though shouldnt i? also, my particular memory is the only DDR800 corsair module in the manuals QVL ( there are more on the website but in the manual this is the only one). I'm in New Zealand so dont have many reliable stores with decent prices for hardware - therefore cant get that ABIT board. Ive heard alot of good things about the P5Q from the people who've managed to get them working. But yes i've also heard alot of RMA stories, however, i understand the most bad stories are from the P5Q - pro revision.