PC is intermittent at starting up

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the not so elaborate title, I'm just at my wits-end and cannot focus properly.

Right, I'm attaching the specs of my PC before I go into detail of the problem:

- Intel i3 Processor - Quad Core 3.3 Ghz
- Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 Motherboard
- 2x 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600 Mhz Memory
- VTX3D 2GB Radeon HD 5450 DDR3 PCI-E 2.1 Graphics Card
- WD 1TB Caviar Black HDD
- LG DVD-RW Optical Drive
- OCZ 600w PSU

Right, so I started experiencing my problem from day one when I put the PC together. This is (obviously) my first build, I hadn't heard of the 'breadboarding' method I see mentioned so many times on here, so installed directly into the chassis.

I first powered on the PC without the monitor attached, just to see if I'd connected the power and everything else up okay. As soon as I pushed the power button in it switched on. Much to my horror, five seconds of it being on it restarted itself. It carried on doing this, so I decided to unplug it and take it to be connected to the monitor.

Once I had connected the PC to the monitor I powered it on, much to my surprise it came on fine and booted up and giving the single POST beep to give the all a-okay. Now I had to go away for a few days, so I just left it all together and decided that I would deal with setting it up software wise when I got back. Now I'm facing the same problem I had from first assembling. It seems to also be intermittent.

It appears I have tried everything listed in this thread!

My first thoughts were that it may be the PSU, but it can't be; I returned it to Amazon and got a replacement today and it's still doing the exact same thing. Sometimes I can pass the POST successfuly, other times I'll get no image and it'll just keep restarting. I've also noticed that even if I power down by holding the power button in, it'll turn itself back on. :|

I still experience the problems with everything disconnected and just the CPU and motherboard receiving power. If I unplug the graphics card (no on-board) I get lots of long beeps, which in the manual states that there's no graphics card connected.

I have had the motherboard out of the system and on top of its boxing and just connected the PSU to the board to see if it'll boot up fine. I can't recall NOT getting the same problem. It just seems to be so damn intermittent I can't quite put my finger on what device is causing it. Just when I think I have it sussed, it happens again.

So what do you all think? I'll appreciate any help and conform with any of your suggestions. Sorry if it's not as clear as it should be, I'm just so tired and fed-up with not being able to get it to work!

Many thanks,

Liam

 

[pepe2907]

IMHO - check settings of your memory. Try to change them manually and see what happens. 1600 is not naturaly suported on P67

 

[MrBig55]

Oh dear Gigabyte user. I'm pleased to see that you got yourself a Gigabyte motherboard as I do. The difference is that I knew what I was looking for since I've been building computers for almost 15 years, and overclocking for 10 years already.

What you don't know is all the features this board offers and that prevents you from getting the exact cause. I'll clarify some features causing trouble with you.

- Gigabytes motherboard offers dual or quad BIOS. If it can't boot 3 times in a row, it will then reset to a backup of the BIOS. A 5 seconds power on then shutdown then reboot cycle will trigger it fast. The same apply if the board tried to boot and you held the power switch for 5 seconds before it could complete it's selftest. It will too revert to a backed up BIOS. All this is causing even more intermitent shutdowns and power ups and even explains why it powers on itself after you hold the power button 5 seconds, unless you know that feature.

- In the BIOS, it can be set so that when it looses power it powers on right away when power is back. You have to go look in the BIOS and change that setting if you don't want it. Again causing it to look intermitent behavior. All motherboards offer this feature.

- Also less known, my Gigabyte motherboard is suffering from cold boot when I do agressive overclock/underclock. I just need to power on the rig, then press DELETE key. It then goes into BIOS and I leave it heating there a few minutes. I then press the reset switch or CTRL+ALT+DELETE to reset the computer and wow it works ^^ Now if you didn't overclock/underclock/overvolt/undervolt, a coldboot bug is abnormal. Try the coldbootfix (remember the other features, if while in the BIOS you press the power switch, it can re-power up by itself... once you know... ^^) If you can go into the BIOS and confirm nothing is overclocked/underclocked/overvolted/undervolted and still the board suffers from coldboot, you can (and must!) return the motherboard to Gigabyte (or your local retailer you bought it to) and you'll get a replacement. The bug itself is like, you power on the computer, the fans start spinning, harddisks starts spinning but not ticking, the screen stays in standby and it won't ever shutdown nor boot. It doesn't beeps whatsoever looking pretty dull. That is a coldboot bug. Once the computer heated, it shall boot as normal, so even more intermitent behaviors there ^^.

So all that don't look as "features" for anyone not looking for them. Let's I overclock my rig and went too far. Once powered up, it can reboot a few times then revert back alone to a backuped BIOS where I could once again try lower overclock. I can also revert it myself to the backed BIOS by: pressing power, release, then holding it 5 seconds. it will shutdown then reboot. I do this 4 times rapidly so that it can't finish its selftest. See that features come into play. ^^ For an enthousiast it's fine and lazy features as we don't have to remove the batterie every time just to reset the BIOS over a bad overclock.

Also you said it was your first build and I think that most people's first build is never well built. Did you used proper screw mount underneath the motherboard?? Did you used the right screws that got with these screwmounts? Is any screw's head overlapping any motherboard circuitry (happens when screw's head is too big). Don't apply to much pressure on the screws as it will distord the motherboard, or make it touch the case in which it'll short-circuit for even more intermitent behaviors. A distorded case could touch the back of the board for the same effect. Double-check each power cable cause a loose one could cause what??? I think you know by now... intermitent behaviors.

So now you know some features, and about the coldboot bug, could you do some more testing for us. You'll probably recognize one or more of these patterns depending what you're doing. After some more testing, we could investigate a hardware failure cause an intermitent problem is one of the worst case scenario and can be about anything.

 

[Guest]

Also you said it was your first build and I think that most people's first build is never well built. Did you used proper screw mount underneath the motherboard?? Did you used the right screws that got with these screwmounts? Is any screw's head overlapping any motherboard circuitry (happens when screw's head is too big). Don't apply to much pressure on the screws as it will distord the motherboard, or make it touch the case in which it'll short-circuit for even more intermitent behaviors. A distorded case could touch the back of the board for the same effect. Double-check each power cable cause a loose one could cause what??? I think you know by now... intermitent behaviors.

So now you know some features, and about the coldboot bug, could you do some more testing for us. You'll probably recognize one or more of these patterns depending what you're doing. After some more testing, we could investigate a hardware failure cause an intermitent problem is one of the worst case scenario and can be about anything.

Okay so I'm not over clocking or anything like that. I just assembled the system, I thought you had to do that manually if you wanted any of the fancy-pantsy stuff.

Mounting screws came with the case, I've taken the motherboard out three times to make sure they're in correctly and have just checked the screw head, they seem not ot be overlapping. I've also tried them a wee tad loose and tighter, both didn't work.

By a distorted case, you mean the panel behind the motherboard or the metal plate it's attached to?

All power cables are firmly attached, I've made sure of that several times along with when installing the RAM and the graphics card.

From reading your post, are you suggesting it's the motherboard problem? I'm more than willing to do any more troubleshooting stages.

Many thanks,

Liam

 

[Guest]

Sorry, no good in the morning. Just re-read your post:

'The bug itself is like, you power on the computer, the fans start spinning, harddisks starts spinning but not ticking, the screen stays in standby and it won't ever shutdown nor boot. It doesn't beeps whatsoever looking pretty dull. That is a coldboot bug. Once the computer heated, it shall boot as normal, so even more intermitent behaviors there ^^. '

That's EXACTLY what's happening!

 

[Guest]

May have fixed my problem.

Removed the BIOS battery and cleared CMOS. Then I managed to get back into the BIOS, so I decided to take a look around.

On the advanced memory settings there is something called 'performance enhancement'. The default setting for the RAM was: 'Turbo' I've changed it to standard and it seems to be working fine at the moment.


From the motherboard manual:

Performance Enhance

Allows the system to operate at three different performance levels.
Standard Lets the system operate at its basic performance level.
Turbo Lets the system operate at its good performance level. (Default)
Extreme Lets the system operate at its best performance level.

 

[Guest]

Seems to be working just fine for now, we'll see how long it lasts.

 

[pepe2907]

If you had heared me, you would get it, just yesterday

 

[Guest]

If you had heared me, you would get it, just yesterday

Sorry Pepe, I didn't see your post.

Thanks a lot mate!