Power Supply problem?

[plm]

Help please ... This is where my story begins, I received a computer built by a relative who is now deceased. The System is as follows:

Cooler Master RC-532 Case
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 P965 775 (Version 1.0)
Enermax EG565P-VE 535W PS
Intel C2D E6400 2.13Ghz 775 2M Processor
Corsair 1Gx4 240P Twin4X2048-6400C4 Ram
Nvidia GeForce 7900GS DDR3 256mb PCI-E or ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256Mb PCI-E
(both Dual DVI)
Seagate (2) ST3320620AS - OEM SATA Drives
LiteOn DVD burner SHM-165H6S

After about a month of “ownership” the system was running Windows XP at the time, I started to notice that the computer would not shut down. I would have to turn the “master” switch on the PS to get it to quit. To start up I would power it up as I normally would from the front panel switch, but I noticed that during the “boot” sequence it would shutdown on its own and restart again ... startup, shutdown, startup, shutdown. After walking away from the machine for 15 minutes I would come back to it booted and asking me to login. It would never shutdown on its own from that point on.

I decided to wipe the hard drive with the windows install and install Ubuntu, went fine, but it had the same issues. So until late I have lived with this. I started to look at some troubleshooting forums for anything related, I gave up. Finally ...

I replaced the PS with another from Enermax, same issues, I just bought a replacement case (used) and decided to “swap” with my current components. The “new” case is an Antec Performance One P180 Silver mid-tower. I installed the MB first, but I left the cpu & ram on the MB, installed the power supply, video card (Nvidia), SATA Drives, DVD burner, and all connectors. The system won’t boot? I was careful not to short any of the components I believe?

As I power it up the front panel switch works, I get “complete” fan activity throughout the case, video card “lights up”, hard drives are spinning, I just don’t get a “display” of any kind? LCD’s are black. I reseated “everything on the MB” Not sure how to troubleshoot or what? I’m thinking the PS to Motherboard maybe the problem or the MB is just bad. I was thinking about getting a “used” Gigabyte (the same, but rev. 3.3) Please any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[flaminggerbil]

Hmmm, the repeated restarting sounds like a PSU issue, probably due to a lack of power being available during POST. Not being able to shut down sounds more like a motherboard issue though.

If you're getting no signal to the monitor but everything else is spinning up properly without any bleeps or the like then I'd say either GPU or possibly mobo is fried.

Got a spare GPU hanging about the you could try out?

 

[Proximon]

The constant restart symptom can come from several problems besides a PSU. Modern boards have a BIOS reset function where they will try to start at default settings if the initial POST fails, for instance.

Have a look at this thread to get you started:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

 

[plm]

Help please ... This is where my story begins, I received a computer built by a relative who is now deceased. The System is as follows:

Cooler Master RC-532 Case
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 P965 775 (Version 1.0)
Enermax EG565P-VE 535W PS
Intel C2D E6400 2.13Ghz 775 2M Processor
Corsair 1Gx4 240P Twin4X2048-6400C4 Ram
Nvidia GeForce 7900GS DDR3 256mb PCI-E or ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256Mb PCI-E
(both Dual DVI)
Seagate (2) ST3320620AS - OEM SATA Drives
LiteOn DVD burner SHM-165H6S

After about a month of “ownership” the system was running Windows XP at the time, I started to notice that the computer would not shut down. I would have to turn the “master” switch on the PS to get it to quit. To start up I would power it up as I normally would from the front panel switch, but I noticed that during the “boot” sequence it would shutdown on its own and restart again ... startup, shutdown, startup, shutdown. After walking away from the machine for 15 minutes I would come back to it booted and asking me to login. It would never shutdown on its own from that point on.

I decided to wipe the hard drive with the windows install and install Ubuntu, went fine, but it had the same issues. So until late I have lived with this. I started to look at some troubleshooting forums for anything related, I gave up. Finally ...

I replaced the PS with another from Enermax, same issues, I just bought a replacement case (used) and decided to “swap” with my current components. The “new” case is an Antec Performance One P180 Silver mid-tower. I installed the MB first, but I left the cpu & ram on the MB, installed the power supply, video card (Nvidia), SATA Drives, DVD burner, and all connectors. The system won’t boot? I was careful not to short any of the components I believe?

As I power it up the front panel switch works, I get “complete” fan activity throughout the case, video card “lights up”, hard drives are spinning, I just don’t get a “display” of any kind? LCD’s are black. I reseated “everything on the MB” Not sure how to troubleshoot or what? I’m thinking the PS to Motherboard maybe the problem or the MB is just bad. I was thinking about getting a “used” Gigabyte (the same, but rev. 3.3) Please any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank-You, I forgot to mention that the Enermax PS was "defective" I had gotten an RMA for return, they swapped me another (warranty) same issue ... I also thought it might have been the "Power/Reset" panel on the CoolerMaster, which is one reason for switching to the Antec Case. I think at this point that its the MB, I'm going after a "rev 3.3" and retro my components.

 

[leon2006]

Can't rule out the motherboard. My Gigabyte board(775 Socket) failed 2x..with almost similar symptom. No post....I replaced it....It runs for a while then the second board died again. I returned it and got a different brand.

 

[plm]

Thank-You, I have 2 Video cards PNY (Nvidia) & Sapphire (Radeon) used both with the attempts, same response ... black screens. Leon, Did you replace the board with another "775" and what did you buy?

 

[Proximon]

I can recommend several good LGA 775 boards, just depends on your budget. This one is especially robust:
Asus P5Q Deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131297

And this would be a good budget choice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157166

 

[plm]

Thank-You Proximon, While I have your attention ... Right now, I need "Firewire" and I prefer it to be on the MB ... I realize that the Gigabyte rev. 3.3 doesn't have firewire ... so I must use a PCI card is this problematic? I have several Ext. Firewire Drives with Media content (and a camcorder), I ultimately will go to SATA & ESATA, the Antec will become a Media Center (of sorts) the "P5Q" looks real good, actually looked at this board recently. Question, should I NOT purchase the used Gigabyte rev. 3.3 (on ebay) I mentioned, the board is guaranteed not DOA, and firmware upgraded.

 

[plm]

Thanks to all, It appears that the CPU was never powered, I got confused with the "main" power connector PS to MB 20/4 pin connector, the 4pin has on it "Not for CPU" I realized that another connector was the issue found it and plugged in ... WHOA! ... I still have the "Shutdown/Startup" thing going on ... so, its down to a BIOS setting or a bad MB could someone help here ... These are the settings in my BIOS: "Power Management Setup" panel as follows ...

ACPI Suspend Type - [S1(POS)]
Soft-off by PWR BTTN - [Delay 4 seconds]
PME Event Wakeup - "ENABLED"
Power on by Ring - "ENABLED"
Resume by Alarm - "Disabled"
Power on by Mouse - "Disabled"
Power on by Keyboard - "Disabled"
AC Back Function - "Soft-Off"

Am I in the right place?, what to if any to change or maybe its a bad board and move on.

 

[plm]

SOLVED!!! It turns out its a BIOS - Power Management setting, "PME Event Wakeup" I disabled and it seems to have been the culprit. KUDOS to "Capt_Taco", "Proximon" & "leon2006" for giving me a path ...

 

[Proximon]

It appears that the CPU was never powered, I got confused with the "main" power connector PS to MB 20/4 pin connector

That's why we made it number two on the checklist

While you are in the BIOS next time be sure to check that DRAM voltage is set properly.

 

[plm]

Thank's I checked the BIOS and everything referring to "Voltage" (example .. DDR2 Voltage Control) is set to "Normal" I think I'll dig up the MB manual and look it over. I think I need to understand the "BIOS" cause I want to build another from scratch myself, a hackintosh ... ATB, Phillip

 

[Proximon]

Maximium PC recently published an article explaining BIOS settings in detail.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/ultimate_bios_guide_every_bios_setting_revealed