System will not boot

[QuickSilverMC]

hi im new here,
i recently built a computer for my first time back in march everything worked until a few days ago.
a thunderstorm hit the area that i lived (very rare) and blew my tv. the system was off during this time however it was plugged in and the switch was off. two days after the storm i turned my system on and all i get is the motherboard logo and then the system restarts. this happens in a continuous loop. i cannot access the bios or any other options the bios has it will just restart while showing the logo screen.

i have looked around the internet for solutions and have tried:
- removing the cpu and heatsink and replaceing them
- trying an other psu
- removing the ram and replaceing them
- using only 1 ram stick
- resetting the cmos battery
all with no avail

when i start the system with no ram, i get no display but it doesn't restart.

my specs are:
- Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
- Intel i7 965
- NVIDIA GTX 295
- 6 GB crosair ram (3x 2GB)
- 1000w psu

please help

 

[Paperdoc]

If we go with the hypothesis that there was damage caused by the thunderstorm (and we know some electrical trouble reached you house wiring) while the computer was turned off, MAYBE that damage was limited to the power supply. When the computer is "Off" it actually is "On" in limited places - the PSU and a few circuits on the mobo. If you can lay your hands on a spare power supply briefly, try swapping it in to replace your regular one. Even if the spare has a smaller capacity, you could disconnect a few things to reduce the load just for a test. Then see if the mobo will boot with the spare PSU. If that makes no difference, it would point to your mobo, unfortunately.

By the way, to ensure a CMOS reset, what you have to do is deprive the CMOS of all power. So first you must unplug the computer from the wall so there is no power available. Then you remove the quarter-sized battery from its holder on the mobo. Then you short out the two BIOS Reset pins for about 5 seconds. Then you replace the battery, close up and reconnect to the wall. IF this actually does what you wanted and allows you to access the BIOS Setup by holding down "Del" as you boot, you should use the BIOS menu choice to restore factory default optimized settings and then reboot again. But maybe that's what you already did, and your posts says it did not change anything.

 

[Outlander_04]

lightning strikes kill electronics .

Last time I was hit I lost a modem [so it was a while back] , and the woman I lived with had her PC completely fried probably because her pc was closer to the phone jack .

Do you have a case/mb speaker and does it make beeps as the computer tries to POST ?

If you dont have one then get one . BIOS beep codes tell you LOTS .

But in order of likely damage
memory
cpu
mb
psu

or all four could be fried

Do you have insurance ?

 

[QuickSilverMC]

@paperdoc: i have tried a spare psu, and i got the same prob. i cant understand how to reset the cmos battery properly, before i just left it out the computer for a day.

@Outlander_04: i dont have a mb speaker but i will try to pick one up. in your list does that mean the memory is most likely fried or the psu?

also the main switch (the one in the wall was off) just the socket was plugged in.

im gonna go out and buy some ram and a mb speaker if i can find one.

i doubt the psu if fried as i said i tried another and i got the same prob.

 

[Outlander_04]

memory is the most sensitive to electric shock .

Wall sockets are AC .
Im unsure how US power sockets are wired but here in NZ where we have 230V the three connectors are
Phase
neutral
earth [ ground]

When the switch is off the neutral is still connected , the earth is still connected and the neutral and earth are interconnected at a higher resistance than the phase/neutral circuit
Only the phase is interrupted by the switch

If a house is hit or power line near the house is hit , [or in our case the phone line] there can still be lots of current induced in the circuits of the computer .

It was late last night when I typed my reply and I had just got in from 11 hours of work so I think I missed something .
If your computer is reaching the mb logo then it must have POST already
I think that most likely means your core pc components are ok and one of the circuits in your psu is fried
Also check the power switch on the case though thats less likely

 

[chfireball]

" removing the ram and replacing them" if your Ram is Fried then that wont help.
you need to get another stick of ram to test this. bad/fried ram can cause you system not to boot.

But sounds like the cmos or something on the motherboard got fried.
if the cmos is fried resetting it wont help. is the cmos surface mount?

 

[QuickSilverMC]

well im in the uk so i think its the same.
i dident manage to get hold of anything yet. so i have to get stuff tomorrow.
im hoping its the memory that's bad as i do not want to spends loads of money on a mobo or a cpu.
i dont currently have insurance but i wonder if i can rma them?

also when i said replace the items in my first post i ment put them back and not buy new ones.

the problem with checking the switch on the case is that i wouldn't know what to check, im not a noob but i wouldn't say im too advanced either.

 

[aford10]

What was the PSU you swapped in to test? It could be that it just wasn't beefy enough to power your system.

Does it freeze on the mobo (gigabyte) logo, or the windows logo screen?

 

[QuickSilverMC]

@chfireball what do you mean by "is the cmos surface mount?"
the battery is properly setted if thats what you mean.

@aford10: it was a 650w power supply but i did not connect anything else except from the mobo and the graphics card and the same thing happens. it gets stuck on the motherboard logo screen then restarts.

 

[PimpDaddyJoe]

Get a new motherboard. You have a very good model. Is it still under warranty? They don't need to know about the storm.

 

[chfireball]

It's been awhile, but the cmos is a chip. it's either in a socket" that you can remove " or surface mounted onto the motherboard.. but i would try new ram first!

 

[QuickSilverMC]

oh its monted n the motherboard

 

[freddy]

I would suggest getting a case that has a case speaker, like someone previously mentioned. That way you might be able to get some beeps.

How long do you get the logo before it restarts? Have you tried using just one memory stick to see if you just have one bad memory stick. I would try them all individually to check. Also try putting them in another system, or getting some sticks you know are good to test with. The next thing I would try swapping out is the CPU, as you have already tried the power supply, if you are still getting the same thing after swapping out memory and CPU then I would say your mobo is fried and you will need to get it replaced.

 

[QuickSilverMC]

@freddy: i get the logo for about 2-3 secs, im in the process of getting new ram and a mb speaker. the local store only stock ddr and ddr2 ram. i spent nealy the whole day looking for some ddr3 ram but it looks like i have to order it online.
i cannot test it on another machine as there is not one. no one i know has a machine that supports ddr3 ram, and swaping out the cpu will cost me a load of money as no one has it. i may try returing them to intel and crosair.

 

[freddy]

Have you tried putting in 1 stick of ram and booting up? I guess it's possible all 3 sticks of ram went bad as well as all your slots, but in your situation I think that would be unlikely. If I was you, before I unloaded all that cash for something that may not be broken I would try taking out all 3 sticks of your ram and then take one and put it in each slot booting up each time to see if you get any change, repeat the process for each stick of ram.

When you boot your computer up what do you have connected to it, any peripherals? I would boot up with just the necessities, meaning CPU, video and memory. Nothing external, no harddrive, optical drive.

 

[QuickSilverMC]

nothing is connected, except the cpu, mem and video card i did try using only 1 ram stick and i did try putting them in different slots.

 

[QuickSilverMC]

i got my hands on some new ram, tried it in each slot and still the same problem.
i think it may be the motherboard that is messed up

 

[QuickSilverMC]

ok guys,
i finally got a mb speaker and it beeped only once (once each time it restarts)

 

[aford10]

Page 27 of the mobo manual says 1 short beep at startup indicates all is good
http://china.giga-byte.com/FileList/manual/motherboard_manual_ga-ex58-ud3r_e.pdf

 

[QuickSilverMC]

one beep means everything is all good? wtf?, then why is it restarting all the time.

does anybody have suggestions on what i should do now?

 

[aford10]

what is the stock voltage on your RAM?

 

[QuickSilverMC]

the stock voltage on all the ram is 1.5v.

i managed to get ahold of a new motherboard (newer rev 1.6, previous was 1.0) and its now working again!!!

thank you for everyone that helped.

 

[aford10]

Now that it's running, you may want to download cpuz and just make sure it matches what is in the BIOS....just a thought.