Newly Built Computers Giving Me Fits

[pru]

Over the weekend, I built two computers with almost the exact same specs with
initially semi-successful results on the first computer and disastrous
results on the second computer.

Now, there is chaos.

Here goes the first computer:
1) CPU - Intel 2.66 GHZ
2) Motherboard - Gigabyte 8KNXP
3) Ram - 2 x 512 MB Kingston DDR PC3200 ECC DIMM 3-3-3
4) Video Card - ATI AIW Radeon 9700 Pro
5) Sound Card - Creative Labs Audigy 2
6) PSU - Antec True 430 ATX
7) Case - Cooler Master ATC-201B with Side Window, 2 Front Fans, 1 Rear Fan

With the first computer, I put everything together and it booted up without
a hitch. I installed Windows XP, the drivers for the video card and the drivers
for the the sound card with no problem. Then, I decided to install the
latest version of the Radeon 9700 Pro AIW driver. At this point, I start
having problems. On reboot, I have no video output but the computer seems like
it is rebooting. I opened up the case and tried powering up again. Seemed
to power up fine. Installed something else, rebooted and had the same problem.
At this point, I get an error that Windows XP is unstable and that I can boot
to the last stable install, which I choose. I reinstall the latest video
drivers without a problem and the system seems to be stable. I go to bed, my
husband uses the new computer over night and reports another
instance in which he installs something new, reboots, and then has no video
output. He opened up the case, reseated the card, and seemed to have no
problems (until of course, he needs to reseat the card again.)


On to the second computer:
1) CPU - Intel 2.66 GHZ
2) Motherboard - Gigabyte 8KNXP
3) Ram - 2 x 512 MB Kingston DDR PC3200 ECC DIMM 3-3-3
4) PSU - Antec True 430 ATX
5) Case - Cooler Master ATC-201 with 2 Front Fans, 1 Rear Fan, 1 Top Fan
6) Video Card - Gainward GeForce4 Ti 4200

I put the computer together. Boot up for the first time, hear a zap, and
smell some burning. I power it down. And, open up the case, and turn it back
on. The back fan which is connected to the motherboard is not turning. The
cpu fan is turning though, as is a Gigabyte Dual Power System fan that
came with the mobo. No beeps and no post. (Side note: the DPS fan and the
CPU are on one side of the mobo while the connector to the back fan is on the
opposite side of the mobo. So, perhaps one side of the mobo has been short-
circuited?)

At that point I was wondering, well, if my mobo is dead, is my cpu dead?
So, I swap my cpu/fan into the hubby's new computer. Boot up, nothing happens.
No post, not beeps. I swap his cpu/fan back in and now his darn computer
won't boot up either! (Although, his mobo seems to be functioning properly.)

So, what do you guys suggest I do next? I think my cpu/mobo is just screwed.
But, what about his computer? Should I try clearing the CMOS and see if that
does anything? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HaVoC]

First off, it is very impressive that a woman is tackling the task of building a new computer! I think more women should get involved with this as it can be rewarding and even save money over buying a prebuilt computer if you are reusing old components. Now...

He opened up the case, reseated the card, and seemed to have no problems (until of course, he needs to reseat the card again.)

Sounds like the AGP connector on the motherboard is faulty/loose. Have you guys tried setting the AGP lock latch at the bottom of the connector? Should help to hold the card in. There should be no play when the card is installed and the Radeon should only come out of the connector after a fair amount of force is applied to remove it. If it is loose then I would exchange the mobo at the store you bought it or RMA it. Since the second computer is down anyway you might also try using the GeForce card in the first one to see if it fixes the video issues. Remember to uninstall the Radeon drivers using Add/Remove programs in Control Panel.

Should I try clearing the CMOS and see if that does anything?

Clearing the CMOS could not damage the mobo/CPU any more than it already could be damaged. Give it a shot and see what happens. However, from the unfortunate noise and smell it definitely sounds like a component failure. A strong possibility is that something shorted out with the motherboard electrical trace touching the metal of the case.

As a side note...unless you are a heavy 3D gamer I would NOT recommend always upgrading video card drivers to the latest version, be they nVidia or ATI. The latest drivers tend to only benefit the super-duper bleeding edge new cards and may introduce instabilities into the older cards. The default drivers for WinXP or the "WHQL-certified" drivers will usually be most stable and compatible, especially with older cards.

 

[optimistic]

Originally posted by: pru
At that point I was wondering, well, if my mobo is dead, is my cpu dead?
So, I swap my cpu/fan into the hubby's new computer. Boot up, nothing happens.
No post, not beeps. I swap his cpu/fan back in and now his darn computer
won't boot up either! (Although, his mobo seems to be functioning properly.)

So, what do you guys suggest I do next? I think my cpu/mobo is just screwed.
But, what about his computer? Should I try clearing the CMOS and see if that
does anything? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Clearing CMOS could do the trick. Did you plug the CPU fan into the correct fan header? Some motherboards have a protection device that prevents bootup without a CPU fan to protect the CPU from overheating. How about the video card? Did you connect the power cable coming from the Radeon9700?

For the dead motherboard (computer 2) have you tried booting it up with minimum components? 1 stick of ram, CPU/fan, hdd, video, and nothing more? One time, my modem was giving me a hard time when setting up my comp for the first time. Removing the modem at first and installing it last, helped clear up things for me.

Also, try booting up without the DPS thing. I remember a while back, that the DPS was causing problems for some people.

Lastly, another thing you could try for the dead motherboard is having it boot up without a case. Set it on the desk, install the video card, cpu/fan, 1 stick ram, and then power it up (by either shorting the two power switch pins with a screwdriver, or just connect the power button cables (from the case) to the motherboard, and turn it from there. (Motherboard still outside of the case though).

*This worked for my sister's comp. Something was causing the motherboard to short in the case, and upon removal it booted up! Strangely, when I put it back in the case it still worked.

 

[owensdj]

pru, are you sure that you're using the correct drivers for that AIW Radeon 9700 Pro? If it's made by a company other than ATI, you need to use the reference drivers.

Are you overclocking either of the computers?

It wouldn't hurt to run Memtest86 on the first computer to make sure the instability isn't coming from the memory. Run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic as well. Go get Intel's Processor ID Utility and run that to make sure you really do have a 2.66GHz P4.

On the 2nd computer, it's interesting that the case fan isn't turning. Could it be that you plugged it into the wrong connector? You might want to unplug the case fan from the motherboard for now just to be safe.

The fact that the CPU from the 2nd computer didn't work in the 1st motherboard makes me think it's dead. Are you sure you're plugging the CPU fan into the correct conector? Also, did you remember to connect the ATX 12V connector on the motherboard?

 

[pru]

Originally posted by: HaVoC
First off, it is very impressive that a woman is tackling the task of building a new computer! I think more women should get involved with this as it can be rewarding and even save money over buying a prebuilt computer if you are reusing old components. Now...

<blush> Thanks! It's been a while since I built a computer. The last one was 5 years ago - I ran Linux for a while and
then installed NetBSD. The darn thing is still chugging away (granted, it now takes 2.5 hours to recompile the kernel but...it still hold a special place in my heart!).

Sounds like the AGP connector on the motherboard is faulty/loose. Have you guys tried setting the AGP lock latch at the bottom of the connector? Should help to hold the card in. There should be no play when the card is installed and the Radeon should only come out of the connector after a fair amount of force is applied to remove it. If it is loose then I would exchange the mobo at the store you bought it or RMA it. Since the second computer is down anyway you might also try using the GeForce card in the first one to see if it fixes the video issues. Remember to uninstall the Radeon drivers using Add/Remove programs in Control Panel.

I have tried swapping the GeForce card with the Radeon in the first computer (after I swapped out/swapped back in the CPU). It was a no-go. Nothing happened - no posting and no beeping. So, perhaps it's the agp slot.

Clearing the CMOS could not damage the mobo/CPU any more than it already could be damaged. Give it a shot and see what happens. However, from the unfortunate noise and smell it definitely sounds like a component failure. A strong possibility is that something shorted out with the motherboard electrical trace touching the metal of the case.

Great, so I'll try that when I get home from work.

As a side note...unless you are a heavy 3D gamer I would NOT recommend always upgrading video card drivers to the latest version, be they nVidia or ATI. The latest drivers tend to only benefit the super-duper bleeding edge new cards and may introduce instabilities into the older cards. The default drivers for WinXP or the "WHQL-certified" drivers will usually be most stable and compatible, especially with older cards.

I don't play that many games (although, perhaps I will when I get these computers up and running), however, my hubby plays a lot of games. So, I figured I would install the latest drivers. I will, however, log your note for future reference.

 

[waylman]

Wow, what a freaking nightmare. Send it all back and buy AMD!!!!

 

[pru]

Originally posted by: owensdj
pru, are you sure that you're using the correct drivers for that AIW Radeon 9700 Pro? If it's made by a company other than ATI, you need to use the reference drivers.

Are you overclocking either of the computers?

I am not overclocking either of the computers. And, the Radeon 9700 is made by ATI so I downloaded the drivers from ATI's website.

On the 2nd computer, it's interesting that the case fan isn't turning. Could it be that you plugged it into the wrong connector? You might want to unplug the case fan from the motherboard for now just to be safe.
The fact that the CPU from the 2nd computer didn't work in the 1st motherboard makes me think it's dead. Are you sure you're plugging the CPU fan into the correct conector? Also, did you remember to connect the ATX 12V connector on the motherboard?

This is what gets me. I plugged the case fan into the proper connector (and, in fact, checked the other computer to make sure I had plugged it in properly). So, if the case fan is not working properly, I think either the mobo is dead or the case fan has crapped out. (But, I'm leaning towards the notion that the mobo is dead since the cpu is dead as well.)

As for the other connectors, I double checked before I initiallly booted the machine that all the connectors were in the correct place. I will, of course, check again tonight.

 

[Bleep]

Hi:
Well having built a few machines and reading a lot of posts here this is what I found that happens a lot of times.
1. The switch on the PS set to 220 instead of 110 resulting in 1/2 voltage to the board.
2. Keyboard and mouse in wrong sockets.
3. A MB standoff in the wrong place resulting in a short circuit (MB to Ground) it is odd that sometimes the short to groung does not happen until the board heats up and causes it to expand or shift a little.
4. Failure to remove tape from bottom of HSF.
5. Resetting the BIOS without removing all power connectors to MB, sometimes causes a problem and sometimes not.
6. Weak PS, but this does not appear to be any problem with your build.
7. Video card just does not seat right in AGP slot.
Someone mentioned to boot the board outside the case with only minimum components, this is really good advice and I think that this should be done with all new builds. my first boot is always outside the case with only the CPU installed, no memory or video card, this will give you a post beep + the series of no memory beeps. I then install the memory and boot, you should only get the 1 power on self test beep, and the long short long short no video beeps.
I then install the video card, mouse , and plug in the monitor, boot the machine and if it boots then I install it in the case, that way you have checked most of your components before installing it in the case.
Because you already have the board in the case just remove the mounting screws and slip a piece of paper under the MB to insulate it from the case and see if it will boot.
I also have a old 2 MB PCI card that I use sometimes when I suspect the AGP socket.
One other thing that I always recommend is that the CPU and HSF be installed in the MB before putting it in the case so there is no chance of flexing the board and maybe causing damage to any of the small traces on the MB.
None of this may help but there is something in common to both builds for both to have somewhat the same problem's

Good luck
Bleep

 

[t0mmyb0y]

It's possible that the powersupply might have died on you. The loud pop and smoke is usually associated with a capacitor blowing. I don't have time right now to read all the replies, but I will try to get to it later. Hope that helps!

 

[Markfw]

On the second one, my first guess is PSU, and I know the Antec are great, but something died when you powered up based on the ZAP you heard. Have you checked the 5 and 12v rails upon pressing the power button with a VOM ? Something died when you heard that, and that part needs to be replaced, whatever it is.

 

[screw3d]

You might wanna see if you PSU is still working. Try shorting the green and black leads on the ATX connector of the PSU and turn it on and see if the fans are running (be careful). Use a voltmeter to test the if the rails are still alive and kickin'?

 

[NokiaDude]

Try checking the ATX connector on the motherboard and make sure it's all the way in there. On my rig when I first built it a week ago the power connnector was only halfway in so it wouldn't post.