POST issue - Major problem

[Annx]

Ok so.... I dont usually ask for help on forums but Im really out of ideas with this one.

I built a new rig recently

6600 core 2
Gigabtye GA-P35-C-DS3R
4Gb Crucial Generic (yes, yes, cheap ram )
Antec neo he 550w
BFG 8800GTX

It went together fine, loaded a clean install of XP and was running beautifully.

Then i turned it off.........

No post next time i tried to power up! Blank screen, nothing happening.

So i had a look and though everything was powered up fine (case fans spin, psu fan runs, cd and hdds have power), except, I noticed the CPU fan was imtermittently not running correctly (it was kind of twitching sometimes, not fullly spinning). So i replaced the CPU fan with a spare I had around and that one did exactly the same.....

After much playing and unpulling peripherals and reseating memory the system finally posted again and booted normally (after around 3hrs messing).

In slight fear, i then left the new pc on for around a week non stop (i had a lot of work to do and couldnt risk the problem again). It was 100% stable for this week, no crashes, no problems at all. I even installed a few things that required restarts and it restarted fine. So today I went for it and powered off in the morning. When i got back this afternoon the system wouldnt post again (same symptoms as before). What the hell?

I cant see how it is a major hardware problem if the system was fine for a full week in windows. I stripped it right back to PSU,Mobo,GPU, CPU and RAM, even tried a bigger PSU i had around (a decent 650w one). With no joy at all.

Anyone ever seen anything like this? I would try an updated bios IF i could get far enough..... (its running rev1 not the latest 1.1).

I at a loss. Please help me oh knowledgable ones!

 

[Harvey]

Here's Gigabyte's page for your board. Check the link to the list of supported RAM to see if that includes your Corsair RAM.

Also, check list of supported CPU's and check to see if a new BIO rev addresses your problems.

Good luck.

 

[Annx]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

My ram is crucial in fact , its listed as supported by their ram finder and, as i said, runs fine once up. The CPU is also supported.

Like I said, i would bios update but i cant really see how to if it wont even post .

 

[goatjc]

when you say "blank screen", is the monitor even coming on? Like, is it recognizing signal from your video card?

 

[Annx]

No, literally nothing, monitor not even recognising an input.

Ive tested the gpu in my other system and its fine. I havent got a clue.

 

[goatjc]

As always, when weird sh!t like this happens, I go down the line of components that are usually the culprit, which usually starts w/ the Power supply, ram, motherboard, sound card, video card etc. . .with the processor usually being the end of my list. In your case, I'd stab at the motherboard or ram, leaning towards motherboard b/c of my past experiences w/ gigabyte boards (i hate them). My last build (approx 2 years old) gigabyte motherboard bit the dust. It was doing something similar to yours, when I opened up my case just to see if the fans were spinning and BAM, a chip literally blue in my face.

edit: Also, I'm sure you have done this, make sure you're not shorting out anywhere in the case / machine.

 

[Annx]

I guess its rma time :/. Damn, thanks for the quick and helpful replies anyway everyone. Anyone able to suggest a decent 775 board as alternative?

The thing that really confuses me is the fact that it was 100% stable when it was booted. Really weird.

 

[oynaz]

No, it is not weird. It sounds exactly like a bad capacitor would behave. Since you have tried another PSU, I would estimate a 95% chance of the mobo being the culprit.