Building a new PC, part 11
Apr. 13th, 2008 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
philmophlegmIt's not going well...
Text of technical support query submitted to XFX forum on bjorn3d.com:
In the middle of a new build, using the following specs:
XFX 790i Ultra
2x2gb OCZ Platinum DDR3-1333
2xGeForce 9800GX2
E8400
Enermax Galaxy 1000w
Everything assembled, power on for the first time and...
Fans start, lights come on, but no signal to monitor.
Realise I haven't plugged in the six pin power connectors to the graphics cards, only the eight pin (these GX2s need both a six pin PCI-E power connector and an eight pin). Switch off PC, rectify this and connect both graphics cards to the PSU.
Try to power on again. Still no signal to monitor. Error beeps - long, regular beeps - and POST display on the mobo has code C1 ('Memory presence - base memory detect' according to the manual).
Turn PC off. Check that memory is seated properly. That doesn't work.
Change DIMMs from slots 0&1 to 2&3. That doesn't work. Still same error - C1.
Decide to simplify system to try to trace fault - remove sound card, second graphics card and second DIMM. Now only one DIMM in slot 0 and one graphics card in primary PCI-e x16 slot.
Now this is where it starts to get interesting.
Each time I power on, I'm getting different error messages (although the most common is 0d (or is that PO? - it's difficult to work out which way round the display is!)). But on a couple of occasions, I do get to see something on the monitor - either a single flashing line (like a cursor) and on one occasion the XFX splash screen - but that's as far as it gets. And I can't get at the BIOS.
Hmmm. This is difficult to diagnose if it's doing different things every time. Time for a bit of forum research. Memory voltage seems like it might be an issue, but of course I can't get at the BIOS to change anything.
Several suggestions that clearing the CMOS might help. OK. Firstly I try the method stated in the manual (turn off power supply, move jumper from 2&3 to 1&2 and back again, power on again). Nothing. And I mean nothing. Light on on the back of the PSU, but no power going to the system - no mobo LEDs, no fan movement, no error beeps - nothing.
Getting worried now. Try second method to reset CMOS - unplug power lead, remove CMOS battery and wait a few minutes. Plug battery and power lead back in and turn on. Still nothing.
So now I have a completely dead system.
Did I have a bust mobo to start with, or was there another problem? And have my efforts to clear the CMOS blown something somewhere?
HELP!!!
EDIT 1: Something else I hadn't noticed before - when the PSU is switched on, one of the motherboard LEDs DOES light up - the blue 'STBY PWR' light, but the 'MEM PWR' and 'MAIN PWR' LEDs are out.
EDIT 2: D'oh! Just spotted that when I removed the CMOS battery I somehow managed to pull the front panel power switch lead out - which is why the PSU was stuck in standby.
So the current situation, having reset the front panel power switch header is that everything will now power up, but I don't get any signal to the monitor and I'm still getting that 0d error.
So, it's back to the original problem, but still...HELP!
More research seems to suggest that this might be to do with my RAM voltage. My DDR3 is rated to run at 1.8v-1.9v (which doesn't seem unusual for DDR3-1333) and it seems that the BIOS default for the motherboard is 1.5v. Is this likely to be the issue, and if it is, how the hell do I get around it without going out and buying some more DDR3 just so that I can get into the BIOS???
Bunn and I have both found other people online with the same problem - the only solution seems to be to try some other DDR3 RAM that will run at 1.5v. Of course, being DDR3, I don't have any (I've got plenty of DDR and DDR2 sitting around the house), so I may have to buy some 1.5v DDR3 just so that I can get into the BIOS to change the memory voltage to 1.8 or 1.9v!
Text of technical support query submitted to XFX forum on bjorn3d.com:
In the middle of a new build, using the following specs:
XFX 790i Ultra
2x2gb OCZ Platinum DDR3-1333
2xGeForce 9800GX2
E8400
Enermax Galaxy 1000w
Everything assembled, power on for the first time and...
Fans start, lights come on, but no signal to monitor.
Realise I haven't plugged in the six pin power connectors to the graphics cards, only the eight pin (these GX2s need both a six pin PCI-E power connector and an eight pin). Switch off PC, rectify this and connect both graphics cards to the PSU.
Try to power on again. Still no signal to monitor. Error beeps - long, regular beeps - and POST display on the mobo has code C1 ('Memory presence - base memory detect' according to the manual).
Turn PC off. Check that memory is seated properly. That doesn't work.
Change DIMMs from slots 0&1 to 2&3. That doesn't work. Still same error - C1.
Decide to simplify system to try to trace fault - remove sound card, second graphics card and second DIMM. Now only one DIMM in slot 0 and one graphics card in primary PCI-e x16 slot.
Now this is where it starts to get interesting.
Each time I power on, I'm getting different error messages (although the most common is 0d (or is that PO? - it's difficult to work out which way round the display is!)). But on a couple of occasions, I do get to see something on the monitor - either a single flashing line (like a cursor) and on one occasion the XFX splash screen - but that's as far as it gets. And I can't get at the BIOS.
Hmmm. This is difficult to diagnose if it's doing different things every time. Time for a bit of forum research. Memory voltage seems like it might be an issue, but of course I can't get at the BIOS to change anything.
Several suggestions that clearing the CMOS might help. OK. Firstly I try the method stated in the manual (turn off power supply, move jumper from 2&3 to 1&2 and back again, power on again). Nothing. And I mean nothing. Light on on the back of the PSU, but no power going to the system - no mobo LEDs, no fan movement, no error beeps - nothing.
Getting worried now. Try second method to reset CMOS - unplug power lead, remove CMOS battery and wait a few minutes. Plug battery and power lead back in and turn on. Still nothing.
So now I have a completely dead system.
Did I have a bust mobo to start with, or was there another problem? And have my efforts to clear the CMOS blown something somewhere?
HELP!!!
EDIT 1: Something else I hadn't noticed before - when the PSU is switched on, one of the motherboard LEDs DOES light up - the blue 'STBY PWR' light, but the 'MEM PWR' and 'MAIN PWR' LEDs are out.
EDIT 2: D'oh! Just spotted that when I removed the CMOS battery I somehow managed to pull the front panel power switch lead out - which is why the PSU was stuck in standby.
So the current situation, having reset the front panel power switch header is that everything will now power up, but I don't get any signal to the monitor and I'm still getting that 0d error.
So, it's back to the original problem, but still...HELP!
More research seems to suggest that this might be to do with my RAM voltage. My DDR3 is rated to run at 1.8v-1.9v (which doesn't seem unusual for DDR3-1333) and it seems that the BIOS default for the motherboard is 1.5v. Is this likely to be the issue, and if it is, how the hell do I get around it without going out and buying some more DDR3 just so that I can get into the BIOS???
Bunn and I have both found other people online with the same problem - the only solution seems to be to try some other DDR3 RAM that will run at 1.5v. Of course, being DDR3, I don't have any (I've got plenty of DDR and DDR2 sitting around the house), so I may have to buy some 1.5v DDR3 just so that I can get into the BIOS to change the memory voltage to 1.8 or 1.9v!
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 11:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 01:32 pm (UTC)But I'm more and more convinced that this is a memory voltage issue - see my edit above.