[Yellohfelloh]

Hey guys, I've just started to build a new computer, had things set up and when I powered it on, it started for half a second and then shut down, then started back up for another half second and the cycle never ends.

At first I thought it was the PSU but I tried my old one it is also 650 watts and it did the same thing. I have tried to reset the cmos but putting a screw driver to the 2 cmos pins and also to the positive and negative terminal where the battery lies. That still did not work. I honestly have no clue what to do now and am asking for help. Here are my specs and thanks guys!

Case - Cooler Master HAF932
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified
CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
Heatsink - Noctua 6 NH-D14
Motherboard - Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2133 LGA 1155 Motherboard GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
Memory - G.Skill Ripjaws - Memory - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR3 - 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - CL9 - 1.5 V - unbuffered - non-ECC
Graphics Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB
SSD - OCZ 120 GB Vertex 3
DVD - Lite-On 24X SATA DVD+/-RW

Oh and also, I don't know if this makes a difference or not but I tried firing it up with only the HSF and the mobo attached to the power supply. Not everything needs to be connected does it? I've also tried connecting it with the bare minimum, CPU, HSF, PSU, 1 stick of ram. Same results

Edited by Yellohfelloh, 26 September 2011 - 02:37 PM.

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Hi Yellohfelloh,

I have tried to reset the CMOS but putting a screw driver to the 2 cmos pins and also to the positive and negative terminal where the battery lies.

There are better ways to achieve this which insures that a reset is done.
Your board may actually have a clear/reset button, look in your Mobo manual, OR read this, http://www.digitgeek...mosbios-memory/

I tried firing it up with only the HSF and the mobo attached to the power supply. Not everything needs to be connected does it?

Providing you have both power cables attached to the Mobo, The PSU and HSF should spin, nothing else will happen.

I've also tried connecting it with the bare minimum, CPU, HSF, PSU, 1 stick of ram. Same results

Given what you have tried, my first suggestion would be for you to check you do not have a short somewhere.

Before doing any work on the PC.
Always turn off the power at the wall and take anti static measures, even when handleing parts not attached to the computer,

Inspect the fan wires and the front header wires for any bared ones which may cause a short.

Did you change the I/O shield, if already in the case, for the one supplied with the Mobo?

Your case may have come with the stand-offs already installed, or you may have put them in. There must be EXACTLY the same number of stand-offs (screwed into the Mobo mounting plate) to match the pattern and number of screw holes in the Mobo.

It is possible for a screw, piece of wire or something metallic to be trapped under the Mobo and PITB, you will need to remove it to find out.

Please post back before rebuilding.

[iammykyl]

Hi Yellohfelloh,

I have tried to reset the CMOS but putting a screw driver to the 2 cmos pins and also to the positive and negative terminal where the battery lies.

There are better ways to achieve this which insures that a reset is done.
Your board may actually have a clear/reset button, look in your Mobo manual, OR read this, http://www.digitgeek...mosbios-memory/

I tried firing it up with only the HSF and the mobo attached to the power supply. Not everything needs to be connected does it?

Providing you have both power cables attached to the Mobo, The PSU and HSF should spin, nothing else will happen.

I've also tried connecting it with the bare minimum, CPU, HSF, PSU, 1 stick of ram. Same results

Given what you have tried, my first suggestion would be for you to check you do not have a short somewhere.

Before doing any work on the PC.
Always turn off the power at the wall and take anti static measures, even when handleing parts not attached to the computer,

Inspect the fan wires and the front header wires for any bared ones which may cause a short.

Did you change the I/O shield, if already in the case, for the one supplied with the Mobo?

Your case may have come with the stand-offs already installed, or you may have put them in. There must be EXACTLY the same number of stand-offs (screwed into the Mobo mounting plate) to match the pattern and number of screw holes in the Mobo.

It is possible for a screw, piece of wire or something metallic to be trapped under the Mobo and PITB, you will need to remove it to find out.

Please post back before rebuilding.

[Yellohfelloh]

Regarding to the statement about the standoffs...my mobo has 7 holes but in my case I can only put in 6 standoffs that will match up with the holes in the mobo. There are plenty of holes to screw in standoffs in the case, but only 6 will match up with the mobo...does the 7th one affect the computer's ability to power up? If you don't understand what I'm trying to say I will take a picture of it.

[iammykyl]

but only 6 will match up with the mobo...does the 7th one affect the computer's ability to power up?

No. That 7th hole is is near to the middle, right side of the board. It just means that part of the board is not well supported so care must be taken when connecting plugs as the board will flex.


I have had this on a couple of builds and to insure the board would not flex, this was my fix. May have been unnecessary but I was happy.

I cut off the exposed threaded end of a stand-off and filed it smooth insuring the main body length matched a regular on. Made sure it was perfectly clean. I then screwed it in place under the 7th hole.

If your computer has not fired up, you should do a bench test.

Do you need some help? or would I be teaching my granny to suck eggs?

[Yellohfelloh]

Ok I'm currently doing a bench test right now...and I'm reading the article, it says :

D) Install the CPU heatsink / Fan combo and connect the fan wire to the CPU fan header on the motherboard, this is a very important step, many motherboards will not fire if the cpu fan is not activated, at the very least the cpu temps will rise immediately and cause a thermal auto shutdown.

Maybe this is why my computer starts up for half a second and shuts down, I connect the HSF wire to the CPU fan pins on the mobo, but it won't start the fans up! I tried connecting it to the PWR_FAN pins SYS_FAN1 and SYS_FAN2 and those work perfectly fine. When I connect it to the CPU_FAN the fans don't even start up...so what can I do to fix this problem IF it IS even the problem here?

[Yellohfelloh]

I used this site to bench http://www.techsuppo...tem-171424.html

I followed the directions step by step. Removing the HSF, reapplying thermal paste, etc. The computer is still only starting up for half a second. I cannot reach POST.

[iammykyl]

Hi.

edit. Clear the CMOS before starting the bench test.

Maybe this is why my computer starts up for half a second and shuts down,

As the fan works on an alternative header, might be a fault on the CPU fan header.

Looks like it is not a obvious short, so could be,
bad PSU, CPU or Mobo.

Try the bench test again using your other PSU.
If still no go I would RMA both the CPU and Mobo.
Make sure the protective Socket cover is in place on the Mobo. Return the items with everything they came with.

Edited by iammykyl, 27 September 2011 - 04:35 PM.

[Yellohfelloh]

They mailed me another Mobo, I put everything together and it works perfectly. I guess it was the CPU_FAN header that couldn't get things started.
Thanks for your help IAMKYL

[iammykyl]

You are more than welcome. Great you have a working PC. Remember to create a recovery/backup partitions. Use Windows7 to create an image of your boot drive.

A couple of sites that may be of use.
This site is a great source for SSD information.http://www.overclock.net/ssd/

This is a guide for optimizing the a SSD boot drive. More advanced.
http://thessdreview....zation-guide-2/

[Yellohfelloh]

Hey man I'm on step 1 of http://thessdreview....zation-guide-2/

My computer will not boot when I go into ACHI.

Is it because I installed the OS when it was on IDE and then I switched to ACHI?

[iammykyl]

Hi.
I see you also have another problem regarding the BOIS in a new topic you have started. As the two could be related, it would be advisable to not continue here but explain in you new topic what is going on. This will give Digerati the full picture.

Tell him it is a new build and you have had problems.
Give a link to this topic.

[Digerati]

Continued here: http://www.geekstogo...47#entry2066847