System no longer boots after chipset heatsink installation

[juicy]

Hi, I'm still new to this system building thing, so bear with me. I tried replacing that shitty Asus A8N-SLI mobo chipset fan with a Zalman aluminum heatsink, and the following happened afterwards:

The 1st time I turned on the computer, it allowed me to enter BIOS setup after nagging me about computer chip fan not being on (message made sense because the chipset fan's sensor was no longer plugged in). The hard drive boot order was wrong, so I changed the first drive to the correct HD. Then I saved the changes.

The computer then rebooted again, and..... nothing. It stays black forever. No video signal found, the monitor says. I turn off the computer, turn it back on several times. Video signal never found.

There's a few things I can think of which might've gone wrong:

First, I think I might have put a little too much Arctic Silver adhesive between the chipset and the Zalman, not sure. I didn't use any silicon around the chipset either to protect any leads. I also only waited 1 hour or so for the adhesive to cure before turning on my computer. Is this a big deal? The leftover adhesive seemed hard enough by then.

The Zalman gets pretty dang hot, and its dang close to the capacitors of my video card (7900 GT). I think I've read somewhere that someone had problems with extreme heat being right next to their GT?

I'm pretty sure I messed up my mobo somehow, but I'm wondering if maybe it's my video card or something. Any ideas?

 

[1Tanker]

Hi, I'm still new to this system building thing, so bear with me. I tried replacing that shitty Asus A8N-SLI mobo chipset fan with a Zalman aluminum heatsink, and the following happened afterwards:

The 1st time I turned on the computer, it allowed me to enter BIOS setup after nagging me about computer chip fan not being on (message made sense because the chipset fan's sensor was no longer plugged in). The hard drive boot order was wrong, so I changed the first drive to the correct HD. Then I saved the changes.

The computer then rebooted again, and..... nothing. It stays black forever. No video signal found, the monitor says. I turn off the computer, turn it back on several times. Video signal never found.

There's a few things I can think of which might've gone wrong:

First, I think I might have put a little too much Arctic Silver adhesive between the chipset and the Zalman, not sure. I didn't use any silicon around the chipset either to protect any leads. I also only waited 1 hour or so for the adhesive to cure before turning on my computer. Is this a big deal? The leftover adhesive seemed hard enough by then.

The Zalman gets pretty dang hot, and its dang close to the capacitors of my video card (7900 GT). I think I've read somewhere that someone had problems with extreme heat being right next to their GT?

I'm pretty sure I messed up my mobo somehow, but I'm wondering if maybe it's my video card or something. Any ideas?

First thing i would try is reset the BIOS to default. GL

 

[juicy]

thanks for the tip, i pulled out the battery, and i was able to boot up my computer again after changing the hard drive boot order (again) and disabling BIOS's warning message for the chip fan....

but then after i logged in to make sure everything was ok, i rebooted..... and it's doing the same thing over again!!!! no video signal, nothing!!! and like before, the computer also no longer turned off if I held the power button (i forgot to mention this in my first post). i have to yank out the plug.

i think i may need to update my bios? i've heard that the BIOS which comes with the ASUS A8n-SLI is crap, but I hadn't had any BIOS problems for the first several months, so I left it alone..... looks like its acting up? just because i removed the chipset fan???

 

[1Tanker]

thanks for the tip, i pulled out the battery, and i was able to boot up my computer again after changing the hard drive boot order (again) and disabling BIOS's warning message for the chip fan....

but then after i logged in to make sure everything was ok, i rebooted..... and it's doing the same thing over again!!!! no video signal, nothing!!! and like before, the computer also no longer turned off if I held the power button (i forgot to mention this in my first post). i have to yank out the plug.

i think i may need to update my bios? i've heard that the BIOS which comes with the ASUS A8n-SLI is crap, but I hadn't had any BIOS problems for the first several months, so I left it alone..... looks like its acting up? just because i removed the chipset fan???

Before risking a BIOS flash, you might consider reinstalling the original chipset HS/F, and see if it was just a coincidence, or maybe the new one isn't making good contact.

 

[Kholonar]

The fact that you are able to boot in before you make changes to the bios makes me think you are setting the bios wrong.

Here's what I see from your posts:

Install HS and boot up, get warnings
Change bios
reboot fails

reset bios
change bios
reboot fails

It's unlike that the bios gives you a first time warnings and then second time it says "two strikes you're OUT"

First problem I'd look into is the change of boot order, I recommend you leave it as is. I don't know whether you changed it from/to CD as first boot but this can sometimes cause problems. I'd recommend setting to CD first and hard disk second and make everything else blank. If this fails, then just leave the boot order as default. You should only really need to change the boot order if you want to avoid using a particular device to boot (ie if the hard disk is corrupted in which case you can remove the hard disk from the routine).

Disabling the chipset fan warning can also be a no-no in which case you might either have to live with the warning message or try flashing the bios (which has its own risks).

If all of the above fails you can try some hard modding, if you are comfortable, try getting the connection for the old fan and rewiring it to another fan (perhaps quieter) and use it somewhere else in your case. This way you can turn a bad situation around and use the chipset fan to cool your RAM modules for instance. Just be careful not to electrocute yourself.

 

[juicy]

Ok, so I was at work the whole day, hadn't changed a thing on my computer, I come back home, turn it on, and voila. It works again??? Something's up with my computer, but I'm not sure what.

If it keeps working like this, I'll leave it alone. But if it keeps messing up, I'll definitely try what you guys are suggesting. Thanks a bunch!

btw, loving the zalman heatsink. my mobo temp was 53 C before, now it's 48!