Long time lurker, first time poster- so go gentle
I have recently begun building a two new rigs (one for myself, one for a friend). The first rig comprises the following;
C2D E6600
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P Rev 2.0
Arctic Cooler 7 Pro
256MB Gigabyte 7600GT
2X1Gb Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC5400 (667)
Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0
The problem I am having is the the rig is intermittentely failing to start. I have it set up with only 1 stick of ram, no optical or harddisks- just looking for a basic bios post.
If I start the rig from cold, it boots up as normal and posts correctely (ie I can go into BIOS, change / save settings, exit, restart then it runs through the post successfully to the 'BOOT DISK NOT FOUND' message).
When I then restart the computer, the computer fails to start (ie we never get to post stage). What happens is the cpu fan spins for a fraction of a second (as does the psu fan), then stops / pauses for 3/4 seconds, then spins again, stops, etc. It looks like it is trying to start, stopping, then starting again, every 3/4 seconds.
The only thing I can do to get it to start again is to disconnect the power cable, leave it for a bit (30 mins seems to do the trick), then start it and I can get into bios. After this, the whole cycle is repeated.
I am almost clean out of ideas as to what to do next;
- all 3 power connectors are connected
- have tried different psu (antec Neo 430w )
- have tried different mobo (another DS3)
- have reseated cpu
- tried 1 stick & two sticks
- swapped ram sticks
- disabled everything I could in bios (ie fan control, power saving features, etc). All other bios settings (voltages etc) set to auto.
The bios cpu temp looks pretty normal- bios doesnt crash & its idling at a very low 35 degrees or so. So I dont think its failing to start becuase its misreading the temperature.
Im probably clutching at straws, but the only other factor is that both psu are antex neo's. The 430w is maybe on the lowish side for the rig- but it has been working perfectely well in an old P4 rig I had so I know its not faulty. Given the 7600GT is passively cooled- I think it would have enough power for whats needed.
I have been tempted to throw a copy of xp onto it and see if it thr problem still occurs after its been run-in; but Im clutching at straws so any help / insight would be great.
I have recently begun building a two new rigs (one for myself, one for a friend). The first rig comprises the following;
C2D E6600
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P Rev 2.0
Arctic Cooler 7 Pro
256MB Gigabyte 7600GT
2X1Gb Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC5400 (667)
Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0
The problem I am having is the the rig is intermittentely failing to start. I have it set up with only 1 stick of ram, no optical or harddisks- just looking for a basic bios post.
If I start the rig from cold, it boots up as normal and posts correctely (ie I can go into BIOS, change / save settings, exit, restart then it runs through the post successfully to the 'BOOT DISK NOT FOUND' message).
When I then restart the computer, the computer fails to start (ie we never get to post stage). What happens is the cpu fan spins for a fraction of a second (as does the psu fan), then stops / pauses for 3/4 seconds, then spins again, stops, etc. It looks like it is trying to start, stopping, then starting again, every 3/4 seconds.
The only thing I can do to get it to start again is to disconnect the power cable, leave it for a bit (30 mins seems to do the trick), then start it and I can get into bios. After this, the whole cycle is repeated.
I am almost clean out of ideas as to what to do next;
- all 3 power connectors are connected
- have tried different psu (antec Neo 430w )
- have tried different mobo (another DS3)
- have reseated cpu
- tried 1 stick & two sticks
- swapped ram sticks
- disabled everything I could in bios (ie fan control, power saving features, etc). All other bios settings (voltages etc) set to auto.
The bios cpu temp looks pretty normal- bios doesnt crash & its idling at a very low 35 degrees or so. So I dont think its failing to start becuase its misreading the temperature.
Im probably clutching at straws, but the only other factor is that both psu are antex neo's. The 430w is maybe on the lowish side for the rig- but it has been working perfectely well in an old P4 rig I had so I know its not faulty. Given the 7600GT is passively cooled- I think it would have enough power for whats needed.
I have been tempted to throw a copy of xp onto it and see if it thr problem still occurs after its been run-in; but Im clutching at straws so any help / insight would be great.