I built a new computer today and I am having problems. It will not boot and gives me error messages during POST.
The parts include a MSI P35 Neo2-FR motherboard, 4 sticks of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 RAM (4GB total), a couple of Western Digital SATA hard drives (not in RAID), a BFG Tech 8800 GTS video card. Plus the usual DVD writer, etc. The power supply is a PC Power & Cooling Silencer (750 watts).
On powering on the computer for the first time, I got the error message "Warning! The previous performance of overclocking is failed!" I hadn't overclocked anything, this was the first power on for the system. It gives me the option to go to BIOS and change settings. There are 2 defaults in the BIOS: the "fail-safe" default and the "optimized" default. I tried both. It makes no difference. When I save and exit from BIOS, the computer just reboots to the same "Warning!" message.
I removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes and re-installed it. This time I saw the vendor screen during bootup, and then it stopped with the message "The BIOS is incorrect. Press F2 to load the default settings and continue". Pressing F2 made the computer hang - just a blinking cursor. After waiting 4-5 minutes, I rebooted again and it returned to the same old message "Warning! The previous performance of overclocking is failed!". No matter how many times I reboot, I get the same error.
Another thing I have noticed is that when I reboot, the computer starts up and shuts down about 8-10 times before it finally settles down and sends the first signal to the monitor. This happens EVERY time I reboot. It just turns on and off repeatedly, spinning up the fans and drives, then spinning them down again, over and over. During this period it does not send a signal to the monitor or keyboard. Eventually, after the 8th or 10th such automatic restart, it finally boots to the point that I can see stuff on the monitor and the keyboard starts working. But it's always the same error message about overclocking.
I am not sure what to do. Do I have a bad motherboard? Is there something else I am missing?
Any help is much appreciated.
Edit: forgot to mention a couple of things earlier.
1. I've been playing with this for a couple hours now, but sometime earlier during one of the reboots I got to the "Boot from CD" prompt. I put in my Windows XP CDROM, and saw the first Windows XP setup screen. During this process, I got a warning from Windows Setup saying I had a Boot Sector Virus. I dunno how that could be, seeing that both the hard drives in the system are brand new. I personally opened their antistatic wraps earlier today and installed them. I forget which option I chose at the time, "continue" or "abort" or whatever, but Windows Setup failed. This happened only ONCE during the dozens of attempts I have made so far. Other than that, I always get the "Warning!" message about overclocking.
2. The system doesn't seem to save BIOS info. I changed the clock in BIOS earlier, changed a couple other defaults (like showing actual POST stuff instead of vendor splash screen, etc.). None of the changes took. They just revert back every time I reboot.
Edit:
I removed both hard drives from the system and removed 3 sticks of RAM, leaving just 1 on the motherboard. Still getting the same "Warning!" about overclocking.
The parts include a MSI P35 Neo2-FR motherboard, 4 sticks of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 RAM (4GB total), a couple of Western Digital SATA hard drives (not in RAID), a BFG Tech 8800 GTS video card. Plus the usual DVD writer, etc. The power supply is a PC Power & Cooling Silencer (750 watts).
On powering on the computer for the first time, I got the error message "Warning! The previous performance of overclocking is failed!" I hadn't overclocked anything, this was the first power on for the system. It gives me the option to go to BIOS and change settings. There are 2 defaults in the BIOS: the "fail-safe" default and the "optimized" default. I tried both. It makes no difference. When I save and exit from BIOS, the computer just reboots to the same "Warning!" message.
I removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes and re-installed it. This time I saw the vendor screen during bootup, and then it stopped with the message "The BIOS is incorrect. Press F2 to load the default settings and continue". Pressing F2 made the computer hang - just a blinking cursor. After waiting 4-5 minutes, I rebooted again and it returned to the same old message "Warning! The previous performance of overclocking is failed!". No matter how many times I reboot, I get the same error.
Another thing I have noticed is that when I reboot, the computer starts up and shuts down about 8-10 times before it finally settles down and sends the first signal to the monitor. This happens EVERY time I reboot. It just turns on and off repeatedly, spinning up the fans and drives, then spinning them down again, over and over. During this period it does not send a signal to the monitor or keyboard. Eventually, after the 8th or 10th such automatic restart, it finally boots to the point that I can see stuff on the monitor and the keyboard starts working. But it's always the same error message about overclocking.
I am not sure what to do. Do I have a bad motherboard? Is there something else I am missing?
Any help is much appreciated.
Edit: forgot to mention a couple of things earlier.
1. I've been playing with this for a couple hours now, but sometime earlier during one of the reboots I got to the "Boot from CD" prompt. I put in my Windows XP CDROM, and saw the first Windows XP setup screen. During this process, I got a warning from Windows Setup saying I had a Boot Sector Virus. I dunno how that could be, seeing that both the hard drives in the system are brand new. I personally opened their antistatic wraps earlier today and installed them. I forget which option I chose at the time, "continue" or "abort" or whatever, but Windows Setup failed. This happened only ONCE during the dozens of attempts I have made so far. Other than that, I always get the "Warning!" message about overclocking.
2. The system doesn't seem to save BIOS info. I changed the clock in BIOS earlier, changed a couple other defaults (like showing actual POST stuff instead of vendor splash screen, etc.). None of the changes took. They just revert back every time I reboot.
Edit:
I removed both hard drives from the system and removed 3 sticks of RAM, leaving just 1 on the motherboard. Still getting the same "Warning!" about overclocking.
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