- Nov 2, 2008
- 1
- 0
- 18,510
Overview of the problem
Freezes during the first few tests of the POST.
Full description of the problem and symptoms
About two weeks ago I ordered a full set of parts from newegg and assembled everything as usual (I've been building computers on and off for the past four or five years.) Upon the first boot, the computer froze during the POST.
I get about three lines into the POST - the last line before freezing is "Initializing USB controller... DONE." If I have only one stick of ram in, I get "2048MB.. OK" after that, but then it just freezes.
I have isolated the problem to either the motherboard, memory, or CPU - since the POST reported my CPU, I concluded that it must have been the motherboard, and I RMA'd that sucker. A week later, new motherboard in, I get the exact same problem. Logically, my next step was the ram, because it wasn't POSTing the "4096MB." Replaced that too.
I already tried these steps:
Clearing the CMOS has no effect. Neither does removing the hard drive, switching to onboard video, and removing the PCI cards. I even remove the motherboard from the case and set it on my own standoffs on my desk just in case it is somehow shorting out at some point during the post. I have also replaced both the motherboard and RAM to no effect.
I strongly suspect a dead CPU.
I would REALLY like to fix this without RMA'ing my CPU. Any ideas, anyone?
Thank you in advance.
Windows XP Professional Edition with SP3
My hardware
Motherboard: MSI G31M3 (Micro-ATX)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / Stock Fan / Arctic Silver V
Video: ASUS TOP HD4850 512MB
RAM: Corsair 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 TwinX 5-5-5-18
PSU: Antec NeoPower 550W
HDD: Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM EIDE
Freezes during the first few tests of the POST.
Full description of the problem and symptoms
About two weeks ago I ordered a full set of parts from newegg and assembled everything as usual (I've been building computers on and off for the past four or five years.) Upon the first boot, the computer froze during the POST.
I get about three lines into the POST - the last line before freezing is "Initializing USB controller... DONE." If I have only one stick of ram in, I get "2048MB.. OK" after that, but then it just freezes.
I have isolated the problem to either the motherboard, memory, or CPU - since the POST reported my CPU, I concluded that it must have been the motherboard, and I RMA'd that sucker. A week later, new motherboard in, I get the exact same problem. Logically, my next step was the ram, because it wasn't POSTing the "4096MB." Replaced that too.
I already tried these steps:
Clearing the CMOS has no effect. Neither does removing the hard drive, switching to onboard video, and removing the PCI cards. I even remove the motherboard from the case and set it on my own standoffs on my desk just in case it is somehow shorting out at some point during the post. I have also replaced both the motherboard and RAM to no effect.
I strongly suspect a dead CPU.
I would REALLY like to fix this without RMA'ing my CPU. Any ideas, anyone?
Thank you in advance.
Windows XP Professional Edition with SP3
My hardware
Motherboard: MSI G31M3 (Micro-ATX)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / Stock Fan / Arctic Silver V
Video: ASUS TOP HD4850 512MB
RAM: Corsair 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 TwinX 5-5-5-18
PSU: Antec NeoPower 550W
HDD: Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM EIDE
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram