Random shut off before POST message

[thedonquixotic]

First I preface this with an apology for my inexperience. Bear with me. First homebuilt rig, so its been a learning process.

So I just installed a new cpu fan. Took a ah heck to get it to fit. Annnnd. Well its weird. I start up the computer. starts running. Takes longer than usualy to get to the "hit del to enter setup" page, but seems to be running fine. Then it gets to the Post message, or stays on the "setup" page, and just shuts down. Sometimes I can make it to the BIOS and check out the setup, but a few seconds in FWOOSH, it just shuts down like someone unplugged it. The first time I started it up it said "CPU Settings have changed, check CMOS". Well that makes sense. I installed a new processor right? But now its just powering down. I have checked all the plugs. Everything seems snug. Weird it is.

So here is the specs:

3.4 pentium d
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler : Link
Nvidia GeForce 9800 gtx+
550 watt psu
2 gigs of ram

So anyone have an idea?

 

[aford10]

What kind of RAM do you have (voltage)?
What mobo?

Check the mobo mounts to make sure they are under the correct holes on the board. Tie up all the loose cables to make sure nothing is shorting out.

 

[Proximon]

The cooler should have installed easily on an older LGA 775 board. Was the thermal paste on the bottom of the cooler damaged?

It sounds like it's quickly overheating. Either the cooler is not properly seated, or you got something between the cooler and CPU.

 

[captaincharisma]

i agree. see if you can get back into the bios before it shuts off on you and check the cpu temp

 

[cfvh600]

The cooler should have installed easily on an older LGA 775 board. Was the thermal paste on the bottom of the cooler damaged?

It sounds like it's quickly overheating. Either the cooler is not properly seated, or you got something between the cooler and CPU.

+1

 

[thedonquixotic]

Thanks. I had a feeling it was an overheating problem (due to the fact that it was progressively staying on shorter amounts of time) so i reapplied the thermal paste and then made sure it was mounted correctly. Same problem though. It seems to be staying on a tad longer but not much.

Could it be a power problem?

Or in fiddling around with it so much, could I have shorted out something? What indication would a short out give?

Thanks again for your patience and help.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Does it stay powered on long enough to check the CPU temp in the BIOS like was suggested above?

 

[Proximon]

The cooler comes with paste pre-applied. So did you clean that off completely before applying new paste? How much did you use? What kind?

You still haven't listed your motherboard.

Have you verified compatibility of the board with the CPU? An overvolted CPU will do the same thing.

 

[thedonquixotic]

The motherboard is a Asus P5N-E sli. Yes the cpu works with the motherboard because I have used it before with it.

I cleaned off all the pre-applied paste first. The thermal grease is a brand called "manhattan": link. I am not sure what kind of compound it is specifically.

How much? Enough I guess? I am going to try scraping off some and see if its insulating.

What I am really worried about is know if I cooked the cpu already. How would I know if I did that?

 

[Proximon]

I see nothing to recommend the thermal grease.
http://www.manhattan-products.com/en-US/products/3204-cpu-thermal-grease
They say the color is silver, but don't make any claims as to content. It could be bad past... it would have to be very bad to cause that much trouble.

A cooked CPU would likely not work at all.

Enough paste is usually about 1-2 cooked grains of rice worth.

 

[thedonquixotic]

Oy vey. Tried scraping it off. Lowering it down. Didn't work. But I did manage to finally find the cpu temp reading. As soon as I turn it on it progressively rises. Really fast. I put on extra thermal grease (more than you recommended) and it seemed to do better. So perhaps I need to put on even more? This makes little sense. This is supposed to be a really good cooler but its not cooling at all. The temp just rises regardless. Perhaps something wrong with the heat sink? The heat sink isn't even getting hot, is it supposed to?

edit:
Okay so here is a useful update. I reinstalled the old fan. It heats up to about 49 and then sits there. So the problem is not the paste. It is the cooler. But why on earth would this cooler do worse? It has a bigger heatsink, a faster fan, copper tubing, etc etc. I am at a loss here. The one thing I think it might be is that because of its stand legs it isn't make full contact. Thats one reason that as I add more grease it gets cooler and cooler which perhaps is increase the contact. Hmmm...

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The one thing I think it might be is that because of its stand legs it isn't make full contact.

Well, you just answered your own question. You can't expect the cooler to do its job if it isn't installed correctly. More thermal paste is NOT better. You should put on as little paste as possible. You need to re-read the instructions for your cooler and install it correctly.

 

[thedonquixotic]

Well see thats the thing. It is installed correctly aside from some complications. The problem is that its lower fins are interfering with the heatsink of the mobo. The pins are in correctly but the slight bit of pressure from the mobo heatsink is making it lose to much contact. Its now idling at 43, and I think with some more bending I can get it to work. Thanks for all the help guys. I know I have been peppering these boards alot lately but I have been learning alot. (holy crap its starting to actually be easy to reinstall the fan each time. Only takes one try with the pins. ) Thanks again!

EDIT: I can't seem to eek it down to anything below 43 c. Which is weird because this is supposed to be a good cooler and I was hoping to at least get it down to 40. Any advice on how to take further advantage of the cooler?