Contineous reboot problem after POST

[g_patsil]

I just finished building my new desktop however I am having boot problems as the title suggests.

My system boots and I get the mobo lights, all fans start, I get video output since I see the POST screen where it lists my processor, memory, hard drives installed (correctly) and it says hit "del" for setup or "F1" for continue but a few ms to a second later I see this (the time varies). My PC powers off and after 1-2 seconds powers back on to repeat this.

The furthest I got was to hit del once and see the BIOS page come up for a split second and then again the system powers off and repeat.

These are my specs:

CPU: i7-920
Mobo: EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1G

Case: Antec 300 illusion
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB
DVD:Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive

I tried booting with 1 dimm and I always get the same result.

Does anyone have an idea of what might be wrong? I tried reconnecting everything...

 

[MadAdmiral]

Did you try everything in the "Read Before Posting about Boot Problems" sticky? If not, do that. If so, what happened at various stages?

Do all the fans spin up? Especially the HSF?

It sounds like a PSU problem to me...

 

[g_patsil]

Thanks for the quick reply.. Sorry for not mentioning it explicitly...

Yes I did follow the Read Before Posting about Boot Problems" sticky... The only part I havent dont is to remove it from the case to and boot it... however I am using the standoffs so that shouldnt be "shorting" problem.

All case fans, as well as HSF fan, as well as video card fan power up... so it looks like enough power is going everywhere.

I was thinking that it might be a PSU problem however
1) I dont have a backup one sitting here to test it and
2) I thought that IF it was a PSU problem it wouldnt boot to begin with.

I thought maybe I dont have enough power but shouldn't a 650W fan be enough to power the minimum configuration of Mobo, CPU, HSF, Video Card and 1 DIMM? so I eliminated that potential.

 

[MadAdmiral]

If it was a PSU problem, it could still post. Yes, 650W would be more than enough to run everything, assuming it's working correctly.

Is there anyone you can ask to borrow their PSU for a bit? If it were me, I'd really want to try my PSU in a previously working computer, and their PSU in my non-working computer. Other than that, I can't think of anything else to try...

 

[g_patsil]

Thanks again for your SUPER fast response!!!

Would any PSU work nomatter how old? whats the minimum PSU wattage I would need to boot it in that case? I know people with old (>2years old) computers would that work?

Can the processor be overheating to the point where it shuts down the machine and then reboots it? (I would think that I would hear some beeps if this happened)

Also.. does the fact that it shuts down and then reboots automatically mean anything?

 

[MadAdmiral]

For the minimum wattage, there are a lot of wattage calculators out there. For my current build (2 HDDs, 4 sticks of RAM, quad core CPU, an HD 5750, 1 optical), the number was around 375W.

Older PSU do wear out in terms of maximum output. This can be factored in with some of the wattage calculators. I would think that one around 2 years old shouldn't be too weak.

It could be, but as long as the HSF was secured, thermal compound was applied and the fan was running, it shouldn't be that hot from just posting. And there'd be no way to tell the temperature (that I know of) until you actually get it running.

I'm sure the rebooting means something. I just think the PSU is the most likely suspect. That's part of the testing. You need to eliminate the potential problems one at a time, starting with the first thing first. If the PSU isn't working, nothing else will.

 

[Proximon]

You should breadboard the build as per the checklist. It sounds to me like a short or poor contact somewhere.

As long as your PSU has all the proper connections, you could probably get a boot out of a 350W PSU pretty easily... as long as it's quality and you don't load up the GPU.

Your board does come with both a built-in speaker and LED display.

 

[g_patsil]

I did breadboard the build after all and I get the same result. From the speaker of the board I was able to get 1 beep which sounded normal (It wasnt long or more than one). The LED display's last code is the one for detecting the hard drives and a few times got a little further so I assume its not a motherboard error...

I was able to get a 305W power supply from an old dell machine, which might be good enough if I swap the graphics card out with a Radeon x600.. or at least I hope

I notice when the machine reboots I hear a click from the power supply just like the sound when I unplug it from the wall... or at least I think.