HELP! New Computer shut down after 2 minutes and won't turn on again

[killdog85]

I've read the sticky checklist about no boots and still can't find the answer. My computer turned on just fine last night (this was the initial boot for my new machine) and I got into the BIOS. While in the BIOS i saw that my 1600 RAM was read as 1333 RAM... not sure if this is part of the problem. Then all of the sudden it shut down, and now it won't turn on again. What would make it stay on for two minutes and now nothing... no lights, no fans, nothing?

Any suggestions on test I can run to isolate the problem? Do I need to breadboard?

Here is my build

Antec Earthwatts 380W
Corsair Vengeance 2X4 1600 DDR3
Sapphire Radeon 6850
AMD Phenom II X4 955
Seagate 1 TB SATA
Cheap-o DVD writer
ASRock M3A770DR MoBo

Thanks!

 

[killdog85]

Please help!

 

[g048989h]

Man, i haven't checked but that PSU lloks a little light on power for the cpu and VC you,re running. If you have onboard video, take out the 6850 and try to run it on the onboard. Either way I am pretty sure youre gonna need a bigger psu, maybe a nice 550 watter. YEP, just checked and the V alone wants 500 watts. You may have shut the PSU down through the overload circuits. Try what I said, if it doesnt work try a new PSU, atleast 550 watts and major brand name like the antec you have only bigger watts.
let us know how it turns out.

 

[puttsy]

Could be processor temp. Doubtful but who knows. Your PSU could be bad, check that first, replace with a different PSU if you have one around. RAM could be the cause, again, doubtful but something to troubleshoot. If there is NO response, It points to the power supply. That would be the FIRST place I checked with this problem.

If it isn't the PSU, I would look at the motherboard. I don't use ASRock boards. They are cheap boards, on a standard, so I stay away from them. Even if they are a spin-off of Asus, they still are not a proper Asus motherboard. But you didn't come here for computer component guff.

Report back with your findings!

 

[killdog85]

I'm going to go test out the power supply today at Frys. Hopefully it's bad and it's as simple as getting a new PSU. This build is based off of the March $500 gaming build so I guess I'm not sure why this PSU would be underpowered for my machine. Any thoughts there? I'll let you know the results of the PSU test when I get them. Thanks for all the input!

 

[g048989h]

I'm just sayin, secs on VC asks for 500 watts min PSU. CPU is 125 watter, I think, not super power hungry but not an 89 watter either. Add the other stuff and youre over the 380 you have. You can go to www.antec.com and use their PSU calculator. It will tell you roughly where you should be. I personally wouldnt expet your system to be stable at less than 500watts, and would buy a min 550watter. Just my two cents though.

 

[FiftySiX]

The PSU may be in working in perfect condition, but 380w is your problem. Put it this way, your average WALMART Compaq PC uses 3gb SATA, onboard GPU, and comes with about 1gb of ddr2 ram, 1cd tray and a couple fans. JUST TO RUN THAT Compaq throws a 300w system in. Now when you add a beefy video card, BEEFY ram, and a nice HD like that, you're going to need something with a good load and a good range. I would'nt consider anything under 500 for your build. A) Running all your power down causes ALOT of heat and can damage your new MOBO and CPU. B) Low load PSU's don't offer 100% operating capacity from your RAM or video. Go on EBAY, but a cheap Roswell for 50-60 bucks and that high end pc. Or, just do the following:

1) Remove Video Card and use onboard.

Still Fail?

2) Boot with one stick of ram as well.

Still fail?

3) Boot with only the 4 pin, a HDD, and one stick of ram.

Still fail?

4) After this, the PSU has been eliminated from your list and you should start part testing.

 

[killdog85]

I got the power supply tested and it passed. I see what you guys are saying and will order a better Power Supply. In the mean time, I got a tester mobo, MSI 890GXM-G65 AMD 890GX (onboard graphics, run with only memory, CPU, PSU installed) , and this mobo turned on. On my old mobo i was getting nothing, not even fan moving. Even an underpowered machine should be able to turn the fans right? I can come to one of three conclusions:

1. My original mobo just won't work with my PSU (Seems somewhat doubtful because it did boot for a couple minutes the first time)
2. My video card is bad and my original mobo w/o integrated graphics couldn't even turn on with a bad video card. (my question here is: will a mobo w/o integrated graphics turn on even without a GPU?)
3. My original mobo died a fast, cruel death

 

[g048989h]

If MB has onboard gfx and you run off of it it will run just fine without a graphics card. I wonder why MB went bad. I just saw the psu stats and thought DUH! cant run that system for long on that power but looks like I went for the wrong thing. I still believe you need more power. I honestly never build anything for gaming with less than a 550, and I really use that Antec 550 basiq modular a lot. I am going to go look at the March builds and see what it lits cause I'm really curious about them running that HW on a 380 watt PSU. Maybe I am wrong. ope you get it sorted, let us know.

 

[killdog85]

I exchanged my original motherboard for the same mobo and installed it last night. I booted up the system and everything is working great. Not sure what would cause that old mobo to die 2 minutes into action... but I'm glad that my system is finally working.

Thanks for the helpful posts everybody! I really appreciate the advice. I'm going to look at getting a bigger power supply but for the meantime, while not running games, the system seems to be working well on 380W.

 

[killdog85]

Best answer selected by killdog85.

 

[onichikun]

I agree that 380W will work just fine for BIOS/desktop work. Your static power will be less than 380W with your hardware. The biggest issue I see is with dynamic power, the additional power your system will need under load.

I suggest running Prime95/3DMark to make sure your system is stable under load. With 380W I have a feeling you may run into some stability issues under high CPU/GPU loads.
Just something to keep in mind.

In respect to your motherboard failing, it could have been bad caps. Those Chinese capacitors are terrible, and I have had boards and PSUs die within a few minutes of powering them on before due to bad caps.

I exchanged my original motherboard for the same mobo and installed it last night. I booted up the system and everything is working great. Not sure what would cause that old mobo to die 2 minutes into action... but I'm glad that my system is finally working.

Thanks for the helpful posts everybody! I really appreciate the advice. I'm going to look at getting a bigger power supply but for the meantime, while not running games, the system seems to be working well on 380W.