Hi all. Thank you for visiting my thread. I will now follow the recommended layout for my help request.
Opening
My system will not post. After replacing nearly every item I find myself with the exact same problem. When I turn my motherboard on, it fails to post. Please read on for more detail.
History
So it all started when I had to have a fuse replaced in the fuse box at my home. This may be unrelated but this is where it started. My system was turned off at the time, but was plugged into the mains. I had it plugged into a respectable branded surge protector however. I’m thinking that replacing a fuse, is essentially the same thing as turning the power off and on again, so Im dubious if this caused the issue, but I wanted to mention it anyway. Since this, I have been the owner of a system that will not post. The first time turning on the system after the fuse being replaced, the motherboard actually came on, everything seemed to be working, with two exceptions:
1. I do not remember hearing a beep, and
2. I had nothing on my monitor
After restarting the system using the case restart button, I had a slightly different issue. This time my motherboard “clicked off” straight away, failing to boot again, but it now displayed an LED light next to my RAM. DRAM LED I think it was called. However, all my fans, my water pumps, LEDs and hard drives all came on and were working normally.
So this is where the journey began to try and find the problem. I have read many threads online, including some on this forum, and began to follow some of the instructions in those threads. I also think its good to mention at this stage that my system was totally watercooled, including my motherboard. I was running a dual loop, with CPU, Mosfets and Northbridge on one loop, and GPU and Southbridge on the other, using Thermochill EC6 Coolant. Please see “The Specs” for more detail on components.
The first thing I done was unplug everything going into my motherboard, such as hard drives and CD drives etc. I then plugged out the push pins for the case power buttons etc. I continued this until everything that was easily unpluggable, was indeed unplugged. Remembering of course to test the system after each individual unplugging. I was eventually left with just my CPU (and waterblock) and 1 stick of my RAM, with just my 8 pin and 24 pin ATX connectors plugged in to give the board power. Still, no post.
So then came the realisation that I needed to remove the board from the case, this was an even bigger pain as I had to first of all drain my loops! So fast forward, I then had my board “breadboarded” outside my case. I removed all waterblocks from the board, and installed a standard cooler on my CPU, the one I used when my system was aircooled. As I was only going to be turning the system on for a few seconds, I didn’t think any heatsinks on the motherboard was going to be an issue. The GPU was still attached to its waterblock, I simply pushed it in and plugged in the power. I knew it would be ok without being cooled for a few seconds also. I was only testing to see if the board would POST.
I set everything up, using the tips provided on this site, using only bare minimum components, 1 stick of RAM (which was in the correct slot) etc. Nothing I tried fixed the problem. Now this is the stage where I remember ANOTHER problem appearing. I am not exactly sure at what stage this appeared, but I think it was around this time. When I turned on my PSU, it immediately clicked off. Now when it was in my case, it may well have clicked off, but I assume that it didn’t considering all my fans and LEDs etc were still being powered. Maybe I simply just noticed it when it was out of the case. So when it clicked off, the LED next to my RAM remained lit, the same way it did inside my case. Which led me to my first replacement. The PSU. I purchased a brand new Corsair XH850, to replace the one that I was already using, as I thought that maybe changing the fuse somehow burned out the PSU. This did not fix the problem.
Next was the CPU. I got a second hand i7920 (D0) online from a reputable seller, and installed this. Still same problem.
So I then bought a refurbished ASUS P6X58D-E, to replace the current Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7, as I could not find any second hand UD7’s and I thought the Asus board was a good alternative. I quite simply followed the same procedure with it. It was still in factory condition and had all its motherboard heatsinks on it. I swapped over the CPU and cooler, and put in 1 stick of my RAM. SAME PROBLEM – I honestly could have cried! This is currently where I am at. I have just ordered a case speaker, although I think this board may have a built in speaker but just wanted to be sure.
The Full Story
So, in a nutshell, when I have just my CPU, CPU cooler, and CPU cooler fan plugged in, 1 stick of my RAM plugged in, and the 8 and 24 pin PSU connections plugged in , and I turn on my PSU and then push the power button my motherboard, I hear a click from my PSU straight away. My CPU fan then stops spinning. Interestingly enough, my CPU cooler fan keeps spinning! Just like before, an LED light next to my RAM appears, although a slightly different light due to being a different board now, I assume this is this boards version of what was lit on my UD7. Another difference with this board is that if I hold onto the power button on the board, it will actually turn the board off, with my UD7 I had to flick the power button on the PSU off, to turn off the board.
Here is another very strange thing. I tried my OLD PSU with this, and it DID NOT click off! This got me excited. So I installed 2 more modules of RAM, making 3 in total, and also put my GPU back in, and plugged its 2 6 pin connectors in. I then connected this to my monitor, hoping for a signal, but alas, nothing. So although my PSU didn’t click off, I had no signal on my monitor.
I am now waiting on my case speaker to arrive to see if this will offer my any more clue of what is going wrong. As I have tried all 6 of my 2 GB RAM modules in all RAM slots, I do not think it is my RAM. I also do not think it is my GPU as I have the same problem whether my GPU is plugged in or not – however – when my GPU is pushed into place on the MB, and I do NOT plug in its power connections, the motherboard bleeps! So I’m not sure if this tells me anything.
The specs
GPU - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
MB - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
Case - Corsair Obsidian 800D Full Tower Case – Black
CPU - Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) – Retail
RAM - Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (TR3X6G1600C8D)
PSU - Corsair HX 850W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850HXUK)
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Fatal1ty Professional Series 7.1 Sound Card (70SB088600000)
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD1001FALS)
CPU Cooler - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1156/1366)
DVD Drive - Sony Optiarc DRU-870S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) – Retail
My refurbished MB is an - ASUS P6X58D-E (which I currently have breadboarded).
Watercooling parts can be posted on request.
What I have done so far
1. Plug everything out of the old board bar CPU, CPU Cooler and Fan, and 1 stick of RAM
2. Take the board out of the case and “breadboard it”
3. Pushed the reset CMOS button on the board
4. Left the battery out for 24 hours
5. Tried all the different RAM slots with all my different RAM modules
6. Replaced PSU
7. Replaced CPU
8. Replaced MB
9. Tried my 6 different sticks of RAM in the 6 different RAM slots
10. Tried different, known to be working, RAM
11. Tried plugging in a case speaker
12. Tried different GPU
13. Made sure that RAM was properly seated and that the "levers" were all properly pushed in on both sides
14. Tried different power outlets and different power leads