My CPU won’t play ball….

[davrosthegeek]

..have a Biostar M7VKB mobo – socket A, 200FSB VIA KT133 chipset (not KT133a), which should, according to Biostar, handle anything up to an Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHz 200FSB. I got a 1.3Ghz 200FSB and installed it (board is jumperless), put in the new fan etc.

When it powers up, everything starts up, but there’s no video signal – after about 15secs, the whole thing powers off. I find I can’t turn back on straight away – have to wait (for the PSU I feel), as I don’t get that familiar crackle when I plug in the cord until it’s ready to run again.

Not sure if it even POSTs, as it never gets that far. Was thinking it could be one of 3 things:

1. BIOS support – it can’t handle the cpu in it’s current revision, and needs to be flashed – even then, would there be settings in the CMOS for FSB etc?
2. heat – the chip powers down (can it?) after those 15s due to generated heat – shouldn’t do this – I’ve applied the thermal paste, a copper shim & the heat sink (which is powered… have a 300W PSU – is that ok?)
3. knackered chip – it’s dead – and the mobo powers down, as it “sees” no CPU.
4. Biostar lie, and this board isn’t compatible – I think I have rev 2.1 of the board, but this shouldn’t matter as Chipset etc are identical.

I've flashed to a later BIOS, but it doesn't seem to make a difference...

Any ideas?

(Apologies if this isn't the right forum - also posted in MB's & Chipsets forum...)

 

[Maverick494]

Seems to me like you might possibly be having a problem where you plugged the CPU fan into the wrong fan header. If the motherboard senses no cpu fan speed it might shut the computer down to save the processor. Check to make sure it is in the right spot. I doubt that the processor size is wrong, all that would likely do is run at the highest speed available to the board. If it was sensing no cpu it would give beep codes.


EDIT:

Also make sure your board is grounded properly, that can cause it to stop functioning as well.
Just a computer junky<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Maverick494 on 07/18/03 08:57 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[endyen]

You seem to be saying that your psu is tripping. This suggests that either it is overloaded or short circuited. Check for shorts to ground, like a bad/wrong power connection to floppy, a loose screw, or a standoff,or other piece of metal contacting the back of the board. You could also try a different psu, if you can borrow, or have an unused one.

 

[Crashman]

Some boards can't accept a multiplier of higher than 12.5, but that wouldn't be indicated by the symptoms of your machine. What CPU were you running in that same system before?

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[davrosthegeek]

OK – I’ve managed to stop the power tripping (don’t ask how) – still no video output though.

I’ve been running a Duron 750 on this board forever with no problems – so definitely no problem with grounding. The fan spins up, and seems to run at 5000rpm – about the same as my Duron fan, worryingly (checked by plugging it into my Duron… could this be sensor error, or is this normal?) Also rules out any refusal to boot because of incorrect HSF header being used (I used exactly the same one…) Don’t seem to be any beep codes either…

As for overheating – I notice the HSF is hot/warm when I power it off – so the CPU is chucking out some heat (and so is doing something….) – but can faulty CPUs still output heat like that? If not, then what can be the problem??!!

Thanks for taking the time to help me out, guys – really appreciate it!!

 

[Crashman]

The reason I asked is because things like that can happen if you mount your board wrong (but you've probably used that system as it is with the other CPU) or if you have the fan plugged into the wrong place. A flipped IDE cable can cause black screen/no boot, but I've never heard of the system shutting off from that.

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