More boxes more problems

[litehouse43]

Hey guys,
Just finished setting up my new 3930k/7850 box and am having some problems. When I go to turn it on all the fans jump to life for a short second and then go off for a few seconds before repeating the process. None of the POST indicator lights on the MOBO are lit at all so they aren't giving me much help. Anyone ran into this problem before? It almost feels like the thing is sapped for power the way it is going on and off but it has a brand new 1200 watt PSU so that isn't the problem. I'll start going through piece by piece tonight to troubleshoot but figured I'd ask here first to see if anyone can point me in a probable direction for where to start.

Thanks!

[DrPop]

That sounds to me like either there is a short somewhere, or
1. CPU is not set right in the socket - make sure none of the pins in the socket 2011 are touching or bent
2. RAM is either not compatible, or not set right, or in wrong slots - try mixing and matching - even try using 1 stick or 2 sticks in the appropriate slot, just to get it to boot.

[Al]

Do you have another psu to try? It's not unheard of to have a new psu be DOA. At least testing another one would rule that out.

[c303a]

I believe, that while it may not be real common, that this is a quirk in some mb's or psu's. I have 2 boxes that do the same thing and have been running without any trouble. Might just be something to get everything set.

[zombie67]

Make sure you have the CPU power connected. I sometime forget. And if it is the 8 pin plug kind, make sure you don't accidentally use an 8 pin PCIe cable.

Also, I think I had a similar circumstance on a previous build, and it turned out that I had some of the header pins mixed up.

[John P. Myers]

Make sure you have the CPU power connected. I sometime forget. And if it is the 8 pin plug kind, make sure you don't accidentally use an 8 pin PCIe cable.

Also, I think I had a similar circumstance on a previous build, and it turned out that I had some of the header pins mixed up.
+1

If that checks out ok, i'd pull all the RAM except for the 1st stick and try to boot then. If it still doesn't work, take that 1 stick out and replace with with any different random stick and reboot again. If it boots, start putting the RAM back in 1 stick at a time with a reboot between each. Hopefully this solves it.

My 3770K build is real touchy with RAM. It will turn on, and then shutoff after a couple seconds. Nothing shows up on the display or anything. It'll turn itself back on to try again and fail again and will repeat this for eternity unless i rearrange the RAM. The sticks are all good but they have to be in a certain order to work correctly. I've had this happen on other systems in the past as well with all kinds of different memory brands. I can't explain why it happens, i just understand that it does :p

[litehouse43]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I just tried swapping the PSU and RAM- both not the problem. I am start to think Zombie called it with the header pin issue. I have a client MOBO in a rackmount server case so the header pin names are not consistent. I tried it with just the power pins running and still no dice though.

[John P. Myers]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I just tried swapping the PSU and RAM- both not the problem. I am start to think Zombie called it with the header pin issue. I have a client MOBO in a rackmount server case so the header pin names are not consistent. I tried it with just the power pins running and still no dice though.

:( What motherboard do you have?

[litehouse43]

It's an MSI X79MA-GD45. It's already been to MSI once for RMA (DOA) so I'm really hoping it's not the MOBO.

[John P. Myers]

It's an MSI X79MA-GD45. It's already been to MSI once for RMA (DOA) so I'm really hoping it's not the MOBO.

That board got really poor reviews at Newegg. More people gave it 1 egg than all other quantities of eggs combined lol Also noticed a couple of reports describing your problem exactly. It's looking like there's a decent chance it's your mobo again :(

[litehouse43]

That board got really poor reviews at Newegg. More people gave it 1 egg than all other quantities of eggs combined lol Also noticed a couple of reports describing your problem exactly. It's looking like there's a decent chance it's your mobo again :(

Wow ya it really did. I can understand why, it has been nothing but problems since it showed up here. I inherited it from a friend who bought it for a project, let it sit on the shelf for months, found out it was DOA and couldn't return it. I went through RMA to try and put it to good use but it's becoming more trouble than it's worth. I might just replace it.

[DrPop]

Man, MSI should make it right though. They are down to 4th now after ASRock beat them out for 3rd place in sales last year (Gigabyte#1 and ASUS#2 I belive), so they can't afford to lose more customers. Hate to see you have to shell out for another mobo when it's their faulty component that's the problem. Maybe you can ask them to actually test it when it shows up this time. ;)

If you do decide to go that route though...
After a lot of hours looking at reviews on Socket 2011 mobos, I finally settled on two of the ASUS P9X79 Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131800) motherboards, and they are very nice. Overclock like a dream and stable. Only thing is the price - I did not pay Newegg's asking dollar for them. If you look around Amazon and Ebay, you can get a lightly used one or open box one for a lot less - and well worth it too.
Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and MSI can do you good with a new board. Here's to hoping!

[litehouse43]

Man, MSI should make it right though. They are down to 4th now after ASRock beat them out for 3rd place in sales last year (Gigabyte#1 and ASUS#2 I belive), so they can't afford to lose more customers. Hate to see you have to shell out for another mobo when it's their faulty component that's the problem. Maybe you can ask them to actually test it when it shows up this time. ;)

If you do decide to go that route though...
After a lot of hours looking at reviews on Socket 2011 mobos, I finally settled on two of the ASUS P9X79 Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131800) motherboards, and they are very nice. Overclock like a dream and stable. Only thing is the price - I did not pay Newegg's asking dollar for them. If you look around Amazon and Ebay, you can get a lightly used one or open box one for a lot less - and well worth it too.
Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and MSI can do you good with a new board. Here's to hoping!

Lets hope! They haven't been the most helpful to deal with thus far. The one representative essentially accused me of breaking the board when I told him I had concluded it was DOA. Seeing the RMA form asking for previous RMA numbers wasn't the best sign either. Nothing should ever need multiple RMAs...

Ah well! I'll do a complete check in the morning with another board and confirm. Certainly looks to be the case though.

Thanks for the tip on the ASUS board. I'll hunt around for one of those if this thing continues to be an issue.

[litehouse43]

Well that confirms it- just finished the testing. It's a problem with the board. Swapped the setup to a different board and everything works fine. RMA #2 here I come!

[DrPop]

Well that confirms it- just finished the testing. It's a problem with the board. Swapped the setup to a different board and everything works fine. RMA #2 here I come!

Glad you had another board to confirm! Well, here's to hoping MSI can do you right with the next try. Third time's a charm I guess ;)