my computer is wack and I need help.

[ECUPirate]

This has zero to do w/ cooling, but I really need advice.
I have a Gigabyte GA-7DXR mobo and an Enermax 365 PSU.

Problem 1: whenever I restart my PC (restart windows or CTRL-ALT-DEL from DOS, or save and exit BIOS), my AGP won't initialize. the monitor just goes into standby. the pc makes a little more noise, and then just sits there... no windows signon music... I have to push the reset button to get it to work. Sometimes even this fails, and I must turn the thing completely off and back on. I've used 2 different types of geForces, and two different PSUs.

Problem 2: sometimes my pc won't turn on at all (this started happening about a month and a half ago). I push the power button and nothing really happens. One of the lights on my case comes on, and the tiny fan on the northbridge tries to turn but can't. If I flick it w/ my finger, it will continue to spin slowly. I can hear the capacitors charge up and discharge when I try to power the system up. (I guess that's what I hear.. ) What the hell is going on?

Other than these problems, my PC runs fine. While running, all of the voltages look good. My processor is overclocked from 1333 to 1477, using the multiplier only. I'll tweak it once I get my watercooling setup.

Need advice...

[Cyco-Dude]

list your complete system specs, including OS.
when did this start happening? are all of your cards firmly seated? check all of your connections (power, reset, as well as the monitor and PSU's AC cord) and make sure they are all plugged in all the way. make sure your MoBo isnt being shorted out on something (look at the screws and make sure they dont touch any of the MoBos traces). you do have the MoBo screwed to standoffs and not to the MoBo tray itself right?
yeah, these are all 'no duh' Qs, but you gotta start somewhere

[ECUPirate]

Athlon 1333 @ 1477
Gigabyte GA-7DXR
512mb Crucial DDR

Asus 8200 GF3 Ti200
Audigy Platinum
some NIC...

Plextor 12/10/32
Pioneer 16X DVD
A:
two IBM 60GXP's 40gb each, in RAID 0

Enermax 365 PSU

you do have the MoBo screwed to standoffs and not to the MoBo tray itself right?

Actually, I stapled the mobo to the front of my case... The old mobo looked like it would be difficult to remove from the side of the case, where I had riveted it. You don't want to know what I keep inside the case..

Everything is installed fine. I'll double check for the traces around the screws, though. ...and the wires to the mobo. everything external is fine.

Problem 1 has always happened. (got the mobo this past summer) ...everytime I restart, without fail.

Problem 2, w/in the last month or two. .. the problem is very intermittent.

[Cyco-Dude]

if it has always happened, why havent you sent it back? have you tried updating the BIOS? go here to DL new drivers and a newer BIOS (and any flashing utilities. dont forget to get a copy of your current BIOS just in case).

[ECUPirate]

I always keep my bios current.. but thx for the link...

Who do I send it? The vender (if I can remember where I got it... yes, I have the receipt somewhere..) or the manufacturer?

Let me know, and I'll check tomorrow... It's way past bedtime here.

[Cyco-Dude]

you shouldve RMA'd it and sent it back to where you bought it (and had them sent you a new board). is it under warranty still?

[ECUPirate]

I dunno.. besides, the GA-7DXR "+" came out... whoop-de-dooo.
I'll look into it tomorrow..

[Brad]

when it works, what are your voltages? it sounds like a psu or mobo issue

[ambient]

its the board more than likely. have you tired all your stuff on a different board? i have a gigabyte ga-7zx kt133 crap. the board was ok for a while but i had a ton of problems with it. same weird stuff you do. i updated bios's and drivers new ram video psu. nothing ever fixed it. when i boot up it powers off all the fans 2 times after post and hdd dect. hangs some time, no video some times, only detects 2 sticks of ram put the 3 rd in no boot. then last may i got the kt7a same hardware no problems. i won't buy gigabyte again....good luck

[gogo]

I've got the same situation, push the power button and just the fans & drives power up, but no post.
or I get the annoying beep codes.
I looked at the Diag LEDs but they were no help. I was thinking I may have a slight crack in my AGP card because it happens less when I reseat it. It's been like this for 4 months at least. I haven't gotten to it yet. Plus the post codes are annoying the wife. It'll wear her down and maybe I'll get away with spending 400 on a vid card and a new board

MSI K7T Turbo Raid w 1.4tbird
Herc GF2mx 64m
sbLive value
768M micron ram

[ECUPirate]

all voltages read fine... at or above the required voltage... never seen it dip down.

Like I said, I've used two different PSUs and vid cards. I used one of the vid cards in a different system, works fine.

This mobo was well-reviewed. That's why I bought it.
If I can return it, what board should I get? (must have RAID)

Also, all of my data is stored on RAID 0 drives. If I get a new mobo w/ onboard raid like I have now, will I loose my data?

[Haddy]

yup...thats y i like pci raid cards...that way i can switch and not have to worry about losing data

[ECUPirate]

Which card is best for the money?

[gogo]

raid 0 +no backup

Just back everything up before you switch it over. Its a PIA (I'm BU 40Gigs worth of stuff now. whats truely sad is they rn't mp3 or porn movies.)

I had mine go out on me once. man that sucks.

[ambient]

yes you will loose your data. if you do buy a new mobo i would reinstall anyway. if you have a burner just backup. there are many new boards avail that are good. if i were to buy something new i would go with the Asus a7v333 or the shuttle ak35gtr v2.2 (the kt333 version) the nice thing about the shuttle it allows for up to 2.30vcore. Note one thing though its only the v2.2 that is the kt333 chipset the v2.1 is kt266a. I would go with the shuttle for the vcore unless you want to mod the v chip.
here's the shuttle review http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Shuttle/AK35GTRv22/
here's the asus review. http://www.socketa.com

[ECUPirate]

I have the total size of 80Gb partitioned 20/60. The 20gb partition is for the system and programs, the 60gb is for all of my downloads. It is basically full... movies, games, and mp3s (kazaa & morpheus rule). I wised up and did it this way after a faulty GF3 card wrecked my boot sector & file system (combination of irq errors & driver mishaps.) Now I can just reformat and install on the 20g part, and use the 60 for backup, if needed.

Sounds like I need a third drive, 80gb, to hold my permanent files. What do you recommend? I just bought an 80gb IBM 120GXP for my other PC, but then I read about certain ISSUES pertaining to IBM drives.

PS> if I just replace my current mobo w/ the same model, will I still lose my data?

[ambient]

PS> if I just replace my current mobo w/ the same model, will I still lose my data?

Don't know about that one, good question for gigabyte. I wouldn't replace that thing with the same model anyway, unless loot is a factor. For me I'm always lookin for the best performing product that is why I sugested the 2 boards above. Do you not like reinstalling your stuff? quick question, do you clear the cmos jumper after updating the bios? Yeah there are some issues with the ibms. but we had one in our server for a long time with no problems.

[gogo]

Originally posted by ECUPirate
I have the total size of 80Gb partitioned 20/60. The 20gb partition is for the system and programs, the 60gb is for all of my downloads. It is basically full... movies, games, and mp3s (kazaa & morpheus rule). I wised up and did it this way after a faulty GF3 card wrecked my boot sector & file system (combination of irq errors & driver mishaps.) Now I can just reformat and install on the 20g part, and use the 60 for backup, if needed.

Sounds like I need a third drive, 80gb, to hold my permanent files. What do you recommend? I just bought an 80gb IBM 120GXP for my other PC, but then I read about certain ISSUES pertaining to IBM drives.

PS> if I just replace my current mobo w/ the same model, will I still lose my data?

Move the files you need (not the programs you can reinstall those) to one folder. check the size then. There is no sense backing up programs since most won't behave well (if they run) if just transfered from one drive to another.

As far as IBM is concerned, I haven't had a problem with any (excpt the one that wouldn't work out of the box, & Knock wood)
I have 3 40G 60gxp's and have installed around 30 for various people of the 75 and 65 and 120 series. The thing is not of these systems is on 24/7, and the ones that are on for major leangths of time have power management on, so the the drives shut off.

If you want just a big drive for storage of files (not to install & run programs off of) i might suggest the MAXTOR Quiet Drives just look for the 'L' in the model #. They are really quiet.

[Brad]

the shuttle ak35gtr and abit at7 seem to be the best boards. i'd recommend the seagate barracuda ata IV or WD 100gb 8mb cache hdd's, they both perform really well.

[ECUPirate]

Ok, now I've got real problems.

I completely revamped my whole PC setup... I cut all kinds of holes in the case, I took apart my PSU and added fan control, I vacuumed out the PSU and the mobo (is this safe to do ?) , I rounded all of my IDE cables, I added a watercooling system, I severed the power switch/reset switch/led light leads from the mobo to the front bezel, and added quick connectors for easy access, I reapplied artic silver to the CPU (it's possible that some got onto the bridges, but I tried to keep things clean... how do you remove this stuff?) ....

basically, I screwed w/ every aspect of my system. ...also, no water was spilled on any components...

when I push the power button, absolutely nothing happens. nada...

I unplugged everything from the mobo except the power switch and the big power connector from the PSU, and still got nothing. I tried a different power supply, still nothing... cleared the CMOS, nada.
Brainstorm, people. WTF could be causing this?
Also, how can I mod an ATX PSU so that I can turn it on w/o a mobo.
Finally, (really stupid), on the PSU, which switch setting means on? the "o" or the "-" ???

Really need this machine up and running!

[Haddy]

what do u mean u added fan control? did u cut into ur ps...if nothing (not even fans) turn on then sounds like either ur ps is toasty or u fooked up ur on button....yea theres a way to start a ps without a mobo...u just gotta connect 2 pins on the end of the mobo connector....i know both are near the middle and their on difflevels...but i dont remeber the pins exactly....(DONT GO SEARCH FOR THE PIN U MIGHT SCREW UR POWER SUPPLY UP) im sure somebody else here knows the proper pins

[Joe]

moving this to the proper forum.

[ECUPirate]

I opened the PSU, unplugged the 92mm fan from the PSU circuit board, clipped the plug and added a length of wire, and ran it to the front bezel to a 7/off/12v switch. Didn't actually change the PSU. Besides, I tried a different PSU w/ no luck.

The power switch may in fact be fooked. It took a beating when I was cutting on the case.
What type of switch is it, and how do I wire around it?

Is it a momentary switch? me thinks so. I tried connecting the switch leads manually, w/ no luck. Will try again when I get home.

PLease advise.

[Haddy]

yea its momentary....but nothing turns on right? not even fans?....unplug everything, even led...just leaving basics (vid card, ram, cpu/hsfan, mobo....) and c if itll boot up....basicly jsut narrow it down as much as possible adn go from there....

[ECUPirate]

I found the problem. In order to install the waterblock, I removed the HSF. It turns out that my mobo has a failsafe... it won't start w/o a fan plugged into the CPU fan plug. I'll post to the watercooling forum about this. Hopefully, I can save someone a huge headache.