Another IP35 Pro with Booting problems

[Bolosun]

I have just bought a IP35 Pro Off Limits board from Overclockers as part of their overclocked bundle.
So I have

• Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM
• Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
• OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N1066SR2GK) (Deal Product)
• Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

I have also a the following that have been working in my old system for awhile with no problems

• EVGA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
• Hiper 580W PSU
• Creative X-Fi sound card
• Pinnacle video capture card
• Supra modem
• 2 x DVD rewriters
• 1 x CD rewriter
• 1 x Floppy drive

Bios settings left as default apart from boot device, day date etc. No overclock settings.
What happend with when I fitted the 1st motherboard was the system just beeped at me with the C.C. error code. The CMOS switch was set out of the box, so reset it and the system booted. I installed a base o/s and powercycled numerous times during this process and all was well. Switched it all off and left it overnight.
Next morning the system would not power up, just spun the fans up for about 2 secounds and then shut down. It would keep doing this until I switched it off at the mains. Removed everything from the system, even down to no video card, just CPU and memory and still the same.
Installed my old CPU, motherboard and memory and that worked fine. Tried the new bits again, still no joy. Spoke to Overclockers who told me to fetch it in for testing. They now have the old board and I bought another board, because when they test it and I assume find faulty, they will refund me my money.

Get home and rebuild system with new board. Did a basic build with CPU, memory and video card only and the system booted. Spent the next hour building the system, switched it all on and installed o/s etc. I upgraded the BIOS to 14 and have not overclocked it. Again switched it off overnight.

Next morning get the same problem with the system powering up for about 2 seconds and then turning off and repeating this until I switch it off at the mains. The error code displayed was 9.9., which says Complete Power Off Sequence.

As an act of desperation before I threw the system out of the window, I reset the CMOS using the switch on the back. System now powers up, no problem.

Spent the whole day finishing off the o/s install and installing my own software. Again lots of reboots and a couple of power cycles as well. Again switched it off overnight.

This morning, same problem, powering up for 2 seconds and BIOS code 9.9. Reset CMOS and all is well.

Am I very unucky that I have had 2 duff systems with faulty CMOS batteries (highly unlikely) or do I have another faulty motherboard?

[Bolosun]

I just rememberd that with the 1st motherboard when I was diagosing the problem, I did disconnect the ATX12V1 connector and the motherboard would then power up.

[oSkar]

Have you tried building the system on a bench, outside a case? You might have an unused motherboard support somewhere that's shorting your motherboard. I had a similar problem a while ago. If I put RAM in one of the memory slots on my Gigabyte board it would power up and shutdown after 2 seconds just like you describe. Eventually I tried building the system on top of the motherboard box and it all worked fine. Then I realised there was a motherboard support I had left in the case that was right under the DIMM slots. Removing this support fixed the problem.

If this isn't the problem, you might have something similar to my current problem. If I switch the system off and on at the PSU or disconnect and reconnect the power cord, it won't POST unless I clear the CMOS. I'm about to rebuild the system on top of a cardboard box to see if it's a case short and make it easy to try using a few different power supplies. This problem is on an IP35 though, rather than an IP35 PRO so I can't tell you anything about POST codes.

[Bolosun]

I checked that with the first m/b, and there are no shorts. It is a similar problem to yours. It will only power up after I reset the CMOS. I have just had the system off for about 2 hours and I had to reset the CMOS again to get it to power up.
I did record this time the first time I press the power on button, it spins up and then off and stays off and the code is 8.3. - which is ATX supply is ready. When I press the power on button again, it recycles to 9.9. until I reset the CMOS and then it powers up ok.

[Thorsson]

Do you have a decent PSU handy that you could try? To quote an old joke, the Hiper is pretty, but awful. It's pretty awful.

IMO the mobo has not been at fault (and therefore no money will come from OC, who are hard to get refunds from at the best of times). If the same thing happens twice with different motherboards, either another part is at fault, or you have a compatibility issue.

P.S. You did set the RAM voltage to ~2.1V rather than leave it at stock, didn't you?

[Bolosun]

I don't have another PSU to try. Why do you say the Hiper is an awful PSU? I did do a search on the Net for any known issues with Hiper PSU's and found none. It has worked faultlessly for 2 years with my old ASUS and AMD 4800+ dual core.
Just a quick Google and this site gave my PSU 9 out of 10 - xsreviews co uk under hiper-typer-580w
As far as incompatability issues, why is my PSU the "incompatable" part in the equasion? I would argue it is the motherboard.
Finally, the ram voltage was set as stock and is now set to 2.2v as per OC's overclocking guide. It showed the fault with both settings. Why should the ram voltage make a difference?

[oSkar]

I got to the bottom of my problem, it must be my Enermax Infiniti PSU because the system works fine with another PSU I got out of another system. Just to be sure, I built the system outside the case to make sure it wasn't a short. The system works fine with another PSU, and then goes back to not booting without a CMOS clear when I hook it up to the Enermax Infiniti.

[Bolosun]

oSkar, glad you got yours sorted. But I went the other way and tried a different type of motherboard with my PSU and it works fine.
Will be "discussing" with Overclockers tomorrow as to which part is not compatable - PSU or m/b.

[oSkar]

If the PSU works fine with another Mobo, maybe this is just a dud battery on the IP35 Pro?

The battery from your other Mobo might fit it fine so you could try that one. If it works with the other battery, it should be a fair bit cheaper to buy another battery than posting your motherboard back to Overclockers and their helpful techies.

[Thorsson]

I don't have another PSU to try. Why do you say the Hiper is an awful PSU? I did do a search on the Net for any known issues with Hiper PSU's and found none. It has worked faultlessly for 2 years with my old ASUS and AMD 4800+ dual core.
Just a quick Google and this site gave my PSU 9 out of 10 - xsreviews co uk under hiper-typer-580w
As far as incompatability issues, why is my PSU the "incompatable" part in the equasion? I would argue it is the motherboard.
Finally, the ram voltage was set as stock and is now set to 2.2v as per OC's overclocking guide. It showed the fault with both settings. Why should the ram voltage make a difference?

1. I say the Hiper is pretty awful because not only I, but plenty of other Hexites have had bad experiences with this PSU blowing up. On the good side it doesn't usually take other components with it. Reviews are done at the time of release. Many PSUs last OK for a while. My Hiper lasted just under 12 months at 24/7 usage.

2. Incompatible means that two things don't work well together. It's not a question of one being at fault. Sometimes two units work OK, while another two from the same manufacturers don't.

3. Most modern DDR2 wants 1.9-2.2V. Most mobos stock is at 1.8. Some RAM gets fussy about this and won't boot. It's a known issue.

[Bolosun]

1. I say the Hiper is pretty awful because not only I, but plenty of other Hexites have had bad experiences with this PSU blowing up. On the good side it doesn't usually take other components with it. Reviews are done at the time of release. Many PSUs last OK for a while. My Hiper lasted just under 12 months at 24/7 usage.

2. Incompatible means that two things don't work well together. It's not a question of one being at fault. Sometimes two units work OK, while another two from the same manufacturers don't.

3. Most modern DDR2 wants 1.9-2.2V. Most mobos stock is at 1.8. Some RAM gets fussy about this and won't boot. It's a known issue.

Thanks for the info. But my problem has got even stranger.

If I switch the system off, but still powered at the mains, it will boot up no problem. If I switch it on at the mains and leave it 30mins, again it will power up ok. Weird or what?

I will probably replace the PSU. Can someone recommend a decent make/type?

Thanks

[Thorsson]

Despite the problems seeming to relate to power, it's not certain that changing the PSU will cure the problem, but it seems likely. Before buying I would want to try a different PSU, just to be sure that it's not the motherboard.

The current standard for PSUs are the Corsair Modular HX series, made by Seasonic. The 520W should be enough, but there's also a 620W. Note that these are rock solid on the 12V lines, which is where cheaper PSUs often fail to deliver.

[Bolosun]

Well mine is now working with no problems. Left it switched off for a couple of days and came to switch it on and it boots up no problem. And Overclockers refunded my money for the old board.