Can a PSU and/or GFX card 'fry' a motherboard?

[stormy]

I have been having some hellish problems with my P5K motherboard, see thread for the background.

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=115636

I got my replacement board today and all installed everything is going fine, except the Accelero S1 cooler for my X1900XT is struggling on the VRM, its not happy.

So I decided to re-seat the VRM heatsink on the X1900XT, I switched off properly, left the plug in but turned off the PSU at the rocker, I then take the card out, do all I need to and put it back in.

I am now getting the *exact* same problem as the board I just returned, no post!! Just sits there spinning all the drives, fans and everything, no video output and no keyboard input. The tech guy at Novatech said it first posted on their test setup and then would never post again.

I am not a happy bunny. I have been building PCs for years and have never had so much trouble as this.

A) Is my PSU faulty in some way and this causes it a fubar the board? I really can't see how, the PSU seems to be behaving perfectly fine.

B) Does my PCIe GFX card hate P5Ks or something and as soon as I take it out and out it back boom no more P5K for me?

I am really careful with static, I have never, ever had an issue like this and I am at the end of my tether. Is the P5K really picky with taking stuff out of it? I just can't see it or understand.

I am tempted to give up and try a Abit board but I am still not sure of some component of my system is causing damage to the mobo in someway. I have never seen anything like it.

Something wrong with my P180 case? It all looks fine, its put in on the pre-installed fixings/mounting holes and is seated fine with no obvious problem.

*crys*

Any one got any ideas at all?

Cheers,

Mike

[merdat]

Well, I have never had a 775 asus board but while that is a good board that you have , I get the impression reading the numerous posts that they can be quite prickly to boot at times . You should go back through the hardware posts and read some of 'Clunks' replys . He is an 'expert' on the asus boards.

Yes a faulty pu can fry a board but have you tried building the machine out of the case , or trying a different pu in case it is not compatible ?

[Jay]

I used to love ASUS boards, my P4C800-E was fantastic but my P5W-DH Deluxe is not so good, booting isn't its strong point, neither is it's heat piped southbridge that I have to cool with an Antec spot cooler or it gets up past 50C...... Its own bios update software says that there is no ASUS board in the system and my first driver disk was totally blank (Scan did send me a replacement next day.)

It has issues with RAM, it was very picky and also I had the same issues with all fans etc spinning and no post (turned out to be the ram)

[stormy]

Hmmm yeh I am begining to think so, I plugged my old PSU in and still no joy and then put the corsair back on a boom, we are booting again! WTF?!? Nothing has changed.

So I shuts down after fixing the BIOS settings (after my 1 millionth Clear RTC) and no boot! Swtich off and on and boom booting again.

So I am lost, I dare not switch the PC off now for fear that it wont come back, I will have to switch off at some point to install a cooler for my GFX (I need to remove the PCI card next to it). I am dreading it.



Still the PC is up for now.

[Jay]

could this be a ram voltage issue?

[Mad-Max]

Stick 1 ram stick in an go to bios and stick the memory on the ram higher or what ever you need then save it and stick both sticks in. ?

I know on my p5k deluxe that I have to run it with 1 stick and then stick the memory voltage to 2.2v to get it to boot with 2 sticks on dual channel?

[stormy]

Hmmm, I have not noticed a problem with the ram before. Its at default voltage at the moment and forced to 1067Mhz in the BIOS.

Not sure how it manages to boot ramdomly ok at default if this is the problem? Also if it does it again how do I get into the BIOS if it wont play ball? There seems to be no middle ground, its either post or no post.

My memory is Crucial Ballistix DDR2 8500+ (1066Mhz). 2 x 1024Mb. Should I change the voltage in the BIOS or leave as is?

Cheers,

Mike

[Mad-Max]

If it's this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...d=8&subcat=817

Then you need to set voltage to 2.2V

[stormy]

Thats my memory Max. Wow, so how is it managing to run at the moment? What is the default and will it be ok to just alter the BIOS. I really do hope thats the issue as that will be an easy and perfect fix!

Thanks,

I still wont dare switch off yet but will report back.

**Also shouldnt the mobo set it automatically? Ok I set it manual AI overclocking and put the ram at 2.2v lets hope its stable on powerup now!

Mike

[Mad-Max]

You might want to set the memory timings to 5-5-5-15 then go down to memory voltage and set that to 2.2V

Well my p5k liked the memory at 2.2v to even run 2 sticks in dual channel and don't worry about ruining the memory at 2.2V as that what the manufacture says to run it at.

http://www.crucial.com/store/partspe...KIT12864AA1065

Q-How do I configure my motherboard to get the most from my Ballistix™ memory module?

A-Every motherboard is different. Check the documentation that came with your system, or visit your motherboard manufacturer's Web site for information about your particular system.

Have a read through Clunks post about overclocking especially the bit about the memory

First part

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=103676

Second Part

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=110267

[stormy]

Thanks again, I have set the memory at 2.2v but need to set the timings too. I have switched off once and it came back but the real test will be the next time I have to mess about with cards.

Heres hoping!

Also if I want to flash the BIOS in the future, how can I do it as wont that reset all the memory settings again? Will it be Russian roulette agan?

This is all of course if the memory is causing it, because I have my suspision of the Corsair PSU too, see this post re-another failing P5K:

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...d.php?t=455924

Cheers,

Mike

[Mad-Max]

P5k deluxe thread here where Clunk will get to you

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...+deluxe+thread

When I updated my bios I had to run it on 1 stick and then set all the memory settings up again before sticking both sticks back in.

The best way to flash the bios is in dos mode or use az flash, but yes you will have to set all options again.

[stormy]

Yes but if I cant boot then I will be screwed again.

[Mad-Max]

No because you will clear cmos and boot on 1 stick and that will sort it or at least for me it did.

[stormy]

Boom, reset the memory timings completely by accident and am now stuck in the perpetual non-post situation again.

I have tried one DIMM in and in every slot, and both sticks and still no joy and reseting CMOS countless times. My mate is bringing a stick of 1.8v DDR2 round later in an attempt for me to get into the BIOS again.

What a pain in the ass this really is.

Mike