Problem with new AMD rig pls help!

[Steven_LP]

First of all let me thank all of you guys as your posts on this forum have helped me build quite a few pcs for friends and family!!

Last week I decided to build myself a new gaming rig, here's the spec:

Thermaltake Tsunami
Tagan 480 (TG480U-01)
Asus A8V Deluxe
AMD64 Winnie 3000+
2 x 512 PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (scan.co.uk OEM)
Sapphire 9800 pro (taken from another rig, was going to upgrade when I had more $$)
1 x 74Gb Raptor

On the first install Win XP wouldn't recognise the HD. So I upgraded the Bios and then installed the Sata drivers from the Asus website at the F6 prompt, but after the third trial install I smelt some burning and powered the pc down. I tried powering it up again but nothing on the monitor... Tried another card, and checked the monitor worked on another PC but no joy...

Any ideas before I try and send the MB back?

Thanks!!

[0iD]

Sounds like a short circuit somewhere. Is the mobo completely isolated from the case? May also be a badly fitted cooler & she chip's burntout, tho I thought these babies had a thermal cutout.

Case of trying things one-by-one.

[Spunkey]

Check the base of the CPU for scorch or burn marks - esp if you smelt smoke.
Its possible it could be the PSU as well, maybe its not giving a clean enough supply to power all components properly.

[Steven_LP]

checked the chip and cooler and it all looks fine at first glance (will double-check this evening) The mobo is screwed to the case, is that ok?

[Spunkey]

thats fine, but it may be that there is a mounting post under the board in the wrong place, or a screw you've dropped and forgotten about which is making a connection between board and case to short it out.

[Steven_LP]

Thought the Tagan was one of the best, I've used it in other builds as well... will check the CPU tonight.

[Steven_LP]

Thanks rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishey, that the first thing that I always check when mounting the mobo and it's definately all OK

[Lu-tze]

tagan ground wire?

[0iD]

If it's the chip, give it a sniff when you pop it out if you can't see anything. You'll soon know then Can you try it in someone elses rig?

[Steven_LP]

Can't try in another rig as my other two pcs are socket A's, the ground wire is fixed to the case..

[Taz]

Have you plugged speakers into the audio out on the back panel of the motherboard. I have the A8V-E (PCI-E version of the A8V) and mine will report which component failed the POST via the audio out. If it doesn't talk to you then it's highly likely that the motherboard is toast.

A minor problem with the Tsunami case is that is has no case-mounted speaker to hear beeps from the motherboard. Hence, you need to have the audio out on your mobo connected to speakers (assuming your mobo will talk to you).

Also check for bulging capacitors on the motherboard.

[Steven_LP]

Thanks Taz, good call. Will do that this evening..

[Taz]

Good luck, mate. Be prepared for something to have bitten the dust because the signs are not good. Hopefully, the worst case scneraio will be just one component.

I would be surprised if it's the Tagan PSU - that is rock solid apart from if you keep switching it on and off via it's power switch in quick succession - there was a thread on here about that a few weeks ago (on the Scan forum I think) and apparently you can toast a Tagan by doing that. You need to wait a few minutes before switching it on again.

Another sign would be the case-mounted LED's glowing. Does the green LED or HDD LED come on when you switch the system on? If the mobo's dead then it probably won't be able to light up the LED's.

[Steven_LP]

Thanks Taz, plugged in speakers and as you said there's a vocal POST message: 'system failed CPU test'. Checked the chip and it looks fine, no signs of burnout and the cooler slotted in it's place nice and tight.. The green led on the mobo also comes on when powered up. Is it the CPU or the mobo?

[Taz]

Sounds like CPU is fried. If it was mobo then it wouldn't talk to you. Mobo is running POST, driving onboard sound chip and LED's, so it's probably okay. But i'm not a hardware expert!

Is there any other way you can test the CPU?

Also, was the power cable from the CPU cooler plugged into the CPU_FAN connector on the motherboard? If it wasn't then your CPU may have overheated.

[StormPC]

The CPU is probably toast but that was likely caused by something else. You had better check all of your wiring, connections and jumpers. I've built more than 150 A64 systems and I've not had a single bad CPU. I've had bad motherboards as well as other components, but never a CPU. Building systems is easy but it requires great attention to detail if you actually want it to work.

Chances are you'll be RMA'ing a couple of items. Best of luck to you.