Got my new Core 2 Duo 3ghz, Having some problems

[ctal]

Try clearing cmos the other way, removing the battery and ac power for a while.

Also, try the system with the hardware reduced to an absolute minimum (one stick of RAM, video card, no other cards or drives, etc.)

Memtest86+: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Yes, it could very conceivably be a mounting or seating problem. If all else fails, I'd take it all apart and put it back together.

Also, the power supply would be suspect. Let us know the power supply make and model number, so that we can check to see that its current ratings are reasonable.

Regards,
-- Al

[zman88]

The fan running has nothing to do with whether or not you properly seated the heat sync to the cpu correctly . Hopefully when you did this you cleaned it and applied new thermal paste.

[plainman007]

Zman > Thermal Paste. No such thing was used. The mother board was screwed into the cabinet and the processor was attached with the fan. Weve assembled a lot of systems here (though my actual experience would pale in comparision to members helping me here) but ive never ever seen anyone using any paste of any sort. Never ever. Im sure if was a standard there would be many using it. I even check with a service engineer who said "what paste ?" I cant convince them to do something theyve never tried. You know how technicians are. They will either do it their way or ask me to do it myself, which i cant. Now i dont know what to do. What if my update has ruined the bios totally. The PSU is something local. Probably made in my country, on the cheap. But wat can i say we dont have the options you have in your country. These guys have never heard of themalake etc.

[ctal]

If you are using a stock Intel heat sink/fan, they have a thermal pad on them which does not require thermal paste (and in fact should first be removed if thermal paste is used). Third party hsf's usually come with no pad, and paste (such as Arctic Silver 5) is needed.

When you updated the bios, did you get an indication that the update completed successfully? If you are suspicious of the bios, you can re-flash it, or flash back to the original version if it allows downgrades. But I would be very hesitant to do a bios flash on unstable hardware, because it could go wrong and leave you with a dead mobo.

Did this system ever work stably with the power supply you have? If not, I would be highly suspicious that it can adequately power the system, based on its questionable pedigree.

Regards,
-- Al

[zman88]

Well I would say if your tech never heard of thermal paste then I would get a new tech!

Using OEM heat sync, it has pre installed thermal tape!

But if you uninstall the cpu you have to remove the HS and fan , so you need to clean and reinstall tape or paste. You can't install the cpu attached to the HS/fan.

EDIT: I need to learn to type faster! LOL

[zman88]

OK , I read your last post again. It looks like I misread it. Are you saying the CPU was only installed once and you just swapped the MB without removing the cpu ? If that is the case I am sorry.

[plainman007]

Ctal > This system (Pentium D3.4 Ghz dual core with its 945GNTL has worked like a dream in the old cabinet. Im very surprised that the same setup is giving problems in the new server cabinet. The PSU is 430 watts. Is there an application which shows how many watts the PSU is because id like to find out what wattage of PSU is in my older cabinet.

Still no luck with the new config. Yes, after it self booted while running the Bios Update it did say the bios was updated successfully. After that the screen was shrunk leaving a blank band on the right. No numbe of restarts would set it right. Then i remember trying some options in the nvidia settings afer which the system started not booting at all. EVen now it boots once in every 10 times or so i try. And then but the screen is garbled.

Im suspicious if this is already a dead mobo. But its booted once or twice amidst the melee. So i guess its not totally fried !. Or is it ? I dont have the expertise to judge. I also suspect the PSU slightly cause it sometimes gives out a whining sound like as if a very thin wire were touching a fan. A raspy vibration sound. So fine its almost like a hum. And if i slightly tap th PSU it stops humming.

[plainman007]

Zman > Yes your last understanding is correct. It was all moved out as a set. and just screwed into the new case.

[zman88]

If the hum stops when you tap the PSU that is most likely just the fan. It is dirty or the bearing or bushing is going bad. try blowing it out.

You need to try diff. hardware. If you have extra, replace the psu, vid card,etc... one at a time and see if there is a diff. Have you tried memtest? If you still have it put the 667 mem back in (A) slot 1 and 2 only and see what happens. Only do one thing at a time.

[ctal]

430W should almost certainly be adequate. The problem is that off-brand power supplies often don't conform to their specs, or the current capacities on certain individual outputs aren't commensurate with the total capacity. Or, of course, the supply can be defective. All I can suggest is minimizing the amount of hardware in the system, including trying it with only 1 RAM stick, and trying a different supply.

Power supplies do not normally provide a means for software to determine their capacities.

Regards,
-- Al

[zman88]

It is also entirely possible that when the MB got put into the new case it is shorting to the case some place. Make sure the back of the MB is not touching the case .And that the screws holding it are in the correct holes.

[ctal]

Also, does the video card have an aux power connector, and if so is it connected?

And is the mobo 8-pin aux power connector (ATX12V1) connected? If it is a four-pin (as opposed to 8-pin) plug from the power supply that is plugged into it, is it connected to the correct four pins, as shown in the manual?

Regards,
-- Al

[plainman007]

I guess all this should be connected in the correct place. Unfortunately i dont know assembling to that level. I can put in ram, connect a HDD and some misc stuff. The PSU has a huge bunch of wires running out from it. Its so damn confusing as to what each socket is for. They are hardly marked too. I dont know any of the pins you are reffering to and where they originate from. Theres a bunch of wires out of the PSU and im sure i cant tell their respective purposes. Its better to admit what i know and what i dont. In fact memory timings, dual channels, Cmos reset, jumper settings are all things im learning from you here. This is the first time im trying my skills at these settings.

[ctal]

The mobo aux power connector is shown on page 49 of the manual, that I provided you with a link to. It is in the upper right hand corner of the figure on that page. I see that it is a 4-pin connector, rather than the 8-pin connector that many mobos have. There should be a square 4-pin connector from the power supply that would mate with it.

Look on the end of the video card that is closest to the front of the case, and see if there is a connector with four pins (laid out in a row). If so, that has to be connected, either to a connector from the power supply that mates with it directly, or through an adapter to one of the 4-pin molex connectors (the kind that mate with hard drives and optical drives).

If either of those connectors is not connected (assuming the video card has one), it could easily account for the problems you are having.

Regards,
-- Al

[plainman007]

Hi Al,

If the graphics card wasnt connected how can the system function properly. It has booted a couple of times and worked 'occasionally at least' right ? Is this possible even if the power wasnt connected to the graphics card. Actually this system is going to be on the field for video capture etc. We are in the events industry and made this system so that we could capture hd video immediately from the camera, after the event. So basically this is a mission critical operation. Now im completely unnerved at the way its performing. I invested $250 in just the server cabinet. A rugged thing thats built like a hummer. Now its a hummer with nothing on the inside. I feel like a fool. Im so awestruck that a system that performed so smoothly in another cabinet could perform so badly in this cabinet. There are 5 fans in the cabinet that are active during operation. Are they sucking too much power or something ? Also ive seen the insides and it didnt seem like the graphics card had any connections untended. Theres no available port thats visible. Its not a very high end card. An Nvidia 7300GS. I didnt plunk money on the graphics card because they dont help in video rendering or video capture. Only on games etc where onscreen performance should excel. At least this is what ive come to understand.