[Meloncoly]

Hello, just built a computer but it doesn't boot up. When I plug it in, it powers up for about 5 seconds, shuts down, starts again but shuts down instantly, then repeats the cycle. I don't smell anything burning, everything is plugged in, I eliminated jumper problems by plugging in only the power switch. Power supply is a Corsair VX450W, processor is a Intel Dual Core E5200, video card is a HD4830, motherboard is a MSI P43 Neo3-F. There are comments via Newegg where I bought it from, that have people explaining that they had boot loops and couldn't boot up. I think I might be experiencing the same thing. Any advice before I RMA the motherboard? I'm pretty sure a 450W is sufficient to power the system, and Corsair power supplies has very stable rails. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[Solid Snake]

Try to return the PSU and grab a different one (antec, enermax, etc.) and try to get a higher voltage rating. That is what I would do. Or simply grab a new mobo. Probably this option is easier and more quicker.

 

[iriverdude]

Check motherboard isn't shorting on the case somewhere, take motherboard out and boot it up outside the case.

 

[SleepyOne]

Can you see motherboard's bootup messages on the monitor? Can you get into bios setup or not at all? The booting and restarting maybe the way it is setup on the bios in the event of an unexpected shut down (you can change that in bios, if you can get in).

My brother has a corsair, 750w?, one of the dedicated graphic card connectors turns out to be slightly faulty and I just swap it with another graphic card connector to the graphic cards and everything just works fine.

 

[Arainach]

Disconnect everything but the Motherboard, CPU, RAM, and GPU and see if you can boot that way without any other peripherals. If you can, keep adding stuff in until it blows up.

And 450W is the very, very low end of what that system would require; a larger PSU would probably be better.

 

[Billyk]

Do what Arainach said and also try to clear the CMOS. That sometimes gets "confused" for lack of a better term and resetting sometimes helps.

 

[Kirosia]

I have a 450w corsair powering a 3.0ghz core duo and hd4850, it's plenty.

Are you sure the heatsink/fan is making full contact with the CPU?

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif And 450W is the very, very low end of what that system would require; a larger PSU would probably be better.

Totally not true. 450W is complete and total overkill for that system. I am running a dualcore at 3.3 ghz and 2x 4850's off of a 450, as well as almost two dozen case fans, drives, peripherals, etc.

This might be obvious, but i've ran across it several times... you did push the cpu in all the way in, lock it in place, and connect the heatsink fan to the right header, right? Thats the only thing i can think that would cause your boot to loop so quickly besides a short or defective board/psu.

 

[Suicide_Sound]

Check with your BIO settings. Sometimes settings such as meeting a certain temperature on a component can cause it to shut down for safety reasons. I had the problem before a lonnnggg time ago when I first built computers and it turned out I didn't have enough thermal paste for the heat sink to make contact to the proc.

 

[Meloncoly]

I will recheck the connection from heatsink to cpu, but I'm sure the connection is good. Also, no post messages, because it doesn't boot up long enough to show anything. It just boots and shuts back down and repeats. I'll reset the BIOS first and see if that works.

Edit: Rechecked the connection from CPU to heatsink, reset BIOS, no luck. I think the motherboard is the component malfunctioning. Too bad I don't have another motherboard to use to test.

 

[ljokerl]

No, this isnt a bios issue. One more thing... you didnt bend any pins when you were dropping in your cpu, did you? The last time I ran into something like this, a friend had dropped his cpu in corner-first and bent a pin. A lookover with a magnifying glass might be worth it for you.

If a pin is sightly bent, the edge of a credit card works wonders for straightening them out.

 

[Meloncoly]

There are no pins on the LGA775 chips. They're just pads on the CPU. I would like to test this externally but I have no non-conducting surface to put the thing on.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meloncoly /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are no pins on the LGA775 chips. They're just pads on the CPU.

Thanks, I'm aware. The pins are in the socket (and as bendable as ever).

 

[Meloncoly]

I just checked and none of them are bent. What I did do though is process of elimination. I unplugged everything except for power, heatsink and cpu and turned on. I got the beep telling me I'm missing components, so the motherboard seems to be fine. Then I plugged in video card and I got the beeping, so it seems the problem might be my RAM. I'm going to do some further testing.

 

[Meloncoly]

It posted with one mem stick! Now to test the other mem stick. So now it's either the second mem stick, hdd, cd drive, or jumpers.