790i question

[Slovnaft]

I just recieved an XFX 790i board that I bought from ebay. It was cheap because the socket was damaged (bent pins).

I fixed the pins carefully and set it up. Hooked it up today and turned it on. All the power lights came on, all my fans started, but no POST, the board displayed post code FF. The video card I hooked up was an HD 4850 with a bad BIOS that I havent fixed yet, but on my P45 board it doesnt fail until windows comes up, so I figure I could at lease use it to verify the system is working (my nvidia cards havent come in yet). But with the power on the red LED on the back of the card turns on, something that usually means the card doesnt have power.

What exctly does all this mean? Might there be something wrong with the way I fixed the socket? If i potentially didnt totally correct the socket could my cpu be damaged?

[XFX Tech]

I suppose it could be your power supply with the light on the card doing that. I am not familiar with how AMD cards work. Instant FF on the board could be caused by no communication from the CPU as if the socket wasn't repaired properly, if the CPU had insufficient power, a bad BIOS on the board, or by an actual problem in the power system of the board.

If it goes through a bunch of codes and then ends in FF than the board should be fine and it is likely just the card not getting a display.

I would start with another power supply if possible. When are the new cards going to be here?

[Slovnaft]

I fixed the card up so I'll try again today once I'm done having fun with my P45.

It's not a PSU issue; my corsair TX750 has been running everything I throw on it with ease and I don't see why this would be a problem.
Theoretically (from what the ebay seller tells me) the board was used as a display model. If so, would it just have the retail BIOS? If it is a bad BIOS how can I fix that if it doesnt POST?
The gx2's should be here by early next week, if not the end of this week (fingers crossed for paypal).

my real concern is with the socket. The pin tips have been corrected to the right position, but some of them experienced changes in concavity (the normal pins are concave and some of these have been made convex. I could try and post a pic if you think you could help with this.

appreciate the adultswim reference btw :up:

[XFX Tech]

Sure, a picture of the socket would be good. The pins not being pristine shouldn't be an issue as long as the pins get to the correct spots at the end. Was it instant FF or does it run through codes and then end at FF?

[Slovnaft]

instant FF. But my proc still works and OCs better than ever in my P45 mobo. If it was a problem with the socket wouldn't my chip have been damaged?

[XFX Tech]

If you can get a picture of that socket I would appreciate it. The pins could be the cause. If they look good than I can probably have a BIOS chip sent to you to make sure that the BIOS isn't the problem if you are in North America and have the tools to change it.

[Slovnaft]

Alright, i'll see if my sister's camera is good enough to do the job. And thanks so much for the support.
What would I need to replace the chip? Desoldering? I have access to a whole workshop of goodies (woodworking mostly; classical guitars). I'm not quite sure of its entire contents, but so far there are quite a few prcision tools that have come in handy (especially with fixing the pins) and one old soldering iron.


so misaligned pins wouldnt necessarily damage my chip?

[Slovnaft]

UPDATE: So while trying to fix this board one of the pins broke in half. Stupid enough, I still tried to boot it one last time. I think I can declare it unfixable by now. The instant this happened I got a "Square Trade" warranty for used and refurbished hardward that the seller sent me info on, and hopefully I'll cash it in soon.

But now I have a situation: the Mushkin RAM that I was using to try and boot the board (because it matched =] ) now will not POST on my P5Q3. Could this be because of my attempts, or was the RAM fried earlier which might be an explanation as to why the board wasn't POSTing crap i just realized that.