680i A1 problem. No POST. LC issue?

[BreeSpree]

So I was cleaning up my computer the other day, and I examine the thermal paste under my waterblocks. I just use standard thermal pads for the MOSFET's and arctic silver 5 on my CPU, NB, and SB, as well as on all my GPU's. I put everything back, and screw it all down. I figure it's about time I fill the loop back up, so I attach my 2 pumps, and the 24 pin and 8 pin for my motherboard into the PSU. All the headers are allocated properly. The RAM, hard drive, optical drive, and any other peripherals are also not powered. As I try turning on the PC it makes a screaming noise that scares the crap out of me, because it is loud as :banana::banana::banana::banana:, so I turn it off immediately. So right about now I am like WTF. It won't turn back on through the case power button, so I use the one on the motherboard. Same thing happens. Now I can't get it to turn on through the motherboard or the power button. All the LED's work such as the motherboard power and case power LED. My question is, why won't my motherboard turn on now? I doubt I shorted it out with static electricity, as I always ground myself before modifying my computer. If anyone knows what may have caused the problem, please provide any information you may have. The only thing I did was reapply paste and screw down the waterblocks. If the motherboard is broken now, I am going to cry.:(

[MomijiTMO]

Check for contact with the copper base of your mosfet block and the pwm area. You will short something and will have sparks + boom. Something similar happened to me [crappy Heatkiller thermal pad had metal flakes] and I got some nice sparks of doom and my heart stopped beating for a while.

[BreeSpree]

Checked, the thermal pad is placed directly between the pwm and the copper baseplate. Not touching at all. Thanks for the advice though. Anyone know anything that would explain the screaming noise, because I think that is the root of the problem.

[MomijiTMO]

Well I heard a screaming sound with my motherboard when I accidentally a coca-cola bottle it. It was so bad.





Double checked all power plugs are in?

[Eddie3dfx]

Hmm.. PM

[articu]

Had a similar experience with an old Socket A abit motherboard.

Hm, trying to think back :)

I know with one PSU a screaming noise similar to what you describe would come from the motherboard, but not with another less powerful PSU so if possible try a different PSU and see if you get the same.

Maybe similar :shrug:

[Snyxxx]

I am sure you connected the PCIE 6-pin cables to your 8800GTXs right? They scream when mine are not plugged in.

Also, you should not use AS5 on NB or SB chips. AS5 is conductive and if not applied carefully, then you may short out some of the conductors nearby.

You should use AS Alumina or Ceramique for NB and SB or memory on GPUs.

[BreeSpree]

I did not plug in my GPU's yet, I thought I could just leave them unpowered, because I was just refilling the loop. I know about the dangers of shorting something out with silver based paste, but while building the system, some people told me it was okay so I did it. And for non-conductive paste I prefer MX-2. Back to the problem, I did not plug in the GPU's before, so I may have never noticed it. Thanks for the tip.:up:

[fart_plume]

yeah, your computer won't post unless the gfx is powered,(found this out the hardway with a 7600gs) wouldn't post did everthing i could thing of, ok, pull all my hs mods off get ready to rma it. Low and behold I spot the power connector and do a Homer"Doh".............

[Martinm210]

Watch the backplates!

I was having alot of BSOD's and oddness on my 680iTR before switching it out to the DFI. I gave up on it, but when taking the motherboard out I noticed a little capacitor on the back that I had drilled out a spot for my backplate sort of just fell off.

Not sure the A1 has the same little caps back there, but be careful with them. Also watch the NB and SB chipsets, my NB chip ended up getting a little chipped over time with the block mounts.

[BreeSpree]

Powered the GPU's, I thought the problem would be solved, but still no POST. I will be so freakin pissed if I have to RMA it, because it took forever to make everything fit, and it would be such a PITA to take it all back out. Plus, I'll have to take tubing off of like 40 fittings. I have 1 stick of test RAM in the system, all blocks are mounted correctly. I do not have the hard drive powered or connected to the mainboard, I don't think that affects it at all. All that I am trying to power currently are the pumps and motherboard. I know the board is buggy, but this seems very strange. The power LED's are fine, just nothing actually gets the power...

[Waterlogged]

Your gonna hate this idea but...pull the MoBo out and take everything off and use stock air to test everything outside the case. Then slowly work your way back to everything inside the case if you pass each step. Process of elimination is where your at now, it's a sucky process but it works wonders.

[Eddie3dfx]

I feel your pain, as the nvidia chipsets are just garbage. I had the 680i and now the 780i.

The chipsets are very touchy.

[BreeSpree]

It took me like five straight days to get it all in, because it is so damned cramped. I was afraid someone was going to reccomend that.:(
I don't know what to do now, wait for someone to post some magical explanation, or go cry in my room. Based on the symptoms I've decribed however, does the motherboard sound like it died, by shorting out or something?

[Snyxxx]

Do your fans connected to your motherboard power up?

Try this old trick for Nvidia chipset boards (Asus ones at least):
Unplug power cord
Press power button several times
Remove mobo battery and put back in backwards for 30 minutes
Clear CMOS
Put battery back in normal
Plug power back in
Try to start

Much better info in this thread, but above is basic summary.Read more here:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20080325141644093&board_id=1&model=P5N32-E+SLI+Plus&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

Good luck.

[BreeSpree]

The board is an EVGA. Words cannot express how dissapointed/pissed off I am right now.

[Snyxxx]

It is still sound advice if desperate. :yepp: Same Chipset.

Do your fans power up, but no POST?

[BreeSpree]

Nothing powers on, after initially installing everything it powered on twice with a screaming noise, because I left the GPU's unplugged. It powered once though the case power button, and once through the motherboard power on. Now it doesn't do anything after I've plugged in the GPU's. I know it isn't totally screwed, because the LED power activity is on, just nothing else is actually on. It's like the motherboard thinks it's on, but it's not.:eek:

[dengyong]

I've had 680's not post because the bios chip wasn't fully seated.

[luxbel]

Had this happen to me on my old 680i. The MB LEDs would light up, but no power. I had a Mushkin 500w PS die on that board. if you have another power supply, check that out first. i had another issue with another 680i build, that might really be helpful here, but it ate an 8800GTS. the bracket was slightly bent, enough to ground it, killed the card and the power supply.

[BreeSpree]

Checked with another PSU and still nothing. After connecting the hard drive to the motherboard the HDD LED lights up too, so all the LED's are in check. What is really pissing me off though, is that it did turn on twice so far, and it won't do it now. luxbel, my situation sounds most like the one you had, mind explaining a little bit more on how you fixed it? And I'm currently running it on a 850 watt Silverstone dual-rail PSU. And when you meant bracket, what is it that grounded the motherboard. That could be a possibility, but if my mainboard was grounded, would the LED's light up at all?