Asus P4C800-ED boot issues - again!

[tekXT]

Well once again my 2nd P4C800-ED board has experienced the same issue as the first one -- no boot........... last time what worked was a new BIOS chip, which took like 5 weeks to arrive (sigh...)

Has anybody else experienced this with the P4C800-ED? This time around I was playing THUG2 and monitor just magically shut off and said some sh*t about the Frequency being "out of range" -- couldnt get the monitor to turn on so I manually shut off the PC, turned it on again.... but no boot, not even a single beep....... I've tried clearing the CMOS via jumper, battery, etc -- nothing works.

I hate talking to Asus -- can anybody help a n00b at XS?
Thanks guys

:banana4: <-- this smilie fckin rules!

[tekXT]

Nobody? Alright... looks like I gotta call Asus idiots again.

:rolleyes: :mad: :stick:

[Jupiler]

Have you tried pulling your board out of the case and boot it from there?
Maybe a false contact is causing these roblems.
I have no problems with mine though, using it for 10 months now.

[masterofpuppets]

In my experience, Asus motherboards dont take kindly to missing standoffs. I killed my beloved Asus ALi Magik mobo cos of missing standoffs :(

[jjcom]

stand offs...I'm assuming your talking about those little metal things that keep the board from touching the case? I've got 5 or 6 for my motherboard and no issues. :D

[tekXT]

Have you tried pulling your board out of the case and boot it from there?
Maybe a false contact is causing these roblems.
I have no problems with mine though, using it for 10 months now.

I dont see that being a problem in this case... I mean how could the system all of a sudden croak and the cause being a false contact? Makes no sense.

I'm thinking its the BIOS chip AGAIN, so basically I'm gunna have to call Asus and ask them for yet ANOTHER new bios chip to replace yet ANOTHER dead one.... excuse the language but Asus :banana::banana::banana::banana:in Blows!

When I called today the :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: said I would be helped by the BIOS department in 2 minutes, so I got the answering machine.... typical.

Then the machine says leave your number and name and we'll call you back. Do they really think I'm that stupid???? I've left dozens and dozens of messages for past problems and not ONCE has somebody from Asus called me back.

Retards. Everything sucks
I want AMD64 :toast:

Some of that was the painkillers talking

[jjcom]

RMA your board, if its killing BIOS chips than it probly is the board doing something stupid.

[SPL15]

I hd problems like that and it was because I mounted the evaporator head WAY WAY too tight to the cpu socket. I had a removed heat spreader on the cpu and I could see a small indentation of the CPU die on the face of the evap head from having it mounted so frickin tight.

I loosened it up a lot and now it's running 4.32Ghz 100% stable.

I had symptoms just like you described. I could also see missing standoffs doing the same thing since they are adding rigidity to the motherboard by fastening it down to the reletively stiff sheet metal behind it. multilayer printed circuit boards dont like to be flexed and torqued on. in the case of this mother board, I think there are 7 or 8 layers of copper traces. any flexing of the board could lead to marginal contact at connections.

Its stupid not to use all the standoffs if your doing hardcore OCing. the standoffs help keep the the motherboard ground at the same voltage potential throughout the entire motherboard which helps stabilize it's ground plane voltage. thinjk about it. the computer case is the thickest piece of "wire" in your whole computer so it's voltage drop due to large currents is negligible which keeps the mother board ground stable. some people say "oh those standoffs are for support only and to connect the mother board ground to chassis so the chassis acts like a shield for RFI and EMI..." WRONG!! most computer cases are aluminum which is a very very very poor shield material. unless you got a steel case, your aluminum case aint no shielding.

moral of this story, loosen your heatsink if it is torqued on too tight and use all the standoffs you can possibly use. if your HSF isnt too tight, then maybe you socket is damaged already and needs to be sent in. from what I've heard. the main difference between the different versions of the p4c800 series boards is the CPU socket. the older boards have a crappier socket than the newer version, but the pentium 4 socket is just a bad design in general, so you still have a good chance of a crappy socket. this was another motivation for intel to get rid of pins on CPU;s. their new mounting method can put riduclous pressure on the CPU and contact only gets better instead of worse.

[MrDave]

Try this trick, it works for me. You see, there is something about the CMOS in the ASUS Boards, they store more power then they are suposed to.



PUT THE CMOS CLEAR JUMPER ON FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!



Thats all it takes. It takes forever for the CMOS to Clear on the ASUS Boards. I don't GET IT.

But if you went over frequency and then get a no boot scenario, that is all it takes !!!!

[tekXT]

I hd problems like that and it was because I mounted the evaporator head WAY WAY too tight to the cpu socket. I had a removed heat spreader on the cpu and I could see a small indentation of the CPU die on the face of the evap head from having it mounted so frickin tight.

I loosened it up a lot and now it's running 4.32Ghz 100% stable.

I had symptoms just like you described. I could also see missing standoffs doing the same thing since they are adding rigidity to the motherboard by fastening it down to the reletively stiff sheet metal behind it. multilayer printed circuit boards dont like to be flexed and torqued on. in the case of this mother board, I think there are 7 or 8 layers of copper traces. any flexing of the board could lead to marginal contact at connections.

Its stupid not to use all the standoffs if your doing hardcore OCing. the standoffs help keep the the motherboard ground at the same voltage potential throughout the entire motherboard which helps stabilize it's ground plane voltage. thinjk about it. the computer case is the thickest piece of "wire" in your whole computer so it's voltage drop due to large currents is negligible which keeps the mother board ground stable. some people say "oh those standoffs are for support only and to connect the mother board ground to chassis so the chassis acts like a shield for RFI and EMI..." WRONG!! most computer cases are aluminum which is a very very very poor shield material. unless you got a steel case, your aluminum case aint no shielding.

moral of this story, loosen your heatsink if it is torqued on too tight and use all the standoffs you can possibly use. if your HSF isnt too tight, then maybe you socket is damaged already and needs to be sent in. from what I've heard. the main difference between the different versions of the p4c800 series boards is the CPU socket. the older boards have a crappier socket than the newer version, but the pentium 4 socket is just a bad design in general, so you still have a good chance of a crappy socket. this was another motivation for intel to get rid of pins on CPU;s. their new mounting method can put riduclous pressure on the CPU and contact only gets better instead of worse.

I do have the heatsink screwed down pretty tight actually... I will loosen it up..... I think last time I remounted when I looked at the bottom of the heatsink I saw the CPUs imprints on it... lol, but it might have just been the thermal compound... cus I think it cleaned off.

The board is Revision 2.0 -- and this is actually the second board that has done the same thing...

What exactly are the standoffs? I think I have them on... is that the rubber things that go between the screw and the motherboard? Or is it something thats supposed to seperate the back of the board and the aluminum side of the case? If not... got a pic? Wait actually I'll google it or something

MrDave: ON my first board that this happened to what fixed it was taking the battery out for a whole day... dunno how it helped but it did. I've tried the same thing with the battery and the jumper on this board... but it didnt work.

Must be the heatsink being mounted too tight to the CPU socket or the standoffs.... alright we'll I'll try some things out later on.

Thanks for the replies guys
:banana4:

Is it this? Does it go only 4 holes around the CPU socket or all around the motherboard?
http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/heatsinks/swiftech/mcx4000/standoff.jpg

[Jupiler]

You use the standoffs between the case and board, not only around the cpu socket. Place them in the forseen spots on the case (corresponding to your boards holes, the P4C800-E has 10 of them), lay the board on the standoffs, and use the screws to screw them in. Simple as that.

[tekXT]

You use the standoffs between the case and board, not only around the cpu socket. Place them in the forseen spots on the case (corresponding to your boards holes, the P4C800-E has 10 of them), lay the board on the standoffs, and use the screws to screw them in. Simple as that.

Ok... actually when I think about it... I dont think I have those on... I just placed the motherboard on the aluminum siding of the case and used the screws to keep the mobo locked in place. Big mistake eh? I didnt even know about standoffs... thanks man

[Malk]

ROFL :)

Well thats propably why you are having problems.

[jjcom]

Yeah be like me and just use...say 5 or 6 of em. I don't think you need to use all of them just so the motherboard isn't touching the case, and shorting, and burning lol
good luck :D

[masterofpuppets]

I've killed more than a few Asus boards because of missing standoffs due to tiredness or rushing. LOL! Standoffs on the cpu socket, HAHA! :D When there is no grounding, the metal contacts underneath the mobo will connect and short out your motherboard.