SERIOUS problem!!

[Simpletown]

I just got my parts from Newegg today. I got an
Asus a7n8x-e motherboard.
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Kingston 512 Valueram DDR 400mhz
350 Watt powersupply with the case
Radeon 9800 Pro AIW

The problem:
I turn the computer on, everything starts up, everything is fine. I get into the BIOS it shuts down instantly. I hit the powerbutton, nothing. I unplug the power, plug in, then power it on, goes for a bit, shuts down. I unplug everything that the power can go into but the mobo. Same problem. I switch powersupplies, same problem. I have checked the heat on everything, it doesnt get hot at all. I set the motherboard agian making sure the mobo is not touching any metal, I took out the battery, put it back in. All of this and the problem is still here. I have not moved any jumpers on the mobo at all. I really do need any help offered.

 

[Triple6]

Make sute the Clear CMOS jumper is not in the Clear position.

Also try it with a bare minimum. Set it up outside the case and connect only the CPU with Fan, one stick of RAM, the video card (don't forget the additional power plug the card needs), and powersupply. Only connect the powerswitch or even use a screwdriver to short the two switch pins on the motherboard for a split second. Also check the voltage switch on the powersupply - in the U.S. it must be set at 115V or in Europe it must be set to 230Volts.

Also check that the CPU fan is plugged into the CPU fan header not another connector. Also check that the CPU is seated correctly in the socket, ie not bent pins , and the Heatsink is seated correctly.

 

[Simpletown]

Allright, I let it sit for a bit, and now I turn it on, it stays on for about 3 minutes. I'm noticing that it stays on longer the longer I leave it untouched and plugged in.

 

[5mi11er]

You do have a heat sink? Properly installed? With thermal paste between the CPU and the heat sink? And the heatsink fan is running?

That motherboard will shutdown automatically when it detects the CPU get too hot. My guess is something is wrong with your heatsink setup somewhere.

 

[cheesyboy]

I think 350W Powersupply is too less for your hardware. try 450 or 500.

 

[5mi11er]

The power supply is fine... Sheesh, what makes people think they need such large power supplies now? I didn't notice a need for a 14 drive RAID setup on his list of equipment.

 

[P_F]

Not sure if this will help but when i built my pc i had a similar problem. I eventually swapped the memory with memory from another computer and this fixed the problem.

Good luck

 

[Zohar]

The power supply is fine... Sheesh, what makes people think they need such large power supplies now? I didn't notice a need for a 14 drive RAID setup on his list of equipment.

After checking tom's hardware earlier today, I found out that a standard IDE Hardrive can take up to 112W each! If you have two that's 224W each, add the prosessor and you could be up to as much as 314-324W! Even for standard users, the addition of a new hardrive, ram, case fans, and extra CD or DVD drives can create quite a strain on a computer. You don't need to have a complex system anymore to need a 400W+ powersupply in my opinion.


Could you list what other components you have in your computer as far as hardrives, CD-Roms, Sound Cards, and any USB devices you have attacthed? If you have two hardrives, there's a chance that you may be straining the powersupply.

 

[~Candy~]

Sounds like the cpu could be overheating.

 

[5mi11er]

After checking tom's hardware earlier today, I found out that a standard IDE Hardrive can take up to 112W each! If you have two that's 224W each, add the prosessor and you could be up to as much as 314-324W!
[blah blah blah]

You're stoned. If you read the article carefully, you'd notice the 112W listed is for a raid array of 4 IDE drives. If you start with a base of around 150W needed for the processor/motherboard, floppy, USB and CD-R, from numbers from the same article, then you'd need around 8 IDE drives to start pushing the limits of a 350W power supply.

The page of the article in question with the numbers is found here.

-Scott

 

[brite750]

You're stoned. If you read the article carefully, you'd notice the 112W listed is for a raid array of 4 IDE drives. If you start with a base of around 150W needed for the processor/motherboard, floppy, USB and CD-R, from numbers from the same article, then you'd need around 8 IDE drives to start pushing the limits of a 350W power supply.

The page of the article in question with the numbers is found here.

-Scott

Thank you for clearing this up, people are constantly blaming problems on power supplies not being powerful enough, 350 is plenty for most basic setups, the other thing to consider is that your not running everything full blast 24/7. Buy a good quality 350 or more you should be fine unless your running a server case with multiple hdd 3 or more, 4 or more case fans, etc, etc.

 

[sCrew]

Hey simpletown..

Make sure you connect your Radeon 9800 Pro with the supplied power cable. Its a must.

As triple6 said...look out for CMOS clear jumper setting.

You should get some beeps if the RAM is faulty.

Finally - Disassemble everything from your case including PSU.
- Place your motherboard on wodden(non-metal) plank
- Connect the PSU > Motherboard first
- Install the processor and heatsink.(Be careful with this step) Remove extra Termal paste(if any)
-Install RAM
-Install VGA
-Connect Monitor and Power cord
-DONT INSTALL ANY OTHER HDD, OTHER PCI CARDS..
-Turn on your PC.
-Now check