Why cant a hardware installation be problem free ?

[TEX4S]

Well I installed the Corsair H50

Many of you knew I was playing with the idea of returning it. I decided that it would be the 1st step in a major upgrade to take place over the next 2 months.

The installation was pretty much trouble free - my Cooler Master Cosmos doesnt have a cut-out on the mobo plate so I had to remove the mobo for the install. No big deal since the cables are tucked away and orderly.

After the installation I booted into BIOS and watched temps just to make sure the watercooling was working at all - I know its not the best way to tell temps - but if they were stable I knew it was at least running water through.

After being @ the desktop for about 5 minutes, enough time for me to report my temps in another thread

Here

I opened Thunderbird checked some email and began to download an attachment (I know its safe) then all hell broke loose.

System started bogging down real bad, I did a Ctrl-Alt-Del to see what was going on, and it even took 3 or 4 seconds to pop up, and I had about 1/2 second to see all the CPU cores were pegged @ 100% - then the system shut down.

After it shut down (fans and lights were still on) about 3 seconds later I smelled something burning....bad

I thought "F*CKING GREAT ! - I quickly cycled through what could have fried hoping for the least expensive thing, which is the mobo.

I then noticed all the fans were running and the mobo lights were running -well that kinda rules out the PSU.

I waited about 5 minutes after I couldnt smell anything anymore - and couldnt pinpoint the source area of the smell - I booted the system back up.

The BIOS did about 3 reboots @ POST, then booted up no problem - since then I have run Prime95 (8 samples) and temps never got about 51 degrees.

I cant smell anything anymore and temps are stable -

Any ideas ?

The PSU tested out 100%, and I dont see any popped caps..

[HoochieMamma]

Was it a smell of dust that could have gotten stuck somewhere and burnt a bit?

[TEX4S]

Was it a smell of dust that could have gotten stuck somewhere and burnt a bit?

Ya know, I cant rule that out - I keep everything pretty dust free, and cleaned everything before putting it back in after the install.

Its hard to explain, but the smell wasn't sulfur-y, or like a chemical smell, but it DID smell like a popped cap.

After blowing the dust out, some could have gotten lodged somewhere -- I cant rule that out - and didnt think of that either

Thanks

[HoochieMamma]

Every single cap on every single board in the system isn't even remotely raised or damaged in any way?

[TEX4S]

Every single cap on every single board in the system isn't even remotely raised or damaged in any way?

Well I got back down on the ground and looked in there closely with a flashlight - every cap that I can see on the mobo looks 100% perfect.

They are all seamless caps, so you dont get that bulging split mushroom look, but they all look good.

I might take a look in the PSU in a little while - man I hope something didnt pop on that - thats $200 I dont want to spend.

I had this one 910 Silencer custom painted a couple months ago to burnt orange like my old 750W Silencer HOOK EM HORNS ! LOL

I dont think micro center has any 910W so I would have to go to 1200W @ $499 - no way is that gonna happen !

Thanks for the help/ideas man

[McCordRm]

I'm using that same watercooler for my CPU and have had zero problems with it.

I would definitely look at a dust issue, or bad connection somewhere- memory or video

card not seated properly, ect.

Since you took the system apart for this install, something could have gone wrong

when putting it back together.

[TEX4S]

Whats funny is just earlier today I was explaining Occam's Razor to my boss - now I am having to apply it.

I think I found something

I noticed Windows was saying there is no audio device - I know I had the X-Fi in there - but maybe not all the way.

In the past I know I had to push (bend) the back of the case to fasten the PCI bolt onto the sound card.

It is very possible that it wasnt in there, and could have shorted something...maybe causing the system to go haywire ?

I turned everything off, and re-fastened the card, I cant see if the contacts are in all the way because the 2nd video card.

And I forgot to check the little caps on the sound card

But I have sound - so - I'll wait a little then check the card - I hope it is the card - its kinda get old anyway

[TEX4S]

UPDATE:

Well some things are starting to make sense now.

It seems I've lost all e-SATA connections. Isn't that controlled @ the southbridge ?

Maybe there is some legitimacy to the sound card thing.

UPDATE v2:

I just rebooted, and again POST made about 5 attempts before I could get any image on the screen. It seemed to be caught in a loop, then after several attempts I would get a blinking cursor, then the POST would go through OK, and boot into windows w/ no problem.

Im gonna flash the BIOS, but something tells me its not gonna make a bit of difference.

[TEX4S]

WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

Now, after updating the BIOS (no errors on the flash) I am still getting the 4 or 5 attempts to POST, then it will finally go.

I have yanked all components except for the minimum needed and am now getting a BSOD 0x7B something about a HDD or HDD controller issue.

Right now I am on my laptop, and hoping someone can give some ideas because I am close to going up to Fry's or Micro Center and buying some new parts (mobo,PSU) and I really didnt want to spend that much money today.

Honestly I'd like to throw this thing out the window and hit someone one when it crashes !

Now I'll research the BSOD - cant wait for the great news !

:angry:

[Guest]

lol, the joys of building your own machine :)

[TEX4S]

lol, the joys of building your own machine :)

No kidding -- Ya know - Ive done this literally a thousand times -- and it seems the real nasty hairball-bitch of a problem ones are always on my machines

Well got the BSOD fixed - for some reason Windows decided not to boot if I have the HDD set as AHCI - it will only boot if set to IDE.

That is another southbridge issue, isnt it ?

If so, Im getting a new mobo today

MUST.....KILL....SOMEONE.....ANYONE !

[Salty Wagyu]

Well got the BSOD fixed - for some reason Windows decided not to boot if I have the HDD set as AHCI - it will only boot if set to IDE.

That is another southbridge issue, isnt it ?

Nah, if Windows was installed in IDE mode it should stay in that mode otherwise it will BSOD unless AHCI drivers get installed beforehand via a registry modification. Just switch it back to IDE mode and it'll boot fine.

[Nagisan]

Nah, if Windows was installed in IDE mode it should stay in that mode otherwise it will BSOD unless AHCI drivers get installed beforehand via a registry modification. Just switch it back to IDE mode and it'll boot fine.

+1......I have switched from IDE to AHCI via the registry modification that causes Windows to install the AHCI drivers and its worked fine. Changing from IDE to AHCI without doing so however, will cause BSODs no matter what.

EDIT: Here you go: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

Follow the steps under "Resolution" and you should be able to go back into your BIOS and change it back to AHCI.

[TEX4S]

+1......I have switched from IDE to AHCI via the registry modification that causes Windows to install the AHCI drivers and its worked fine. Changing from IDE to AHCI without doing so however, will cause BSODs no matter what.

EDIT: Here you go: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

Follow the steps under "Resolution" and you should be able to go back into your BIOS and change it back to AHCI.

OK I'll give that a shot.

- OK that worked - thanks!

I looked @ micro center's site, and the only thing they have in stock that is x58 and ASUS is the P6T Deluxe, and that Workstation board

both are over $300 - so that sucks - but I have no choice.

[+shift. MVC]

Sucks that it happened when you got the H50! I might just give that a try today!

[TEX4S]

Well I went to micro center and didnt want to drop another $300 for a mobo with 8 million features I would never use since I dont overclock. So, against my better judgement, I bought a Sh*tabyte x58A-UD3R. It was only $200 and has USB3.0 - I havent installed it yet, I am actually not wanting to because I think its gonna be an issue down the road - maybe someone with some experience/knowledge on this new board can shed some light on the issue - but lets just say I am not all that confident in my purchase.

Is there something else I should have looked @ for less than $250 ?

[TEX4S]

If I decide to install this new mobo tonight - and assuming I can remove the cold plate off of the CPU and keep most of the thermal paste intact... How good is this Shin Etsu ? It appears Shin Etsu is the company that puts the generic paste on all Thermaltake heatsinks, and many, if not all of stock AMD heatsink/fan combos.

From what I read the G751 is the generic stuff, and the X23 is the better stuff - but is it better than AS5 - or is it a matter of 1 or 2 degrees or some crap like that ?

Maybe an engineer can read some of the specs and tell me what it means in layman's terms.

[Draconian Guppy]

$200 is way too much for a i7 motherboard if you're not going to use teh features on it. :s no newegg?

[TEX4S]

$200 is way too much for a i7 motherboard if you're not going to use teh features on it. :s no newegg?

Dont feel like waiting a few days just to save $15.

WELL HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

Sorry for the bad res - talk to apple about that

I knew it was something in that area causing the problems - and now I know how -- I warped the board when mounting it. :blush:

[iamwhoiam]

Dont feel like waiting a few days just to save $15.

WELL HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

<snip>

Sorry for the bad res - talk to apple about that

I knew it was something in that area causing the problems - and now I know how -- I warped the board when mounting it. :blush:

That sucks. I see the damage, but from the quality, I can't quite make out what that chip is. Info? (not that it really matters, just curious)

[TEX4S]

That sucks. I see the damage, but from the quality, I can't quite make out what that chip is. Info? (not that it really matters, just curious)

Its the SATA2 chip LOL (at least thats what the chip is on the new board @ same place)

Im assumming they are the same due to its location @ southbridge

the iPhone 3G camera really leaves something to be desired, huh ?

[iamwhoiam]

Its the SATA2 chip LOL (at least thats what the chip is on the new board @ same place)

Im assumming they are the same due to its location @ southbridge

the iPhone 3G camera really leaves something to be desired, huh ?

How long have you had that board, and is it available for warranty replacement?

[TEX4S]

I think its been less than a year - Im gonna check into that as soon as I finish this new mobo mount.

I am thinking a really good tech will see the tiny stress cracks on the back and figure out it was bent a little - we will see

With this new mobo I re-wired the 12V ATX cable to the outside of the case (behind the mobo plate) which is what I should have done yesterday - no bending on this one.

The other bad thing is one of my portable 500GB HDD from work was plugged into the computer when that happened and now its DOA as well hehe

I dont really care about that as there was nothing of importance on it - Iomega wants $25 per warranty call...thats when it is IN warranty LOL

This will add fuel to the fire when I have my weekly talk with my boss about the stupidity of buying junk equipment - I just wont tell him about the stupidity of jamming fat cables in between the board and the mounts :blush:

[Manson_AAN]

Dam Tex4s sorry to hear :(

But yeah just letting you know I have the Gigabyte X58-UD3R as well, and it's been good to me for the past year or so :) [just make sure your flash the bios properly via their Flash Utility or w/e they call it] because before, when they released the F4 Bios, it kept crashing on me [fortunately for Dual BIOS it was all right].

I hope it all goes well!

[TEX4S]

Dam Tex4s sorry to hear :(

But yeah just letting you know I have the Gigabyte X58-UD3R as well, and it's been good to me for the past year or so :) [just make sure your flash the bios properly via their Flash Utility or w/e they call it] because before, when they released the F4 Bios, it kept crashing on me [fortunately for Dual BIOS it was all right].

I hope it all goes well!

OK thanks for the tip Manson - I havent checked to see if there is an update for this board yet - its pretty new (x58A-UD3R)

UPDATE: yep - F5 - thanks ;)

But right now I am up and running and any driver issues left over from the ASUS board was a trouble free transition, thank god.

So, next step is to test stability when stressed, then to BREAK IT !! - i mean *cough* tweak it*cough*

Also, I'd like to go to Fry's and check out a USB3.0 external HDD and get some throughput speeds :yes: