PSU problem

[pebbly]

thanks for that ignatz, looks like i was going down the wrong track

 

[The Apathetic]

Exactly, all of the pins are foolproof, I can't screw it up even if I wanted to!! and believe, I really don't..

I even tried to connect only the 20pins and left the 4pins unplugged but nothing changed.. (The 4pins which come with the 20pins not the CPU 4pins, I'm not an idiot..)

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Here is the mobo.

Yeah 24 pins (20 plus 4) in one plug and a separate 4 over by the CPU.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Wannabe:

Explain why you think you have only 1 good RAM stick and only 1 good slot on this current board.

Mobo manual says you should use yellow slots for a single stick.

Have you confirmed your RAM is approved by Gigabtye?

Have you tried all of this with the mobo outside the case on a table?

 

[pebbly]

wannabee, do the phase leds near the ram slots all light up?

 

[The Apathetic]

Here is a full review of the PSU...
I hope any of you would be able to catch something..

OCZ StealthXstream 600W Power Supply Review

 

[The Apathetic]

Here is the mobo.

Yeah 24 pins (20 plus 4) in one plug and a separate 4 over by the CPU.

Yes, that's correct.

Wannabe:

Explain why you think you have only 1 good RAM stick and only 1 good slot on this current board.

Mobo manual says you should use yellow slots for a single stick.

Have you confirmed your RAM is approved by Gigabtye?

Have you tried all of this with the mobo outside the case on a table?

1- The board that has 3 slots broken is P31, there is currently nothing wrong with EP41.. I tried different sets of RAMs which are compatible with the P31 board on the 4 RAM slots and only 1 slot works..

2- Yes, they are approved by GB..

-------------

wannabee, do the phase leds near the ram slots all light up?

They all light up like a Christmas tree but they shake like hell..

-----------

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Appears to be a good unit. It is made by Fortron Group, which is a good sign. It appears to have the standard expected set of connectors. You would not necessarily use them all, depending on your motherboard.

From looking at the picture of your motherboard and the manual diagram, you need to connect the 24 pin power connector from the PSU to the mobo. And a separate square 4 pin connector goes to the motherboard within an inch or so of the CPU.

Its up to you to confirm that there is only 1 possible connector on the power supply that could possibly connect to that square 4 pin plug near the CPU.

You have to confirm they are not rotated 90 or 180 degrees. That is normally impossible because the connections are keyed to prevent installation when rotated.

But Pebbly needs an answer to his RAM LED questions and I would like to know about my question on RAM and slots. Why are they known to be bad.

Have you reviewed the other motherboard connections--fans, front panel, power switch, etc?

 

[pebbly]

Here is the mobo.

Yeah 24 pins (20 plus 4) in one plug and a separate 4 over by the CPU.

Yes, that's correct.

Wannabe:

Explain why you think you have only 1 good RAM stick and only 1 good slot on this current board.

Mobo manual says you should use yellow slots for a single stick.

Have you confirmed your RAM is approved by Gigabtye?

Have you tried all of this with the mobo outside the case on a table?

1- The board that has 3 slots broken is P31, there is currently nothing wrong with EP41.. I tried different sets of RAMs which are compatible with the P31 board on the 4 RAM slots and only 1 slot works..

2- Yes, they are approved by GB..

-------------

wannabee, do the phase leds near the ram slots all light up?

They all light up like a Christmas tree but they shake like hell..

-----------

wannabe, are you using the same cpu on both boards, do you know it is ok

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Confusion still.

Here is a quote from your post:

"The board that has 3 slots broken is P31, there is currently nothing wrong with EP41.. I tried different sets of RAMs which are compatible with the P31 board on the 4 RAM slots and only 1 slot works."

You say there is nothing wrong on the EP 41.

You then say "only one slot works". Present tense. Do you mean only one slot works on the current board? Or do you mean only one slot WORKED (past tense) on the old board.

We need to know you are now dealing with one board only and explicitly if THIS board has dead slots.

I don't understand "shaking" RAM.

Do you know that the RAM that is approved for use on the old board is also approved on the new board? Or are you now using totally different sticks than you used on the old board?

 

[pebbly]

ignatz , thats a good question about the other mobo connectors, most will have a "+ or-" sign but some rely on different coloured flying leads ,but ive got a feeling that is not the answer.

 

[The Apathetic]

Here is the mobo.

Yeah 24 pins (20 plus 4) in one plug and a separate 4 over by the CPU.

Yes, that's correct.


1- The board that has 3 slots broken is P31, there is currently nothing wrong with EP41.. I tried different sets of RAMs which are compatible with the P31 board on the 4 RAM slots and only 1 slot works..

2- Yes, they are approved by GB..

-------------

wannabee, do the phase leds near the ram slots all light up?

They all light up like a Christmas tree but they shake like hell..

-----------

wannabe, are you using the same cpu on both boards, do you know it is ok

Yes, I'm using the same CPU and it works fine on both boards.

-------------

Confusion still.

Here is a quote from your post:

"The board that has 3 slots broken is P31, there is currently nothing wrong with EP41.. I tried different sets of RAMs which are compatible with the P31 board on the 4 RAM slots and only 1 slot works."

You say there is nothing wrong on the EP 41.

You then say "only one slot works". Present tense. Do you mean only one slot works on the current board? Or do you mean only one slot WORKED (past tense) on the old board.

We need to know you are now dealing with one board only and explicitly if THIS board has dead slots.

I don't understand "shaking" RAM.

Do you know that the RAM that is approved for use on the old board is also approved on the new board? Or are you now using totally different sticks than you used on the old board?

I said "Only one slot works" and I meant by that the old board, I used present tense cause it still WORKS whenever I use it, why would I use past tense if it's still WORKING whenever I try it?

The PSU problem is with BOTH boards, but only 1 board was damaged after hooking it up with the PSU.. The board that was damaged is P31.. The board that has 3 dead ram slots is P31, I hope it's clear now.

I never said anything about "shaking RAMs", I was talking about the LEDs next to the RAM slots, whenever I hook up the PSU and start up the pc, these LEDs next to the RAM slots start shaking.. By shaking I mean they light up too much and light itself starts shaking..

The RAMs that I used on my P31 board is approved by GigaByte for that board AND they are approved for the EP41 board as well.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Have you looked around in the BIOS at RAM settings? Do you see anything that looks strange or that you don't understand?

Have you reset the BIOS to factory defaults by pulling the CMOS battery on this motherboard?

Your mobo manual says you need DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 of 1.8 volts.

That appears to be what you have, but I am wondering if the BIOS shows anything odd or conflicting.

I assume all parts are new or purchased new very recently and that you are not aware of any of them being defective. If that is wrong, let us know.

I also assume you have tested the motherboard/RAM/PSU with the motherboard sitting outside the case. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume you have a total of 2 sticks of DDR2-800 RAM, but have not done any specific memory tests on these sticks. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume you are now using a second new motherboard (Gigabyte EP41 UD3L), a second new PSU (OCZ 600) and the same 2 sticks of RAM (Micron SDRAM DDR2-800) that you used on the old motherboard. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume both RAM sticks fit into the motherboard easily and that all retaining clips are upright and locked. If that is wrong, let us know.

If you get any beep codes at all, advise.

I think that is a potent and powerful video card. Is it supposed to have any direct connection to the PSU?

The flickering LEDs on the RAM isn't a good sign.

 

[The Apathetic]

Have you looked around in the BIOS at RAM settings? Do you see anything that looks strange or that you don't understand?

Have you reset the BIOS to factory defaults by pulling the CMOS battery on this motherboard?

Your mobo manual says you need DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 of 1.8 volts.

That appears to be what you have, but I am wondering if the BIOS shows anything odd or conflicting.

I assume all parts are new or purchased new very recently and that you are not aware of any of them being defective. If that is wrong, let us know.

I also assume you have tested the motherboard/RAM/PSU with the motherboard sitting outside the case. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume you have a total of 2 sticks of DDR2-800 RAM, but have not done any specific memory tests on these sticks. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume you are now using a second new motherboard (Gigabyte EP41 UD3L), a second new PSU (OCZ 600) and the same 2 sticks of RAM (Micron SDRAM DDR2-800) that you used on the old motherboard. If that is wrong, let us know.

I assume both RAM sticks fit into the motherboard easily and that all retaining clips are upright and locked. If that is wrong, let us know.

If you get any beep codes at all, advise.

I think that is a potent and powerful video card. Is it supposed to have any direct connection to the PSU?

The flickering LEDs on the RAM isn't a good sign.

1- Everything looks fine in the BIOS.

2- Done, nothing changed.

3- It shows that they are correct.

4- The 2 RAMs are new, as well as the VGA card, everything else is 1 year old. Nothing appears to be defect, they all work fine when I'm using an old PSU I have.

5- I tested the MB with all components outside the case, still the same problem whenever they are powered by the OCZ PSU.

6- Haven't done any memory tests on the 2 sticks.

7- Yes, I used the GA-EP41 with the 2 Micron sticks with the new OCZ PSU and got the same result as the old 1 except the new GA-EP41 wasn't damaged this time.

8- Yes, they fit perfectly and worked right from the 1st time I attached them on the new GA-EP41 using an old PSU.

9- I get no beeps whatsoever when I connect the OCZ PSU.

10- I tried my old EN8600 GT card (which only feeds power from the MB) and tried my new VGA card 5770 (which feeds from the PSU directly) and both gave me the same old results.

11- What would flickering RAM LEDs indicate?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Well--offhand:

If you have absolutely no problems if you use "an old PSU I have" and nothing but problems when you use an OCZ 600, that would seem to point to OCZ 600 issues, even though you have tried 2 different OCZ 600 units.

Do you agree?

What is wrong with using the "old PSU" on this system? I assume you are referring to something other than an OCZ 600? Just by process of elimination, your comments point to OCZ, unless I am misunderstanding once again.

 

[The Apathetic]

Well, the problem is that the OCZ PSUs worked fine at the store's computer so there is nothing faulty about them, they DO work but just not on my pc..

My old PSU isn't OCZ, it's a non-branded 1, it's 500w, it was barely able to run the pc after I installed the 5770 card, it just couldn't handle the pressure that card was putting on it.. That's why I needed a branded and strong new PSU that I could afford at the time which was "OCZ STX 600W"..

Right now I'm running my pc using 2 old non-branded 500w PSUs.. 1 for the MB and VGA card and the other for the drives and fans.. hot-wired them by the green/gray wires so that everything powers on at the same time, have been using this setup for days now...

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Wannabe:

I understand that your old PSU may be underpowered, etc.

But the fact remains, if your pile of components will assemble to a full system and work using the old PSU, but will not using the OCZs, then you have some kind of OCZ issue.

The OCZs may work fine on another system--that doesn't really help you out.

Unfortunately, trouble shooting can involve a lot of trial and error---swapping components, process of elimination, etc--particularly when conducted by long distance as on this forum.

You may never identify WHY a component won't work on your system. You may have to just accept it.

The OCZs don't have to be "faulty". They may only be "incompatible"---for reasons unknown.

Again--if you can assemble a certain group of components and have a working system, and then replace the PSU and fail, what are the possible conclusions?

I assume you get flickering RAM LEDs only when using OCZ PSUs?

I'd put your system together with the old PSU and a single stick of RAM in the slot closest to the CPU (slot 1). If it seems to operate OK, shut down and try the other stick alone. Then try 2 sticks--slot 1 and slot 3 (the yellow slots if I recall).

And so forth. If you fail ONLY with the OCZs, what can you conclude other than OCZ issues? Stranger things have happened, and frequently.

Keep at it and use your own deductive reasoning.

You might even go back to a weak video card temporarily if available to reduce load on the old PSU until you personally are convinced about the remaining components.

 

[The Apathetic]

Yes, they flicker only with OCZ PSU..

Anyway, thank you very much for your suggestions and patience, I will do the last experiment tonight and see what happens, if it stays the same I guess I'm gonna have to replace the OCZ PSU with another brand and try again..

 

[ignatzatsonic]

OK; let us know if you resolve this.

Good PSU brands: Seasonic and Corsair.

Only other suggestion: get a friend with reasonable computer knowledge and have him come to your house and go over and confirm each and every connection between those OCZ units and your motherboard. Account for the purpose of each cable on the OCZ, even if you aren't using that cable.

I can't do that for you.

 

[Fumz]

The Wannabe,

Hi. I would acquire a power supply tester... they're very cheap. Then see what exactly is going on with that PSU. You can usually adjust an OCZ's +12, +5 and +3.3 rail via little screws on the back... near the power switch. Maybe yours just got shipped with them cranked up too much? A psu tester would let you know by how much, and assist you in getting them back to normal.