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Desperado
@comcast.net

Desperado

Anon

Computer Won't Start, or Repair, or Boot from Disk

Just built a new computer, and since I have put this thing together, it's been nothing but trouble.

The saga goes, first I get my parts in and then my job requires I travel on business. This gives me about 24 hours to build and troubleshoot my computer. I wanted to get it together before I traveled, in order to see if I had any defective components that would need an RMA. I wasn’t sure when I would be coming home. Of course, because people do their best work when they’re in a hurry, I bent a mobo pin. I know, the cardinal sin. I managed to bend it to approximately where it should be without breaking it off so I figured we'd be good.

Then it went downhill, but nothing I've read indicates that that would be the root of the problem.

Once I got everything installed, and up and running, everything was looking pretty good. Windows install went fine. It wasn't until I finished installing my drivers that stuff started to happen. First I got a couple cpu fan errors. Apparently my cpu fan was spinning at less than 600rpm which was the "lower limit point" according to my bios. I'm allowed to change this limit, but after rebooting a couple times, and replugging it in the fan worked above 600rpm (but not by much). Consistently.

I figured, the fan plug wasn't seated properly, and that would be the end of the problem.

Then I finished installing the rest of my software, and downloaded my free copy of Borderlands 2 - not exactly what I would anticipate as a taxing game on hardware. First play through went great. The game ran smoothly, no slowdown, nothing funky at all. Then when I got out I noticed on my CPU temp monitor that the core temp had reached a max of 107C!! I didn't realize at the time that this technically exceeds the max temp of my processor. Apparently mine is 105C. But, again, no throttling was present so I figured all was well and good.

Then I installed a couple more small programs and went to reboot. So, we have power, post, and bios runs fine. Then repair mode kicks in during windows startup. Windows cannot repair itself, so after a couple different reboots, I tried reverting back to a recent profile. No fix. Tried booting from disc, won't let me.

I'm confused. Anyone with suggestions? Outside of a sledgehammer...

Additionally: I received my parts on October 2nd, and I left for business on October 4th (at 6am.) I’m just now home, and getting to this on October 22nd. I bought the parts from newegg. Should something be defective, can I still RMA these parts?

Here’s the build:
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU: GIGABYTE GV-N680OC-2GD GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256D/AM 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar Phoebus 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Gaming Soundcard Set
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Blue LED Fans-1x 230mm front fan, 1x 230mm top fan, 1x 230mm side fan, and 1x 140mm rear fan
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5
OS: Windows 64bit 7 Professional

Raible
join:2008-01-23
Plainfield, IN

1 recommendation

Raible

Member

Which mobo pin exactly did you bend? One that plugs into your CPU? The reason I ask is because I was going to suggest you reseat your CPU/HSF. However, if that's pin you bent, that's a risky proposition.

You are correct, that is a instant red flag that your CPU temp got that high. I have personally had an experience with my HSF not being properly seated on my CPU and it can cause havok. Start there at the very least.

Desperado
@63.164.151.x

Desperado to Desperado

Anon

to Desperado
Actually I finished re-seating last night, and still no change.

I should also note, something I forgot to mention before but could have merit. When I tried to install my hard drive drivers, way back when I first assembled the machine, something messed up and I got the blue screen of death. I figured the hard drive was already working properly, so I chalked it up to Windows 7 having already found workable drivers for it.

With the computer getting through bios no problem it makes me wonder if the problem is the SSD instead? But that wouldn't explain why I can't boot from the disk...

IDK. This is all very frustrating because I'm running out of time, should there actually be a defective part. Anyone recommend contacting newegg with the problem? Or should I just eat this?
Desperado

Desperado

Anon

Update: I got the thing to boot from the disk. Not entirely sure what I did, since I had the boot priority correct already. But whatever, windows, and my mobo drivers have been installed which is what I have time for tonight.

Still, if any of you guys think I ought not to proceed, based on what I said in previous posts. PLEASE let me know.

I'd rather avoid the drama.

Raible
join:2008-01-23
Plainfield, IN

Raible to Desperado

Member

to Desperado
In my experience, RAM and PSU are the two things that will cause you weird issues that send you all over the place thinking it's something else. Unfortunately, neither of those address that heat issue you saw. Go through your setup (being a new build) and make sure everything is properly connected. Yes, I know, just do it a third or fourth time slowly to make sure. Look at that heatsink/fan really carefully and assure it's locked down properly and fully engaged to the CPU. I assume you put your silver on before you did that.

If you can get it to boot, start troubleshooting components one at a time because this sounds like you have a piece of hardware in there that's not happy. Also download a heat monitoring program while you're at it so you can keep an eye on your temps while you're doing it. Coretemp is a good one.


Desperado
@63.164.151.x

Desperado to Desperado

Anon

to Desperado
Update 2: Heat issue presumed resolved. Installed stock heat sink and saw correct fan speeds. Looks like the aftermarket one had a defective fan. Still don't know why I didn't get any alarms - but temps this time never got above 72C - during gameplay.

Still not sure why I had to reload Win 7....

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

fans are cheap, they even sell them at Best Buy--you could pick one up as a hold-over until you order a replacement (my recommendation would be a Yate Loon), but the Hyper 212+ blows away the stock cooler. I built an i5-3450 that was downright unstable on the stock heatsink regardless of reseating, it would crash in games.

Switched to an aftermarket cooler and it performs like a champ.

I would memtest all four sticks of ram, one at a time.

Pull up the SMART data for the SSD, ensure you have the latest firmware, and post the data here for someone like koitsu See Profile to look at. It's possible you got a bad SSD.

Try load-testing both the CPU and GPU, then both at the same time, to ensure the system is completely stable. You can using something like Prime95 for the CPU, and I've heard that the newest GPUs don't like Furmark, but I think you can still use something like OCCT.