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Takes 5+ tries to get my computer to boot

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I took out the video card yesterday and blew compressed air in the PCIe slot, I did the same on the video card. I also pushed up on the video card as I screwed the expansion slot screws in because it seems the power cables were bending it down. Today when I booted it started up first try ^_^ so far so good.

Tomorrow if the problem sneaks up on me I'm going to try up'ing the NB voltage as suggested.
Well, how about that.

Thanks for teaching me new things, CgS Drone! Your recommendations were spot on. :thup:
 
Well, how about that.

Thanks for teaching me new things, CgS Drone! Your recommendations were spot on. :thup:

At this point it still could have just been a lucky start for his system, I am hoping for his sake that this solved it but until it goes a week or so without issue's I wouldn't say I was correct in my suggestion. :)
 
My celebration just ended, today I booted up the computer and got this.

th_IMAG0148.jpg


After this came, I turned off the computer and it booted fine, so I guess 2 tries instead of 5-6 is an improvement is disheartening... I'm restarting and I'm going to bump up the Northbridge voltage
 
mikeymop have you tried installing the video card in one of the other slots? If that fails then do what you can to get your hands on another video card and try that. I am assuming that you are using the Blue slots for the video card, so if you are in the top slot then try the card in the other Blue slot.
 
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mikeymop have you tried installing the video card in one of the other slots? If that fails then do what you can to get your hands on another video card and try that. I am assuming that you are using the Blue slots for the video card, so if you are in the top slot then try the card in the other Blue slot.

The Harddrive cage is going to make it hard to squeeze the power cables in, yes I've only been using one slot, could this mean I have a bad PCIe slot?
 
90% chance you have a bad PSU. Been seeing a lot of talk about OCZs crapping out or having problems of this nature.

By overclocking the northbridge you can be inadvertently damaging your motherboard!!!
 
The Harddrive cage is going to make it hard to squeeze the power cables in, yes I've only been using one slot, could this mean I have a bad PCIe slot?

Mikey,

When it's running, do you have a digital multi-meter to check a 12v molex connection? Can you take a good light and look into your power supply for any bulged or leaking capacitors? I've had similar restart issues with an older Antec True Power and sure enough: Bulged, leaking capacitor(s).
 
Mikey,

When it's running, do you have a digital multi-meter to check a 12v molex connection? Can you take a good light and look into your power supply for any bulged or leaking capacitors? I've had similar restart issues with an older Antec True Power and sure enough: Bulged, leaking capacitor(s).

No I dont have a multimeter, I'll look into the PSU for something. It's brand new though, is it easy to see down there?
 
No I dont have a multimeter, I'll look into the PSU for something. It's brand new though, is it easy to see down there?

Mikey,

If it's new you can probably disregard the capcitors but it's not difficult to see some of them just the same. You don't have to remove it from the case for a quick look from the back and intake.

A DMM is really the key to have for an easy voltage check. Can you borrow one? This could eliminate a power supply problem right away.
 
I'll try to get the Multimeter, as for switching GPU slots...

Today it booted first try, no problems. I'm gone for hte weekend but on sunday I'll see if the problem is still here, I hope this fixes the problem
 
So I booted up the computer and everything was fine after two days of no use. I think changing the slots the video card was in did the trick
 
My guess would be the other slot is fine as well, some times the cards have to be in just right in order to work and moving it around has gotten it to work.
 
Could it be that since the card was right against the Northbridge heatsink it was interfering with the POST? ...even though it was a cold boot?

Well I hope this solves it, thanks for the help guys. I'll post back if it comes in the next few days before I mark it solved.
 
could be anything holding it from sitting in correctly, another thing you can do if it acts up again is use a pencil eraser on the contacts on the video card and clean them up then wipe it clean with a clean lint free cloth to make sure there is nothing causing a problem with contact.

During the bios boot up if a video card is not detected the system will shut down like yours was doing this is why the hard drives would spin up then the system would shut off, after the system would try to load the OS then you started getting tearing in the screen and the system couldn't detect the hardware and load the drivers this would cause the system to lock up or crash, I have had video cards do this in the past that is why I went to the video card over any other hardware problem.
 
During the bios boot up if a video card is not detected the system will shut down like yours was doing this is why the hard drives would spin up then the system would shut off

I never saw this symptom occur. That sounds more like PSU.

When the video card fails to respond, the system usually stays on,
but you get a bleep from the BIOS that isn't normal and the screen stays blank.

It would usually give a bleep code. The classic one (from Award) is BLEEP, BLEEP-BLEEP-BLEEP.
 
It's been a week now, and the computers been Booting quickly and with no problems. I think it's safe to say this is solved. Thanks to everyone :)
 
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