Friends GA-7VAXP Ultra wont start. Help me help him

A mate of mine tried to set up a pelter system with his water cooling.

Problim is that when he fired up his machine, it started for a split second then shut down.

At first we thought he blew his CPU but no CPU will boot in his system! We tried three CPU's.We also tried his CPU in three other boards and, sadly the XP2600+ CPU is dead, but whats wrong with the GA-7VAXP Ultra??

Agian, it starts for a split second but then shuts down, could he of shorted it out, blowing the CPU at the same time?

Has the cpu died from overheating?? it may look and smell pretty bad if it has

When cpus die from overheating they often kill the board too so that may be your problem

You may also be right that he could have a short but if the 3 other cpus have not died when the 2600 did then its unlikely that that is the cause

Just a quick question to make sure all of the obvious has been covered:

:: Have you reseated everything? (ie: unplugged everything, then plugged it back in, ensuring all of the contacts are clean and solid)

:: Have you tested the Power Supply/vidcard from another *working* computer - normally I unplug all cards and boot with just a vidcard in to test)

:: Is the proper dip switches set for the processor? (Normally using 'auto'

:: Try toggling the 133 dip switch to off, this causes problems on my board.

:: Can you boot with no processor installed and get POST?

:: Are the tops of all of the capacitors good (not bulged or leaking, because this is the current state of my board which has some errors)

:: If you have determined the PSU is good, have you booted with all devices unplugged from the molex adapters? (This includes fans, HD, CDROM, floppy, etc) to ensure the PSU isn't cutting power b/c of a short.


Sorry, I'm just running through the procedures in some sort of order that I would be testing them. Most likely I'd unplug *everything* and try to boot and see how long the RAM light stays on. If it doesn't stay on, I'd unplug the RAM and proc and boot with just the vid card to see if you can get POST. Try everything too, since one component can bring down the entire system, especially something causing feedback to the PSU, which are normally designed to cut power in case of a short.

If all else fails call Gigabyte to request forms to get an RMA. For $10 plus S/H they will fix a faulty board. The number is 626-854-9338 ext 222 or 224 (USA) for hardware repairs. Just make sure the MB is faulty before calling cuz you sure would feel like an *** if it's your friend's burnt out CDROM at fault.

EpochofEntropy said:

Just a quick question to make sure all of the obvious has been covered:

:: Have you reseated everything? (ie: unplugged everything, then plugged it back in, ensuring all of the contacts are clean and solid)

:: Have you tested the Power Supply/vidcard from another *working* computer - normally I unplug all cards and boot with just a vidcard in to test)

:: Is the proper dip switches set for the processor? (Normally using 'auto'

:: Try toggling the 133 dip switch to off, this causes problems on my board.

:: Can you boot with no processor installed and get POST?

:: Are the tops of all of the capacitors good (not bulged or leaking, because this is the current state of my board which has some errors)

:: If you have determined the PSU is good, have you booted with all devices unplugged from the molex adapters? (This includes fans, HD, CDROM, floppy, etc) to ensure the PSU isn't cutting power b/c of a short.


Sorry, I'm just running through the procedures in some sort of order that I would be testing them. Most likely I'd unplug *everything* and try to boot and see how long the RAM light stays on. If it doesn't stay on, I'd unplug the RAM and proc and boot with just the vid card to see if you can get POST. Try everything too, since one component can bring down the entire system, especially something causing feedback to the PSU, which are normally designed to cut power in case of a short.

If all else fails call Gigabyte to request forms to get an RMA. For $10 plus S/H they will fix a faulty board. The number is 626-854-9338 ext 222 or 224 (USA) for hardware repairs. Just make sure the MB is faulty before calling cuz you sure would feel like an *** if it's your friend's burnt out CDROM at fault.

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Yup!
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and Yup!

Those are all the procedures I go thru when ever I repair a comp also, over the years of fixing, building I have never seen this type of problim!!! This is the first time I havn't been able to fix a PC or diagnose a prob (as far as I can remember anyway).

Normaly a board would power up with nothing in it but the PSU, right!?! But this one will run for a split sec and then shut its self down. It looks like its gone into STR mode i.e There is still power going to the RAM, I even tryed changing power and reset switches and the power and HDD LEDs, but im sure the board has lost its mind and I think hes going to return it to shop from where he got it, I havn't heard from him since he took it home. Ill post back and let you all know what happens.

Thanx for ya help

You're probably right here, the problem is definitely beyond the average expert. I think that returning the board is definitely his best option.

If the vendor can't replace it (which they may not) he should just call those numbers I posted.

Let me know how your friend fares, I would be interested to see in advance how Gigabyte deals with returns, since I have a board to go out soon. (I just can't go without a computer for a few weeks, so leaked capacitors it is until I can order myself a newer mobo)

I know, its yuk not having a puter ta play with!!!

He ended up getting a replacement board today from the local shop where he got it from, no charge, he said they were very good about it and that they had four of those boards returned in a matter of months. I dont think you will have any probs with returning your board if its still under warranty

Your capasitor have probably leaked....

Check out your capasitors! For what I've heard it's the most common reason
behind the fault you described.
Luckily they are quite easy to change - if you know how to solder.