4th 680i, DOA, what the heck

deeppow · Feb 19, 2007

I've been trying to get a system up and running with the eVGA 680i motherboard. 4th DOA motherboard was just delivered (this one stops with a boot code error of 16).

Other components of my system are as follows:
OS is XP
two E6600 cpus that I've interchanged
Corsair 2*1Gb-6400 or Mushkin 2*1Gb-8000
PCPC 500W or 750W PSU
various graphics cards: 8800GTX or 7900GT

Have taken parts off so that only including PSU and memory and still can't get past the BIOS to boot. Nothing works.

Anyone else having these problems? If nothing else, the shipping on the RMAs is killing me.

Rattle · Feb 19, 2007

grab an intel mobo you'll be better off anyway

Mr.Guvernment · Feb 19, 2007

move on, get the 975 it performs and OC's just as well with no flaky NVIDIA drivers.

Surfrider77 · Feb 20, 2007

Just curious, but what cooling are you using?

I know some people with aftermarket coolers using backplates were getting random and strange boot error codes. The older style boards have a couple raised capacitors that can get crushed / shorted if youre not careful. The newer style boards have those caps removed, and its all flush.

See this thread for details: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=497463

Other than that, there has to be some problem with hardware. 4 DOAs is way too much to call coincidence.

Surfrider77 · Feb 20, 2007

Also forgot, have you tried removing the motherboard completely from the case when trying to POST? Do just as you have done with only the CPU and RAM and put the motherboard on a non-conductive surface.

Honestly though, you should have mounted it right at least 1 out of 4 times, but you never know if something is hanging up shorting something. Worth a check.

deeppow · Feb 20, 2007

Cooling is chilled water, see sig.

Yes, got tired of taking the board in and out of the case and been testing on a desk. Same results. I would expect grounding problems to not even let it boot. I'm getting various boot errors, 21 on one board, 45 on another, and 16 on the most recent.

No more eVGA for me, I'm moving on.

Surfrider77 · Feb 20, 2007

Fair enough. I wouldnt be using the 680i if it werent for my SLI needs.

Just sounds pretty crazy to have 4 DOAs in a row without a hardware issue.

Good luck!

Evilsizer · Feb 20, 2007

umm well you know that if the mobo doesnt detect a cpu fan on the header. it can cause what you have going on... i had my cpu fan disconnected but after a restart it failed to boot all together...

Surfrider77 · Feb 20, 2007

Evilsizer said:
umm well you know that if the mobo doesnt detect a cpu fan on the header. it can cause what you have going on... i had my cpu fan disconnected but after a restart it failed to boot all together...

Havent heard of this myself. I ran my Tuniq fan off of one of the PSU 12v rails shortly and didnt notice a problem. It is now on the motherboard header though.

Evilsizer · Feb 20, 2007

yea some mobos dont auto disable the cpu fan header if no connection is seen.

deeppow · Feb 20, 2007

Surfrider77 said:
Just sounds pretty crazy to have 4 DOAs in a row without a hardware issue.

I agree and that is one reason I posted. Hoping to get some feel for how unusual that is.

Super Nade · Feb 20, 2007

Could you detail all you did after the board was taken out of its packaging?
I hope your work environment is reasonably static free.

deeppow · Feb 20, 2007

Super Nade said:
Could you detail all you did after the board was taken out of its packaging?
I hope your work environment is reasonably static free.

Try to use a grounding strap all of time but can't sware to that completely. Typically work on the static sheet the mobo is shipped in to prevent inadvertent contact/shorting connections on the back of the mobo. Same is true of the various cards that are inserted, however if a card had gone bad the board should post without the card even if I can see it --- they don't boot past the boot error code.

Having built a dozen or more machines I'm not a newbie at it but with 4 failures I can't help but worry it is me or a bad component. However having changed the PSU and CPU and memory out and experiencing the same problem I'm lost.

Surfrider77 · Feb 21, 2007

Is there a chance you have a faulty PSU? Have you started with the same unit each time? Perhaps that is faulting your MB, so when you swap to the other PSU its still coming up dead. Just tryign to throw out ideas.

deeppow · Feb 21, 2007

Unfortunately I've experienced the failures with different PSUs. While I realize any component can go bad, both PSUs are PC Power & Cooling units so they are of good quality.

Evilsizer · Feb 21, 2007

so then you had a 24pin connector for the mobo along with the 8-pin connector plugged in? just checking since i didnt see that said... also do you have a slower/older lga cpu not a c2d, try updating the bios if you can.

Surfrider77 · Feb 22, 2007

He cant update bios without POSTing, unfortunately. Unless he wants to hassle with getting a preloaded BIOS chip.

Section8 · Feb 24, 2007

This is for sure strange. It would be like 1 and million that you would get 4 DEAD boards in a row unless you are getting them from a local shop and that shop somehow got a bad shipment? Where are you getting and returning them too? Sounds like you have tried about everything you can. You said you have tried 2x CPU's, 2x PSU's, 2x GFX cards and 2x sticks of RAM. The thing that causes so much trouble on these boards is the RAM. Just make sure your RAM can operate at 1.9V and if not always start it up with one stick and then change it in the BIOS to the correct setting. So try outside the case with say the stock cooler, 1 stick of RAM and the CPU.

Mr.Guvernment · Feb 25, 2007

who are you buying them from and are they rma'ing them or are you to the maker?

if the store, maybe they toss bad boards back into the store to resell.

Dave65 · Feb 27, 2007

I feel your pain,I stopped at one EVGA 680i,went to the P5B-Deluxe,a friend of mine has had 2 EVGAs 1 BFG and 1 Striker all have failed on him,he is now with the P5B also and very happy.
I hope they get it ironed out,I would really like to have the option for SLI..

4th 680i, DOA, what the heck

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