Randomly failing to boot

[Monodoggie]

Hi! So the problem is that sometimes when i try to turn my computer on it appears to be booting for a few secs and then dies. I have to turn the power off from the PSU and back on. Then after i turn it on it gives me the "overclocking failed, press f1 to enter setup" message. This started about one week ago. After i get the computer to boot up there are no problems what so ever. I've been using the same OC for 4 months now, without any other problems. I have tested the OC with prime95 blend for 2 hours with no errors and temps under 60c. I bought a new PSU and RAM dimms recently and did some benching with higher OC's with those, but nothing else has changed really. Any tips what i should look for?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Sounds like that Chieftec fire hazard, or an unstable CPU OC, is giving you grief to me.

 

[Johan45]

I would test the memory with memtest and also leave all the exteral USB devices disconnected and see if this still occurs. I know that the sabertooth had some BIOS updates related to USB problems. That doesn't mean it's the problem but leaving everthing you can disconected can help solve the real problem.

 

[Monodoggie]

Thanks Johan, i'll do just that. I have the USBs on all the time as i use some chargers on them even if the computer is not turned on, maybe it causes this.I'll also update the bios and see if it helps.

 

[Johan45]

Just remember that if you update the bios all your settings will be gone. You'll need to input them all again manually so make sure you have them all written down. Just remember that although that PSU is new doesn't mean that it's good as ATM said. I remember your last post at 5.0 when you got this PSU. Have you tried just putting everything to stock for a week or so and see if this happens.

 

[Monodoggie]

I haven't tried stock settings yet, but after i fiddled around with the 5Ghz for a while i reverted back to my 4.6Ghz OC that i had stable. If the problem doesn't go away with BIOS update and the ram dimms are fine, i'll try stock settings and if that doesn't work either then perhaps RMA the PSU to see if its faulty.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

It's very possible that RMAing the PSU with Chieftec would get you nowhere. You need a QUALITY PSU.

 

[bob4933]

Just gonna leave this here.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=748882

 

[Monodoggie]

Little update. I spent pretty long time turning my computer on and off yesterday and i didn't have any problems what so ever. It seems the problem only occurs when i try to turn the computer on after its been off for a day or so, i have no idea as to why. I updated my BIOS to the newest available version today, the BIOS i had was pretty old so i'll see if that makes any difference. Been running Prime95 blend test with stock and OC settings without any problems, i'll test the ram with memtest86 tomorrow when i have more time.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Every post you make points toward crappy power delivery.

I'm saying this one last time: Get rid of that Chieftec fire hazard you have.

 

[Monodoggie]

I can't just ditch it out, i spent 250$ on it less than a month ago. My previous PSU was Chieftec too and it served me for a good 5 years and its still working, it just had too poor 12v+ amperage to suit my needs. Chieftec is pretty popular in EU. They make some lower and some higher tier PSUs. Are you sure its that bad?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Popular =/= quality

There is zero information from Chieftec about these in the way of real technical data.
I would get a quality (see the recommended list stickied in our PSU section) unit that's 500W to test with.

That 500W will power your system without a hitch, even with a monster OC.
I believe the Seasonic G 550W is sold there, that is an awesome unit.

 

[trents]

Little update. I spent pretty long time turning my computer on and off yesterday and i didn't have any problems what so ever. It seems the problem only occurs when i try to turn the computer on after its been off for a day or so, i have no idea as to why. I updated my BIOS to the newest available version today, the BIOS i had was pretty old so i'll see if that makes any difference. Been running Prime95 blend test with stock and OC settings without any problems, i'll test the ram with memtest86 tomorrow when i have more time.

That might be caused by the capacitors bleeding off over time when it's being allowed to sit, which is normal by the way. Capacitors don't hold a charge forever. What's not normal is that the PSU seems to not be able to produce a proper start-up charge after the caps are bled off.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

That might be caused by the capacitors bleeding off over time when it's being allowed to sit.

That shouldn't happen if the PSU switch is "on"....

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

I can't just ditch it out, i spent 250$ on it less than a month ago. My previous PSU was Chieftec too and it served me for a good 5 years and its still working, it just had too poor 12v+ amperage to suit my needs. Chieftec is pretty popular in EU. They make some lower and some higher tier PSUs. Are you sure its that bad?

$250 "thrown" away or $400+ when your computers gets fried from the PSU...


Your choice mate. Just say'n

 

[ATMINSIDE]

$250 "thrown" away or $400+ when your computers gets fried from the PSU...


Your choice mate. Just say'n

+1 to this.

 

[trents]

That shouldn't happen if the PSU switch is "on"....

Do we know he's been leaving it on? If he has then the problem may be heat-related while in use powering up the machine. I also wonder if this could be a motherboard issue rather than a PSU problem.

 

[Monodoggie]

I do leave the PSU on after switching my computer off. The computer does power up after its been sitting for a while, but after a few seconds it turns off. And after that when i get it to boot, it shows the "overclocking failed, press F1 to run setup". This happened on stock settings too which seems strange. Now that i updated the bios i'll wait and see if it did anything. Oh, i also forgot to mention that today even after switching the PSU off and then on didn't help and it wouldn't boot. I used the reset BIOS button that is on the Mobo and after that it did boot. So i hope its just that the BIOS wasn't allright.

 

[Johan45]

Leave that PC at stock " optimized defaults" for a couple days and see if you still have this problem.

 

[Monodoggie]

I'll load the optimized defaults when i get off tonight as i want to let P95 run for a little longer on my OC settings. After the Bios update my temps seem to be cooler. Want to know if its really the case or just some normal variation.

Edit: If anyone is interested i found some test results of my Chieftec PSU.

Results: http://uk.hardware.info/productinfo/207444/chieftec-navitas-1250w#tab:testresults

If you go to chart view you can see it compared to other PSUs. 12v ripple doesn't seem to be too bad even at 1200w