Need help with troubleshooting

Jabrone007

New Member
I am replacing the motherboard and CPU on my current desktop that I built 2 years ago. It is liquid cooled (all parts through Koolance) and I have just purchased an MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard with the Intel i7-2600 CPU.

I have removed all of the old pieces, put in the new motherboard and connected everything according to the motherboard specs. When you power up, it will remain powered for about 3 seconds (not long enough to post) and then power down. About 3 seconds later it will attempt to power up again and same result. It continues to cycle through this until you turn the power supply off. We've disconnected all of the components (Hard drives, vid cards, etc.) to see if there was a conflict there but still the same issue. Any ideas or suggestions of where to begin?
 
Is the motherboard shorting out against the case? Did you use the proper amount of standoffs?
 
For starters I would look at the Power On/Reset button input/s in case the new MB is seeing a continuous reset. You can test by disconnecting those inputs at the MB and using a jumper by hand at those terminals to simulate power on (remove jumper immediately PC springs to life).
 
i would start on the case jumpers and then remove components until it eventually posts or not....if it still doesnt power correctly it could be the psu has developed a fault or the motherboard is DOA but following a step by step back to compo 1 is normally a sure fire way to fault find in a short time
 
Is the motherboard shorting out against the case? Did you use the proper amount of standoffs?

That was actually one of my thoughts today and will be what I will be testing first when I get a chance.

As for the continuous reset, I've never had to use a jumper before. How would that work and what piece would I need?
 
Underneath the motherboard, in the case, you should see the brass standoffs in the case, they raise the board off the case, so it doesn't short. There should be one for every hole on your motherboard, otherwise it can flex and break tracks when you install hardware and such.
 
.......As for the continuous reset, I've never had to use a jumper before. How would that work and what piece would I need?
On further thoughts if you are only changing the MB it's fairly unlikely the switches would have coincidentally jammed.

Writing it out makes very simple tests sound complicated.

If there is a separate Reset pushbutton, disconnect from the MB and try powering up. That will check if a jammed or shorted reset is the problem.

Otherwise, where the wires from the Power On button at terminated at the MB, disconnect them and use a jumper between those terminals to simulate the switch. Hold one end against one terminal and the other as the "switch". Hold it against the 2nd terminal for "On", long enough to get things going. That will check if a jammed or shorted On pushbutton is the problem.

You can easily test using a digital multimeter to check the terminal voltage is going to zero only when the buttons are pressed but nobody seems to own a multimeter.

I doubt it's the power supply. Most should lock out on over or undervoltage.
 
Okay...quick update.

Just sent back the mobo and processor to get them replaced. I disconnected everything from the unit except the necessary components to fire it up and had the same problem. To make sure I hadn't messed anything else up in the system I threw the old motherboard and processor back in and it fired right up. Now I need to wait again for the parts...
 
Got the RMA'd processor and motherboard installed and everything is now running fine. One of the two was bad, but I didn't take the time to figure out which lol. Thanks for the help all!
 
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