Question : Problem: GA7N400E-L Cold Boot Fails (Very Important)

Last wednesday, I built a system for my father with the following specs:

-Gigabyte GA7N400E-L NF2 Motherboard
-Athlon 2500+ Barton with 512k Cache
-512mb DDR400 Crucial
-Samsung CD-RW
-Samsung DVD-Rom
-Geforce 4 ti4200 128mb
-80gb Seagate HDD 7200RPM
-1 Year old 300W PSU

Basically, my problem is this:

When I turn the PC on for the first time of the day, or after a while of no use, it does not post and my Phillips 15" TFT Screen just displays the message No Video Input, just like when the PC is off, although the GFX Card fan spins, the PSU Fan spins and the CPU Fan Spings (No system Fans).
The LEDs for Power and HDD Both stay on brightly and there is NO POST BEEP.

If you hit reset a few times, or then turn it off at the back, giv it a minute and try again, it all boots up fine. But occasionally the whole PC just locks when doing the simplest things like opening AOL or another program. Which leads me to think the CPU has just cut out.

I have read loads of sites all with the different motherboards and specs and components and people have this problem. Also, the most common cause of crashes I have been told in Power Fluctuations. And I also had this problem on my first PC, an Athlon 800mhz, GF2 64mb where it wouldn't turn on in the mornings for a year or so.

Basically, through my research I have begun to think it's the old PSU... Using SiSoft Sandra2004, My voltage readings (Rails) are all within 5% limits except the -12v Return which is at 9.x .

Also, I am thinking it could be the Motherboard itself... although it seems a widespread problem on many different motherboards, not just this model. Or it could be the CPU, although it is seated perfectly and Pins are all there and H&F is mounted squarely and tightly onto ZIF socket.

So Far I have done the following:

- Taken out all cables and re-inserted them to see if there was a loose connection.
- Removed Cards and reseated
- Ran without the CD-RW
- Ran without the DVD
- Ran without the Floppy (still not powered atm)
- Screamed profanity at it

Something i should mention is that when every component, as in the floppy as well, is connected, the PC works fine eventually but the power LED Blinks continuously... Power supply again I think? Does that blinking mean low power?

I wont be able to get my hands on the PC for a while now, but I would like to compile a list of everything to try when I go to see my father again.

This is what I have on my list already from various sources:

-Change Multiplier from Auto to 11
-Set FSB to Auto
-Set FSB to 166mhz (Manual)
-Set your RAM to run 'by spd' for the best settings
-Boot From HDD First
-Boot From HDD Last
-Check RAM CLS
-Change PSU

Could I also have some recommendations on PSUs?


Thanks, and Regards
Daniel Done
Fl4wless Interactive

Answer : Problem: GA7N400E-L Cold Boot Fails (Very Important)

Hi Fl4wless,

This looks like a faulty powersupply to me.
I suggest you to take a look at the Antecs.

Greetings,

LucF