Whoah... no POST... how to diagnose?

[HTM|Minion]

Don't forget that you can have a correct voltage reading but have a low amperage output, does the tester simulate load on the line?

[Coyote]

No clue. The manual sucks and the home page isn't that helpful...

http://www.rexususa.com/PSU/11903.html

Crap, the only way I'm going to know for sure is if I go out and buy another comparable PSU at this point...

[Coyote]

Anyway, the last thing I did was to disconnect everything from the mobo, remove the mobo from its case, and try to power it using only the ATX and 12V connector. No change. Tried it with only 1 stick of RAM. No change.

One fun thing though was that I tried booting it with NO RAM installed. This time it stayed powered on and just beeped at me until I turned it off. The LED display on the i680 showed an 'fb' code which wasn't even in the manual. ::sigh:: What does _that_ mean?

(Look ma, an Armor doing a headstand!!!)

[Coyote]

(Oh boy, triple post!)

Actually, I just remembered that the manual said that the tester should NOT be left plugged into the PSU as it will overheat. I'm guessing that there is SOME load there...

[HTM|Minion]

Sounds like you have it narrowed down to the mobo or the psu, I'd put money one the psu, but last time I did that ZenzEye had to get another mobo...

[Coyote]

My bet is the mobo but then who knows? I've pinged eVGA support with the info and asked them about RMA'ing the board. If it doesn't work then I'll get a new PSU...

[HTM~Night_Ranger]

I don't know about the *fb* error code, since I've never used that unit.
The constant beeping with the ram removed is a hard memory error during post. Since the ram is tested early in post it would seem to indicate the component failure is on the mobo. But, that doesn't exactly explain the lack of power to all the fans.... unless the fans are plugged into the mobo instead of the 12vdc of the psu. hmmmmm

Just thinking out loud, so to speak.

A question, did the cpu fan run without the ram installed?

[Coyote]

Yeah. The cpu fan ran in all instances of testing.

[HTM~olde_tymer]

Sounds like a good time to build a new pc.

[Coyote]

Lordy I hope not. This thing ain't even a year old. There should be a LOT of life left in it especially once I get those GTX 260s back in there.

We'll see what happens as I swap out components. I've applied for an RMA on the mobo. Once I get the new one, I'm going to redo the thermal compound on EVERYTHING in there since the default is to use kinda crappy stuff on it I've heard. Anyway, hopefully it's just the mobo and I'll be done with it.

[HTM~olde_tymer]

Was just kidding you,but yeah,it sux having it go down,espefially when it's that new of a build.I've had my share of problems that have made me want to take a baseball bat to mine.

[Coyote]

My mobo is making its way across the country now. ::sniff::

I took opportunity to revisit how I string cables through my case. I found a big pack of black zip ties at Home Depot and started making cable bundles that I'll be attaching to the case at various points. When I do get this thing back together the airflow should be a lot better.

One of the problems that I had with cables is that all of my fans come with those really big chunky 4-pin molex connectors that just piled up at the bottom of my case. I'd been looking for a clean way to organize them when I first built the box but didn't have any luck. Then recently, I found this:

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/P...2359/a2359.asp

Apparently there are a few companies that make these things now for the sake of organizing one's power cables.

[Coyote]

Flying horse dung.

I got my new mobo from eVGA and installed it this weekend. I got it to POST maybe 3-4 times. I then started to reconnect my video cards and it now gets stuck at dreaded nVIDIA "--" code on the on-board LED. I've rambled on at great length about this on the eVGA forums and have tried a number of different so-called "tried-and-true suggestions" and will RMA the board again.

This time, the PSU gets RMA'd with it. I'm going to take my video cards into work and test them to make sure they didn't fry as well... !@#$%!@#$%!@#%!@#$%

[HTM~olde_tymer]

Dude,that sucks.

[HTM~Night_Ranger]

Dude,that sucks.

yeah, big time.