Need some HELP Please

[Rockman99]

Hi all I 3 new boards that aren't posting I had 2 of them up and running on my test jig 2 days ago when I went back to them this morning they would not post I tried everything I could think of monitor, PS,memory and I even pulled out my mobo tester a cool little device that will check a motherboard with just a CPU installed nothing no codes just the little led's lit up so I tried my new Asus A7N8X with my Barton Core CPU I had it running a few days ago but shut it down due to cooling issues the Barton core was up to 95 degrees because the coolers I have are small. I decided to try it again just to see if the board would post and I had the little tester hooked up too and I got a beep and the code given was EF and it is not listed in the appendix of the tester manual the bios is Award 6.0

[PommieB]

You need to reseat and solve the heating problems first, if your cooling inadequate the cpu going to shut down the computer.

[Rockman99]

I realize what you are saying that's why I shut it down until I have proper cooling but since the other 2 boards wouldn't post I thought I'd try the ASUS board again since it would not post with a less powerful processor in it, which it did the other day. So I put the Barton core in it and tried it just to see if it would post. I'm doing a search for the error code, not finding anything truly enlightening. So if someone could give me some good input I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

[Mr.Scott]

EF is the code for System Memory Test. Bad ram or bad ram voltage/timings, or bad memory slot.

What's the common denominator between all three boards? ie: What common hardware have you used to test all 3 boards?

[Rockman99]

Thank you Mr.Scott I used 2 sticks of DDR pc 2100 on the Syntax boards which are also new, and it worked fine with 3 AMD processors the 1st time I fired them up, now yesterday morning they would not post at all. So I tried the new Asus board with the Barton core, which the 1st time I tried the Barton core the cpu shut down and the board was still getting power I restarted and got into the bios long enough to see that the cpu temp was 95 degrees so I shut it down as I knew this was not good that's why I asked you about a good cooler. Now the reason I tried it again was, it was a different processor and board and I used 2 sticks of 256 ddr pc 3200, all these sticks are new units so I am bewildered to say the least. I'm going to try the Barton core one more time and use 1 stick of the 1 gig memory. I'm running in the LPB machine I went back to running it with 3 gigs of ram since I'm not overclocking and I'm using an Amd Athlon 2400 which is running at 2 Ghz. Now here's the thing I don't understand all the sticks of memory I am using are new units and the fact that when I tried the Asus board with Barton core at least I got some codes going on, with the Syntax Boards I got nothing and I have 3 of these units I tried 2 and I doubt if all my processors went bad. or the memory for that fact. I have 4 processors a Sempron, 2 Athlons, and the Barton core, sorry about this being such along post but I want you to have all the info so as to help me figure out what the problem is.
PS. Which Tornado fan should I get for my Thermaltake cooler an 80mm or the 90mm.

[PommieB]

As Mr Scott say's, what's the common denominator, it can't be the motherboards, the memory unless it's not been tested for a long enough period of time would work on one of those boards, what are you left with PSU or heat issue, are you using the same PSU on each motherboard, what exactly are your temps 95C at idle, that's a badly seated CPU, one thing I learned 20 years ago, just because something appears obvious it doesn't always mean it necessarily is the cause of the problem.

The Motherboard manuals are usually great sources of information, long explanations are alright if there's relevant info in them and you buy the largest fan that will fit, the use of 80mm fans is rare these days, the 90 would be better.

When you get what appear to be idle temps at 95C it's usually not the cooling, it's the cpu that hasn't been seated properly, you need to get that right first and then work on whether you require a better cooling system.

[Rockman99]

OK I get what you are saying, how do you know when a processor is seated properly is there a feel to it or what? TY Dave

[PommieB]

You get between 30 and 40 at idle, depending on the rooms ambient temperature and the your computers hardware and cooling system, you could even get lower maybe one or two degrees above the ambient temp, I've had stock fans at 29C in a 25C ambient temp. Your cooler plate needs to have full contact with the cpu, too much thermal grease can cause problems, you need a very thin layer spread evenly across the cpu, this will depend on the shape of the bottom of the cooler and the thickness should be just enough that you can barely see the cpu metal, if you spread it, less you have less chance of having air bubbles.

How you spread it is up to you, I don't personally like using the bottom of the cooler to spread it, I prefer to spread it myself, I get more consistent results, I consider Arctic silvers method more for stock temps, but that's up to you.

I actually read in a forum of a guy having high temps just recently, the poster asked which thermal grease he used, his answer. " what's thermal grease ". He was getting temps of over a 100C. I thought it was a classic.

[Rockman99]

I get what you are saying but, you didn't answer my question to you how can you tell if a processor is seated properly? Is it a feel or just making sure it's all the way down in the connector? Thanks Dave

[pckid9234]

Originally Posted by Rockman99

I get what you are saying but, you didn't answer my question to you how can you tell if a processor is seated properly? Is it a feel or just making sure it's all the way down in the connector? Thanks Dave

when you see the idle temps of 95C... is one factor. As far as I know thts the only way. Never messed up seating a cpu but the cooling block i have

[Rockman99]

Thanks PCKID the problem with that if the board will not post I can't see the idle temps as I can't get into the bios, the Barton got hot cause I didn't have a big cooler on it the ones I have are for lower end processors. Got a better one now so will try the boards again and see what happens.

[PommieB]

The reason I didn't give you an answer, I didn't know how the cooler was fastened to the motherboard, pushpins type coolers are difficult to get properly seated, it takes a lot of pressure to properly seat the final pin, if you don't get a audible click, then it's not seated correctly and the cooler will eventually lift fractionally causing high temps similar to what you are getting.

To correctly seat this type of cooler, you need to do it with the motherboard out of the case. You need to use a lot of pressure to seat the final pin, the type of pressure that will in most cases flex the motherboard, especially when inserting the final pin, the reason for doing it outside the case, you can apply the extra pressure until you the audible click from the last post, you can then turn the board upside down and check that each pin is inserted identically any difference needs to be corrected.

I'd try this before buying a more expensive cooler, this fault is common with this type of set up, the first one I did I had the same problem, I had reasonable temps to start with and as the pin worked it's way out, the temps escalated well into 90's.

[CountMike]

I am new at posting to this great forum but I'm reading it for some time. If I may remark that You should look at the bottom of the cooler and check the depth of the notch and the height of raised part on the socket, some times the notch is not deep enough so the cooler sits on an angle and not in full contact with processor.As for processor fitting in the socket, it has to be flush with it. Also when changing processors BIOS should always be reset. Use 1 stick of memory and try different places.
Hope that helps.

[ShrimpBrime]

which the 1st time I tried the Barton core the cpu shut down and the board was still getting power I restarted and got into the bios long enough to see that the cpu temp was 95 degrees so I shut it down as I knew this was not good that's why I asked you about a good cooler.

This is your issue right there. 95c is out of the ball park. Seating sA processors properly is a must. The boards won't post if they are not seated correctly, and that is probably the only problem your having. The board should post once you have a good HSF seating method down.

[Rockman99]

Well I think the problem I was having with the Barton core chip is it's a high powered processor and as I stated in the original post the cooler I was using is designed for common slot 462 processors, I got a better one which I have not tried as yet,so we shall see. My original post was because the 3 boards I am working with would not post and nothing had changed since I had them up and running a couple of days previous and then on the morning in question none of them would post and when I put the Barton core unit in the Asus board I got the code EF which Mr.Scott has said is for Bad memory test and the memory I'm using are all new units. So I will take all the fine advice I've gotten on this problem and try it again. As a passing note I did not understand that when the reference to not properly seated processor was actually the cooler.

[PommieB]

My apologies, when we refer to re-seating it's usually a reference to fitting the cooler to the cpu, actually fitting the the cpu isn't usually the problem, you can tell pretty easily when the cpu isn't seated correctly, seating the cooler can be a quite difficult if your inexperienced. You still need to be careful setting both up.

As far as the notch on AMD processors is concerned, making sure both cpu and cooler are cleaned properly will make it easier to seat the cooler correctly. There are no shortcuts such as not removing old thermal grease or paste because you think it's still viable, you clean both the cpu and the cooler thoroughly and make sure your grounded, anybody who tells you that modern cpu's are less likely to be damaged by static electricity, he's taking the wrong advise, sooner or later you'll kill or damage a cpu or other vital parts.

[Rockman99]

Well I took your advice and worked on the Asus board with the Barton core and presto she posted. Then I tried one the Syntax boards with an AMD Athlon 2400 no post I'm beginning to think I might have fried the processor as I have been handling them without being grounded and I know better than that will get another processor and try it.

[PommieB]

It depends what surface your working as to static electricity generated and what footwear your wearing. The worst scenario is bare feet and a carpet surface, all you need is touch bare metal to discharge the static electricity, I use a meter long piece of thin cable with a small alligator clip at each end, one end clipped to the, one end clipped to the watch strap when dealing with cpu's and motherboards outside the case and I avoid touching electrical parts and pc boards except at the edges.

I handle bare hard drives at the edges and if they are going to be out of the computer for any period of time, I place them back in there anti static bags.

Being careful with pcb boards becomes habitual after a while. These lessons have been learned the hard way.

Best of luck with your builds.

[Rockman99]

Yeah I have an anti-static mat and wrist strap and I have thick gauge length of wire with a ring on the end that I hook the mat and wrist strap to the other end is hooked to the ground lug of one my electrical outlets in the house. Just as a side note the Syntax boards are new and the memory I am using is new the processors are used I buy most of my computer parts off Ebay and the processors in question did post on the Syntax boards previously.

[PommieB]

The only boards I have experience with are mid to high range Asus and Gigabyte and not many of those, I don't really use ebay except if it's a item that I can't buy anywhere else, a friend of mine recently bought a Toshiba laptop using ebay, it was imported from the USA and was faulty on arrival, he was told by the place he bought it from to contact Toshiba, he contacted Toshiba Australia and they wouldn't cover it because it was bought in the USA, Toshiba USA wouldn't cover it because he wasn't a US resident.

I can't really help you on this, maybe someone from the USA on the forum with experience on those boards can help you. I actually had to google Syntax Motherboards, they have a US website, I suggest you contact them in some way.

Sorry I couldn't help on this. It is possible the board is bad and needs rmaing, make sure you explain to them that you took anti-static precautions, America's a huge market, I doubt you'll have problems.