Advice on my new components

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:24 am

I posted a while back about my new system. I decided on this following and bought it from Overclockers UK:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - OEM
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel

The system didn't boot. I talked to their support line and they suggested that the motherboard might have an old BIOS and so didn't recognise the CPU. I sent the motherboard back and, to my surprise, got a refund. So I bought a more recent motherboard, after talking to their sales line for advice and being told that the more recent board would most certainly work.

I got this:

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5 Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

It still didn't boot. I sent back the CPU for testing and it came back as having tested as working fine.

I bought a new video card, just in case. Still no boot. I tried another PSU. Still no boot.

The only thing that hasn't been tested is the memory, but the whole thing has been going on for so long that I'm getting seriously annoyed.

I called their support line again today and requested a refund on everything. They said they couldn't do that as the original order was over 28 days old. Well of course it is. It took them over two weeks to get the motherboard refunded and for me to order a new one. It then took over two weeks for them to test the CPU. So the fact that it's over 28 days old is not my fault.

The guy said it sounded like it could be the BIOS. This is after my checking with the sales guy before ordering the X48 Gigabyte board that it would work and being assured that it would. Of course there is no way I can flash the BIOS without being able to switch the thing on. It's not even posting.

I've written to their complaints section and am waiting to hear back. The support guy said he couldn't authorise a refund and he couldn't put me through to management.

Thing is I'm a repeat customer at OCUK and this is their chance to retain me as a customer.

So what sort of thing could be causing nothing to happen when switching on? The fans spin, the motherboard lights up but the monitor just sits there in standby. I've tried a new video card, a different PSU and a different monitor. I've had the battery out the motherboard and reset the CMOS. I even bought a new case speaker as my didn't work, but there are no beeps coming from the case speaker either.

I'm now over two months without my main computer. Can I take this to trading standards or something if I don't get my refund?

Many thanks
Cams

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:33 am

Hi,
if you try to boot with just the PSU plugged in, the CPU and one stick of RAM (try the different slots) on the motherboard, do you get any beeps ?

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:50 am

No, no beeps.

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:03 am

ok.
stupid question : are you sure you have all the power that's needed to the motherboard ? Appart from the 24 pin standard connector, some motherboards have an extra connector for the CPU somewhere on the board (4 or 6 pins maybe).

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:17 am

yep, the 24-pin and the 4-pin are both connected. I also tried the 8-pin instead of the 4-pin (there's a cover over four of the holes which, when removed, allows the 8-pin power connected to be plugged in)

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:39 am

Last questions before I leave it to smarter people to help you. I don't have your mobo's manual, but is your motherboard supposed to beep when it posts ?
If yes, the only thing I see is testing another stick of RAM...
If not, try another display and/or GPU.

Good luck !

incorrect · Post by **incorrect** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:55 am

yep all i would try next is a different stick of ram in each of the ram slots. something here isn't working the way it's supposed to, and it's 99% likely to be amongst the cpu, motherboard or ram.

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:18 am

I'm still computerless. I did a stupid thing. I now know that it was the motherboard that was faulty from the beginning. I waited literally for years for this upgrade, bought RAM, CPU and motherboard and it wouldn't post. I sent the motherboard back, got a refund (it was claimed that the BIOS did not support my Q9450) and then bought a newer model (X48 chipset). It too was DOA, but the supplier (overclockers.co.uk) said to send the CPU back for testingn as it was unlikely that I'd get two dodgy motherboards in a row. If only I had insisted that I send back all the components, although I did mention that and was told I could return only the CPU in the second instance.

So I sent back the CPU; it came back having tested as working.

I then bought a new video card and tried another PSU, just to be sure. The only thing that had not been tested was the RAM -- four sticks of 2GB so it seemed unlikely that all four sticks would be faulty.

Having never had a LGA775 board before, I thought that perhaps the CPU needed to be clicked into place, so I pushed down and it slipped. And yep, it bent a pin in the socket. I sent the whole rig to my favourite supplier, which is where I should have gone in the first place (kustompcs.co.uk) and they tested it for me free, confirmed that the CPU and RAM were fine and the motherboard was faulty.

So I sent it back to overclockers anyway, but as I suspected, they wouldn't even look at it due to the bent pins.

So now I'm over 100 quid down, have been without my main rig for over 3 months (the RMA process with overclockers takes for ever) and I have to scrape some funds together to get a new motherboard from elsewhere.

Since I bought the components, the new socket and i5 / i7 have come out. Do they run more cool than my Q9450 will? How about performance? I'm a silencing enthusiast and have no desire to overclock. I do a lot of editing of wav files and video rendering from time to time. In other words, would it be worth my while selling the Q9450 and DDR2 as unused but tested working and get a socket 1156 and i5 or i7? Or should I keep the existing parts and look for another motherboard? And if so, what chipset? Kustom PCs has only one LGA775 board and it's a P43, perhaps getting a bit too last gen for my liking.

Thanks for your help.

Cams