I think iv stumbled across the only Antec in the world that doesnt work, judging by what i have read on the internet(the way im setting it up anyway). Was wondering if any of you guys could tell me where im going wrong or if you have herd of any similar problems. Built new system (Abit AW8-max 3rd eye 2, PD 3.0 ghz, 2 gb ram, Antec smart power 2.0 (500 watt), XFX 6600 gt g.card). When i had built the system and switched it on, it powered up for about 5 seconds then all i got was 2 beeps and everything shut down. The digital dispaly on mobo was showing 8.3. (read manual, and this sais power supply ready). After contacting company i purchased mobo from, they told me to test with another power supply. So i used my old one (standard 250 watt, came with crappy pre built pc 3 years ago). This seems to work (for now, gets a bit hot in there though) with 20 pin connecter fitted in to motherboard 24 pin connecter. Also tried new power supply in old pc and it worked. Antec tell me theres no compatibility issues with there psu's and abit boards, abit tell me the same. So im stuck, dont know which part is stuffed or what im doing wrong. Any help would be massively appriciated, cheers. Think ive got everything there (first time iv wrote anything on a forum, sorry if i missed any vital info)
Thanks for response Pelvis. Yeah i tried taking 0ne stick out. Stll got the same. By the way its sort of a beep then a long beep (sorry forgot to mention i tried it with one stick, Abit told me to do this before they told me to try a different psu). I take your point that it could be somthing to do with the ram as the next post code definition in the manual (after 8.3 - power supply ready) is 8.4.- manual sais DDR voltage ready. But when I got it all working off the old psu, i dismissed it as a ram issue, but i am still totally unsure. Any other idears? Thanks.
It's possible you've got a defective unit, so you might want to exchange it. The other thing you'd want to try is upping your RAM voltage a tad (2.6-2.7V instead of 2.5).
Thanks Big B. Can you tell me how to up the ram voltage. Couldnt see anything in power management in start up. (but im fairly new to this stuff so...)
You'll have to go into BIOS. READ YOUR MANUAL concerning the BIOS options. I'd look under the Softmenu or uGuru settings in BIOS, and look for something along the lines of DRAM or DDR voltage. It'll either be set to 'Auto' or 2.5 in all likelyhood. You should be able to hit enter on one of these settings to bring up a listing of different voltages. Use your arrow keys to go to the desired voltage and hit enter. Exit and Save.
Cheers Big B. Will give it a go soon as I get a few hours (messing around takin psu out and that) By the way, got this reply of Antec tonight. See what you make of it......Another possibility that we can think is that the Abit motherboard requires a -5V input from the power supply. The SP-500 does not support the said output since it complies with the ATX 2.X standard. This is a newer standard and -5V output is not supported. We suggest that you get in touch with Abit to inquire if the motherboard requires a -5V input to boot................. Thanks B... Nice eyes by the way, reminds me of my other half when I get back from work after a few beers ;']
I know some of MSI's motherboards require a -5V rail for some of the more advanced sound features (they've been avidly using Creative's SoundBlaster Live! and more recently, the Audigy, on their premium motherboards for awhile now). I haven't heard anything about Abit doing the same thing, but I might've missed info about that.
