So hot it won't boot!

J

Jabus10

Geek Trainee
Hi,

I've recently built a skulltrail system for myself with 2 qx9775s. It is watercooled with two Black Ice GT Stealth 360 radiators, one after each CPU.

I have two problems really one relating to power and one to overheating. The first problem is that the 2 2x4 connectors won't connect properly. I plug in the 2x4 connectors from my power supply and half the time no connection is made and therefore the processors aren't powered and it won't boot. I am sure this is one of the reasons why it won't boot because it matches intels description of an unconected 2x4 perfectly.

However after much fiddling I can get the connectors to connect. The only problem is that after 5 minutes or so when I next try to turn it on the connection has been broken.

When they are connected properly it starts up but after about a second (not even long enough for an image to appear on screen) it turns itself off. Upon restarting the overheating siren sounds.

I am sure the waterblock (MC-TDX from DangerDen) is seated correctly and the pump is on. The fans on the radiators are running as well. This problem has been going on ever since I 'completed' the build and that was 2 weeks ago. I have a theory that the power and overheating problems might be connected and that a bad connection is the cause but I don't know how plausible this is.

What would you suggest?

P.S. I did get it to boot once at 1 am in the morning 4 nights ago. I turned it off and went to bed. When I woke up and tried to turn it on again it would not boot because the 2x4 had come unplugged.
 
What are all the parts you're using?

Have you started off with just a single CPU, 1 stick of RAM, 1 Video card and the power supply?
 
It is possible that the bad connection is creating (x) amount of resistance and in the processes putting a lot of strain on the components, increasing temperatures. So, for your problem, i think you need to take care of one thing at a time, first being the CPU power connectors. Its may seem obvious, but make sure they are oriented correctly, also, look at the pins, on the board and from the supply, make sure something isn't obstructing the connection, lastly, i would figure out which is the culprit, the connections on the board, or from the PSU.
 
Hi,

I've just checked the orientation and thats fine. Also nothing is clogging up the connection. How should I check whether it is the connections on the board or the CPU? I have a digital multimeter on hand but I'm can't find the pinout so I know which pins to test.

I have tried it with just one stick of ram video card etc. but to no avail. I am using a silverstone 1200 watt PSU and a cheap graphics card for the time being till my Nvidia 9800 GTX 2 arrives. I am using a samsung spinpoint sata II harddrive.
 
Well, as far as figuring out which connection is bad, its kinda hard to do without it in front of me, so i don't know. What power supply do you have? also, are the connectors just not latching in place or are they loose?? Actually, i just thought about that, if the connections are hooked in place, how do they fall out?
 
Sorry for the long wait for the reply.

The connectors do latch in place however no connection is made and the connectors can move about quite a bit despite being locked in. This means that you have to move the connectors and 'wobble' them about till a good connection is made. However this connections only lasts a few minutes. I am using a silverstone TDX 1200w power supply.
 
right, now i have a little better visual. So, back to figuring out which is the culprit. Get a flashlight or something as look at the pins on ether connector, make sure the pins on the mainboard are all at the same height, and then check for the same on the powersupply connectors. As far as the mainboard goes, it doesn't seem likely that its a factory defect, but one of the pins could have been bent. The powersupply connectors are most likely the culprit. I would get a hold of silverstone, or who ever you bought it from and exchange it. My guess is that one of the wires isn't connected to well to one of the pins.
 
I had a bried look at the pins this morning and can't see anything particularly obvious. The one thing I did notice is that the motherboard pins are very thin compared to the metallic socket bit that they fit into. I will inspect them closer tonight and if I have time will post pics if I still can't see anything obvious.
 
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