Just getting started...

[JLG2525]

I'm building my first computer and I'm stuck. I wanted a nice machine to last, so I splurged a little on the parts (for me).

I have a DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D motherboard with an Aphlon 64 3500+ Winchester Socket 939 CPU, dual Ballistix 512MB, GeForce 6600GT video, SB Audigy 2 ZS sound, Seagate 400Gb dual RAID, OCZ PowerStream 520W power supply...

I have everything connected and I'm *pretty* sure everything is plugged in correctly. When I turn on the system I only get 3 of the 4 red LED's on the bottom of the Lanparty motherboard - telling me the "CPU is detected". The orange LED's 1 and 6 are also on. The motherboard beeps about every three seconds, so something's wrong. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong and why the system isn't starting up. Any ideas? Where should I start looking?

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[JLG2525]

I guess, more importantly than the above question, can someone give me a quick, brutal lesson in forum etiquette. I'm a clear junior member / rookie when it comes to not only the insides of computers but also when it comes to what to post and what not to post (how to post). My other posts got quick responses... I did something wrong here - anybody willing to be a critic? I really like Anandtech and aspire to become a diamond member someday, but I definitely have a long way to go. Anyone willing to help with the first step?

 

[mechBgon]

You posted enough info to go on, the post probably just fell through the cracks On that board there are four power fittings, one of which is a floppy-drive mini-4-pin type. Do you have all four hooked up? I'm going for the easy stuff first

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

3 beeps means something with the ram. i read it online, but it may not be that in your case. make sure the ram is in tight and press like u are a fat mother trying to kill a spider.

 

[Bushman5]

its proberly the ram. dual channel can sometimes be tricky ( im assuming u have 2 256 chips )

 

[pulsedrive]

Also that particular board is VERY picky about its RAM. I had this board for about 3 hours one day and took it back, because I wasn't planning on OCing so it wasn't worth the hassle. IF you still have 3 LEDs lite up then you have only gotten to the RAM and that is where it is hanging. I have to give the board that, it has nice built in Diagnostics. Check www.dfi-street.com for a list of compatable RAM with the MoBo, although I think that yours should be. What slots fo you have the RAM in, try putting them in 2 + 4, not 1 + 3.

 

[JLG2525]

Thanks for the posts! Here's an update:

All four power supplies are plugged in (now - I was missing the one you mentioned). It still didn't work. I tried pulling out the ram and putting it back in, no luck. BUT THEN...

I took the ram out of slots 1 and 3 and I put only one back in, but into slot 2. The system now boots.

The problem with using slots 2 and 4 is that I have a Zalman 7000 cooler - it covers up slot 4. I really, really want to use slots 1 and 3. Help?! Is there something wrong with my system? My motherboard??

 

[The Pentium Guy]

As people have said before, the board's really picky with the RAM.
Put your ram in BEFORE you put the 7000 in.

Welcome to the forums by the way.

 

[JLG2525]

So what you're saying is that the RAM will work in slots 2 and 4 even with the Zalman 7000?

It boots now long enough for me to get into setup. I have set everything up the way I think it should go, but now it won't let me set up the RAID.

More specifically, in the BIOS, when I enable RAID with the SATA 1 & 4 (like the instructions say), the next time I boot up, it gives me the option to press F10 for the RAID setup menu, but no matter when or how many times I press F10, the menu never appears.

Also, the boot stops and the system restarts right after showing the PCI listing menu.

On the next go around, it doesn't recognize the hard drives that were (to be) setup for RAID (i.e. I have to go back into the setup screen and disable the RAID for the drives to reappear).

Help... again?

 

[JLG2525]

Update:

The DRAM didn't work in slots 1 and 3, but it works in slots 2 and 4. 4 doesn't work alone, only 2. 2 and 4 can be used for dual.

I used the following steps in the BIOS to be able to load a very conservative, stable system (stolen from another board):

? Clear the CMOS.
? Enter the BIOS and load the optimized defaults.
? Make certain of the following in:
? Disable Errata94.
? Turn off CPU throttling.
? Set PCI payload to the amount of memory of your video card (e.g.: 256 MB).
? In the Integrated Peripherals menu, disable any unused onboard devices (e.g.: firewire, LAN, serial ports, parallel port, etc.).
? Enter the Genie Bios menu and set the following settings:
? LTD/FSB = x4.0
? Set the CPU/FSB Frequency Ratio to your CPU?s default multiplier.
? PCI Express Frequency = 105 for ATI card, 100/101 for Nvidia
? CPU Startup VID = 1.425 V
? CPU VID = 1.425 V
? CPU VID Special Control = 110%
? LTD Voltage = 1.4 V
? Chipset Voltage = 1.8 V
? DRAM Voltage = 2.9 V
? Enter the DRAM Configuration submenu:
? Set DRAM Frequency to 200 MHz, 1:1 ratio.
? Enable CPC.
? 2.5
? 04
? 07
? 04
? 07
? 14
? 05
? 03
? 02
? 05
? 3120
? 05
? Disable Bank Interleave (if your memory will not run in dual channel mode).
? DQS Skew Control = Increase
? DQS Skew Value = 0
? DRAM Drive Strength = Level 6
? DRAM Data Drive Strength = Level 4
? MAX Asynchronous Latency = 7x
? Read Preamble = 5x
? Idle Cycle = 256 cycles
? Disable Dynamic Counter.
? R/W Queue Bypass = 16x
? Bypass max = 7x
? 32 Byte Granularity = Disable 8 Bursts

The system now boots. I loaded Win98 DOS first, then Windows XP.

My only major problem with the BIOS right now is that it won't let me change the voltage on the DRAM to 280V - it keeps it at 260V no matter what I do... frustrating... any ideas?

Now that the system seems to be stable, any advice on where to look to SLOWLY optimize through the BIOS, one step at a time?

Thanks for your help~