New PC and already broken?

[Raigen]

It keeps restarting on it's own.. running 2 sec, then all the fans stop, then it starts up again for 8 sec, makes a beep, shows the bios logo, restarts, runs 2 sec, then again 8 sec and endlessly till I turn off the power.

And the same happens when you do a CMOS clear? Because this just sounds like bad overclocking. Wrong rates for the RAM for example or not enough voltage for the mb/cpu.

[Deleted]

And the same happens when you do a CMOS clear? Because this just sounds like bad overclocking. Wrong rates for the RAM for example or not enough voltage for the mb/cpu.

Yep, unless it's some ultra resilient bios that just doesn't want to reset and survives the removal of the battery for 15 minutes (2 times) and also multiple times of placing the cmos reset jumper. At first I thought so too and didn't panic but no amount of resets didn't fix the problem unfortunately.

[Raigen]

Dunno my guess is the CPU then. Would your mainboard be damaged the PC won't start up at all, at least I haven't seen a damaged mainboard that would start up the PC but just for a few seconds to reboot again. But at least they are just one day old so you can just send them back and get some new ones!

[Applecot]

If it worked for a while and stopped working (lots of freezing and the possible STOP error) pretty likely to be Mobo or CPU. Don't discount the CPU being broken, had a case a while back where bad O/C settings seemed to have caused the whole CPU to break (despite resetting the Voltages / Clock speeds).

No such thing as a ultra resilient BIOS. EDIT: at least not the new gigabyte mobos. I remember they have two BIOS stored on the mobo. New and old.

[Deleted]

Motherboard auto-overclocks are terrible, I don't use them anymore. I had done that with my own, it boosted it to 3.7, but also put the BCLK at like 103MHZ, which for Sandybridge isn't optimal really. Can cause issues. Ever since I OC'd it manually I stopped having certain crashes, and then a fresh Win7 install on a different disk cleared all crashes altogether. Honestly, when you get into BIOS, put the CPU back at stock settings, and either leave it like that or manually OC it once you've found that everything is fixed, whether on this mobo or a new one. You can easily OC it to 4.0GHZ with likely no voltage tweaking anyways, just make the BCLK 100.00MHZ and the multiplier x40 and likely chance is there will be no issue. My CPU has been at 4.0GHZ with no issues for a couple months now.

Actually it's x times 100mhz in the bios settings. At first it was on 33*100, I just changed the 33 to 36 (it booted fine and was stable), then 37, also stable.. and when I reset it, it started going into the loop.

---------- Post added 2011-08-06 at 10:56 AM ----------

If it worked for a while and stopped working (lots of freezing and the possible STOP error) pretty likely to be Mobo or CPU. Don't discount the CPU being broken, had a case a while back where bad O/C settings seemed to have caused the whole CPU to break (despite resetting the Voltages / Clock speeds).

No such thing as a ultra resilient BIOS. EDIT: at least not the new gigabyte mobos. I remember they have two BIOS stored on the mobo. New and old.

I'm guessing CPU too, the mobo has test led lights and they all light up when booting. But since there is no way to be sure without another compatible MB or CPU, I think I'll take them both back and let them sort it out. They were both bought from the same store. However, is it reasonable to hope a replacement right on monday when they open (the warranty is closed on weekends there)? Or they'll take weeks like with full PC repairs?

And yea, it has dual bios. But if the mobo's manual says that placing the jumper or removing the battery resets it, then I guess it should, shouldn't it? I can't think of anything else to do with it, to reset it.

[Applecot]

If you actually look carefully at the overclocking side of sandy bridge, your mobo shouldn't be fiddling with the BCLK since there is now the multiplier...
37 Is a pretty weak multiplier so it's likely your CPU is kind of dead. Pretty sure turbo is at 38.

1) If you take both back they'll probably treat it as a PC repair and you'll be charged labour etc (why it's good to purchase a whole system from people when you're not too familiar with what you're doing) to fix it presumably.
2) If you take the components back and try to refund it they will do testing on it. In my case they said it would take 3 days but finished up about 4 hours later. (Had to drive back and was really pissed) Unless they're into the whole exchanges no questions asked type thing.

Also: RAM isn't likely. Or try using just one stick at a time to make sure since I doubt they're both broke.

[Deleted]

If you actually look carefully at the overclocking side of sandy bridge, your mobo shouldn't be fiddling with the BCLK since there is now the multiplier...
37 Is a pretty weak multiplier so it's likely your CPU is kind of dead. Pretty sure turbo is at 38.

1) If you take both back they'll probably treat it as a PC repair and you'll be charged labour etc (why it's good to purchase a whole system from people when you're not too familiar with what you're doing) to fix it presumably.
2) If you take the components back and try to refund it they will do testing on it. In my case they said it would take 3 days but finished up about 4 hours later. (Had to drive back and was really pissed) Unless they're into the whole exchanges no questions asked type thing.

Also: RAM isn't likely. Or try using just one stick at a time to make sure since I doubt they're both broke.

Well, I'm more or less familiar with it, besides, my brother used to work as whatever you call it, someone who builds the PCs from parts and tests them. Still it kinda sucks if they don't offer immediate replacement. I still have only 2 weeks of vacation left, which I was hoping to spend getting to know my new PC better :P But yea, knowing my luck.. they'll probably keep them and I'll get the replacement when Uni starts again..