GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

[KurtInCT]

Two weeks ago, put together my new PC... with the GA-965P-DS3 motherboard. Installed Windows Vista 64 bit. Then let it sit for a week (business trip). Came back home, booted into Windows and it hung. When I rebooted, the PC would no go into the BIOS, no beeps, no video signal, but everything was powered on (fans running ,etc). Pulled the DIMMs out and cycled through all 4, trying different slots. No luck. Tried another video card from another PC. No go. Tried to reset the bios (including pulling the battery overnight). The BIOS never resets. RMA'ed the board to NewEgg and got another. The second one worked about 1.5 hours then the same problem.

The second board "died" after I upped the memory voltage from +.2 to +.3. I am using OCZ Platinum 2 GB modules (4x for 8 GB total). I went to the store and bought a "plain" 1 GB DDR2 module that works at 1.8v. I had heard that might resolve the issue. No luck. Bios will again not reset. No beeps, no video signal.

I was really excited about this board. It had all of the features I needed / wanted (8 GB support, solid state capacitors) and lacked features I didn't need (SLI/Crossfire). I am totally disappointed. I have built a number of PCs in the past (MSI, Abit, DFI, Asus, Tyan) and never had any issues remotely resembling this.

It seems the Bios is amazingly delicate. I have occasionally had issues where a Bios setting didn't work - but never has the motherboard failed to go into Bios again. That has happened twice now for me w/ Gigabit. BTW, I NEVER go wild with settings. I sometimes mildly overclock, but for me, keeping temps low & stability/durability for me are far more important. I had not even tried overclocking this board (never had the chance). With the first board I modified NO BIOS settings. With the second board, I just tried the RAM overvolting.

Specs:

Lian-li case PC60B PlusII
PC Power&Cooling 610 watt
Q6600 processor
EVGA GTS8800 (320 MB)
WD 750 GB HDD (SATA II) SE16
Zalman CNPS9500
OCZ 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (2 kits)
Gigabyte - GA-965P-DS3

Did not skimp on this - I need a solid box capable of handling Vista64 / Win2k3 64 bit - I run server VMs for testing work configs... I do this now on a DFI Lanparty (Opteron 165, 4GB RAM), just needed more horsepower.

Now looks like I need to go back to another manufacturer (most likely Abit).

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

What is your BIOS Edition？

[KurtInCT]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Janus,

I am away from the PC (~1,500 miles!). Plus, it won't boot so I can even see the BIOS version and I did not note the version in the short time it was booting.

As another person put so well, this was a board I really wanted to love. Unfortunately, the problems have been way too severe and way too many.

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Dear KurtInCT

I am sorry to hear about this.
and i really don't know how to help you online without seeing the board.
have you debug card？

[KurtInCT]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Janus,

No I don't have a debug card (I am assuming this is something that would show the state of the motherboard / BIOS and where it is failing). I'm afraid this is my second RMA on the board.

[casecutter]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

I'd try a long bios clearing with the jumper on, the power off and the battery out of it overnight. Unless your ram needs 2.1V, which is what the +3 does, then you could be causing the problem. I've had a Gigabyte DQ6 (965P) and the DS3 I have now and they are pretty bullet-proof if you ask me.

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Dear KurtInCT
Well, you have no debug card so cuold you please help me to try something?

1. first I am not sure your system is in the case or not, If the answer is YES, make sure there is not electric conduction between MB and your case.
2. Use your CPU in other MB, make sure the CPU is ok.
3. If CPU is ok, try to use only one Memory.

Please try it ^^

Thank You.

[jaggerwild]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Hey Kurt,
Remove two gigs of ram, try one stick. Start removing all but the basics one stick of ram,one hard drive, re-seat video. Unplug all the unnecessary stuff.

[KurtInCT]

Re: GA-965P-DS3 - won't boot, no beeps

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Here is what I have done to date:

- removed the battery overnight (8-9 hours), left the jumper on a while to clear CMOS - nothing - no change - still would not give a beep.
- my RAM is 2.1v (OCZ Platinum - not rev2) hence the +.3v
- tried just 1 stick RAM at a time (cycled through all 4 sticks) & different slots - just in case a DIMM or a slot was bad - no luck
- I have looked for case shorts (motherboard touching) and I have not seen anything. Yes, the brass standoffs are installed correct (not in front of it right now, but I think there are 7).
- I guess theoretically the CPU could be at issue, but I doubt it since on both motherboards it works for a while (in one case ~5 hours, in other case ~1.5 hours), then nothing. If it was overheating it would work for a while and then stop (definitely not the case here). Even when totally cold it won't start.
- I think there is no chance on earth of 4 sticks of RAM going bad (all top-notch OCZ RAM).

On the road right now, can give things a try Saturday evening.