Weird Issue

[WC Annihilus]

All right, so two days ago I did a bit of a switch up with my computer. New graphics cards (8600GTS pair), new optical drive (LG SATA), removed the floppy, new case (Super Lanboy), new heatsink (Vendetta 2), and new PSU (Corsair VX550). Ever since I made the switch I've been having a couple of strange problems.

First of all, on the very first boot I got a checksum error and the cmos reset. Hasn't happened since.

Now, on initial bootup I can't get past the BIOS splash screen. However, upon restart it boots fine.

Also, in Windows it isn't detecting a couple of my OC settings. 260x11 set in BIOS detected as only 200x11. HT Multiplier set to 4x in BIOS seen as 3x. However, all other settings are recognized (voltage, memory divider, memory settings)

So far I've tried running each card individually, running my old card, removing other PCI devices, clearing CMOS, and reflashing the BIOS. PP suggested a possible short, so I'll be ripping the rig out of the case later. Also will try the old PSU.

Any other thoughts?

[Mr. Smith]

Pretty sure check sum error is a bios issue, update your mobo

[lcpiper]

Checksum error can show up for hard drive issues as well.

I am going to throw a few things your way just in case one of them brings you to enlightenment

You motherboard needs the main power, the 4 pin power near the CPU, and in SLI the EZ_Plug 4-pin Molex power connectors all connected.

In SLI it also needs the ASUS EZ Selector Card installed for SLI. This is that funny card that sits between your x16 Slots.

The Checksum and non-booting could be your RAID0 array, did you unplug the SATA Connectors? If so it's possible you plugged them back into diffferent SATA Ports which messes with the way the controller handels the drives, gota keep them plugged into the same ports once the Array is built.

You should have sufficient power from that PSU, you could put everything back pre-upgrade and see if everything checks out, then step through your upgrade a peice at a time, ie.

PSU

Video Cards

The rest.

I saw some mentioning in your motherboard manual about some of the defaults. So once you cleared your BIOS and reset to defaults you might have some odd settings that are conflicting. Something you had to set before and forgot about this time.

And last, some motherboards hate it when you have the BIOS set to look for a floppy that isn't installed.

Best at the moment.

[WC Annihilus]

Issue resolved. Apparently it matters which of the 4-pin connectors of the 8-pin connector you plug in. Switched it up and works just fine now. Kinda strange though, cause I could have sworn I had that one plugged in initially and ended up switching it later because of the issues. <shrugs> At least it works now.

Unfortunately didn't come out of this entirely unscathed. Cause I'm an idiot, I forced the SATA connector down as I tried to pull it out of one of my hard drives. Thus, the plastic part of the hard drive connector broke off and is now lodged in the connector of the SATA cable. It seems, though, that I am incredibly lucky. The connector broke in such a way that the pins remained in the hard drive. Thus, I am still able to plug the cable in (with plastic still lodged in there) and the HDD pins still connect with the cable pins and the drive still works. I just have to be very careful, taped the connector in place with masking tape.