Asus P7P55D-E LX Intel i3 550 3.2 Ghz

sschmidlap

Hello folks,

I have built around 100 desktops total over the last 10 years but have encountered an ongoing situation that is baffling to the point it is making me question everything! I have never, EVER had one system fail to post on first build until the last 3 in the last 4 days.

I have tried 3 ASUS boards in a row, and same thing happens every time. Not only no POST, but no beeps, period. After the first fail, I used the breadboard technique. I just hook up cpu power, motherboard power, install the cpu, heatsink/fan and leave the ram out. I should get the short-long-long beep sequence for no ram. But I don't get any beeps at all. With the RAM installed, no beeps. Video card installed, no beeps. VGA Monitor connected, no signal to monitor. This happens with all 3 boards, and I have even tried both cpus which are both brand new out of the box. I took this back to the store (Fry's). They couldn't get first board to post either with their components. They checked everything with a fine tooth comb and confirmed no stupid, newbie mistakes.

No bent pins. Not missing the cpu power connector. Not missing power to video card as video does not require additional power. Verified ram was installed in proper slots. I will not believe I got 3 bad boards in a row from 3 differnent stores. I will not believe I got 2 bad, brand new cpus right out of the box. So I am wondering, has anyone heard of any issue with this cpu/mobo combination? I have checked the intel and asus sites thoroughly. I submitted an email to their "tech support" tonight. I will try them by phone tomorrow after work.

Is it possible a 650 watt power supply would be insufficient? A stranger at Fry's tonight did mention the i3 550 apparently consumes 95 Watts unlike the similar cpus that only require about 73 Watts. Does this CPU need a special power supply? If so, I would think Intel would mention that on their site, but I haven't found evidence of that.

Here is my fear. Let's say I try a whole new board, like a Gigabyte. At this rate, I will probably encounter the same thing. What would any of you try at this point in a situation like this?

Armor149

I had a similar issues a number of years ago with components from Fry's. I went through 2 boards from the same manufacture with no working onboard video. I had Fry's test the boards and they couldn't get video. I had them pull the same board model from another pallet in the store room and made them test it there; no video. After that I stopped buying components from Fry's. Sometimes the manufacture has a bad production.

Cisco Inferno

i can almost guarantee its the power supply failing and not the chip drawing too much juice.
what psu is it?. a 1000w crap brand psu is no better than a 400w reliable brand psu.
remember wattage is only the max output. but it comes to amps when you need juice. always buy a psu with good amps on its 12v Rail/rails.

bust out your multimeter and do some readings. otherwise just swap out the psu.

and the i3 doesnt need no 'special' psu just one that works.
and the cpu is meant to work on your board too.

ive had psu problems in the past and it taught me to never skimp on it. saying is.. if youre willing to spend $1000 on parts, why would you skimp on the powersupply? Big risk in a crap psu taking down your entire new system with it. who knows maybe you have a good brand, we all get duds sometimes.

za3bour

I think too it's a Power Supply issue especially if it's not a good brand. I doubt that 2 CPUs and three MBs are not working then never happened to me usually the second try would just work.

It's not about RAM or VideoCard you can start a PC with just the three basics so one of those PS,CPU and MB is not working and since you've already tried two of them I would try another Power Supply.

I've had some issues with ASUS MBs although they're generally good but never had problem with Intel CPU not working at all.

sschmidlap

This is a reply to ALL THREE members that replied. Thank you, thank you for your insight and willing to share. I am taking everything into Data Doctors here in Phoenix tomorrow. I had a good conversation with the guy on the phone. I feel confident the pros at this store can nail it down and at least give a definitive answer if they can't fix it. We are leaning towards 2 or 3 possibilities.

1)The BIOS revision on the board needs to be updated with a newer version. I found "evidence" in the mobo manual and ASUS own website to support this theory.

2)Crappy power supply as has been suggested by the majority here.

3)Mobo and cpu just don't work together, and I have to get a different mobo or cpu.

I am glad you went into depth on power supplies. I really don't know squat about that, frankly. Hell, I didn't know about all the revisions until last weekend after seeing these problems and digging deeper. I just figured ATX form factor = ATX power supply. Doh!

This is the psu I am currently using:
ThermalTake
TR2 600W
ATX 12V V2.2
4+4 Pin EPS connector (for cpu)
20+4 Pin main power connector (for mainboard).

I just looked at the psu unit and can relay these specs for the 12V rails:

34 and 24 Amps.

I have no idea if that is good, bad, sufficient or not. How could I tell? I am guessing I would have to dig through Intel's website to see what amperage they recommend for this cpu?

Do you have opinions on Thermaltake for power supplies? Is that considered a decent or cheap brand? Finally, does anyone have suggestions on what amperage I should look for or, at least, how to determine on my own the ideal amperage?

Thank you, everyone.

I will keep posting so we get a definitive answer to this issue in an effort to help other people either avoid or solve this issue much quicker than it's taking me.

Hypntick

Do you have a PSU tester? If you build your own rigs it's an invaluable piece of equipment to have. Newegg.com - Rexus PST-3 Digital Power Supply Tester with LCD
Just as an example of course. I bought a little el-cheapo 10 dollar one and it's saved me a few trips up to the local shop to slap it on their tester. This also keeps you from needing an additional PSU on hand to check if that's your point of failure.

Cisco Inferno

sschmidlap wrote: »

1)The BIOS revision on the board needs to be updated with a newer version. I found "evidence" in the mobo manual and ASUS own website to support this theory.

Your board is capable of running the CPU. the only time i've seen motherboards needing a bios update for a cpu was if it was a new line/family within the same socket. [ex.]upgrading a bios on an AMD quadcore board to accept the new hexcore chips that came out. (they are both socket AM3)

sschmidlap wrote: »

2)Crappy power supply as has been suggested by the majority here.

I'm certain, read below

sschmidlap wrote: »

3)Mobo and cpu just don't work together, and I have to get a different mobo or cpu.

It works with it. read review number 1 here Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

sschmidlap wrote: »

I am glad you went into depth on power supplies. I really don't know squat about that, frankly. Hell, I didn't know about all the revisions until last weekend after seeing these problems and digging deeper. I just figured ATX form factor = ATX power supply. Doh!

This is the psu I am currently using:
ThermalTake
TR2 600W
ATX 12V V2.2
4+4 Pin EPS connector (for cpu)
20+4 Pin main power connector (for mainboard).

I just looked at the psu unit and can relay these specs for the 12V rails:

34 and 24 Amps.

I have no idea if that is good, bad, sufficient or not. How could I tell? I am guessing I would have to dig through Intel's website to see what amperage they recommend for this cpu?

Do you have opinions on Thermaltake for power supplies? Is that considered a decent or cheap brand? Finally, does anyone have suggestions on what amperage I should look for or, at least, how to determine on my own the ideal amperage?

In my opinion Thermaltake is a good brand. Not the best but still far from crap. 600w is fine and more than enough if you dont have 2 beast video cards of 4 hard drives hooked up. I actually have the 420w Version of it powering a severely overclocked quadcore amd system with 8gigs of ram 1 dvd drive and 1 hd on my sisters' computer. Got it in 09'. really good psu. 4months afterwards it ate dust. After scratching the hair off my head, i figured it was the PSU.
At that time my newegg.com warranty was up, so Thermaltake let me mail it back to them for a replacement! Recieved a brand new one and everything's been golden since.

Who knows this coulda happened to you, every reputable manufacturer has thier duds out waiting to be replaced. Sometimes they crap out before you even use it, and sometimes they crap out after having it for a while. good thing you get your parts locally and dont have to wait a week or two shipping and recieving a replacement from NYC to San Jose....

About amp output, try to go with at least 30-40Amp on a PSU with a single 12v rail. or at least 20amp each if it has two or more rails.
multiple rails are better and are the norm now as it supplies say x amount of amps for your CPU and Motherboard on Rail 1, and then a separate x amount of amps for your hard drive/disc drives on rail 2. It prevents sags and droops when your system is under load.

Most $40-50+ and up PSU's are capable of the output i described. check out newegg.com for ideas.

lemme know if it was the psu.

sschmidlap

It was the power supply as all of you surmised. Data Doctors was generous enough to let me drop off my board/ram/cpu/graphics combo for testing without charging me a dime. Using their power supply the board posted the very first time. So, I went and bought another PSU from Fry's (but different brand) and the new PSU worked perfectly. Ironic thing, though, I no longer hear the beep even though it posts and works fine. I miss that beep. I wish I could get that beep back. Oh well. After over a week of downtime I finally finished building the machine. It's for labbing purposes, mainly.

za3bour

sschmidlap wrote: »

It was the power supply as all of you surmised. Data Doctors was generous enough to let me drop off my board/ram/cpu/graphics combo for testing without charging me a dime. Using their power supply the board posted the very first time. So, I went and bought another PSU from Fry's (but different brand) and the new PSU worked perfectly. Ironic thing, though, I no longer hear the beep even though it posts and works fine. I miss that beep. I wish I could get that beep back. Oh well. After over a week of downtime I finally finished building the machine. It's for labbing purposes, mainly.

That's good news, I miss the beep too but I think it's gone for ever.

Cisco Inferno

beep? is the computer case speaker header plugged into the mobo properly? its usually there for error code beeps.