CMPSU-650TX powers up, no POST/boot on Asus A7N8X-Deluxw

[Jdub]

Hello all,

 

I've created support ticket and not heard response (3 days as of now) so posting here hoping for answers, maybe even solutions.

 

Upgrading my working system (not really a power hog, just that old Antec 450W psu seems to be flaking out occasionally) with new CMPSU-650TX.

 

Once installed, fans run, CD/HDD lights blink, but no post/boot - so cannot even get to BIOS for any readings.

 

I've researched around on what to do to diagnose, and tried a number of remedies other have, but nothing has solved the problem.

 

1. Paperclip trick (for inspection)

- checked the ATX pin voltages w/ DMM (unloaded, of course). OK.

- of course, my new Corsair psu seems to power up okay, it just doesn't seem to be able to get the system to post.

 

2. Power button gymnastics (really? i'll try anything)

- The "pushing on button multiple times" things, and the holding the "on button longer" did not change anything. Same as single push: No post/boot.

- Frankly, I still have a hard time believing how a few have found this to solve their issue. Is there a bad contact? How could this be related to BIOS (as some implied)? Hmm...

 

3. "Remove mobo battery for a while", and "reset CMOS w/ on board jumper"

- Notes: Clears all the settings to some default, incidentally making sure that there are no overdrive settings causing higher power requirements.

- Still no change. No post/boot.

 

Through my efforts of getting this to work, I had re-installed old psu on numerous occasions and things work fine again (at least until those pesky intermittent outages return after several hours - reason for upgrade to the new 650W)

 

I suspect this is an RMA event, and hope it is not an incompatibility issue, but if there is something I missed that can fix situation, I am eager to hear it.

 

Is there reasonable prompt online support here in the Forums?

Please advise. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[FWIW, my mobo is updated with the latest applicable 1008_D BIOS]

 

Update: Further investigation work ...

 

Just temporarily borrowed/installed a recently purchased Antec VP450 and it seems to work fine, so I am not inclined to think there is a new standards compatibility issue with my old mobo and the new Corsair, but only the real techs might be able to give me a definitive answer on that one. Is that live chat ever online?

[peanutz94]

The issue is actually your MB. It uses an older ATX spec than what the new Corsair PSU's support making it incompatible with your older MB.

 

 

Is there reasonable prompt online support here in the Forums?

Please advise. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

When you signed up to the forums you would have been redirected to the forum rules page. Please allow 24-48hrs for a Corsair employee to respond to your thread. You are more than welcome to wait for an official response from them , but I'm 100% sure it's the difference in ATX specs is why that PSu won't work with that MB.

 

You could RMA it if you like or return it to your reseller if that is an option. It may be faster than an RMA but i really don't think the results will be any different.

Is that live chat ever online?

Corsair has recently been upgrading the website. I don't believe it has actually "gone live" yet, but should be soon.

[Jdub]

Re: My perceived impatience. (only midly correct)

 

Well, perhaps I don't know which message to believe, but the ticket auto-responder told me I could expect a response in 8 business hours, and that set an expectation. But still, my asking about "reasonably prompt" support in the forums was not to imply "as opposed to" the actual ticket system, just was not sure if/how many "expert advisors" might surf and provide assistance within the forums, maybe even support staff while they aren't handling tickets.

 

Btw, even though I do think I reviewed the rules (albeit quickly), I don't think I recall anything about any nominal response time from the official support/ticket regime in that page. No biggie. I was being patient figured I ask here to see how many others had a similar problem, but treating this as another front.

 

Fwiw, they got back to me yesterday and took care of my issue so far as can be done for now. (hrmmm ... see below)

 

 

Re: Old MOBO, new problem with the new ATX operation standards ?

 

I fear you could be right, but I hope you are wrong (of course). It's the proper operation with a current year manufacture of a competitor's power supply (borrowed and installed for test, as mentioned) that introduces doubt to that hypothesis. And if it fails, who is to say where the inconsistency in the ATX standards match resides? Did the Corsair become incompatible by missing something, or were previously lax standards tightened only to un-grandfather some old design "flaws" in some MOBOs that used to be passable? Perhaps only some of the component designers will really know, but i'll still be stuck with the issue. :sigh!: I don't think there was any intent to design out old mobo compatibility - quite the contrary, else that's why there are updates to standards and their corresponding connector adjustments.

 

Still, it would be interesting to narrow down this issue. It could even turn out to be tied to some lineage of Mobo BIOS.

 

film at 11

 

-- Jim W.

[peanutz94]

Well, perhaps I don't know which message to believe, but the ticket auto-responder told me I could expect a response in 8 business hours, and that set an expectation. But still, my asking about "reasonably prompt" support in the forums was not to imply "as opposed to" the actual ticket system, just was not sure if/how many "expert advisors" might surf and provide assistance within the forums, maybe even support staff while they aren't handling tickets.

The auto generated emails will just about always issue an RMA number and you get one back. In fact I have never seen one get turned away.

 

And no worries,I didn't mean to imply anything about patience either. Sorry if it came off that way. But in the forum rules ,article 54 ,section 12,line 13.......naw just kidding:P

 

It does say in line ten to not double post or bump a thread within 24hrs. So i guess it's not laid out so black and white and could easily be missed or not interpreted correctly. Usually the support staff pops in once a day. Yellowbeard and technobeard are also on line quite often And johnnyguru as well. Although his forum title does not say Corsair employee... he is.

 

 

 

I fear you could be right, but I hope you are wrong (of course). It's the proper operation with a current year manufacture of a competitor's power supply (borrowed and installed for test, as mentioned) that introduces doubt to that hypothesis. And if it fails, who is to say where the inconsistency in the ATX standards match resides? Did the Corsair become incompatible by missing something, or were previously lax standards tightened only to un-grandfather some old design "flaws" in some MOBOs that used to be passable?

Your MB is ATX 12v 1.3 and the Corsair PSU are only backwards compatible to 2.01. I actually had to call ASUS to find the ATX spec ...just couldn't find anything online or on their site. It's not that they missed anything , just that the primary market for their PSU's is performance minded builders. So they are not really looking back if you understand. There hasn't been anything made for for the V 1.3 boards in an awful long time...at least as far as Corsair is concerned. I would guess at least 5-6 years. I know not in the last three. Thats about as long as I have been here. But anyway ATX spec 1.3 was pre 2003 and ATX spec 2.01 didn't come along until 2004. So any boards produced before that will not work with a Corsair PSU's. It's not that they missd anything it's just at one [point you can't suport all the hardware out there anymore. As performance hardware evolved...so did Corsair. And they try to keep their products fresh and new and still be able to support a wide variety of applications, at some point the line has to be drawn on how far back you can build components to work with older hardware and still be profitable. Heck,Even their coolers are only backwards compatible to socket 1366 except for the H-50 I think and that only goes back to socket 775MB's. So I think you can see where i'm going with that. :)

 

You can read the history and what was changed over the years in the WIKI. It has some good info and also shows the differences. But 1.3to 2.01 was a bug jump and where the line was crossed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

 

As far as the competitors PSU is concerned. That I can't tell you . I don't have that information. It may very well work even though it is a newer PSU. It all depends on their internal design. Being a budget PSU meant more or less for OEM systems, it doesn't surprise me much.

From the product page.

Conforms to ATX12V v2.3 and is backward compatible with the ATX12V 2.2 and ATX12V 2.01 standards

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/tx-series-power-supply-units/tx-series-tx650-80-plus-bronze-certified-650-watt-high-performance-power-supply.html