Problem with K8N Platinum Plus

Question

Greetings all,
I am an veteran builder and am having a strange behavior that I need some help with.  Here is some background on parts:
MSI K8N Platinum Plus
2 x 1GB OCZ PC-3200 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K)
600W OCZ supply
X2 4400+
(2) eVGA 7900GT's
(I can give more specs if necessary)
Problem:
The board posts and I can interate just fine up until the OS boots...  I just partition copied my previous Windows XP SP2 installation from my old HDD to the new one.  I knew that XP would rescan hardware and I had a 50/50 chance of not having to reinstall.  Each time I boot the box and let XP load it gets to the "starting up" and does nothing... goes no where, yet the keyboard is not locked up (CAPS lock turns on and off still).  I left it running for about an hour, just hoping... nope.  Ok, so fresh install, whatever... XP disc starts up and just as it goes to flip over to start the installer the monitor goes black!  Nothing, CDROM spins down and nothing EVER happens.  I tried flashing the beta (NOT what I would normally do) bios, but nothing changed.  I tried other memory, no change.  I pulled one of my video cards (no more SLI), no change... pulled the sound card, no change... Wierdest thing is that is both cases (booting old XP and trying to install new) the machine is not locked up.
Ideas?

Answer 1

Quote from: Richard on 18-April-06, 04:34:25
Jason,
There are people that do not like multiple RAILs on PSUs for supplying high power systems. Personally I think that a high end Power Supply with multiple RAILs will work but the lower end PSUs with multiple RAILs will not supply the needed juice.
Multiple RAIL PSUs are a new technology and with all new technologies there are going to be teething problems. It is to be expected.
I was trying to figure out why your old comp stopped working too.
On the new comp, lets try Bare Bones for the install of your OS. I would like CPU with heatsink/fan, 1 Vid Card, 1 stick of RAM at 3.4.4.8 Timing with the Voltage bumped up one notch, 1 HD and if you are using RAID 0 - then 1 Array, 1 Optical Drive, no PCI Cards, Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor. Lets see how far you get though a fresh install.
Take Care,
Richard
I will try this tonight... last night I tried something VERY close to what you are suggesting, the only difference is that I am not sure that I used 3.4.4.8 on timings... I just used whatever the default timings on the DIMMs are, which should be 2.3.2.5.  I only have one HDD, 1 Video card, DVDRW, floppy, CPU, memory (1 green, 1 purple -- is this right?) and that did not work either with DVI connect or using VGA through DVI adapter.  I did see that someone else was having some Video cracking using a DVI connector... wondering if mine is somehow related to that problem... although, I get NO video (past POST) and he does.
As far as the multi-rail thing... well, if the PSU is on the "A" list of DFI's and nVidia gives it a "SLi certified" then I would think that it would be just fine.  Is my power supply fine or not?