New build, need help

[Nysze]

Ok, I just finished my first build, all the hardware is togather and it seems to work. Now I'm not sure if something is messed up or I forgot something, the manuals and the tutorials I was using don't really mention much after the hardware setup .

Ok so I went into the bios and went over everything to see if it was ok, I only see two potential problems, the fact that I forgot to change the jumper on the dvd to master instead of slave, but I don't feel like taking it all apart again just for that minor detail, so does that make any diference?"

Now this one is just confusing, I went to the hardware settings, all the volts, and ram lats seem alright, they match up to the stats on their sites. Though the cpu speed said 200, I just asumed this meant 2.0ghz, but when I boot up the system it says "CPU clock frequency: 200mhz" o0. Oh well I just ignored it.

So I moved onto instaling the OS disk, it's not getting anywhere though. I've rebooted about 8 times and it either does one of two things, the most common is that it gets stuck on "Windows is starting up" and just sits there (I've left it there for over 10 minutes and it just sits there). Also two times I got a "pfn_list_currpot" error.

Specs:
OS: Windows server 2003 64bit Trial Version (It's all I have right now, if this is a bad choice I could just get pro)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+


edit...
I haven't done anything to the bios besides check the settings (such as voltage, etc..., but I haven't changed any, they where all correct). and I changed the boot record to boot from the CDRom first/

[blue60007]

You ought to correct the jumper settings. You should be able to pull the drive through the front (disconnect the cables first!) and switch the jumpers, slide it back and and reach in behind and plug it back in.

That 200Mhz is probably referring to the bus speed...

[Nysze]

I switched the drive back to master already, and yea I figured out what the 200mhz was (bus speed). It still gets stuck at the same place though, I'm starting to think it might be the disk itself, I can't see anything else that it could be ><.

[blue60007]

Wouldn't hurt to take a look at the disc. I had a similar problem once - there was something smudged on the disc and it was causing problems (and it was on the outside of the disc, and set-up was almost complete)

[Nysze]

I have taken out the disk several times, wiped it clean, etc...

It is giving me different errors each time, the most common one is still freezing at "setup is starting windows", but sometimes it's a named error, there have been about 5 though so I doubt that actualy means anything, they all say that it might be a problem with instaled hardware there (I woulden't be surprised if all errors say that though), but maybe I did instal something wrong, the computer has sat in the bios setup for atleast 30 minutes though, it also recognizes all hardware, the correct size of the hard drive, and nothing seems to be having any problems, so I don't even know where to start.

[jayb1234]

Could be hardware incompatibility, go to microsoft's site and check the system requirements for Server Edition against what you have.

[Nysze]

I think the problem is that my ram isn't getting enough voltage (needs 2.0-2.1V, which someone said is above normal so I should add some voltage to it). But I doni't know how much the motherboard is giving it by default. When I look at the bios settings it just says normal, and when I try to change it it says +0.1, +0.2, etc... Dosen't seem very usefull.

[minsonngo]

What kind of PSU do you have pushing in your machine?

[Nysze]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103934

Antec ATX 12v, 350W

I know it's low, but when buying I was just trying to cut prices wherever I could.

[minsonngo]

The PSU you have is pretty good but it may be underpowered or just borderline in your current setup.

If you get a chance, you may want to think about replacing it with a ATX 2.x PSU with over at least 450w of power if your not planning to run SLI mode. If you going to go with SLI mode, you need a SLI certified PSU pushing over 500w-550w of power atleast.


AM2 boards can be pretty picky about memory too. Is the memory installed in your system on this list: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/..._m55sli-s4.pdf

[Nysze]

I think I have everything fixxed, I might get a new power supply soon, but I don't plan on running sli, so I think I'm good for now.

[minsonngo]

So what did you do to fix your problem?

[Nysze]

Honestly I don't know, here's what happened after it woulden't instal though.

I ran memtest, it got an error so I rebooted the computer, when I did it didn't come back on the right way, the monitor didn't display and it kept going back and forth between the disk drive and the hard drive.

I set the CMOS to default by shorting the circut in the near the MB battery (what the directions told me to do), and turned on computer, it did the same thing still.

I unhooked everything, and while I was at it switched the ram from the first slots to the second slots. I turned comp back on and it worked fine, I ran memtest, everything passed, and I instlaed windows (it's instaling right now).

Right now I'm done with it, I want to open it back up and switch the ram around to see if it breaks again, but right now I'm too woried it might break, the fact that I won't have any access to a computer soon (returning this laptop), so if the comp breaks I'm screwed. I'm just going to wait until I have a better setup to open the thing back up and figure out what was wrong.

Does anyone have any clue though based on this description what could have caused the problems?

[minsonngo]

Either your memory was not seated correctly initially or one of your slots on the motherboard was defective.