Monitor goes dark when boot up gets to desktop.

[Tim]

All right, more computer problems here.

New Abit VA-10 motherboard
1 256 MB stick of PC3200
3 GB hard drive with Windows 2000 Pro
CD drive
Cheap computer case and Powmax "400 watt" power supply.
1100 Duron processor.

Here's what's going on - the computer will start and boot up. once it gets to the desktop I've got anywhere between 2 and 30 seconds before the monitor goes dark. The only way to do anything is to shut down the computer by holding in the power button, shut off the power supply switch, let the power go off the motherboard, then turn it all back on and repeat.

Last night I tried swapping in a bunch of parts from my long running good desktop system. Power supply, RAM, CPU, hard drive, disconnected the CD drive, etc.

Everything worked fine, then I started putting the original parts back in one thing at a time, with full resets and reboots to test it.

What it comes down to is this - My main NF7 system's Barton 2500+ CPU works great in either computer. The 1100 Duron works great in my NF7 main system.

But the 1100 Duron won't work right in the VA-10 computer. As long as the 2500 Barton is in the VA-10 it works great. Once the Duron goes in it's a POS again.

How can this be happening? I don't want to blow the cash on buying another processor if I don't need to.

The Duron is an older CPU, I think the VA-10 is a newer motherboard because it'll support a 333 processor.

Any ideas? I've already cleared the CMOS, pulled the battery, and done everything else I can think of a number of times now.

[leishi85]

try updating the BIOS

[Tim]

I don't think it's the BIOS. The VA-10 supports a 333 FSB, and the Duron only runs on 200/266. So the curent BIOS should be god enough.

I called a local computer repair store that has a person working at it who seems to know a lot, and he says it may be a CPU voltage incompatibility problem with running the Duron on a newer board. Once the computer is loading up and running 2000 Pro, the CPU overheats and shuts itself down.

I always go into the BIOS and set the CPU overheating protection to the lowest setting, or around 60-65 C.

I'll look into this and report back with what I find.

[Tim]

Well, it seems that the 1.75 volt Duron 1100 Morgan core isn't supported on this VA-10 motherboard. And the BIOS doesn't let you adjust the Vcore. Other CPUs right around 1.75 volts are supported, but not this one.

My NF-7 V.2 worked fine with both the 1100 Duron and my 2500 Barton. It auto-adjusted. I didn't have to do anything.

I guess you can't just drop any old Socket 462 processor into just any old Socket 462 motherboard.

That's news to me. You'd think the motherboard chipset would have this information and automatically adjust the voltages once it detects what CPU is installed.

There will be much more research the next time I buy a motherboard and CPU seperately.