# 780i FF error on boot?



## dcb91 (Sep 15, 2009)

Hey guys. Well I haven't been on here in about a year, but I've come across a problem I just can't solve and I hope that one of you may have a solution.

Alright so about three months ago I bought an XFX 780i board off of ebay. First off, I realize buying a mobo off ebay was a bad idea. I figured I could save some cash compared to buying it off of Newegg and everything was actually fine until this happened. 

The problem is that every time I try to boot the system, I get an instant FF on the debug display on the motherboard. The board does not attempt to POST, just an instant FF, no video, nothing. However the fans and hard drives do start up and power on like they normally do... 
I've tried a different power supply (that was my first guess at what could be failing), separate RAM, video card... still nothing.

I was able to remove the battery and then boot it successfully, but this only worked a few times, now it'll show "FF" whether the battery is removed or the cmos has been cleared or not.

RMAing the board is not an option since I have a few slightly bent socket pins (this was not advertised in the ebay auction...) and XFX will just send it right back.

Any of you ever seen this problem?


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## Dystopia (Sep 16, 2009)

Well, either your mobo is shot, which is what I think it is because of the bent pins, or your CPU could be over heating. Try a different mobo if at all possible. Can you return the item to the seller on eBay?  this is why I never buy vital PC parts off of eBay used.


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## dcb91 (Sep 16, 2009)

Well the pins do align just fine with the CPU, they were never an issue before. Sadly this is the only 755 board I have. 
The odd thing about this is that nothing at all changed in the system configuration. Everything worked fine the night before, and the next morning I get an instant "FF."


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## ScOuT (Sep 16, 2009)

I just purchased an eVGA 780i from Midnight_Fox1 here on the forum. I had the exact same issues you are having. 

I am running an Intel Q9300 which is a 45nm chip for a processor. Your E8400 is also a 45nm chip. I did a ton of research and it turned up about 100 possible fixes for it. The first one I tried worked great.

I got it to boot (after about 6 hours) and then flashed the BIOS. Only the newer few BIOS files support the 45nm chips. The board I bought had the original BIOS file. 

As soon as I finished...everything runs smooth as silk Runs at 1600 FSB with a set of Corsair Dominators @ 1200MHz with not a single issue in over a month.


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