assembled new system - no signs of life

[Peter]

Hi! I assembled a new system last night and when I turned it on, the fans
began spinning but the motherboard didn't produce any beeps or showed no
signs of life.

Here are the specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce 4 SLI Athlon 64(FX) Skt939
RAM: Corsair TWINX2048-3200 2GB DDR400 XMS3200 Memory w/Black Heat Spreader
Video Card: VGA BFG| 6800GT 256MB DVI TV RT
HD #1: Western Digital Raptor WD360GD 36.7GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive
w/8MB Buffer
HD #2: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard
Drive w/16MB Buffer
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V 2.01
Case: Cooler Master Praetorian PAC-T01-EK

Then, I removed everything and just kept the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Same
result.
Removed the RAM. No luck.
Removed the battery and cleared CMOS. No luck.
I even took the CPU fan and heatsink off and let it run for 10-15 sec. The
CPU remained cold and system showed no signs of life.

Does this mean the motherboard is dead?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[JAD]

all power leads from the psu are connected and the voltage selection switch
is set for your area? (if it has one on the back of the PSU))

 

[Peter]

The voltage selection is set to 110V, which is correct. I also suppose that
if there was something wrong with the PSU, the fans would not be spinning.
The green light on the motherboard is also on, which indicates that it's
getting power.

 

[Russell S]

This board is notorious for this same issue being experienced by many users.
First: your board needs BIOS version 1013 or higher according to their web
site to use an X2 3800+ Athlon64. The second thing to try would be to
temporarily try only one RAM module in the B1 slot (blue memory slot
furthest away from the processor) if you have more than one RAM stick; this
board is notoriously buggy with many memory configurations, and is extremely
picky about accepting only particular RAM model numbers as well.

Check out the Asus forum for this board at
http://vip.asus.com/forum/bbs.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=A8N-SLI Deluxe
to see that others are experiencing the same thing you are, and what they've
done to try to fix it.

Good luck to you

 

[Kevin]

Hi! I assembled a new system last night and when I turned it on, the fans
began spinning but the motherboard didn't produce any beeps or showed no
signs of life.

Here are the specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce 4 SLI Athlon 64(FX) Skt939
RAM: Corsair TWINX2048-3200 2GB DDR400 XMS3200 Memory w/Black Heat Spreader
Video Card: VGA BFG| 6800GT 256MB DVI TV RT
HD #1: Western Digital Raptor WD360GD 36.7GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive
w/8MB Buffer
HD #2: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard
Drive w/16MB Buffer
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V 2.01
Case: Cooler Master Praetorian PAC-T01-EK

Then, I removed everything and just kept the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Same
result.
Removed the RAM. No luck.
Removed the battery and cleared CMOS. No luck.
I even took the CPU fan and heatsink off and let it run for 10-15 sec. The
CPU remained cold and system showed no signs of life.

Does this mean the motherboard is dead?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Make sure the motherboard is not shorting.

 

[Peter]

There's an X2 sticker on the motherboard box, so I guess that means the mobo
came with BIOS 1013 or later. I have tried it with 2 or 1 memory sticks
without any luck.

Thanks

 

[JAD]

strip it to memory 1/stick vidcard cpu / cooling solution try to boot
won't boot? change memory timings

 

[Peter]

How can I change memory timings if I can't get into BIOS setup?

 

[JAD]

How can I change memory timings if I can't get into BIOS setup?

have you stripped it down?

You have successfully cleared CMOS. jumper or battery(with it unplugged)
method
Recieve a cmos error message? Loading defaults
The PSU has been ruled out along with any misconnections to the MB and
vidcard (when applicable)
Without memory there is no beep (connected speaker)
The CPU and cooling solution has been ruled out
then the MB is suspect. Remove from case and bench it using a different
power switch (IOW dont use the case switch)
still no powewr up? RMA it.

 

[JAD]

PS you have tried a different video solution

 

[Peter]

I used a memory stick from my other system and was able to boot and get into
BIOS setup. Changed latency to 3-4-4-8 and then booted with the new RAM as
well.

Thanks

 

[JAD]

glad you got it....I wonder what the 'defaults' cmos settings are in regards
to memory timings?
They should have been something very compatible...