New build won't boot. Please help

[Dave C.]

Subject: New Custom Machine won't Boot.. Please Help
From: Jason <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt

Hello Everyone,

Listed below are the components for the computer I'm trying to build. I
have installed everything correctly but the motherboard POST doesn't
appear
when I try starting it up. The hard drives work, dvd rom works but when
the
SATA is connected it just opens then closes right away, if the SATA is
disconnected then it will stay open.

Everything should be 100% compatiable, the only question that I have
been
asking myself is if the motherboard is compatiable with the memory. The
motherboard supports 1600 OC DDR3 and I purchased GSkill DDR3 1600, I'm
not
sure what the OC is about.

It means that the motherboard can be tweaked to overclock the fastest RAM that the chipset would support. G.Skill DDR3 1600 RAM should work fine.

Without the memory installed and just the motherboard and processor
something should appear on the screen during boot.. Am I correct?

With no RAM installed, you'd get error code in the form of beeps.

You should have more than one power connection to your mainboard. Are both hooked up correctly?

You should probably have a power connection (or two) to your video card. Is that hooked up correctly?

Do you have a system speaker hooked up to the mainboard? When you start the system, do you get any beeps at all?

Disconnect ALL drives and try to boot with no drives connected. (disconnect both power and data)

Even though I hate Asus with a passion, I very much doubt if your motherboard is defective. But if you have no beep AT ALL coming from the mainboard, then you have a problem here, in order of most likely to least:
1) (most likely) Loose or missing connection between power supply and mainboard
2) Bad power supply
3) Bad Mainboard
4) (a real longshot) bad or mis-installed CPU

You need your system to POST (power on self test). This requires a good power supply, a good mainboard and a good CPU, assuming that all is hooked up CORRECTLY.

A good POST, you will hear one beep, then video card will be initialized (now you have display on monitor), memory will be tested, and then system will attempt to boot OS from various devices, usually starting with a DVD drive, then moving onto the hard drive...

A bad POST could give you a number of symptoms. Minor problem...display will show error messages. More serious problem, no display, but more than one beep from system speaker, indicating a hardware error. MAJOR problem...no display and no beeps at all.

If you get no beeps at all, this indicates that the CPU isn't even trying to run POST. That means there is a problem with your power supply, your mainboard, or your CPU. -Dave

 

[Jason]

Subject: New Custom Machine won't Boot.. Please Help
From: Jason <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt

Hello Everyone,

Listed below are the components for the computer I'm trying to build. I
have installed everything correctly but the motherboard POST doesn't
appear
when I try starting it up. The hard drives work, dvd rom works but when
the
SATA is connected it just opens then closes right away, if the SATA is
disconnected then it will stay open.

Everything should be 100% compatiable, the only question that I have
been
asking myself is if the motherboard is compatiable with the memory. The
motherboard supports 1600 OC DDR3 and I purchased GSkill DDR3 1600, I'm
not
sure what the OC is about.

Without the memory installed and just the motherboard and processor
something should appear on the screen during boot.. Am I correct? I
think I
might possibly have a fauly motherboard. Any suggestions, I paid around
$1,700 for a system that doesn't work and I'm starting to get nervous.

Thanks,

SPECS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~

Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Item #: N82E16824009145

Monitor Replacement Only Return Policy

$319.98
($159.99 ea)

. 1

Pioneer Black Blu-Ray Combo SATA Model BDC-202BK - OEM
Item #: N82E16827129015

Limited Replacement Only Return Policy

$99.99

. 1

Thermaltake VA9003BWS Black Aluminum/1.0 mm SECC ATX Full Tower
Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811133088

Standard Return Policy

$149.99

. 1

PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer Black SATA Model PX-880SA LightScribe
Support
- OEM
Item #: N82E16827249054

Standard Return Policy

$44.99

. 1

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual
Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231193

Memory Standard Return Policy

$85.99

. 2

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
3.5"
Internal Hard Drives - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136284

Standard Return Policy

$189.98
($94.99 ea)


.. 1

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131398

Standard Return Policy

$99.99

. 1

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W
Quad-
Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103674

CPU Replacement Only Return Policy

$189.00

. 1

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
80
PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139006

Standard Return Policy

$119.99


. 1

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI
Express
2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130339

VGA Replacement Only Return Policy

$134.99