So I decided to build my first PC...

Beer is Life

...What a mistake. Ive pulled out most of my hair and annoyed the sh1t out of my more tech savy friends with constant phone calls. But now even they are stumped...

Specs are:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
2 gigs Ram
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 580M 640MB XT GDDR3 ,PCI-Express,2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP,580/1800Mhz
700W Power Supply.

I have everything plugged in and I turn on the power, everything seems to be running fine but nothing happens. The CPU, Power Supply and Graphics Card fans all start turning, but for some reason the computer wont boot. I get nothing displayed on screen. I also get no beeping noises. Ive tried using a different graphics card, changing the ram and the power supply. What should I do next?

Thanks!

Ginger

Is it in the case or out of it you are trying this?

Check to see if you are short circutting it somewhere

And try and boot the machine, with the CPU, GFX and 1 stick of ram only, and see do you get the bios screen up and running

kmb

reset cmos,reseat cpu making sure there is thermal paste,have bare componments only as above,get spare cpu o try as its either the cpu or the motherboard faulty.
this is the rotation i would try.

Beer is Life

Ginger wrote: »

Is it in the case or out of it you are trying this?

Check to see if you are short circutting it somewhere

And try and boot the machine, with the CPU, GFX and 1 stick of ram only, and see do you get the bios screen up and running

Im trying this inside the case. I cant see where I might be short circuiting anything. Ive tried just now to boot with the CPU, GFX and 1 stick of Ram, still the same, fans start turning but nothing happens. Tried a different monitor and that didnt do anything either

Beer is Life

kmb wrote: »

reset cmos,reseat cpu making sure there is thermal paste,have bare componments only as above,get spare cpu o try as its either the cpu or the motherboard faulty.
this is the rotation i would try.

How do I reset cmos? I seated the CPU myself and there is thermal paste there, but if there was a problem with the CPU, shouldnt I get beeping noises? Unfortunetly I havent another CPU that will fit this socket.

kmb

Hi ,To reset cmos look for the battery on the motherboard and near it you will see 3 pins and two will have a plastic cap covering them.
Usually pin 1 +2 is covered and so you would take it off and cover 2+3 for a few seconds and then return them to the original position but your manual will tell you this.
Make sure computer is unplugged when doing this.

Regards
Kieran

Ginger

Hmmm wonder if you try it outside the case, what would happen.

Are you getting a BIOS screen at all? Try doing the CMOS reset as well

kmb

The reason i mention the cpu is because its easier to try another cpu rather than strip the machine and rebuild with another motherboard.
If cmos doesnt solve it than it has to be the motherboard or cpu.
If you take out the ram does the system beep or if you try to boot without graphics any beep?
Have you a pci graphics card to check in case the graphics slot is faulty?

REGARDS,

Kieran

Beer is Life

I reset the Cmos but still no luck.

The system doesnt beep if I try boot with no RAM, this is very strange isnt it? It makes a continuous unbroken beep if I dont power up the graphics card Edit: I get no beeps if I try boot up with no graphics card, but a beep if I have one in that isnt powered up

I have tried using another PCI graphics card but that didnt work either.

Beer is Life

Ginger wrote: »

Hmmm wonder if you try it outside the case, what would happen.

Are you getting a BIOS screen at all? Try doing the CMOS reset as well

Im getting no BIOS screen at all, just a "No signal input" on the monitor. Whats the difference between trying inside or outside the case?

Thanks to yourself and KMB for trying to help me out here!!

kmb

Okay,
If your sure that the cpu and heatsink are put on correctly and having tried all above then its down to motherboard which would be favourite or cpu.
I have often seen this happen with faulty motherboards.
Only way to be sure is try a cheapo 775 cpu or if you can borrow one.


Where are you based?

Regards

Kieran

L31mr0d

pull all the hardware out of the case and build it on a table or something to remove the case as a factor, then get your hands on some space parts (i.e. cpu, gfx, ram... etc) maybe one of your techie mates will lend a hand) then swap out each part 1 by 1.

Beer is Life

kmb wrote: »

Okay,
If your sure that the cpu and heatsink are put on correctly and having tried all above then its down to motherboard which would be favourite or cpu.
I have often seen this happen with faulty motherboards.
Only way to be sure is try a cheapo 775 cpu or if you can borrow one.


Where are you based?

Regards

Kieran

I *think* the CPU was installed correctly, but ive never done it before. I lined up the corners correctly, but it took ALOT of force to close the socket lever down on the chip itself. Is this normal? What can I do if the motherboard or CPU is faulty? Is it possible to return them for replacement or does it depend on where I got them from? I got them from Komplett.ie. Im based in New Ross in Wexford.

Beer is Life

L31mr0d wrote: »

pull all the hardware out of the case and build it on a table or something to remove the case as a factor, then get your hands on some space parts (i.e. cpu, gfx, ram... etc) maybe one of your techie mates will lend a hand) then swap out each part 1 by 1.

I'll give this a shot, but im wondering how could the case be a factor?

L31mr0d

Beer is Life wrote: »

I'll give this a shot, but im wondering how could the case be a factor?

it could be shorting out the motherboard. Its better to not have it as a factor.

Every builder has gone through this at least once and it, more times than not, comes down to ID10t issues (user errors ) Don't let it discourage you from building again.

You'll soon learn to always build the PC outside of the case first as its easy to debug any issues before moving it into the case.

I'd recommend pulling it all out, including the CPU and doing a complete rebuild out of the case.

stevenmu

If the motherboard isn't mounted in the case correctly, the circuitry on the back of it can short circuit. Having done it myself before, it can cause the exact symptoms you're talking about.

When you say the CPU lever took a lot of effort, how much is a lot ? In my experience they can take a lot more effort than you would expect, but not actually a lot of effort, if you know what I mean.

It's certainly worth stripping everything apart and starting again from scratch, either inside the case or preffereably out, sometimes components fitted just don't have a good contact and reseating them sorts it out.

daveharnett

Beer is Life wrote: »

I *think* the CPU was installed correctly, but ive never done it before. I lined up the corners correctly, but it took ALOT of force to close the socket lever down on the chip itself. Is this normal?

It is a Zero Insertion Force socket. The chip should literally drop into place under it's own weight if positioned right. That said, the lever to secure it is often quite stiff. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

My sympathies, these things can be incredibly frustrating to diagnose. Keep at it though. Sometimes disassembling everything and starting again solves the problem as if by magic.

SickBoy

daveharnett wrote: »

It is a Zero Insertion Force socket. The chip should literally drop into place under it's own weight if positioned right. That said, the lever to secure it is often quite stiff. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

My sympathies, these things can be incredibly frustrating to diagnose. Keep at it though. Sometimes disassembling everything and starting again solves the problem as if by magic.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but socket 775 is not ZIF.
As stevenmu said, it can take some effort to close the lever but it should in no way be overly difficult. Remove the CPU and reseat it. See how that goes..

Ginger

Unless you are talking about mounting the heat sink on the chip.. that sometimes requires a lot of effort

Beer is Life

I GOT IT WORKING!!! :D:D

I rebuilt the system outside the case and the CPU fan wouldnt start at all, so I took a chance and put the fan connecter into the case fan socket and it booted up no problems! The CPU fan is spinning like normal, but could this be harmful?

SickBoy

Beer is Life wrote: »

I GOT IT WORKING!!! :D:D

I rebuilt the system outside the case and the CPU fan wouldnt start at all, so I took a chance and put the fan connecter into the case fan socket and it booted up no problems! The CPU fan is spinning like normal, but could this be harmful?

If the fans are controlled by the bios then they might not kick in until the temperature exceeds the threshold set. I've seen this before on some systems. Having it connected to a different header shouldn't harm it at all but I'd prefer to have it connected to the CPU header to get the benefit of fan control from the bios...

kmb

The problem on a different header is that your bios probably has a sensor for cpu fan failure which will switch offthe system so saving the cpu from frying.
If you use the other header this may not work.

I personally would prefer using the cpu header for this.

Also throttle control wont work for the cpu.

Regards,

Kieran

L31mr0d

right now you need to debug what caused the problem in the first place.