New Computer Problem

Hi guys,

I have just built a computer for myself, and I'm guessing I have a dead motherboard or CPU.

Mobo Asus P5GL-MX
CPU Intel Pentium D 920 (Dual core 64bit)
1GB Hynix Ram
Coolmaster 550w

PS2 Kboard and mouse connected

I turned on the computer, CPU fan goes on, I had everything connected ie DVD and Sata HDD but nothing came up on the monitor, monitor stays on standby. The monitor works with another computer i just plugged into it. Also the Num/Caps/Scroll lock lights don't momentarily flash when turned on. No different when only power, keyboard, mouse and monitor are connected to the mobo.

I have also swapped the Ram to no avail.

Is there anything I can do to test?

Is this a dead motherboard or CPU?

[klawsterfobik]

have you pulled things you dont need out, like the DVD drive, any cards that arent needed TV, WiFi etc?

if i have a prob, i take the comp back to bare bones and go from there. Would the CPU fan spinup if the CPU was dead?

PCI cards were the first I pulled out. Its pretty bare bones now.

CPU fan would fire up as it pretty much runs off the mobos power rail.

I have pulled out the CPU, ram etc, only thing connected is power switch, case speaker and power. I switched it on expecting error beeps but none were heard...

[JTFG]

This sounds like the same problem which I had execpt not a new computer, my motherboard was the problem in the end, although it was nearly 2 years old, and had to replace the cpu as well because it wasent compatable with the new motherboards.

This probably isn't very helpful

Na it is thanks mate

CPU fan runs off mother board ,so it would still spin
As above strip it back to bare bones and kick it in the guts ,memory error would genraly give out a series of beeps.
Double check all power cords are connected with no bent pins
If the board fires up try to get into the bios could be F1 ESC DEL checck all settings

Originally Posted by Stampy

CPU fan runs off mother board ,so it would still spin
As above strip it back to bare bones and kick it in the guts ,memory error would genraly give out a series of beeps.
Double check all power cords are connected with no bent pins
If the board fires up try to get into the bios could be F1 ESC DEL checck all settings

Tried to get into bios but mobo doesnt recognise keyboard

Oh well off to computer shop i go

[JTFG]

When I had my problem with the motherboard it still got power, fan spinning, but the computer just wouldn't boot up, no vga signal, just the lights were on and fan going.

[BlueRaven]

I have this exact problem at home, but I have no way to fix it :(

It is either CPU or Motherboard. Check that your CPU is seated correctly in place. Failing that, trying another CPU on the Motherboard (if possible) is a good idea.

In my case, the motherboard is dead.

[TURBO_GHIA]

reset the cmos see if that does anything

[Hitman]

Make sure *everything* is plugged in properly aswell, including the ram and video card, sometimes they feel like they are in all the way, but are still not seated properly.

[micksta]

sometimes installing stuff on a fresh sata drive without drivers can be a ИИИИИ.

did you have a previous computer with the same SATA drive ?

if its not even getting to the post screen .. its definately hardware related.

check that u have the speaker plug, pluged in correctly .. becoz it should beep when theres something wrong.

[max^power]

i'd be putting my money on the board, unless the cpu or heatsink was not installed correctly.

[seano14]

mine used to do this when one of the ram module's weren't seated properly. even if it is in properly, take them out, clean em and stick em back in again. hmm but if you tried other ram sticks who knows..

[jonk]

Use the PS/2 connection for your keyboard, alot of mobo's don't like USB... until you do a BIOS upgrade.

If you can't get into even the BIOS screen then reseat the CPU. Only one pin has to be a dud and no comp'.

[jase_elxr8]

Make ram is in correct slot/configuration. Make sure four pin cable is plugged into mainboard, this supplies the cpu with power. Make sure video card is seated correctly. Make sure none of the pins are bent on the 775 socket and that the pads on the cpu are clean. Clear cmos then try again.

It could very much be your power supply also. I built a machine for a mate last year using an asus p5p800 mainboard and it wouldn't post with the coolermaster psu that came with the cavalier case, got another supply and it worked fine.

I will never use asus again!!

[qwigybo]

i've got the same problem on my p4 2.4 atm tried a new m/b and power supply ready to throw the intel chip out the window 2nd time it has happened then after a couple of days with no power in the system it decideds to work again.
u know what really grinds my gears, u intel F#$K YOU

[1TUFFUTE]

could be the power supply unit damaged or playin up

Its either mobo, cpu or power supply.

I replaced the mobo yesterday, thing did the same thing. I'm pretty sure its the CPU... Coolermaster PSU should be fine as the computer fires up, just doesn't hit the post screen.

Oh yeah I've quad checked each connection.

mobo = most probably fine = was replaced yesterday
The 4 pin power = fine
The multipin power = fine
CPU seated = fine
heatsink seated = fine
ram = fine, tried in another machine, working fine, computer doesn't change with or without ram in.
speaker = fine, put it in another machine and pulled the case fan, British police siren.
monitor = fine, works on another machine.

Its really come down to 2 things, Powersupply (not being able to feed the CPU) or the CPU damaged.

I really thought there would be some sounds from the mobo if the cpu was stuffed???

Perhaps they gave me another stuffed mobo

[DivHunter]

nope there are plenty of boards that just do nothing if the cpu is dead

Originally Posted by Fairmont99

nope there are plenty of boards that just do nothing if the cpu is dead

We'll there we go... Is it normal to get a stuffed Intel straight out of the box?

[BlueRaven]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

We'll there we go... Is it normal to get a stuffed Intel straight out of the box?

If it was, Intel would be out of business. Buts its not impossible either...

[Steffo]

Had the same problem on my uncle's Athlon64 3500 with Asus A8V-SE Deluxe.

Turned out to be very simple...

the RAM slots on it are market... A1, A2, B1, B2... and I had the stick in the front slot, A1. Turns out it wanted it in B1, as that was the proper first slot for single channel use. Swapped it to there, all worked fine.

But surely it should be able to show the post screen without a stick of ram in it?

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

But surely it should be able to show the post screen without a stick of ram in it?

Nope. This one didn't show anything. Monitor would just go straight into power save mode. It went haywire because of that RAM stick :

[jase_elxr8]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

But surely it should be able to show the post screen without a stick of ram in it?

Nope, as memory is one of the first things the cpu checks for. If there is no memory then post will stop before it initialises the video card.

I went to MSY Auburn, we tried a few different things, the mobo worked with a single core CPU, but even though the mobo supported dualcore 64 bit, but the mobo didn;t like the 4mb cache. They let me exchange it because the person there who sold it to me said it would work.

We tried flashing with the latest firmware to no avail. I decided to go for a 3.4 single core processor instead of the 2.8 dual.

The thing is only being used for audio capture and mp3 encoding so it should be still capable.

I recommend MSY computers in Auburn, very cheap and fairly fair, so long as you know a bit about computer hardware and what does what.