[WorldDomoNation]

I just built a computer, and it won't turn on properly. It boots up but then instantly turns off after about 3 to 4 seconds. I can't access the BIOS or anything, and I've already tried a number of solutions.

Here's what I've tried:
-Cleaning the pre-applied thermal compound (which was not an adequate amount) and applying a nice new coat
-Checking to make sure everything is connected properly to my ability (I may have missed some things, and some I'm assuming I connected them correctly like my disc drive)
-Turning it on with the Vista disc in it (no idea if this would have done anything, but worth a try)
-Clearing the CMOS by removing the battery for a while

I hope this isn't the problem, but It might be: My components might not be compatible but I'm 99.9% sure they are. Here's the hardware I have:

-Case: Antec 900
-PSU: ROSEWILL|RBR750-M 750W RT
-Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS5 775 X48 RT
-CPU: INTEL|C2Q Q6600 2.40G 775 8M R
-RAM: 2Gx2|CORS TWIN2X4096-6400C5 R
-HDD: 1T|WD 7K 32M SATA2 WD1001FALS %
-Disc Drive: DVD ROM LITE-ON|iHDP118-08 18X RTL
-CPU Cooler: ARCTIC P4|ACFZ7-PRO R
-GPU: MSI | N260GTX-T2D896-OCV3 RT

If you could provide some advice of what I should try next, It would be greatly appreciated. Also, if for some reason my components aren't compatible, please let me know. There are two things that I fear I'm going to have to try next, either taking everything out that's not a necessary component and adding things one by one to see if something is faulty, or taking it to a shop where they'll charge me a lot of money to "see if they can fix it". Neither of these options look very enticing

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Hi.
Not sure how experienced you are? not intending to treat you as a simplyton
You may have tried this but, Turn off the power at the wall socket. Check you have connected the cpu cooler to the cpu header on the motherboard and NOT the psu or other fan header. Check the connections to front panel switches.
Leave the case open, Start the computer and watch for the cpu fan spinning. If it keeps going insert your motherboard disc and restart. You should then get a scrren to enter setup.
Good luck.

iammykyl

[iammykyl]

Hi.
Not sure how experienced you are? not intending to treat you as a simplyton
You may have tried this but, Turn off the power at the wall socket. Check you have connected the cpu cooler to the cpu header on the motherboard and NOT the psu or other fan header. Check the connections to front panel switches.
Leave the case open, Start the computer and watch for the cpu fan spinning. If it keeps going insert your motherboard disc and restart. You should then get a scrren to enter setup.
Good luck.

iammykyl

[rshaffer61]

If the system hasn't booted from the minute you finished the build you may have a short.
Please check the standoffs under the MOBO and make sure there are none with no screws in them.
Make sure you have the little plastic or felt washers un the standoff screws and that the screws are tight.
Most of the issues like this are caused by a MOBO shorting on a loose or extra standoff under the MOBO.
To test this do the following steps.


Disconnect everything from the Motherboard except

* keyboard
* mouse
* video output
* 20+4 powercable
* 4/8 pin 12v wire both coming from the powersupply,
* Cpu fan wire
* power and reset button to the case
*case speaker

Now you should have NOTHING connected to the motherboard except what was listed above.

The goal here is just to test the mobo:

If the computer still will not boot up the please remove the motherboard from the computer along with the power supply

place the motherboard on a piece of card board larger than the motherboard,

this will eliminate a short from the mobo to the case which could be a possibility

Install the cpu with, 1 stick ram in dimm 1, power supply, case switch and case speaker
Connect ps2 mouse and keyboard along with the monitor
Repeat the above and power on

If the computer now boots into bios you most likely had a case short so make sure when installing the motherboard in the case that you use standoffs and they line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard and none of the standoffs touch anything else on the underside of the board.

[WorldDomoNation]

Good news, it works now! Well... sort of. I did what you said, rshaffer61, including putting cardboard under it to make sure there is no case shorting happening. It runs fine when I turn it on now, but as I was putting things back in I tried turning it on with both sticks of RAM in and it does the same thing as it did before.

I also wanted to ask another question, and it might sound extremely stupid, but do I put the paper washers between the standoffs and the motherboard, or do I put them between the heads of the screws and the motherboard? Because I have tried both, but the first option is practically impossible to accomplish because they always fall off when I'm adjusting the motherboard so the holes line up with the standoffs. And on a side note, I've made sure that I only have the necessary standoffs in the case and that they all have screws in them.

From here I plan on first getting the motherboard properly screwed into my case (depending on where I'm supposed to put the washers in). Then once that works with the minimum components that I need, I'm going to start attaching components again, after attaching each component one by one I'm going to try to turn it on to see if it works. That way I'll be able to make sure everything works alright. I probably should have left all the components attached when I took the motherboard out and put cardboard underneath, that way I would be able to tell if the problem was just the motherboard shorting out, but that would have been way too easy =P

Thank you guys so much for your help!

PS I am pretty inexperienced with this, but I wouldn't consider myself as a simpleton =P

[rshaffer61]

OK if the system booted with no problems when you took the MOBO out and tried and then when you put it back in, it stopped working.
What you have is a standoff that is in the wrong place or to many standoffs. There should only be a standoff where there is a hole in the MOBO for a screw to connect to it.
When testing a MOBO you only have the needed items attached to it. Try taking the MOBO out again and checking every standoff to make sure it matches to a hole in the MOBO.
If no hole then take the standoff out.
There is always more standoffs then what is needed to hold the MOBO securely to the case.
Normally I would say there are 5 to 6 standoffs with screws holding the MOBO down.
If you have more then that then I would say that is to many.
Washers usually go between screw heads and MOBO

[WorldDomoNation]

I looked around before I saw your answer, and at the moment I have everything attached and it's working fine. Except I think my second stick of RAM might be dead/faulty because everything works with only one stick in, but when I try to boot it with the second stick in it won't work. I know they're in the right spots, and to make sure the stick was dead I replaced the working stick with the dead one, and as I suspected, it didn't work. So I think I just gotta go buy a knew stick of RAM, and I know to make sure it has the same volume and preferably the same manufacture. (corsair)

One more question though, I have an IDE CD/DVD drive and I'm trying to set the jumper properly. I don't exactly know what a jumper is so I don't know how to set it =P I know I want to set it to master. There's a little grey thing and I think it has something to do with that. Any help would be appreciated =D

Thank you guys once again, you've helped me more than anyone else I've contacted... and I contacted quite a few people =P

EDIT: btw I made sure I don't have any extra stand-offs, I have nine standoffs and nine standoff holes on my motherboard. I don't think it was a shorting problem, I think it was just a problem with that faulty stick of RAM

Edited by WorldDomoNation, 13 July 2009 - 03:33 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Not knowing which cdrom drive you have I found this info HERE from Toshiba which gives a illustration and picture of the jumper location on the back of the drive.
Ide drives are pretty generic so it really won't matter who makes the drive.

Let me know if this helps. Also I'm not sure where you bought your memory but you can try NewEgg or Tigerdirect for memory.

Edited by rshaffer61, 13 July 2009 - 07:05 PM.

[WorldDomoNation]

I just want to thank you again. I just installed vista and now i'm installing all my drivers. I couldn't have done this without you, well maybe I could have, but it would have cost a lot =P

[rshaffer61]

Congratulations. for a successful resolution for your issue. I am happy everything has been worked out for you. With that being said I am happy to say:


You are very welcome. I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed me to assist you with your issue and for your patience. Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help.
This issue now appears to be resolved.


If other members are reading this and have a similar problem please begin a New Topic and someone will assist you as soon as possible

[iammykyl]

Hi.
I do not know if this is correct. If you buy a single stick of memory to go with your existing then, your memory may not be a matched pair, this could effect performance.
anybody elses thoughts.

iammykyl.

[rshaffer61]

True and not true.
If you buy the same manufacturer and the same type of memory then there should be no issue.
Since the original stick is is fairly new there should be no issue with buying a replacement of the same type and manufacturer.

[iammykyl]

Thanks.
Antother myth busted. That info will save me mony in the future

iammykyl