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Newly built computer won't boot


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#1
rndmtxt

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I just built my first from-scratch computer yesterday and it won't even show the bios screen.

It's specs are:
Gigabyte GA-8I945P-G
Pentium D 820 2.8GHz
1GB GeIL PC2 633/5300
Sapphire ATI Radeon X300
Antec Truepower II 480W

Even without these plugged in:
Maxtor 200GB Ultra ATA
Samsung DVD-ROM
Toshiba DVD-RW

I went through the tutorial for troubleshooting a new build on this site.
The speaker is plugged in properly, it's not giving any BIOS beeps.
The fans turn on, the drives spin up when they're connected, but nothing shows up on the screen.
I tried a couple different monitors, but neither showed any signal, DVI or VGA

Edited by rndmtxt, 06 October 2005 - 02:29 PM.

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#2
katkat92

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First I'd check the video card, make sure it's seated properly. Then double check all your wiring on the MoBo. Make sure the MoBo is not touching the case, (make sure you have stand-offs installed between the board and case.)

Is the CPU installed correctly? It should seat with very little force required. If you have a fan on the board or CPU does it work? Is the heatsink installed?

Just check everything step by step and usually the problem will present itself.

I didn't look up your board and processor, did you make sure they were compatible?
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#3
Baggyboy

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Have you checked out all jumper settings in accordance with the manual?
Everything is seated nice and snugly in it's relevant socket?
Did you remember thermal paste between your CPU/heatsink?
Did you connect the extra pentium power cable that I missed one time on a new build? (slightly bizzare question I know but there should be 2 power connections onto the motherboard, near the CPU. The main ATX one and a square, 4-pin one)
Have you cleared the CMOS yet?
Can you test individual components in a working computer?

I know these are the most basic of questions and I dont mean to insult your intelligence. It is my experience that it's usually the simple things that get overlooked most often. Maybe that's just me :tazz:
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#4
rndmtxt

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Ok, checked the video card, both DVI and VGA one at a time on two different monitors. I tried a normal PCI card (first was PCIe if I didn't mention it). I thought it was odd that I didn't find any connectors to plug in the cable labeled PCIe from the PSU.

I checked the standoffs.

The CPU is a Pentium D, which oddly enough doesn't have any pins, just contacts, went in smoothly and is seated correctly. The heatsink is installed and the CPU fan works.

When I bought the parts, I searched for the board by the processor, and the box says it is compatible (LGA775 for Intel Pentium D).

I went through the manual three times, but I didn't see any jumper settings except for the CMOS reset, which oddly enough isn't three pins, it's two.

I distinctly remember the thermal pasting and it being all over my fingers, so yes.

I assume you mean the 4 pin connector right next to the CPU? I had a fun time with that one after I installed a massive heatsink that prevented me from being able to touch it. Still got it in there and clicked in place with a little creative maneuvering. What confuses me is that the PSU has a 20 pin connector with a 4 pin part that connects to the main part, then also that other 4 pin connector.

Yep, I cleared the CMOS just a few minutes ago.

Unfortunately the only components I can test are the ones that are disconnected. This is my first machine with DDR2/Pentium D or a PCIe slot. I assume DDR2 RAM isn't compatible with older DDR motherboards, is it?

With a lot of trial and error I'm coming to guess that it's the RAM, so I'm going to head over the local computer store and get another DIMM.
Thanks a lot for the help, and don't worry, I've learned the hard way about those "duh" moments.

Edited by rndmtxt, 06 October 2005 - 04:32 PM.

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#5
rndmtxt

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Unfortunately when I went to the local computer hardware stores nobody sells DDR2 DIMMs yet so I'm back to square one.
I tried taking everything out and putting back only the bare essentials, but no luck.

Is there anything else I can test to see if I can find out what the real problem is?

Edited by rndmtxt, 06 October 2005 - 09:10 PM.

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#6
Baggyboy

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I'm afraid that I can't think of anything else to help here. I have not had any direct experience with Pentium D mobo's, or indeed DDR2 RAM either!

What confuses me is that the PSU has a 20 pin connector with a 4 pin part that connects to the main part, then also that other 4 pin connector.


I have a hunch that your problem may lie here... Are there any power connection sockets on your motherboard with nothing connected to them?

Does your heatsink fan spin up also when you power up?

Does your motherboard have a post doctor? I have a group of 4 LED's on an USB expansion board at the back of my machine. These blink in a sequence to tell me what stage of the boot sequence it's at. Provides much more information than beep codes.

Hopefully someone else can help you out here as I have just about run out of options!
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#7
rndmtxt

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Unforunately, yes all the connectors are filled. The 20/4 (both the power supply and board are compatible with either 20 or 24 pin mobo connectors) has its own socket, and the cpu power has its own socket also.

Yeah, the heatsink fan spins up when it powers up.

Unfortunately, there aren't any lights on the mobo whatsoever.

I talked to someone and they suspect the RAM might have somehow been damaged, but it still registers with the bios as being there. If only I had another working computer that ran DDR2.
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#8
jimmysmits

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I'm having very similar problems with a Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI Royal MB/Pentium D 830.

No picture on bootup at all, though power seems to be flowing through all the systems fine.

I can't figure out if it's the RAM, the CPU, the Video Card or something else.

Highly frustrating. :tazz:
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#9
Baggyboy

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rndmtxt: Would you even be able to take the RAM round to a friends house or even a local computer shop (not a chain store like PCWorld, etc though, i'm talking local local!). A local, indipendant PC shop would probably be able to check out your RAM in a test board they have in the back of the shop. It might cost you a little but if it's more than 20 quid then tell them to rack off!

You say there are no system beeps at boot time. Are you not supposed to hear just one beep to let you know that everything has went ok during the boot sequence?

jimmysmits: If you would like someone to help you out with this problem then please start a new topic and someone who (hopefully) knows what they are talking about can help you find out where the problem lies.
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#10
rndmtxt

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Sorry, I forgot to reply earlier. I ended up going to a local computer shop that sold DDR2 RAM, bought a DIMM, and it booted up fine.
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#11
Thebinaryman

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are you sure your video card is working right, it may not be your ram, it may be that your computer is fine, just you cant see anything due to the lack of a working video card, i have had no experience with pci-e or ddr2 or pentium ds so thats the best idea i can give.

also i just thought, you can get a little circuit board that plugs into a regular pci slot, and and has a screen on it that will give you detailed error codes to look up and figure out exactly whats wrong with your system.

heres a link to one, if youre willing to pay $40

http://www.cyberguys...3&child=1to25-3

hope you find the answer
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#12
qml929

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I have the same issue with a Pentium D 830 GigaByte GA-8I945P Pro. I cannot get any video despite using two different mobos and two different PCI-e graphics cards. No beeps unless I put more than 1 memory (Geil 512MB DDR2/667) stick in. All fans run. I notice that the HDD and power LED are always on.

Awefully frustrated! :tazz:

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
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#13
rndmtxt

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Sounds like you have the same problem I had, the RAM. Everything would light up, the fans would go, no beeping until I took out the DIMM. It senses the RAM, but it probably isn't functional.
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#14
qml929

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rndmtxt: So is your system up and running? It seems so. I have four identical RAM sticks that I've tested with and no luck. Thanks for replying.
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#15
rndmtxt

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Yeah, I did end up changing to memory with a slightly lower clock (533 vs 667) because I couldn't find 667 locally. After changing out my only DIMM, it booted up fine.

Edited by rndmtxt, 02 November 2005 - 01:19 PM.

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