Built new system, seems DOA?!

[unevendozen]

Ok, so I just built my wife an entirely new system. Well, except for the optical drive and video card.

Here's the specs:

Rosewill R5601-BK 0.8mm Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Rosewill RP550V2-S-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply 115/230 V
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3120811AS 120GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

OK, so I put it all together (probably my 10th system so I'm not a complete noob), and plugged it in to get the BIOS set up and OS installed. Problem is when you push the power button, the cpu fan turns a couple times, the oh-so-cool blue lights inside the PSU turn on, but then almost instantly everything turns back off. Whats odd is that you can try pressing the power button again and NOTHING happens, not even the slight activity from the first time. If you unplug the computer from the wall, plug it back in and try again you get the flash of light and the few rotations on the CPU fan but then back to nothing. Try to press the power button again and nothing.

Seriously, what is going on here?! I bought all these parts to replace an aging Dell computer that appeared to be doing the EXACT SAME THING. After replacing its PSU we figured it was a toasted MOBO. But now we are getting the same experience with a brand spankin new, user built machine!!

Could we have received a bad MOBO? Is the universe just that cruel?! Is there anything else it could be?? I thought perhaps it had something to do with the wiring in our home so I have tried it in every room. Nothing. Moreover, my computer works FINE. Obviously, since I am typing on it now.

Please help???

 

[unevendozen]

One thought. The video card was carried over from the last system. That couldnt have anything to do with this though could it? I mean the system doesnt even remotely start to boot so I dont think it could even recognize that a video card was present....

 

[vanvock]

I had a bad psu do the same thing on a new build, do you have another to try?

 

[unevendozen]

Not just laying around. When the Dell originally died, the PSU was my first thought, so this was a replacement. Its only a few days out of the box so I wouldnt think that could be it, though I suppose its as likely as a bad MOBO...

SO maybe return the PSU and the MOBO? Anything else that could be at fault here?? From the symptoms it seems like it would have to be one or the other of those.... at least to me?

 

[AmberClad]

One thing I can think of is to check for any short circuits and make sure you didn't forget to screw down any standoffs.

(I had something similar happen a few times when I was building a homemade fan controller, and kept botching the wiring insulation and causing a short every time I tried to power up. The CPU fan would rotate slightly, then everything would shut down immediately again.)

 

[vanvock]

Take it apart & put the mobo on the box with min. config & try it. Check that all standoffs are in the right places & no extra unused ones left on case, could be a short. It just sounds like it's not getting a power good signal to me. IIRC you can jump the green to black leads to check the output with a meter.

 

[AmberClad]

n/m

 

[Spikesoldier]

unplug atx and auxillary power cables

unplug all expansion cards, disk drives, and optical drives

reseat memory and plug in vga card only

wait 10 minutes

try again

 

[vanvock]

Originally posted by: unevendozen
Not just laying around. When the Dell originally died, the PSU was my first thought, so this was a replacement. Its only a few days out of the box so I wouldnt think that could be it, though I suppose its as likely as a bad MOBO...

SO maybe return the PSU and the MOBO? Anything else that could be at fault here?? From the symptoms it seems like it would have to be one or the other of those.... at least to me?

Are you using a psu bought for a Dell? If so that may be the prob, it's most likley a propritary config that won't work for the rest of the world.

 

[unevendozen]

Vanvock, no this is the powersupply listed in the specs of my original post. I got it to go in the Dell when it went south. When that didnt fix the issue we figured it was a toasted MOBO. Also, are you saying just lay the mobo on the box, plug it in to the power supply and turn it on? If it still doesnt work, is there a way to determine if its a motherboard or powersup problem??

 

[SilthDraeth]

Uneven, have you tried flipping the pws little plug that plugs into the motherboard? Also, you obviously have a 2nd computer, since you are posting here.

I know its tough, but turn off your computer, and borrow the psu, unless it too is a Dell. Also, borrow the Vid card, assuming its the same form factor.

 

[unevendozen]

Ok, very strange. Nothing suggested worked so I tried one of the two common components between the Dell and the new one - the video car. It appears to be that. I cant believe it. Perhaps there is a short on the card and it was preventing the circuit from being complete??? ANyway, it appeared to turn on fine. The powersupply stays on, the CPU fan keeps spinning...

 

[SilthDraeth]

One more thought, why did you go with Rosewill products?

 

[unevendozen]

ITS ALIVE!!!!!! ITS ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!! A gruby ol video card, popped in to the mobo, is working like a champ!!!

 

[joejoeself]

Originally posted by: unevendozen
Ok, very strange. Nothing suggested worked so I tried one of the two common components between the Dell and the new one - the video car. It appears to be that. I cant believe it. Perhaps there is a short on the card and it was preventing the circuit from being complete??? ANyway, it appeared to turn on fine. The powersupply stays on, the CPU fan keeps spinning...

thats why computers as a hobby is a hate/love thing. you love them when they work but hate them when they dont.

computers are so intricate that its tough to pinpoint a problem such as a computer failing to turn on because there can be tens or even hundreds of reasons for that. kind of a surprise that it was the video card, it was most likely faulty (ever tried to start a computer without a video card in?) or something could have been messing up the connections between the video card and the motherboard (dust is a big culprit of this, always make sure that any type of expansion slot is dust free as well as the card (especially the connectors).

in my computer repair and home networking class last year we had this one computer (a gateway cough cough) that would not boot into windows no matter what we did so we called the gateway techies and they came out and said it was the motherboard, they replaced the motherboard and said it was fine but a day later same thing happened, called the techies and the said it was the power supply, tried a new power supply that didnt work, then they said it was the hard drive.. that didnt work... so on and so forth they replaced every part in the computer except the case so they tried a new case and voila, the computer worked again!

so it just goes to show ya that pinpointing a problem can be very tough and at times the solution may seem absurd, but for the most part the solution is pretty simple, but every once in a while you may run in to some rather odd problems with solutions even more odd.

 

[rudder]

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R

I have the DS3L and it behaved the same way. I just pulled everything out and pu tit back together. I guess it was a short or something... doesn't do it any more.