HELP! New build won't start.

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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
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I just put together my new build tonight and cannot get the thing to power on. I am blanking on what I've done wrong.

System: E4300, Gigabyte DS3, 2x1gb Super Talent DDR2 667, X1950GT, Antec SmartPower 500W, DVDRW, and 2 HDD. I put everything in, hit power, and nothing happens. If I cycle power on my power strip and hit power just as it comes on I can get the rear case fan to spin for a few seconds. Other than that, nothing.

What should I try? I've hit a mental block on things to do/things I've done wrong.
 
myocardia

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
9,291
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Assuming you've got everything plugged in where it belongs, and haven't missed anything, your psu doesn't have enough power. And with that psu, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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Should I try unplugging as much stuff as possible? Down to CPU/mem/graphics only?
 
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moosey

Golden Member
Apr 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: CMC79
Should I try unplugging as much stuff as possible? Down to CPU/mem/graphics only?
Click to expand...

Yes. Also make sure your power switch lead is connected correctly from the case to the board.
 
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Cheezeit

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
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Your psu should be fine in terms of power... Strip down to the basics and see if it works.
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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I had this problem with a DS3 a year ago. It had to do with incompatible RAM, specifically RAM that required more voltage than the bios provides by default. Do you have the latest BIOS on the board? Or do you have any cheapo low-volt DDR2 to use to get into the BIOS to check/update?

 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
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Hmm...the Super Talent stuff I got I was pretty sure just needed 1.8v. Perhaps one stick?
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: CMC79
Hmm...the Super Talent stuff I got I was pretty sure just needed 1.8v. Perhaps one stick?
Click to expand...
Yeah I noticed on newegg it was 1.8v hmmm... You could try 1 stick, of course.
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: CMC79
HA! That did it!
Went to one stick of RAM and it fired right up.
Click to expand...

Super!

Now try just the other one, see if it still works. If so, then try both, but in the other slots.

Also, while you have it workig with 1 stick at least, check bios to make sure everything's up to date. Those early bioses were really bad.
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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Now, when I get in the BIOS, should I bump up the voltage and try both sticks again?
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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Oh btw...just blanked...what was the keystroke to get into the Gigabyte advanced settings?
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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Alright...tried both sticks of RAM, booted fine single channel. Bumped RAM voltage to 2.0 and both sticks are fine now.
 
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Cheezeit

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
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You mean you tried them together on single channel? I'd advise to you run memtest and see if anything's wrong.
Those sticks shouldn't need any extra voltage.
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: CMC79
Alright...tried both sticks of RAM, booted fine single channel. Bumped RAM voltage to 2.0 and both sticks are fine now.
Click to expand...
Make sure you have the latest BIOS: F10 if you have a rev 1.0 board.

EDIT: yay 1500 posts :)
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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71
Update:

So right after I got it working in dual channel mode, I hooked up the main hard drive. Booted, entered BIOS and then realized I forgot to plug the power in the DVDRW and the secondary HD. Powered off, hooked up them up, and tried again. It was back to doing nothing again. Took out a stick, unplugged the drives, and still nothing. Could the PSU be the problem? I know capacitor aging takes some of the strength of the psu and this one is a carry over from my last system, but the PSU calculator I checked had me only at 350W max with everything plugged in while running at stock speeds and 100% utilization.

Thanks to everybody who's helped so far!
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
2,094
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What exact model is your PSU? Edit: You said you have a Antec SmartPower 500W in your first post

x1950pro needs at least 15A on each of two 12v rails, preferably 18A on both rails.

Also, sounds like you have 1 DVD, and 2 HD's.

Does it boot up with just the DVD plugged in (no HD's)?

Does it boot up with just the first HD?

Does it boot up with just the second HD?
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
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71
I am at work and heading home soon to try some new stuff again. And I mistyped my initial post--I have a X1900 XT, not a Pro.

When everything is plugged in, I would have three hard drives (2 SATA and 1 PATA), but I have not plugged in the small third one since it's just a storage drive that I don't need for now. The main drive is a WD 500GB drive; the other is a 250GB model. I will try various combinations, and I think I might try putting in my old X800 XL and see if that helps.
 
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CMC79

Senior member
May 31, 2003
313
0
71
Came home and unplugged everything again, put in the X800XL, and still nothing. I don't believe the board is getting any power. When it did work last night, however temporarily, I still had a light on the network interface when the system was powered down. Once things quit working, i don't have that.

While I know there's no way it'd run my system with the X1900XT in it, I have a 500W Ultra PSU that I got FAR a few months back. Should I try that, or is that PSU not to be trusted with this equipment?
 
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AnnonymousCoward

Junior Member
Mar 24, 2006
5
0
0
I have the same problem, and I also have a DS3. If I unplug the power cord for a while, put it back in, and try to power up, a couple fans start to spin for a moment but the whole system is dead. I unplugged almost every component but it still won't power up. Help???
 
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herbiehancock

Senior member
May 11, 2006
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If the Antec SP 500 you have is older and out of warranty, open it up and look at the capacitors inside......you may find some that are bulging or leaking. The SmartPower line from Antec, like a lot their power supplies, use incredibly cheap capacitors....Fuhjyyu capacitors.....which are notorious for going bad!

Here are some functionality symptoms and issues your system might display if your capacitors are failing. Please note that these symptoms can occur even if your capacitors are not showing the physical signs demonstrated above. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. Most of the time, there will be physical signs of failure.

System Faults:
Motherboard fails to POST.
Memory Test Fails.
System randomly and/or constantly reboots itself.
Fails to fully boot (or even install) Operating System.
System randomly and frequently freezes.
Random & frequent 'Blue Screens of Death'
BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (Either RAID, SCSI, or standard ATA)
CPU temps abnormally higher than usual under typical or less load.
*CPU VCORE & other system voltages are erratic or far out of tolerances.
Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost.
 
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AirForceElite

Senior member
Nov 8, 2004
268
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0
I had the same problem with the same motherboard

My config was:
C2D 1.83GHz
Gigabyte 965P-DS-3 board
2GB of OCZ ram @660-something MHz
7900GS

my problem was first of faulty motherboard
i had to RMA it...and when i got new mobo...RAM started showing problems

it appers it need extra voltage (mobo was giving 1.8V but i had to increase by 0.3V to 2.1V)
anyways, the ram still had problems because it have SHITLOADS of errors when I run Memtest86+

basically, 1 stick of ram was OK..but when i add 2, everything was with errors.
i hate when this stuff happens.
eventually i just returned that crap for full refund, and now i am gonna buy a laptop instead.
 
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