I just purchased the following:
Athlon XP 1700
MSI KT3 Ultra
Mushkin 512 mb PC2700
Enermax EG365P-VE(FC)
Sky Hawk aluminum case
The ram came straight from Mushkin last week, the rest arrived from Mwave this morning. This is my first new pc in four years (yes, I am a _very_ broke college student), so I don't have spare parts to do a lot of troubleshooting. I'm hoping to enlist my brother-inlaw's new pc to check out the ram problem this weekend.
I have connected what I believe to be the bare minimum for a boot to BIOS. I installed the Cpu/heatsink, ram, power supply, and my old videocard (when the system hung without activating the monitor, I tried an even older PCI videocard). I also connected the power/reset buttons and leds, and the D-bracket (four diagnostic leds) that comes with the motherboard.
I have two problems at this point. Most importantly, the system hangs during the memory detection test. (The processor and "early chip initialization" are fine according to the D-Bracket) At this point I reseated the DIMM. No luck. Then I tried the DIMM in the other two slots which made no difference during the failed boots.
I hope to test my ram out in my brother-inlaw's rig this weekend to determine if the ram is bad. Is there anything else I can do before that? Is there some connector or jumper that MSI forgot to mention in the manual? Aside from the power/reset buttons and leds, I have the power supply's fan connected to the mb.
I also encountered a second problem that might be tied into the system hang. Simply put, I can turn my pc on, but the button fails to turn the pc off. My functioning pc has had this problem occassionally thanks to windows, so I am hoping the motherboard just isn't able to process that command during the lockup. The reset button works though.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and comments
Athlon XP 1700
MSI KT3 Ultra
Mushkin 512 mb PC2700
Enermax EG365P-VE(FC)
Sky Hawk aluminum case
The ram came straight from Mushkin last week, the rest arrived from Mwave this morning. This is my first new pc in four years (yes, I am a _very_ broke college student), so I don't have spare parts to do a lot of troubleshooting. I'm hoping to enlist my brother-inlaw's new pc to check out the ram problem this weekend.
I have connected what I believe to be the bare minimum for a boot to BIOS. I installed the Cpu/heatsink, ram, power supply, and my old videocard (when the system hung without activating the monitor, I tried an even older PCI videocard). I also connected the power/reset buttons and leds, and the D-bracket (four diagnostic leds) that comes with the motherboard.
I have two problems at this point. Most importantly, the system hangs during the memory detection test. (The processor and "early chip initialization" are fine according to the D-Bracket) At this point I reseated the DIMM. No luck. Then I tried the DIMM in the other two slots which made no difference during the failed boots.
I hope to test my ram out in my brother-inlaw's rig this weekend to determine if the ram is bad. Is there anything else I can do before that? Is there some connector or jumper that MSI forgot to mention in the manual? Aside from the power/reset buttons and leds, I have the power supply's fan connected to the mb.
I also encountered a second problem that might be tied into the system hang. Simply put, I can turn my pc on, but the button fails to turn the pc off. My functioning pc has had this problem occassionally thanks to windows, so I am hoping the motherboard just isn't able to process that command during the lockup. The reset button works though.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and comments