My New System Isn't Working !?!

[jetboy]

I need some help!
I'm building a new system with the following components, and I currently can't even get a POST.

Epox 8KHA+
Athlon 1.7 Ghz w/ Volcano 6 CU+ Heatsink/Fan
256 Mb DDR Ram
GF2 MX AGP Card
Nothing in the PCI Slots yet....

One HD installed on Primary IDE
CDRW/DVD - Roms on Secondary IDE

When I turn on the power, the power light comes on, but nothing else. Fans power up, and the CD-Roms are powered, but they won't open. The mainboard has an LED, which displays "FF", when powered on. That's it, nothing comes up on the monitor.

I'm about to go to a friend's house to borrow a stick of memory, and I will switch the cables, too. If anybody might have an idea what's wrong, I'd appreciate some advice. Thanks.

 

[jetboy]

I've tried swapping the video card with a working Voodoo 3, and have swapped the ram (no PCI cards installed at this point), and still don't even get anything to my monitor. This is an oversized heatsink, and I'm not sure if I am ready to remove it from the chip. I do have an extra board, heatsink, and chip (because I want to build another one of these systems); so I can test to see if these are problems. However, this is an oversized sink, and it'll take some work to remove it. This is my first time mess with a socket chip, but I had an experienced (?) friend over who helped me put it together. However, he got sloppy with the thermal compound, and some of it got on the processor-board. We removed as much as we could (w/ acetone), but could this be the problem? Thanks.

 

[ojai00]

Double check all your connections, and make sure that the heatsink is connected to the right connector. You might also want to try switching out the power supply for another one. Hope this helps.