New build will not POST or display video

[Arcex]

I can't seem to find this exact problem anywhere on the internet, so therefore its never happened to anyone ever!

But seriously folks, I've built plenty of PC's before, cheap and gaming rigs, this one falls somewhere in between. I put together this exact same build (specs below) 3 weeks ago for someone else and it worked perfectly. This one, alas, does not.


SPECS (All purchased from Newegg):

1 x Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
1 x Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail
1 x Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
1 x LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM
1 x Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 English for System Builders 1 Pack CD - OEM
1 x Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT12864AA800 - Retail
1 x GIGABYTE GA-73PVM-S2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
1 x Foxconn TLM436-CN300C-01 Black / Silver Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
1 x MASSCOOL 9025B1M3/4 90mm Case Fan - Retail

Stock cooler but Artic Silver 5 thermal grease, I yanked the 300W PSU the case came with and went with the Antec (cause that's how I roll).



After assembling, when I try to power up it spins up like normal, front panel lights flash like normal. There is no case speaker so I can't hear the beep codes and monitor never gets a signal. Assuming it was a display issue (onboard vid card) I would still expect the 3 keyboard lights to blink following a successful POST, this never happens.

Verified monitor and keyboard are working.
Plugged in seperate vid card, no change.
Tried booting with no RAM, CD-ROM, or hard drive, no change.
Reset BIOS jumper, made sure front panel wires were placed correctly, no change.
Swapped motherboard with identical replacement, no change.
Swapped Antec PSU with stock PSU, no change.
Swapped CPU and cooler with identical replacement, no change.


So I've eliminated or replaced all hardware that I think could be causing this, still no change. My last guess is something wrong with the case, a ground out? I've checked the MB and the screws carefully and see no sign of this. My only 2 options now are find a damn internal speaker to plug in or re-assemble on static bags with no case. This brings me to my 2 questions:

1) I'd like to try option 2, is it ok to have everything lying flat on static bads or should the MB or something be suspended?

2) Can anyone think of anything else it could be or anything else I should try?

**EDIT** Forgot to mention onboard vid card.

 

[RebateMonger]

I just lay the motherboard on a piece of paper or cardboard. Start with all add-on cards removed (except video if there's no on-board video) and see if it boots.

Be sure that that ATX12V connector (4-pin) is connected, as well as the main power connector.

 

[thegisguy]

Had the same issue a year ago on a build for my father. No Post, but fans kicked on. Turned out to be bad ram. You said you've ruled out bad ram and bad power supply? Those would be the things I checked first. One more question. You sure you have the ram paired correctly, meaning it's in the right slots on the MB? That could cause a no post.

To answer your other question It's no problem to build on the ANTI-static bag.

 

[Arcex]

I did forget to add it in so I'll edit but yeah, it is on board video and I tried plugging in a seperate card, no change.

Either way, I don't think its a display issue since it clearly never completes POST. I did check cables, RAM and PSU.

I'll try the caseless build, see where that puts me. I have enough spare parts now to build out 2 seperate PC's so worst case I'll build em both out right next to each other and see what happens.

 

[Arcex]

Built it on static bags, still nothing. So I have a MB, CPU, CPU fan, PSU, and the power switch and monitor plugged in, no change. I took the replacement MB and CPU they sent me, hooked them up the same and also still nothing.

I have eliminated all variables, my only guess at this point is that I have 2 bad MBs or 2 bad CPUs (my first assumption is bad MBs), does anyone have any ideas, or would anyone like to agree with my assessment so I can feel slightly better about myself?

 

[thegisguy]

Man the odds of getting 2 bad MBs or 2 Bad CPU's is way up there. Do you have an old PC case you could steal the speaker out of to see what Beep code you're getting? I'd check that out before calling them both a loss. Another question, the second set of Ram you're using to test, is it the same as the first set?

 

[Dryfter]

I've never seen a mobo without a speaker built on. And on top of that. I've never seen a case speaker that you have to plug into the mobo.... (minus all the REALLY old crap I have)

Reseat the proc (worth a try)

 

[L00PY]

Double check the header connections. Better yet, remove all of them and try booting it up by shorting the appropriate pins with a screwdriver. And when the power LED is connected, it's a solid on, right?

Also, when you say "reset BIOS jumper" did you mean that you shorted it and then removed it? If I'm not mistaken, the normal state for the CMOS reset jumper on this mobo is open -- there normally shouldn't be any jumper on it at all.

You ought to have speaker to get beep codes. I know I've gotten extra before. I wonder if you could even just connect a multimeter to and watch the codes.

Finally, I know it's almost sacrilegious to suggest, but have you slowly read through the manual for the mobo, page by page, and checked for anything you might have missed?

 

[thegisguy]

Originally posted by: Dryfter
I've never seen a mobo without a speaker built on. And on top of that. I've never seen a case speaker that you have to plug into the mobo.... (minus all the REALLY old crap I have)

Reseat the proc (worth a try)

Not to be rude, but How long you been building PCs? You've never seen a MB with out a speaker, that used to be the norm. Same with a cheap speaker mounted on the case.

I don't think Reseating the CPU is going to help, he has already swapped CPU's, which involves seating the CPU.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
I just lay the motherboard on a piece of paper or cardboard. Start with all add-on cards removed (except video if there's no on-board video) and see if it boots.

Be sure that that ATX12V connector (4-pin) is connected, as well as the main power connector.

Yeah that would be what I would try too sounds like the mobo is grounding out which is easy to do.

 

[Arcex]

I hate bringing up an old post (even if it's one of mine) but for closures sake here is what the problem was:

It was a combination of a bad mobo AND a monitor that was testy... unlike most monitors that detect an incoming signal, be it digital or analog, it would only detect the signal during POST / BIOS when you manually switched it, once an OS is on it detects that no problem. So every time I went to test the monitor it would work fine.

Between the monitor being angsty and the honest to God bad mobo which still gave no beep codes once I pulled a speaker out of an old case I had to go back and forth quite abit to find a working combination of parts, then I was able to troubleshoot down to the bad parts.

Thanks to all who chimed in with help and advice!