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New computer build - need troubleshooting help

M

mcz925

Junior Member
I built a PC yesterday and there have been some problems. The components are:
Motherboard: ASRock H55M Pro
CPU: Intel i5-750
GPU: XFX Radeon HD5770
PSU: Silverstone ST50F-ES
RAM: Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800 2x2GB
Drives: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB, LG DVD Burner

After assembly was complete, I plugged it in and turned it on. I briefly saw the BIOS splash screen, then powered down to put the side panel back on the case. Since then, I have been unable to get any video signal from the PC. (DVI to Dell 2005FPW)

When I press the power button, the CPU, GPU, and case fans all spin, the motherboard does NOT beep, and everything turns off after several seconds and automatically turns back on several seconds after that. I don't know how long this cycle would continue if left alone as I've only let it turn off and back on once at a time. If I remove the RAM, the motherboard does beep to indicate the POST failed, so I can't tell if, with the RAM properly inserted, the system is POSTing successfully or not.

I have an old AMD Socket 939 PC lying around which I've been using to help troubleshoot. I tried my ATI X800XL from the old PC in the new one but got the same result. When I tried the new XFX card in the old PC, however, it wouldn't even POST, although it works fine and boots windows with the old card.

If the new video card breaks the old computer, I would expect it to be the problem, but the old card doesn't work either, so I'm just about stumped. Any ideas?
 
Time to simplify. Unplug everything connected to the motherboard to it's bare essentials. (PS, MB, CPU, vid, monitor) Unplug enough so you can see a boot and slowly plug back until it coughs up again. Have fun.
 
I'm down to MB, PSU, CPU, RAM, old vid card now. I swapped out the power supply with an old one - no change, so the PSU is not the problem. Is there any reason to think the vid card isn't defective before I RMA it?

If the replacement video card works in the old PC but not the new one, then I can isolate the problem within the CPU/MB/RAM. I've tried using only a single stick of RAM (in various slots) and I've tried each stick, so I don't think that's the problem but I don't have any other DDR3 computers to test it on. Also, with no RAM the motherboard beeps, but with it installed it doesn't. Is that sufficient to assume the motherboard recognizes the RAM and that the problem is elsewhere?
 
It's tough to say where the issue is since it's a new build with what I'm assuming are all new parts which haven't been individually tested before. At least it's narrowed down. The other thing to check for is an electrical ground due to missing screw or fallen wahser, etc... If it comes down to it, you could run the PS/MB/CPU/VID outside of the case.
 
It powered up and posted once, so personally what I would do is take every single piece out of the case and apart, place some cardboard on a table, assemble the bare minimum parts (reseat *EVERY SINGLE PIECE, EVERY SINGLE LITTLE PIECE* including CPU!) and then test it, if still no go, test with as many known good parts at once as you can (psu, video) and if still no go then talk about RMAing.

You would be shocked, amazed, and ashamed at how many times something like this is as simple as something being just bumped loose or bumped shorted. I mean it when I say reseat *EVERYTHING*. 🙂

Good luck!
 
I got a replacement video card, and after some fiddling and reseating both RAM sticks, the system works and Windows is installing now. Thanks for the help, guys.
 
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