New computer does not start

[radarbeam]

Hi guys,

Long time lurker but first time poster here at anandtech. In the last few days I have build my computer from scratch but I guess it can't be that easy eh?

When I power on the PC everything gets rolling, all fan are spining, the HDD is working and so is the optical drive and the mobo onboard LED is on...yet nothing is displayed on the screen, not even the BIOS, I just have a blank screen.

Inside the case is an asus p5n-e-sli mobo, a E6600 cpu colled by a scythe ninja. 2 gigs of OCZ Platinum 800 mhz. An 8800 GTS for the graphics. In the power supply dept we have a Corsair 520W and a WD SATA HDD along with an optical drive

What could be wrong? I have tried re-seating the video card to the other PCIe slot, no luck. Tried to move the RAM from dimms 1 to dimms 2, no luck. I,ve re-checked every connections and they are all tight and secured.

I'm left scratching my head...

Any help would be immensely appreciated.

Nick

 

[mechBgon]

Easy question first: is your 4-pin ATX12V cable plugged into the receptacle that's at the upper-rear corner of the motherboard?

 

[Harvey]

Have you tried a different video card or tried your card in another system? Have you tried another monitor?

If you bought your motherboard from a local B&M, take it in, and show them the problem.

Good luck.

 

[radarbeam]

Guys,

Thanks very much for the lightning fast replies!!

MechBgon: Yes the 4 pin ATX cable is securely connected in it's proper receptacle. I'm really wishing it's the kind of problem where you go ''Doh! Why didn't I think of this!''.

Harvey: That's gonna be a problem as I am upgrading from an AGP system. I dont have another PCIe card or PCIe mobo on hand. If I can't figure out what's wrong I'll definitely bring it to the shop so they can have a wack at it.

Thanks to both of you!

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, now you have to endure my second dumb question you got the auxiliary power cable hooked up to the video card, right? And if you're using PS/2 mouse or keyboard (round plug), make sure they're in the correct hole, since the mobo's PS/2 ports are function-specific (purple for keyboard, green for mouse). Also make sure the motherboard's Clear CMOS jumper (CLRTC) is in the "run" position, not the "clear" position, and make sure your PSU's voltage selector is set to the correct wall-outlet voltage (230 volts or 115 volts depending where you live).

If that's all good, then try removing the motherboard from the case and laying it on a piece of cardboard. Hook up just the bare essentials for it to POST: one stick of RAM in slot DIMM_B1, the video card in the blue PCIe x16 slot, no drives, no keyboard or mouse, no additional cards. Try to start it like that. If it doesn't POST, try turning it off and then plug the monitor into the other output on the video card, then start it again.

Any good?

 

[radarbeam]

Problem solved! ...or part of it at least. Thanks mechBgon!

I tried just that, the mobo, the video card and 1 stick of RAM. No result the first time around ... Then I swapped the stick of RAM to the other one ...and boom the screen lit up with the ASUS splash screen ....

However, that's as far as it got. I could not enter the BIOS. I rebooted a couple of time but with the same result ...the PC would froze at the splash screen. More RAM woes? I hope so.

I am returning both sticks to the shop this morning and will report tonight with some new sticks ...I'm tempted to switch to the Crucial Ballistix aswell.

Here's a splash screen shot. This is as far as I can go for now. Noticed the white pixels at the bottom of the screen? Are these a sigh of RAM issues?
http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01393fp3.jpg

Here's a shot of the culprit.
http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01396rb7.jpg

And here's a shot of my system if you're curious. Noticed I replace the Ninja HSF with the stock one as I've read that sometimes if the HSF does not fully come in contact with the CPU that can prevent the PC from booting and the Ninja Rev B mounts for the 775 lga is kinda flimsy.
http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01394dn8.jpg

Will report latter tonight