New PC problems (custom)

[Globus]

Okay, I just put together my PC, and at first when I booted it up it was screaming like mad, so I looked around and found another spot to plug power into my vid card (6800 OC), and then it stopped. So now I'm trying to boot up, but nothing shows up on monitor, keyboard lights and mouse lights aren't flashing or anything, and I have no idea what's happening. I can hear and see all the fans running, and the lights on the front of the case (X-dreamer II) are glowing. Do I have defective parts or what? I read somewhere that I might need to take off my heatsink/fan on my CPU, feel it, see if it is room temperature and if it is it's defective; but that will also mess up on the pre-applied thermal pad on the heatsink won't it? Please help!

 

[mechBgon]

Post your full system specs for the troubleshooters, please. You can hit Quote and fill in this one with your own info:

• CORE HARDWARE
  
  • Power supply Antec TruePower 430
  • Motherboard Asus K8N-E Deluxe
    • Revision 1.03
    • BIOS 1005
  • CPU Athlon64 3000+
    • Core 130nm Clawhammer
  • Memory (2) 512MB Corsair XMS 3200C2 modules
    • Voltage Manually set to 2.7 volts
    • Timings AUTO, results in 2-3-2-6 @ 200MHz DDR
• CARDS
  • Primary video card ATI Radeon 9800Pro AGP 8x
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 LeadTek Winfast TV/FM tuner card
  • PCI slot #4 Creative Audigy 2 ZS
  • PCI slot #5 LSI Logic Ultra160 SCSI
  • PCI slot #6 (board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 160GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Serial ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 SATA controller
    • Jumper setting not applicable (SATA)
  • Additional hard drive 40GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, primary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive 18GB Seagate Cheetah 15k.3
    • Interface SCSI
    • Controller hosting this drive LSI Logic U160 card
    • Jumper setting SCSI ID 01
  • Optical drive #1 NEC 3500A DVD burner
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 Lite-On combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Slave

 

[Globus]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Post your full system specs for the troubleshooters, please. You can hit Quote and fill in this one with your own info:

• CORE HARDWARE
  
  • Power supply Turbolink 350w
  • Motherboard Asus AV8 Deluxe
    • Revision don't know
    • BIOS don't know
  • CPU Athlon64 3000+
    • Core Winchester
  • MemoryMushkin 1 GB PC 3200 Dual (2x512MB)
    • Voltage Don't know...
    • Timings Not really sure...
• CARDS
  • Primary video card Nvidia GeForce 6800OC (out of box OC) AGP 8x
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 Linksys 10/100 Ethernet card
  • PCI slot #3 empty
  • PCI slot #4 empty
  • PCI slot #5 empty
  • PCI slot #6 (board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 200 GB Western Digital
    • Interface IDE
    • Controller hosting this drive ?
    • Jumper setting I'm using this one alone, no need is there (just making sure)?
  • Additional hard drive N/A
    • Interface IDE (this may be wrong, I've already put it down up there)
    • Controller hosting this drive Have no idea
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive None
    • Interface Don't know what this is
    • Controller hosting this drive ^see above
    • Jumper setting SCSI ID 01
  • Optical drive #1 Rosewill CD-RW/DVD-R
    • Interface I don't know really, sorry again
    • Controller hosting this drive I plugged this into my second IDE slot on mobo, is this the answer (I plugged my HD into the other IDE slot)?
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 None
    • Interface None
    • Controller hosting this drive None
    • Jumper setting N/A

• 
  Okay, thanks, I may be able to clarify ons ome of those things but I may need a little help

 

[mechBgon]

Awesome I see all sorts of scary stuff

1. Turbolink 350W. I would bail that and get a 370W or higher Enermax to give you more 12-volt amperage (and probably much better-quality regulation too). Look at savage's thread with a 420W Turbolink PSU unable to hack it after his 6600GT upgrade.
   
2. For an A8V Deluxe, plus Winchester-core CPU, you are going to need BIOS revision 1007 or later in order to get full support for that CPU. You can tell what the shipping BIOS is by looking at the sticker on the BIOS chip located here, which will have a 100x number that tells you.
   
   To get the board going with a Winchester in it, put one memory module in slot DIMM_B1 and it should run enough for you to update the BIOS (assuming you have a PSU that can actually power the system in the first place).
   
3. The WD drive should be set to its Single Drive mode if it has a ribbon cable all to itself. The Single Drive jumper setting is done by taking off the jumper cap from the pins completely.
   
4. The board has onboard network, so why the add-in network card? If you want to use that, then put it in PCI slot #4, which doesn't have to share its chipset IRQ with the onboard PCI or AGP stuffs.
   
5. Go into the motherboard's BIOS and change the memory voltage to 2.7 volts. PC3200 is so frequently unhappy with AUTO voltage, although I hear that at least the A8V Deluxe defaults to 2.6V.

Hope that helps get you onto the right track and when it's time to install Windows, make sure you have your anti-worm strategy in place: suggestions for a happy worm-free computer

 

[Globus]

Okay thanks, I just got that network card for free with a mail-in rebate, and since this was my first build was just experimenting with the PCI slots. I'm not looking forward to shelling out mucho bucks for a quality power supply, but you aren't the first person I've heard poor things of it from so I guess I'll have to . I've had people recommend me a Thermaltake $40 PS. If I find another Thermaltake for $40 with 350+ watts, should I go ahead and order it? The enermax was kind of expensive, and I don't have too much money left

 

[Globus]

Oh, and I checked on my board, and it says it is a 1007

 

[Globus]

A 350+ watt Thermaltake brand will be enough for my computer right?

 

[mechBgon]

Ugh, Thermalscum? Personally, I avoid them as a company, period, after they tried to put the hush on a Forum member here who posted unflattering findings about their Orb-series heatsinks' performance. Sue people for uncovering the truth... what a classy company :roll:

[ / editorial ]

Compare the total 12V amperage available on the Thermaltake against this Enermax with its dual 12V rails. That's where your video card and CPU power circuitry are looking for the power delivery.

 

[Globus]

This one looked pretty good, got 20 or so reviews, 5/5 all the way down;

Coolmax

My only issue is if it is the same size as the one in my case, I assume it would be, but just checking.

Thanks for all your help, this one seems to be the best value.

 

[mechBgon]

Aieeeeeee, not Coolmax!

 

[Globus]

I never know what I'm talking about, but you'd think I'd get lucky on one of these picks, wouldn't I?

Seriously, is there a reason not to get it? The feedback all seemed positive for that unit.

 

[mechBgon]

1) disregard Newegg user reviews. they scare me :Q

2) your video card alone is worth nearly as much as my whole home computer... stop worrying about "value" and get the good stuff to power it with Shoot, I wish I were so lucky. Voodoo3 2000 PCI for me Maybe in the springtime...

 

[Globus]

Okay, take your time getting to these, it may be until next weekend till I get around to fixing it.

First PSU, an Enermax,

Choice 1

Choice 2

They both look pretty good, you've recommended Enermax before, and it'll match my case

Also, would it be better to order off Newegg, or retail stores (Circuit City, Best Buy, Office Max, I don't have a Fry's)?

 

[daveybrat]

Go with choice 1 for $69 and free shipping. It's not worth saving only $10 to skimp a little.
A 420Watt with dual 12V lines will last you much longer and give you the best stability.

Enermax is a very good power supply like Mech said. I'm personally using a Thermaltake Purepower 480Watt which is powering my system below very nicely.

Get the Enermax and you'll be happy.

 

[Globus]

Okay thanks, and to update a little, I went ahead and powered up my system with the turbolink, just to format the stuff, but I'm not gonna do much else. Also, if you don't do anything demanding of the video card, will it still carry the heavy risk of blowing up the PSU or whatever happens that could fry my whole rig? Because I do want to be able to use it for small things like IM or internet until I get a better PSU.