New system....no video....why?

[Devildoc99]

Bought some components to put together a new system for my wife. Did a very similar system for my daughter without any problems, but not this time.

MB : Asus Z77-A LGA 1155
CPU : Intel i5 3570 Ivy Bridge
MEMORY : G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 2 X 4 Gb
VIDEO BOARD : Asus GTX 660
SSD : Crucial m500 240Gb

Scavenged power, case, keyboard/mouse, monitor. Put it all together and it powers up, I think. Nothing seen on the monitor......nothing. Switched out monitor (another old one) and video card (old one that's a 'p.o.s.' but works), and still no activity seen on the monitor. Everything on the mb seems to power up...fans come on, SSD runs, DvD lights up, but I can't tell if its booting into BIOS or not.

Could possibilities like memory or CPU look like this. I suppose I could take it all down and look at how I seated the CPU etc but it does seem rather foolproof in how it fits. Is it a mb issue? I really have no way of swapping it out with another to see.

Any thoughts on how I should approach this would be greatly appreciated and keenly explored. I know I could just box everything up and take it to someone who really knows what they're doing, but I really do like to learn by my own mistakes and snafu's....so thanks in advance.

Devildoc

 

[fralexandr]

Have you tried onboard video?
Does the mobo have led diagnostic codes?

 

[Devildoc99]

There is onboard video support with VGA/DVI/HDMI connections. Using these doesn't seem to make any difference, still no monitor activity.
I've also cleared CMOS.
Mobo doesn't seem to have LED dx capability that I can find in docs or see onboard.

If I removed all of the devices off of the mobo (cpu, memory, all usb/sound/sata connections)...just left power and onboard video hooked up, would it still boot into BIOS and/or at least give me some monitor message that I was missing some/all of those things? Shouldn't I get at least something on monitor like an F1 error or something?

 

[daveybrat]

There is onboard video support with VGA/DVI/HDMI connections. Using these doesn't seem to make any difference, still no monitor activity.
I've also cleared CMOS.
Mobo doesn't seem to have LED dx capability that I can find in docs or see onboard.

If I removed all of the devices off of the mobo (cpu, memory, all usb/sound/sata connections)...just left power and onboard video hooked up, would it still boot into BIOS and/or at least give me some monitor message that I was missing some/all of those things? Shouldn't I get at least something on monitor like an F1 error or something?

Without a cpu or memory module installed you'll get absolutely nothing on the screen. Both are needed to get a post screen in the bios.

Check the pins in the cpu socket carefully and make sure that they all look perfect. There should be none that are even slightly bent.

 

[Charlie98]

Install just the CPU and a stick of memory, use the mobo video out to a monitor.... what happens?

Are you getting POST beeps?

 

[Ketchup]

Seems like we have been seeing Asus boards being especially picky with RAM. I would try another brand and see what happens. Start with one stick and go up from there.

 

[Virgorising]

Seems like we have been seeing Asus boards being especially picky with RAM. I would try another brand and see what happens. Start with one stick and go up from there.

Brilliant.

 

[Devildoc99]

Well, I got my answer. Bent pins on mobo cpu housing. How.....? Try as hard as I might to plead innocence, I must of bent something putting the cpu on.

So, I tried my best to straighten out what I could. Seemed to be an ok job but.....
Anyway, I booted back up and now video works to allow me to see post and get into bios. Any suggestions how to test out the cpu to see if there are other areas that aren't functioning the way they should...should I go a head and load an os and just see what happens?

Thanks for all your help folks..greatly appreciated

 

[Ketchup]

...should I go a head and load an os and just see what happens?

I would. Make sure to get all the drivers installed and play a game or two. Good job thus far on the bent pins. Many fond memories playing that game (although haven't had to do so with the pins on the board yet).

 

[Virgorising]

I would. Make sure to get all the drivers installed and play a game or two. Good job thus far on the bent pins. Many fond memories playing that game (although haven't had to do so with the pins on the board yet).

Yes, GOOD JOB re the bent pins!!!!:biggrin: Poor chip was not making contact with the board normally.
Bravo, Davybrat!!!!

 

[Devildoc99]

OK, I will forge ahead and see what shakes.
Again, thanks for your advice, especially to Davybrat!