new system won't boot

[latz]

I hope you guys can shed some light on this. I built a Athlon 64 X2 system and I think my cpu is defective. I get power to the system for about 3 seconds then all shuts off. With the cpu removed power stays on and it just idles. No beeps or display either way.

My main concern is that I hope I didn't put too much pressure on the cpu when installing the heat sink. I found it to require way more force than I thought should be necessary to install it. I've followed the diagrams in the MB and cpu manual and putting this thing on is very hard. Am I missing something completely obvious?

The cpu looks fine, but the top half of the edges are discolored like they aren't as shiny as the rest. It's not from the thermal paste and it could've been that way before for all I know. I really appreciate your help!

Jeremy

 

[amdskip]

Your cpu is probably ok. What are the rest of your system specs including the power supply?

 

[latz]

Asus M2N motherboard
FSP Group atx-400pn
2 GB OCZ DDR2
Gigabyte Geforce 7100gs

thanks for your input

 

[amdskip]

Try resetting yours CMOS, video card, and install just 1 stick of memory.

 

[latz]

I've booted with a bare minimum and w/o the video card, but still same thing. I'm starting to wonder if 400W isn't enough. The Asus manual says it should be a minimum of 600w, but that seems extreme to me since it's not an SLI board and my GPU is low-end. Plus I've booted w/o the optical drives. Anybody think the psu could be the issue?

 

[Fern]

FSP makes good units. Still wouldn't hurt to try and get a read on it's output and stability.

However, am not sure how to accomplish that unless you have another rig you can test the PSU in.

Fern

 

[daniel3168]

might be a PSU issue do you have a larger PSU can use

 

[NesQuik]

I think i can help you. Did you make sure to plug both the 12pin connector in AS WELL as the 4pin power connector? i had the same issue until you plug it in. The manual specifically says it will not booth w/o both connectors. Other computers i have built don't always ask for both. If u dont have both 12pin and 4 pin then u need a new psu

 

[Noema]

400w is more than enough for what your system needs. It's not like you have SLI'ed 8800GTX in there :Q!!! Power supply requirements are very over hyped today.

Line NesQuik said: Is the 12V ATX cable plugged in? That's the no. 1 reason for newly built systems not posting Also triple check all your connections.

There is a chance the mobo is being shorted by the stand-offs on the case. Are the stand-offs located on the correct location and ONLY the correct location according to the mobo's manual?

Try just the CPU, RAM and Video Card on the mobo on top of the cardboard box the mobo came in, or on top of a wooden table, and see if it will POST then.

Try one stick of RAM at a time, in every slot, until you have covered all possible combinations.

Even though 400W is enough for your system, it could still be a DOA PSU. I suggest trying another one if the steps above don't do the trick.

 

[NesQuik]

After posting i realized this was an old post but with my same mobo.

 

[dbailey]

Sounds like your heatsink isn't connecting with your cpu. Make sure to put a thin layer of thermal grease on, and make sure that the heatsink is flat against the cpu. If it's not making good contact, the cpu will run for a few seconds, realize it's getting too hot, and shut down the system.