Newly built computer not starting (maybe power supply, or maybe not)

[Kadence]

I had my computer (with a 1000HX power supply) setup, and everything was working. Then I went to install an SATA DVD+-RW, an SATA Velociraptor, and moved one 80mm fan to another location.

When I initially replugged the power cord back into the PS, clicked the PS's power on switch (after which the Supreme FXII sound card on the mobo lights up), and hit the case's power on switch, I see the CPU fan and an 80mm fan spin for a really short moment (I can't easily see the other fans). Then they stop spinning. The case's front lights also come on for a short moment before turning off. (this happens with the power cord connected, but no other connections in the back)

If all the connections are plugged in, the monitor displays nothing at all - and the status light changes from green initially to yellow, which normally means no input.

I thought maybe it was a 500 max watts per 12V1/12V2 issue, so I moved the GPU (HD4850) to 12V1 (all other connections are on 12V2, as only PCIe can be placed on 12V1). Also thought daisy-chaining might be a problem so I added another power cable. But those things didn't help. I also started unplugging the SATA connections and various fans, but that also didn't help.

What should I do next to try and isolate and fix the problem? Or can anyone guess at what the problem might be?

Components:
Aztec Raidmax case
Corsair 1000HX power supply
Asus P5E Deluxe mother board
Intel E7200 CPU
Asus HD4850 graphics card
2x 80mm fans (both with case, 1 moved)
3x 120mm fans (2 with case, 1 extra on Thermalright TRUE heatsink)
120GB IDE hard drive
Samsung 22x SATA DVD+-RW
300GB SATA Velociraptor hard drive
3.5" floppy
19" CRT Monitor
Speakers
Ethernet cable to Netgear router to cable modem
USB Mouse
USB Keyboard
USB Laser Printer

 

[mpilchfamily]

First of all unplug and replug in all connections. May have loosened a conenction while moving things around.

 

[DSF]

I agree, sometimes it can be something as simple as a loose 24-pin connector. You have the 4-pin CPU power plugged in, right? Make sure the heatsink is all the way down, RAM secure, video card secure, etc.

Did you bench test everything before you put it in the case? If it were me, that's the next thing I'd do. Pull the motherboard out of the case and rest it on something non-conductive, like the cardboard box it came in. Plug in the power connectors and one stick of RAM. If your case has a motherboard speaker, great. Otherwise you might need the video card to make sure you got a POST. If you get a POST with everything outside the case, then the most likely problem is that something inside the case is shorting the motherboard out. Check for standoffs in the wrong places, loose screws that fell onto the motherboard tray, anything conductive.

If it's still a no go, then it's time to start testing things one by one. Do you have a friend you can borrow some spare parts from?

 

[MichaelD]

Great advice already. Follow it.

Your PC was working before you mucked with it.

You either dropped a loose screw in there somewhere or knocked a cable(s) out of their socket.

 

[Kadence]

Thanks for the help. I unplugged everything from the motherboard except the 2 power cables, the CPU fan, one stick of 2GB RAM, the graphics card and the sound card. And I removed the motherboard from the case and placed in on the anti-static bag it came in. The only things connected to the power supply were the motherboard power cables, and the PCIe power cable for the graphics card. Then I plugged in the case power and reset switches, and the monitor, mouse, and keyboard. But after turning the PS on and the case on, the only response from the motherboard was the sound card light turning on, and the green SB_PWR light turning on, and the CPU fan turning on momentarily; the monitor didn't react.

Note that while I get no POST, even when the computer was working (with speakers connected and everything) I strangely didn't recall hearing a POST - I thought it was odd that I didn't hear one so I restarted and listened for it, but I still didn't hear one. Though I might just have missed it somehow. But now the lack of a POST seems legit as nothing is working.

What should my next step be? How do I tell if I need to return the motherboard (a step I really hope I don't have to take )?

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Your PC was working before you mucked with it.

Actually I meant that I was building an entirely new computer, and when I first did the build it was fine. But I had to install a couple more things afterwards and that's when the problem started.

Originally posted by: DSF
You have the 4-pin CPU power plugged in, right?

Do you mean the EATX12V? For me this is 8-pin.

Do you have a friend you can borrow some spare parts from?

Unfortunately no, I don't know of any PC enthusiast friends. And I don't have any extra motherboards I could try or anything (my other computer is a Dell Pentium 4, this is a Core 2).

 

[Kadence]

Well I just tried the bench test again, and this time when I hit the power switch the CPU fan and GPU fan started spinning full speed. I was pleasantly stunned, and thought my troubles were over. But it was not to be - they suddenly stopped after about 5-10 seconds, and nothing ever displayed on the monitor.

After I turned everything off and tried again, the fans never spun at all.

Really stuck as to what I should do next.

 

[DSF]

If you don't have a speaker plugged into the speaker leads on your motherboard (near the leads for the power and reset switches) you're not going to hear a POST even if everything's hunky-dory.

If your motherboard doesn't have a 4-pin jack, then yes, the 8-pin.

Can you think of anything you would have done that might have caused it not to work this time around? Hopefully since it was working earlier you won't have to RMA anything.

 

[Kadence]

The speakers leads were plugged in, yes.

No, I can't think of anything. I was wearing an anti-static wrist strap and regularly touching the sides of the case. Anything else I could try before RMAing the motherboard?

 

[Kadence]

Well I RMAed the motherboard (Newegg accepted it as a return so I could order a new one and get it shipped the same day, they also gave the shipping label, good job by them).

I got the new motherboard and bench tested it with the two mobo power connectors, CPU and CPU fan, a stick of RAM, sound card (with speaker leads plugged in), graphics card (with monitor plugged in), and the connectors for the case's power and reset buttons. It worked fine - the computer booted up, and I was excited.

However then I screwed the motherboard to the case, and tried it again - it didn't work! The setup was the same as the bench test, so this was like a case test. What happened was somewhat similar to the last motherboard's problems, although didn't seem as fatal - the CPU fan and graphics card fans "stutter" - they power up and whirl really fast for a few seconds, but then seem to restart; they slow down for a moment then speed back up working for a few seconds, then slow down again etc. And nothing ever showed up on the monitor, complete blank screen (same as with the other motherboard).

I tried various permutations of taking stuff out, including taking out everything but the power/case connectors and the CPU. Still broken - same stuttering fans and blank monitor as before.

Then I tried taking out the CPU too but not its fan (so the CPU fan was the only thing) - this time, the CPU fan actually was on constantly So I tried putting a stick of RAM, the sound card/leads, and the graphics card back in but without the CPU - and the CPU fan and graphics card fan both were both stable and on. Although nothing showed up on the monitor - should a monitor display something even if the CPU isn't plugged in?

Anyway, I'm very very confused. It seems the problem might be with the CPU - but then why would this CPU have worked with the new motherboard on the first bench test? And why did the fans die on the other mobo, while on this one they stutter?

Note that I used anti-static gloves and wrist strap, and am very cautious, and the power cord is unplugged from the wall and PSU every time I do something. And as the computer only worked once, I never overclocked or changed BIOS settings or anything like that whatsoever. So I don't know how anything like a short could have damaged either the mobos or CPU.

I thought that maybe the problem is with the mobos shorting out, causing a power limitation, and the CPU requires so much power it goes past it? That seems like a stretch though.

Anyone ever encountered problems similar to this? I suppose I'll try to return both the mobo and CPU, and hopefully things will work then. If anyone has ideas on something else I could try before that, please share.

 

[SKULLOTOI]

its for sure not the power supply. that power supply has enough power to turn on TWO maybe even three setups like the one listed(maybe not run them all very well but atleast TURN them on). I actually experienced a similar problem with a recent build. My guess is that the case is shorting you out somewhere, it wouldnt have to be the motherboard getting shorted but most likley seeing how it will bench. the cpu being bad is definatley far fetched and far out. You need to take the motherboard out and bench as you have already, will it post? will it actually go as far as windows? most importantly can you reproduce these results over and over? if so i would check for shorts loose screws screws that did not come with the motherboard for install, even the I/O panel cover, i have a case where the i/o panel was touching the i/o connects because of a bad fit, shorted that right out. One last super silly thing that i have definatley encounted is the fans. i also have tons of fans as you do, and when i wired all t he fans in for the moment of truth i somehow wired something wrong and it did EXACTLY what you are experincing right now. The whole turn on for 2 seconds full speed and than right off. was very confusing. i resorted to redoing all the connections and turns out the fans were done someway somehow in a manner which i guess the mobo found unacceptable and that ultimatley was tje culprit for that build.

Best of luck and check the case for sorts very carfully.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Kadence
Well I RMAed the motherboard (Newegg accepted it as a return so I could order a new one and get it shipped the same day, they also gave the shipping label, good job by them).

I got the new motherboard and bench tested it with the two mobo power connectors, CPU and CPU fan, a stick of RAM, sound card (with speaker leads plugged in), graphics card (with monitor plugged in), and the connectors for the case's power and reset buttons. It worked fine - the computer booted up, and I was excited.

However then I screwed the motherboard to the case, and tried it again - it didn't work! ----- are you sure that metal is not touching metal...you could be shorting your mobo out....




The setup was the same as the bench test, so this was like a case test. What happened was somewhat similar to the last motherboard's problems, although didn't seem as fatal - the CPU fan and graphics card fans "stutter" - they power up and whirl really fast for a few seconds, but then seem to restart; they slow down for a moment then speed back up working for a few seconds, then slow down again etc. And nothing ever showed up on the monitor, complete blank screen (same as with the other motherboard).

I tried various permutations of taking stuff out, including taking out everything but the power/case connectors and the CPU. Still broken - same stuttering fans and blank monitor as before.

Then I tried taking out the CPU too but not its fan (so the CPU fan was the only thing) - this time, the CPU fan actually was on constantly So I tried putting a stick of RAM, the sound card/leads, and the graphics card back in but without the CPU - and the CPU fan and graphics card fan both were both stable and on. Although nothing showed up on the monitor - should a monitor display something even if the CPU isn't plugged in?

Anyway, I'm very very confused. It seems the problem might be with the CPU - but then why would this CPU have worked with the new motherboard on the first bench test? And why did the fans die on the other mobo, while on this one they stutter?

Note that I used anti-static gloves and wrist strap, and am very cautious, and the power cord is unplugged from the wall and PSU every time I do something. And as the computer only worked once, I never overclocked or changed BIOS settings or anything like that whatsoever. So I don't know how anything like a short could have damaged either the mobos or CPU.

I thought that maybe the problem is with the mobos shorting out, causing a power limitation, and the CPU requires so much power it goes past it? That seems like a stretch though.

Anyone ever encountered problems similar to this? I suppose I'll try to return both the mobo and CPU, and hopefully things will work then. If anyone has ideas on something else I could try before that, please share.

 

[sonnygdude]

Also, have you double checked you don't have any extra motherboard standoffs in the case? Standoffs in the wrong place can touch the back of the otherboard and create shorts. It seems like this shouldn't be the case since the rig worked at first, but maybe there wasn't firm contact until you started pressing on more connectors?

Edit - Whoops, just thoroughly read this thread, and as always, DSF has already brought this up. Sorry for the extraneous post

 

[Kadence]

SKULLOTOI, the results are always the same after the first failure. For my new motherboard, there were no extra fans other than the CPU fan connected at any point - just the bare bones stuff I listed.

My stretch idea was it might be some weird "motherboard power limitation", where a motherboard short causes it to work unless there's too many watts, not that it was a faulty power supply. Though I don't know if an e7200 by itself would be more watts than a CPU fan, 2GB RAM stick, sound card and HD4850 without a CPU.

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Kadence
However then I screwed the motherboard to the case, and tried it again - it didn't work! ----- are you sure that metal is not touching metal...you could be shorting your mobo out....

For the motherboard I RMAed, it worked when it was screwed inside the case. Then it failed later after I installed some more stuff (never took that board out until after it failed).

Question - what should happen if you have the monitor connected to the GPU, but no CPU? Should you see a BIOS or anything? Because in that case, the GPU fan and CPU fan are steady (as opposed to stuttering if the processor is in), but the monitor is completely blank and its light goes to yellow, signifying no input.

 

[Kadence]

Went to Microcenter and they did a diagnostic check. Turns out the CPU is bad.

The motherboard and processor failed their POST test too, same problem I had (stuttering fans/restarting). They moved the CPU to their own mobo though, and that failed too - they couldn't get any video or anything. Unfortunately they said their test CPU was fried at the time, so they couldn't test the motherboard by itself.

Their guess was the same as mine - the mobo is probably good, its the CPU that's bad. The guy was real surprised the CPU was broken and figured the board was OK, but I should RMA it anyway. I think the mobo is fine because if you remove the CPU, the CPU fan and GPU fan work fine - however I don't want to risk breaking another CPU by testing it on this motherboard.

So I'm going to take the tech peoples advice and just return both the CPU and mobo, and eat the restocking fee. I'll just buy the board and CPU from Microcenter, so I can easily exchange if there's a problem; the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 board I want will come to almost $100 more expensive there but whatever, I hate dealing with shipping time and my computer is almost 2 weeks overdue :|

It's possible the first board I RMAed was fine too and the CPU was the only thing broken, or maybe the CPU shorted that board or vice versa. The tech guys at Microcenter were really helpful though. Surprisingly 2 out of 3 really advised against Asus (the other thought they were all similar). Both recommended Gigabyte, and one said MSI and Gigabyte boards "just work", while Asus boards work good when they work but fail often. Both said they get a lot of broken Asus boards.

Thanks for the help guys Will never know if it was the first Asus board or a faulty CPU that was initially to blame, but hopefully this mess will be over with soon with a new processor and the Gigabyte board.

 

[Kadence]

Originally posted by: sonnygdude
Edit - Whoops, just thoroughly read this thread, and as always, DSF has already brought this up. Sorry for the extraneous post

Forgot to say - definitely not an extraneous post, I learned something from your post as well Thanks.

 

[SKULLOTOI]

Nothing would show up on the monitor if no cpu was in the socket. The cpu would not consume more power than the entire system. If the motherboard will not work outside the case you need to RMA again, I have heard many many incidents were people have had to recieve 3 even up to 5 boards from asus to finally get one that works. Nothing against ASUS i like asus but thats why i got a gigabyte. if this board will work outside of the case i do belive that your case has a mobo tray, check this for shorts double check for shorts also check the mobos groudning pads and seats for any damage that may cause shorts. make sure you are using the right hardware as well, i know that is a given and i am only trying to help anyway i can.

like i said you may need to rma once more and hopefully that will be it. it is not the cpu, save yourself an rma and some trouble i know you dont need =)

im really sorry for your troubles and best of luck with this project!

 

[SKULLOTOI]

by hardware i mean screws and standoffs

 

[Kadence]

I bought a new e7200 to use with my current Asus, and it worked Micocenter still didn't have the Gigabyte so I just bought a new CPU to try, and it worked on the Asus mobo, which I figured it would. I'll probably just keep the Asus now.

Originally posted by: SKULLOTOI
it is not the cpu, save yourself an rma and some trouble i know you dont need =)

Thanks, but Microcenter's team determined the CPU was definitely busted, they just weren't sure if the mobo was as well because they didn't have their test CPU.

Still one weird issue - there's an extra DVD Drive I: showing up in My Computer (KO5852U IOE533F SCSI CdRom Device according to Device Manager), even though I only have a single SATA DVD burner as drive D: (a Samsung). What's that about?