Please Help! Motherboard doesn't seem to load

[HeavenZKnight]

Hey guys,
this may sound a little weird, but for some reason when I boot up my computer, nothing appears on the monitor? I installed the opty and heatsink to the board, then the vid card, then plugged all of the connectors needed from the PSU to the board. When I boot up the computer, all of the lights and fans turn on on the mobo, but the monitor stays in "power saver" mode. I checked all of the plugs and made sure they were secured, and the weird thing was, it showed signs of activity twice, but, whenever a bootup is required (like when you exit the bios), the monitor just stays black again! Can someone please help me w/ this?
Oh, and I've tried different monitors, and I've put my graphics card into my friend's computer and it works fine, if that matters. Thanks in advanced!

 

[HN]

are you connecting via VGA or DVI?

 

[HeavenZKnight]

connecting VGA

 

[mechBgon]

The answer appears to be in your signature. You have a generic 400W PSU. Go out and pick up an Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W or another QUALITY 480W+ ATX2.0 power supply. Try that. Also, make sure to connect ALL of the power fittings, DFI boards have up to four of them and some are not very obvious: example pic.

 

[HeavenZKnight]

o sorry, I have a brand new cooler master 400W (it says 430W on the box, so im not sure). I don't know if this would change anything, but it says in the manual that a 400W or higher PSU is recommended, so shouldn't it work anyways?

 

[mechBgon]

DFI's tech-support people recommend native 24-pin 480W+ units. I'm not sure Coolermaster is all that good to start with, but at least it's not PowMax :evil: You got all your power plugs hooked up?

 

[HeavenZKnight]

yeah, all four of them are in securely. do you know if it could possibly be anything else?

 

[mechBgon]

If it ran a couple times but not consistently, then I tend to think it might be a power issue

 

[HeavenZKnight]

ahh....damn I kinda wanna avoid getting a pretty expensive PSU, but do you have any recommendations for a cheap PSU that is pretty good quality?

 

[mechBgon]

Would this be too much? Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W at $69 I was looking at the specs on the PSU that I'm guessing you have, this one, and with just 19 amps of 12-volt (and only one 12V rail), that might be a little light on the 12-volt power. Or maybe I'm just being overkill again

If you can afford slightly more, the TruePower 2.0 480W has dual 19-amp 12-volt rails good for a combined 12-volt load of 33 amps peak, plus independently-regulated voltages all the way around. And it's another $9 at Newegg at the moment. Antec is also usually available at peoples' local stores, so if you're hot to get your system on its feet, you could pick one up locally maybe.

 

[HeavenZKnight]

haha...the thing is, if the fans n stuff are working on the mobo and the graphics card, wouldn't that mean that everything should be powered...? O and I can't seem to find the truepower 480W on newegg (but the truepower 550W is 69.99 after rebate )

 

[mechBgon]

Here's the TruePower 2.0 480W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103929 That's what I use in my work rig, no complaints.

 

[WildHorse]

Originally posted by: HeavenZKnight
. . . When I boot up the computer, all of the lights and fans turn on on the mobo, . . .

During boot sequence, those 4 reddish diagnostic leds at the bottom edge of the mobo are supposed to go OUT in sequence. The yellowish led up by the RAM slots remains constantly lit during operation.

You say all lights are on. So that's an indicator of your problem.

When the cpu is detected, the 1st light goes out, Then when the RAM is detected, the 2nd light goes out. NExt, when the video card is detected, the 3rd goes out. When boot up is successful, the last light goes out. Refer to page 15 of your motherboard manual.

So all leds remaining lit indicates that your cpu is not being detected. Maybe you should try re-seating your cpu and make sure the socket clamp is locked down right.

Also: make sure to move your cmos jumper over to the clear position for awhile, with the power cable unplugged from back of case & cmos button battery popped out. Let it stay like that awhile, I say overnight everybody else says 5 -10 minutes, then replace all. See page 6 of your motherboard manual.

Also, ExRoadie on the DFI-Street board taught me this and it really helped. During your initial "diagnostic" bootup into bios, continuously hold down both insert & delete. Holding delete takes you into bios. Holding insert forces the default bios settings to load, instead of any custom settings.


P.S. You did load the correct video card drivers, right?

 

[HeavenZKnight]

i'll try that later tonight..currently not at my place. But what do u mean about loading the correct vid card drivers? Like is there a way to do that without the monitor being on?

 

[HeavenZKnight]

so i don't think it's the video card. All of the LEDs disappear, except for the last one. Also, the "Ultra-D" logo appears on the monitor now, but it's always stuck there, there is no bootup to the BIOS whatsoever.

 

[HeavenZKnight]

anyone? I really want to start using this new computer.