Please help? My custom-built PC won't work!

[lonelyequinox]

I just ordered the following parts from Newegg and tried to assemble my computer, but somewhere along the line I made a mistake. When I turn the computer on, the screen loads, but my fans and optical drive won't work. I think I got something messed up among the lines of interconnecting all the red, yellow, and black cables?

Case: APEVIA X-DREAMER3-BL Black / Blue metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144253 ) [$54.99]

Lights: 2x LOGISYS Computer CLK12BL 12" Cold Cathode kit ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16800888026 ) [$9.98 for both]

CPU & Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard / AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.564585 ) [$223.98]

Memory: CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233132 ) [$54.99]

Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908 ) [$199.99]

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152244)[$42.99]

Power Supply: CORSAIR Builder Series CMPSU-500CX 500W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139018 ) [$49.98]

 

[hulkhelton]

post a picture of the motherboard as it is right now?

 

[lonelyequinox]

The case is off because I was trying to fix the video card to get video to work. Video works, drives and fans still don't.

 

[hulkhelton]

i dont see anything wrong off hand, try disconnected all the drives and see if it powers on properly, if not disconnect the video card also and see if it powers on properly, if not take all but 1 stick of ram out and see if it powers on properly.

when i buy a new system i put 1 thing in at a time and make sure it powers on properly.
hopefully you didnt bend any pins on the mobo installing your cpu.

 

[lonelyequinox]

Are the black, white, and yellow cables supposed to be chained off eachother like they are? I tried taking them apart and plugging each set into the power supply, but they don't fit. Also, I plugged one of the power supply clips into the cd drive, and it worked, but it fell out a minute later. It doesn't quite click in.

 

[hulkhelton]

try moving your video card to the top slot.
ive had problems with that before.

 

[lonelyequinox]

That didn't work. I didn't think it would though. My problem is that I have nothing to connect my fans to.

 

[hulkhelton]

so your cpu fan is working? i misread that your problem was it powered on but that it wasnt working, it is working but the fans arent coming on?

i see the problem now, your fans are not hooked up, take the one power cable and hook into the open one that is above the hard drive.

 

[lonelyequinox]

Yeah. CPU fan works fine.

i see the problem now, your fans are not hooked up, take the one power cable and hook into the open one that is above the hard drive.

I'm trying to do that, but they just don't fit in with eachother for some reason. No matter how hard I try to push them together, or switch sides, they won't meet.

 

[hulkhelton]

wiggle them, its the little metal piece inside of the one isnt lining up properly... i guess this is your first pc build?

 

[lonelyequinox]

Yes, first build.

And success! It took some careful maneuvering of the pins, but I finally got the power supply to plug into one of the red, black, yellow things, and then I just connected things off of that.

My last question is: I bought two cold cathode lights. Is it okay for them to be touching things? (Power supply, motherboard, etc)

 

[hulkhelton]

i wouldnt leave them touching the motherboard...

 

[mfenn]

Yes, first build.

And success! It took some careful maneuvering of the pins, but I finally got the power supply to plug into one of the red, black, yellow things, and then I just connected things off of that.

My last question is: I bought two cold cathode lights. Is it okay for them to be touching things? (Power supply, motherboard, etc)

Yeah, I was going to say from your pictures that it didn't look like the optical drive and fans were actually plugged into the PSU.

For the cold cathode, I would probably try to mount it such that it is only touching the case.