Should a motherboard power up without any...

[BlackCatt]

...cards plugged in?

I have been having a problem getting my new MB to power up. Have read that it could be a PS or maybe the board was being shorted out by one of the pegs attaching it to the case. So I removed the entire MB and all the cards etc. just to see if I could get it to power up (leaving the power switch attached of course). I was hoping it would at least power up, and give me all kinds of beeps telling me stuff wasn't installed. Alas, when I press the power button and for a brief half second the power light on the MB and on the case just flashes on. I tried the same thing with a second PS I borrowed, with the same results. Is this a bad MB, or do I need at least some cards plugged in to even get power?

BlackCatt

 

[Mikendi]

What brand MB is it? A little more info may help.

 

[BlackCatt]

Sorry, the MB is a Epox 8KTA2, and I have a Duron 750 in it, with 128mb stick of ram in it (I have tried it both with and without the ram with the same result). The first time I attempted to boot up, I made it to the CMOS screen went to change the date and it just shut down. I tried to turn it on again, and it got back to the "press [del] for..." and then turned itself off again. Each time I tried starting it back up, the time it remained on got shorter and shorter, until it got to where it is now. I press the power button (after reseating the power cable) and the power lights just flash for a fraction of a second.

This sucks, I just got the pieces on Monday, put it together on Tuesday and it just doesn't want to co-operate.

 

[BlackCatt]

This isn't that hard of a question is it?

Bump...

 

[Peter]

You do have a fan and heatsink on the CPU, don't you?

'Cause if you don't, then either (a) the board's fan monitor kicks in and turns it back off instantly to protect the CPU or (b) the board doesn't have that and your CPU is now toast.

Unlike earlier processors, current .18 micron processors with their tiny flip-chip surface die within seconds with no cooling attached - this is especially true for Duron and Athlon with their high power consumption.

So ye olde method of powering it on shortly to see if it works, before letting the heatsink get in the way of further fiddling with the jumpers, will mean instant death to current systems ...

regards, Peter