stumped putting together this comp

[icecap0]

Ok so im helping my girlfriend "upgrade" her emachines. Actually we only kept the emachines ram, hard drive, dvd drive, and monitor. I connected everything but when i power it up nothing happens on the monitor. All the fans are running and it seems to be working but nothing on the monitor. The first time i started it up it went to a screen with the biostar logo and it just stayed there, no idea what that means since its the first time ive seen something like that. Now nothing shows up at all. It takes the monitor out of safe mode though so im stumped. I checked the connection to the video card it seems fine. I was thinking it is maybe the cpu but thats just a guess. any suggestions?


sapphire Radeon 9800 pro 128mb
2 512 DDR pc3200 sticks (i think)
biostar M7NCD Ultra mobo (nforce 2)
amd athlon xp 2800+ barton
some emachines 80 gig hard drive
thermaltake silentboost fan

 

[imported_g33k]

If you can't get it to post, it's either your mobo or proc. I'd try another mobo first and see if that's your problem.

 

[icecap0]

Damn, just got the mobo and proc from newegg today. *sigh*

Have any ideas on why it started up to a Biostar screen the first time, and never again. I'm going to try to take it home tonight and see if I could test the parts on my computer. But while I am here, any suggestions on what I could try, even if it sounds simple because sometimes I forget the simplest things.

Thanks

 

[mechBgon]

1) check the third & fourth photos on this page about the issue they illustrate.

2) your eMachines power supply may simply not have the power needed to propel a 2800+ with a 9800 Pro. What is its wattage rating, to start with?

3) check that this cable is hooked up.

4) more ideas: click the first link on this page for more stuff you can check on.


Good luck and welcome to the Forums

 

[icecap0]

looks like im gonna just have to take the parts home for testing. I doubt anything is wrong with them which makes me more confused

my girlfriend is very sad

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Some Mbs don't run until the battery jumper is moved to the run position. Batt is turned off to keep it from running down on the vendor's shelf. Check your MB manual. Jim

 

[jclose]

Try removing everything (even vid card) except the CPU and memory (remove one stick of mem, too - maybe one of them isn't working correctly). You should at least get a few warning beeps without the video card when you turn it on. Heck, remove all the memory even. (I think you will still get some beeps if the processor is OK. If you get some beeps without memory, put one stick in and try again.) If you really want to you could remove the processor as well, just to see how the MB behaves without one. This should help eliminate the PSU as underpowered (as mentioned above) as well as check the memory as the problem. You can do some web searches for BIOS beep codes to find out what the beeps mean (they never tell you in the motherboard manuals anymore).

Then add things back in one at a time, and power it back on between each item: memory, vid card, harddrive, CD drive, etc.

Hope this helps; it is never good to make your S.O. sad!