System will not POST, please help.

[hito]

I have built several systems before and the latest one is giving me some problems. The crucial system parts are as follows:

Computer Case: CM Centurion 5 Blue
Processor: AMD64 3000+ Venice
Memory: Corsair 2x512 PC3200
Video Card: eVGA 6800 256mb PCI-E
Hard Drive: WD 80GB
O/S: Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4-F
Monitor: Samsung 710N Black
PSU: Enermax Whisper II 460W

With everything in the system, I tried to power it up... The fans and drives all power up. Then I take a look at the monitor and nothing shows up...

I waited a few mins to see if anything would happen, but no post, text, or images appeared. So, I powered down the system and double checked the connections. After which I decided to remove and reinsert the CPU/HSF. It appeared that the HSF and CPU was cold to the touch. After reinstalling the CPU, I tried to power up the system again but no luck and the HSF was still cold to the touch.

After the CPU reinstallation I decided to remove everything but the key essentails, (CPU, video card and a stick of ram). Still no luck. After that, I decided to remove the motherboard from the case to eliminate any possibilities of a short... still no luck. After which I decided to swap in other components from my other systems. (Ram - Buffalo PC3200, Corsair - PC2700, Vid Card - A very old PCI based one, used another monitor, and also tried to use another PSU which was rated at 300Watts.) But sadly, this was the first system build with a 939 A64, so I could not swap in another cpu.

I also tried to test out the included diagnostic device that MSI included, which was a USB connector that had the 4 LEDs (green/red) as a troubleshooting device. That device did not even power up... no green or red leds ever appeared.

What do you think it is?

Please help!!!

- hito

 

[varzock]

Hito, you seem to be in the same situation as me. My system doesn't POST either. It crashed during a gameplay and since then it hasn't rebooted. I've tried the same things as you but with no luck so I'm also looking forward to find some kind of a solution to this.

It must be either the CPU or mobo that has been broken

 

[DogFaceMonk]

Do either of you hear a beep or any sort of beep sequence? If there isn't a single short beep, it didn't POST. If there is a beep sequence it is probably, video card or RAM (on an Award BIOS, anyway). Otherwise on a new PC, that has never POSTed, I would do what you did and remove the non-essential components, but I would also check the power supply-mobo connection, and the mobo manual to see if I need a 24-pin PSU. I am kinda assuming that the mobo isn't getting power. As to varzock, your problem could be that your CPU or graphics card basically 'melted' from overheating during a game, or the PSU could have failed, or a number of other things, but do try to remove non-essential components before troubleshooting. (Contrary to popular opinion hard drives are not essential to tell if something will POST.)

 

[varzock]

Originally posted by: DogFaceMonk
Do either of you hear a beep or any sort of beep sequence? If there isn't a single short beep, it didn't POST. If there is a beep sequence it is probably, video card or RAM (on an Award BIOS, anyway). Otherwise on a new PC, that has never POSTed, I would do what you did and remove the non-essential components, but I would also check the power supply-mobo connection, and the mobo manual to see if I need a 24-pin PSU. I am kinda assuming that the mobo isn't getting power. As to varzock, your problem could be that your CPU or graphics card basically 'melted' from overheating during a game, or the PSU could have failed, or a number of other things, but do try to remove non-essential components before troubleshooting. (Contrary to popular opinion hard drives are not essential to tell if something will POST.)

DogFaceMonk, thanks for your tips! I changed my PSU to my cousin's PSU and it didn't help at all. I also tried his GFX card with no luck. So should I really assume my mobo has fried dead? I removed all the non-essential components when this happened. The only things I left was my GFX card (removed the hard drives as well + CD-ROM). I also resetted the CMOS/BIOS which meant the system went back to integrated GFX on which I attached the GFX plug but still the monitor told me: no signal

 

[boomerang]

 

[varzock]

Ok. I think I've tried everything there is to try. I took off all the memory, hard drives, AGP GFX card, network card... resetted the CMOS/BIOS... turned on. "No signal. Cable connected OK" (the mobo has integrated gfx card so I used that)

the processor does get hot though but I guess this has nothing to do with anything since the current flows everywhere? (I'm not a pro at all with these as you can tell )


guess I gotta start looking for a new motherboard. What would you recommend? I'll most likely stick with the MATX boards and mini-cases anyway. Btw. does anyone of you have mini-atx cases and what are they like, what have you liked of them?

 

[DogFaceMonk]

Wait a sec, varzock; you need memory to get the thing to POST. Also, I forgot to mention that the harddrive tip only works if the power supply has some other load on it (like a case fan). Otherwise if the mobo is dead, you can fry your PSU, also. Try memory in there that you know is both good and compatible with your mobo. If that does nothing, it might be the mobo that died on you.

 

[Titan]

clear CMOS,
check ram is in correct slot,
make sure CPU is installed properly
make sure video card is seated properly
check speaker is connected correctly for beep codes.
If getting no beep codes at all, it is probably a bad PSU, only getting power to the fans but not enough to CPU. Make sure CPU connector (4-pin?) is connected to mobo.

I just built a dual opteron rig and the PSU was bad, no beeps, no post. After that, Ram was in wrong slot, got beeps.

 

[varzock]

I'm starting to accept that I wont get this system work anymore

but I got a friend who's willing to buy the rest of the stuff from me, except the hard drives and possibly the memory. What kind of price should I ask for?

 

[hito]

It was indeed a power issue. After using my main system's PSU to power up the motherboard it worked. Was hesitant to disassemble anything from my main system, but at least it fixed the problem. Thanks for all the help