New system; Fans spinning, led's ligthing up, but no image on monitor

[MrGaribaldi]

Hello...

I've got a bit a problem...
I'm building 2 (identical) computers for my "job", but when I turn it on, no image appears on the screen....

This problem really has managed to get me stuck, which isn't too often happens, so I'll take any info gladly!

First, the specs:
MSI KT4M-L motherboard
Duron 1.3Ghz
EKL. ast cpu-fan (that's what the box says)
256Mb PC2700 DDR
Crucial ATI 8500LE 128Mb
Qtech midi tower ATX 6021CMD (silver)
Maxtor 30GB (DiamondMax Plus 8)
MSI cd player (52x)

Everything is securly fastened, all cables are in place and the fans spin up... Even the case LED's are working...
But there is no image on the monitors, and for some reason the pc speaker doesn't make any sound (probably due to bad case speaker)...

I know the monitors work, as I get a "Make sure cable is connected" message when I hit the menu button... (There are two different monitors, and they're at work, which I'm not, so no specs... Sorry!)
I've also tested the CRT's with a Dell laptop, and that worked perfectly...

So I figured that it was double dud GPU's, and took a PCI card from an old 'puter... But still no image...

I've reset the BIOS several times, by shorting the jumper, I've taken out everything but Vid.card, cpu, mainboard and ram, but still no image...

The PSU is a 300W cheapo, but I built another system around it without any problems, so I doubt that's the culprit... And the components aren't the most powerhungry either...

I wonder if I might have crushed the cpu core, as the cpu fan (recommended by the store) was a tight fit, but I can't see how that would result in no image on the screen...

I've taken one of the 'puters home to test, but since it's close to 2 AM here, that'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Do any of you have any suggestions about what could be the reason for this? Any input is greatly appreciated, as I don't know where to start....

Could f.ex. the monitor cable have been broken (I wasn't too careful when moving them around), or is that a very unlikely scenario? (All the pins are there, so that's not the problem)

 

[poertner_1274]

Well I know from experience that when I built my first computer I was given a bad mobo. I got all the same symptoms with mine, but at least my PC speaker said "Your CPU may have a problem" over and over. So I put in my buddies cpu (exactly the same one that worked) and got same message, so I took it back to store and they gave me a new one, and all has worked ever since.

That could be a possibility, especially if your mobo doesn't have a voice doctor to help you out.

That is about all I can think of atm, I hope it helps a little.......

 

[XtR-X]

It also can be your PSU. Alot of PSU are very different, as the wattage is the maximum wattage, it doesn't mean it will ever reach or go to that point.

It's like buying shoes, some size 12's are bigger or smaller than other size 12's. Some fit better and perform better than others. Sometimes the sole comes off.

 

[iss]

I have had similar situation twice. the first time even though I was absolutely certain the video card was seated properly it wasnt. after pulling it out and reseating it the probem was solved. the second time one of the two sticks of memory was bad soon as I removed the bad stick no problem.

you said you reset the bios but did you check to make sure that somehow the bios isnt set to boot thru the PCI instead of the AGP? ( had that happen once beofre too)

might also want to make sure that there is nothing touching the board possibly shorting something. ( had that happen and two of my memeory slots would not work, If a put a stick of memory in one of the two non workign slots the system would not boot)

 

[young&wild]

I don't think its gonna do with the PSU, Duron isn't gonna suck that much power as an Athlon would do.

It could be either problem with the motherboard, the CPU or the graphics card. I faced a rather similar problem last time with my KTV4 rig failing to start, after hours of reseating i finally found the cpu core to be damaged. Got a new cpu and presto it started working.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Thank you for your input...
I can rule out the PCI instead of AGP problem, as I've tested with a PCI card, and got the exact same problem... I've also tried reseating the vid.card several times...

It could be the ram, as the dimm slots doesn't force the stick into a 90 degree angle, but allows it to be tipped a bit to either side (this happens in both dimm slots)...
I'll try with some other ram to check...

I doubt it's the PSU, as a similar one is currently running my old Athlon 1.4Ghz... But I'll test that as well...

I'm currently leaning towards bad mobos... They weren't in the proper packing (just a ziplock bag in a brown padded envelope)...

I'll also try another cpu, as I'm afraid I managed to crush the core when installing the HSF... Heck, one of the HSF was actually configured wrong (the arm that fastens the hsf to the clips was placed between the wrong "prongs")...

Well, I'm off to testing....

 

[poertner_1274]

Sounds like you have a few options to look into, I hope all goes well and is an easy fix.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Well, I've tested both 'puters, and found the motherboard to be the culprit...

I basicly took out everything but the mobo, and put it known good hardware... Still nothing...

So now I'm waiting for them to send me an RMA number...

Let's just say I'm not very happy with them right now, as the mobo's most likely was damaged during transport due to poor packing (I bought bulk), since it was only packed in a padded brown envelope...
And the guy at tech support told me they can take up to eight days to finish testing & such, though it usually takes 4-5 days...
And when I tried to ask if there was a way I could possibly get it any faster, he just said they had to test the motherboards... But how long does it take to test a motherboard? If you're going to find out exactly what's wrong, it might take quite some time, but if you're just testing to see if everything works or not it doesn't take too long...

Sorry, I'm quite upset now , as I need at least one of the 'puters up and running on monday, and I go away for weekend...