Help troubleshooting powering up problem

[Krovax]

Hi,

Thanks for taking a moment to read my question.

I recently built a computer and attempted to power on the first time. I do already think I know what the problem is but I want to verify.

When powered on, for 2-3 seconds the fans/lights turned on and then off with a temporary period of time where I couldn't power again. If I waited 30-60 seconds I could try to power again with the same result.

I have a Zalman heatsink with an Intel Core i5 2400k on a Gigabyte motherboard. I don't think I applied the thermal grease well enough and the connection between the mobo, cpu, and heatsink is not the best.

Am I right that the faulty connection with the CPU is what causes this exact problem? Everything is connected properly, and the only other reason I think is possible is that I shorted a component.

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[wheelieInCali]

The thermal grease will not affect the operation of the computer until it overheats and either the CPU dies or overheats to the point that the mobo senses this and shuts down. If it's not even getting to the post, I doubt that is the problem. It sounds like a power supply problem to me. What output your PSU rated at?

 

[Krovax]

Heres my build:

• OCZ ZS Series 550W ATX12V V2.2 24PIN ATX SLI Ready 80PLUS Bronze Performance Power Supply 135mm Fan
  
• Samsung SH-222AL 22X DVD Writer SATA Lightscribe OEM
  
• Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case Black 3X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS W/ Fan Controller & Temp Display
  
• Samsung S22A300B 22IN Widescreen LED Backlit LCD Monitor 1920X1080 5ms DVI VGA
  
• Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB 2X4GB DDR3 1866MHZ PC3-15000 9-11-9-27 1.65V XMP Ready Desktop Memory Kit
  
• Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB
  
• Zalman CNPS5X-SZ COPPER/ALUMINUM 3-HEATPIPE 92MM Hydraulic Bearing Fan LGA1155/1156/1366/775/AM2/AM3
  
• Gigabyte P67X-UD3-B3 ATX LGA1155 P67 DDR3 3PCI-E1 2PCI 2PCI-E16 CrossFireX SATA3 USB3 *IR-$22*
  
• EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 2XDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card

It's been ruled down to the cpu/motherboard/power supply. I haven't attempted powering out of the case yet, but the power supply doesn't seem to work anyways as its built in fan doesn't work.