New Computer Not Working

[Katana]

So I decided to finally upgrade to a new computer. I wanted to customize, so naturally I decided to go ahead and buy my own parts, etc, and build it myself. I bought the following components:

BioStar Ta770 A2+ MoBo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Processor
2Gigs (2x 1gb cards) Corsair RAM
500W Power Supply
MSI GeForce NX8800GT 512MB Graphics Card
Arctic Cooling Heat Sink
500GB Hard Drive

And here's what happened:

The plan was to install the new parts into my old computer (which was working great beforehand)...so I attempted, and after removing everything found that the MOBO was not going to fit in the Dell Case...so I got a new case that would fit it. So I decide to put all of the old parts back into the Dell Case and get it operational...old parts are in, ready to boot, press the power...MOBO LED (only 1) is on, fans start to spin, sounds like it's working...but I get no response from the monitor whatsoever, and from what I remember, no beeps from the MoBo...Okay I think, "I'll mess with this after I get my new parts set up..."

And so it continues...I put all of my new parts together, everything seems great, I power it up...and the result: No LED indicator lights are on, all fans are spinning, disk tray opens and is operational, I get one beep, which from the handbook is supposed to be "all systems normal", yet no monitor response.

I asked a few people and they said that I may have faulty RAM...so I put the RAM in every possible combination of using both and one stick...same result.

Some of the things that I should point out is that I really don't have a way of checking old parts vs new parts, as pretty much nothing is compatible between the two...also I only have one monitor, so if that's the problem I really have no way of checking that out. And there is also no on-board video card feature for my MoBo, only place to hook up the monitor is on the Video Card. Lastly, if there are any faulty parts, they would have to be DoA...everything in this baby is brand new except for the monitor, case, and disk tray.

Sorry for the long post, and I'd like to point out that I don't know when I can read/reply to this, as I'm on my mom's work computer...may be tomorrow, may be a couple of days...Thanks!

 

[Tedster]

I hope you didn't use the DELL PSU. Many of the PSUs are proprietary with reverse polarity.

 

[Katana]

Nope, this is a brand new PSU...here's a link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012

I can link to any other new parts that I have upon your request if that would help to diagnose the problem.

 

[X1950XT]

Hmm it could be the cable going to the monitor or the monitor itself... Try using another cable to connect from the PC to the monitor.. Does the monitor turn on at all?

 

[Katana]

The monitor behaves as if everything is normal when the computer is shut off. So basically it gives me the standard blinking green LED, yet when I power up the system, it acts as if nothing happened at all.

 

[X1950XT]

Ok did you try another cable connecting from the PC to the monitor? The one that sends the signal, VGA or DVI or whatever it is.


I don't think it's the PSU because the monitor does not take power from the PSU.

 

[Lynx0849]

What cable did you use from the new video card to the monitor?

Recently I had trouble like you describe and discovered that the DVI cables I had didnt have the 4 analog pins on them. New cables and everything worked.

I never had looked at the DVI cables closely so hadn't noticed the different flavours.

 

[X1950XT]

Yeah what lynx said

 

[Katana]

The monitor plug that goes from the video card to the monitor reacts when I plug or unplug into video card. I tried using my old PCI card in my new system and it gave me the same results. So I don't think its the graphics card either.

 

[kimsland]

I believe you may need to Bench Test your system at this point (ie all addons including HardDrive and DVD drive out) This is just to get it to turn on.

Also I have had a new case fan cause this issue too, so uplug that first.

 

[Katana]

I've tried what you are talking about before, where only the Graphics card, one stick of ram, the CPU (and heat sink), and the monitor is hooked up, no peripherals, and I still get no monitor response...

Seeing as the motherboard LED's responses indicate CPU error, I have sent the CPU in for a replacement CPU, so when it gets here I will hook it up and see if I get a change in results.

I got my old system to work again, it seems that there was a bent row of (connector things?) on the bottom of the old CPU, so it wasn't hooking up correctly...everything is working great now. So I'll be able to keep you guys posted daily now if necessary.

Thanks for all the help!

EDIT: Seeing as how I am replacing the new CPU, will I need new thermal paste stuff that came between the CPU and the heat sink? It's all dried up now and probably won't serve it's function (which I really am not sure what it does in the first place)...

 

[kimsland]

Actually re-reading the post, did you ever try motherboard (jumper) reset on the bios? (probably did)

Anyway, about remounting the CPU.

There are amillion pages on this, and a few hundred here at TechSpot!
But I'm just going to make it easy and tell you !

Yes you need new thermal paste
You should purchase new thermal paste
Have a look at ArcticSilver Instructions
Here's some of the compounds there


You should also (actually you must) clean with isoprophyl alcohol. Not sure where to buy (usually most places)

The reason why you need new clean, very thin layer, of thermal paste.
Is to make good contact from the CPU to the Heatsink (and MUST be used)

 

[Katana]

The new CPU came in today, and I hooked it up, but got the same result: No monitor response. So to review, and help diagnose the problem:

Graphics Card
I have tested my old PCI card with this machine, I have gotten no monitor response at all when I boot up, not even a BIOs screen. Acts as if the power to the tower is off. I know my old PCI card works, as It's currently back in my old machine, working flawlessly. Fan on the NX8800GT card spins up, and I have the power cord from the PSU in place on the card. I have tried the monitor cord in both receptor locations on the card.

Power Supply
Seems to be fully operational. The fans spin at all locations, the disk-tray will eject, and I have even tested each individual connector for electric current, which it had.

RAM Cards
I have tried to rearrange these in every possible formation, and have even tried the machine with just one stick of RAM in...same results as before.

Hard Drive
Brand new store-bought hard drive...

CPU and Heatsink
Just got an RMA on the CPU, as that's what the LED lights on the motherboard indicated was the problem (no lights on for CPU/chipset error). Brand new CPU came in today, put it in with the heat sink attached, and got the same results as before.

I just can't figure out what the problem is!

EDIT: I did not try the Jumper Reset thing you're talking about...a friend told me that I shouldn't mess with those unless I absolutely have to...

 

[kimsland]

The bios reset should be tried (guess what I know)

You are down to PowerSupply (yes it can, is mostly likely this)
Or Motherboard

But this is only from, after bench testing (ie HardDrive; CD/DVD; Case fan; all other cables - Out)

But that was mentioned earlier