Issues with a new PC build

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:57 pm

Hey guys,

I attempted to build a new HTPC last weekend and have had nothing but troubles. I've built about 10+ computers before, so this is puzzling me.

Basically, on boot, all fans go, the hard drive kicks up and the mobo lights up just fine. Everything looks good, but I get no video. I didn't have an internal speaker (bios speaker), so I bought one, as well as a better PSU because my old one only had 4 out of 8 ATX connector, so I bought one to cover all 8.

Same thing, no video. My monitor says the cpu is in standby and nothing happens.

So, I decided to test the speaker, I pulled a memory stick out and the speaker reported RAM failure.

Put the stick back in, and no noise, perfect boot but still no video.

What gives?

Mobo:
ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

case:

Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

CPU:

Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3530

RAM:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

and a 650w Corsair PSU.

thoughts??

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 6:04 pm

what video card does it have ?

are the extra power wires connected to video card ?

or is this on-board video ?

so you can't even see the BIOS menu ?

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 6:39 pm

I put in a 8600GT just in case and it still has the same issue. So it's the on-board video AND the card that has the issue

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 7:36 pm

if you can get into the BIOS menu, try manually setting the memory timings and voltage to what Gskill recomends.

maybe try resetting the CMOS via jumper.

i'm just throwing things out there that might be an issue

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:24 pm

I can't see the BIOS menu or anything at all

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:21 pm

are the ram chips in the correct slots? Are they compatible with the motherboard? Are ALL connections to the motherboard in place for power? Is it grounded to the case properly?

Is the Bios version on the board the newest since your processor may not be supported in current Bios or one that was shipped with the board? Never know....

Also is the monitor good? Cable to monitor good?

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:12 am

RAM is tested for the board. I would try removing and reinstalling the mobo, checking to make sure all the screw mounts match up to holes in the mobo and are screwed in.

Rivas · Post by **Rivas** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:02 am

make sure the RAM is on QVL, you got also 2 dvi ports try changing them.
You got memOK! button and this will automatically tune any memory for optimum compatibility.

I hope the pins on the dvi cable are not damaged.

btw he doesn't have jumper for clearing cmos .... however if something is wrong with the memory (not counting incompatible memory) he would get red light (yes it does have this feature on the mobo)

I would first reset the cmos tho and go from there. Remove the battery for 20 minutes and let it sit.

And on board video for HTPC .... LGA 1156 boards that pretend to offer multi-card support, but in reality only have a second full length slot running at x4 (which is unusable for anything approaching high-end graphics) ?
It's a handicap.

... make sure your new PSU is plugged properly your motherboard has older (and also newer) components as the eight-pin ATX power socket which will take the plugs of older power supplies and has a plastic placeholder covering four holes if you're using a newer PSU.

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:29 am

Thanks Rivas -- I'll take the CMOS battery out for longer (usually its just for a minute) and try again.

Curious about the motherboard mounting screws, why would I need to put all of them in? I have all the ones that the case provided (one or two in the middle didn't have the option), would this really be the cause of my problems?

And yes, the monitor is good, the cable works fine with my other computer (on the same monitor).

The RAM is compatible, its on the QVL.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:45 am

The problem would be if the mounts touch the mobo somewhere other than where a screw would fit in, and if you have the mounts there and not screwed in, its just better to add teh screws.

But if you have empty holes with no screw or mount, don't worry.

morbidpete · Post by **morbidpete** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:48 pm

Try the onboard video without a vid card in it? If it has it. Buddies PC 4 days ago just would not boot. No beeps or nothing. Fans and lights are good. Yanked the vid card and all was well. Popped the vid card back in. Dead.

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:02 pm

morbidpete wrote:Try the onboard video without a vid card in it? If it has it. Buddies PC 4 days ago just would not boot. No beeps or nothing. Fans and lights are good. Yanked the vid card and all was well. Popped the vid card back in. Dead.

already tried...still no video

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:23 pm

Gundamflare wrote:already tried...still no video

May be a limp/dead motherboard with a PCI-Express issue or could be that the power supply isn't producing enough power for the card? Got a smaller video card to try that doesn't require a extra power hook up?

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:51 pm

Sava700 wrote:May be a limp/dead motherboard with a PCI-Express issue or could be that the power supply isn't producing enough power for the card? Got a smaller video card to try that doesn't require a extra power hook up?

I have a smaller vid card and it doesn't take PCI-E...I have a 650w PSU.

loop2kil · Post by **loop2kil** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:02 pm

Reseat cpu, ram and vid if you have not already tried.
Yard's advice on taking the MB out and making sure there are no studs hitting the back of the board is good to check also (was my problem on my very first pc build 10 years ago )....might even be a good idea to take the board all the way out and try booting outside the case for shits and giggles....nothing but video, cpu, ram and psu plugged into the board.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:36 pm

Gundamflare wrote:I have a smaller vid card and it doesn't take PCI-E...I have a 650w PSU.

Well give it a shot.. and even though it says 650w, it may not have the proper 12volt rails to run a high end card... I think the 9800GTX models require around 38amps on a single rail. Also as I said before make sure you have ALL power connections hooked up on the motherboard, some boards require not only the 24/20pin hook ups but also a 4 pin hookup and sometimes even another place.

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 2:21 pm

Sava700 wrote:Well give it a shot.. and even though it says 650w, it may not have the proper 12volt rails to run a high end card... I think the 9800GTX models require around 38amps on a single rail. Also as I said before make sure you have ALL power connections hooked up on the motherboard, some boards require not only the 24/20pin hook ups but also a 4 pin hookup and sometimes even another place.

That wouldn't explain why the onboard video still isn't working.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 2:33 pm

Gundamflare wrote:That wouldn't explain why the onboard video still isn't working.

sure it would... not hooking up all of the power hookups to the motherboard most certainly would. But as I said its worth a shot to make sure, are they all hooked up?

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:06 pm

ah sorry, maybe i wasn't clear. I have everything on the mobo hooked up, the 8 atx and the 24pin.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:36 pm

Gundamflare wrote:ah sorry, maybe i wasn't clear. I have everything on the mobo hooked up, the 8 atx and the 24pin.

I had a DFI board that required one more small 4 pin hookup...so just saying ya never know.

But if you've reseated everything, and you've pulled the board out of the case and layed it on a table hooked up and yet it still doesn't show a video signal even on another LCD screen then you do have something bad and I'm going to point to the motherboard at this time.

Gundamflare · Post by **Gundamflare** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:01 pm

Sava700 wrote:I had a DFI board that required one more small 4 pin hookup...so just saying ya never know.

But if you've reseated everything, and you've pulled the board out of the case and layed it on a table hooked up and yet it still doesn't show a video signal even on another LCD screen then you do have something bad and I'm going to point to the motherboard at this time.

Thanks. I did everything mentioned above and pulled it out of the case. With the 3 random reboots in the beginning that happens (goes for about 30s, reboots, then reboots again then goes on as long as I leave it on), I'm just going to say its a bad mobo.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:27 pm

Gundamflare wrote:Thanks. I did everything mentioned above and pulled it out of the case. With the 3 random reboots in the beginning that happens (goes for about 30s, reboots, then reboots again then goes on as long as I leave it on), I'm just going to say its a bad mobo.

Yeah if you've tried one ram chip at a time.. doing the same thing no matter which single chip your using... even tried in different slots? Then yeah I'd point to the Motherboard and would start the RMA process with who you got it from. Cause even without a hard drive installed you should at least see a bois or something on the screen at startup.