New build not displaying anything on power up

skudzy

skudzy

skudzy

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16 Sep 2007
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Hi guys ive just finished putting together my new rig, plugged in the monitor and pressed the power button to find that nothing appears on the screen. All the fans are running and everything seems to be running fine inside the case but theres just no output! I have no clue what to do now so any ideas or suggestions?

Spec (minus the raptor):
buildxd4.jpg
 
skudzy said:
Hi guys ive just finished putting together my new rig, plugged in the monitor and pressed the power button to find that nothing appears on the screen. All the fans are running and everything seems to be running fine inside the case but theres just no output! I have no clue what to do now so any ideas or suggestions
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Hey!

When you power up your computer, check the motherboard. There should be a red light near the ATX 24 pin power connector, does it show a red light AND a green light when the system is powered up or just a red light? Also double check that you have plugged in your 4 or 8 pin ATX rail next to the top left of the motherboard in addition to the 24 pin.
 
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Yep theres a red and a green light and i have plugged the 8 pin ATX cable in... arrgh this is so annoying! Does it matter which of the two ports on the gfx card i plug the monitor into? I have tried them both tho. Also, was i correct in attaching the separate power supply to the gfx card? The lead that came with it had a connector which branched off into two so i attached both ends to the power supply.
 
Okay green light would indiciate that the system is basically powering and you are just not getting a signal. I assume you aren't getting any beeps? Regarding the power supply it should have came with lots of modular cables. Two of them are PCI-E cables which are 6 pin with an additional 2 extra pins sticking out of them, from reading it sounds like you have plugged them both in, that correct? Was a bit confused by how you stated you plugged them in.
 
heh sorry, the gfx card came with what i assume to be one PCI-E cable (used that instead of the ones that came with the PSU) so i plugged that in. It splits into two connectors on the other end and i plugged them both into the power supply.

There arent any beeps no. Sorry for the lack of insightful observations! This is my first build!
 
Hmm I'm guessing that the connector that came with the graphics card is a "2x Molex -> 1x 6 pin PCI-E", and you have to plug 2 molex into it to get 1 pci-e. This should be okay, I'm assuming as I don't know 100%, that the 8800 GTS only has 1x 6 pin PCI-E power port? If it has 2 then you need both plugged in. If it's only got one then it might be worth using one of the cables that came with the power supply to use the rail, there might be something regarding the power supply that means that it's PCI-E rails need to come from certain ports on the PSU.

By that I mean that on the PSU you have two seperate ports on the PSU when you look at the connectors (see the pic, the 6 pin ones), those are for the PCI-E lanes. I'd try plugging one of the cables into that and then into the graphics card and seeing if it boots up and you get a display. If you do then you know you'll need to use that cable instead of the 2x molex -> 1x 6pin splitter than came with the graphics card.

afexr9.jpg
 
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ok i switched over to using the one that came with the PSU and plugged it into the PCI-E socket on the PSU but no change. One thing i have noticed is that when i press the power button it all starts powering up and then it kinda dies for a couple of seconds, green light goes out and then it automatically starts powering up again and then carries on running. Does this tell you anything?
 
skudzy said:
ok i switched over to using the one that came with the PSU and plugged it into the PCI-E socket on the PSU but no change. One thing i have noticed is that when i press the power button it all starts powering up and then it kinda dies for a couple of seconds, green light goes out and then it automatically starts powering up again and then carries on running. Does this tell you anything?
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Yeah I've heard of that problem before with the Abit IP35 boards, a later revision of the BIOS was apparantly meant to fix that issue, I'm not sure that this problem is related to your no-display issue.

A few more things to check, then I think I'm out of ideas :/

  • Is the graphics card fan spinning up normally? indicating power
  • I notice that you bought 2 monitors, have you tried only using one monitor and on both DVI ports on the graphics card?
  • Do you have a fan header plugged into the CPU_FAN header on the motherboard? Otherwise it won't boot
  • Have you tried with 1 stick of RAM?
I'll try to think of more things that could be the problem. It's a shame it's the IP35-E and not the more advanced board as it comes with a POST LED thing that can you give better ideas.. but nevermind :-)
 
  • When the graphics fan starts thats when the computer dies for a couple of seconds but then it runs fine once it all restarts.
  • Ive been using just one monitor so far and tested it on both DVI ports and still nothing.
  • Yep the CPU fan is plugged into the CPU_FAN header and it runs when power is switched on.
  • Just tried it with 1 stick of RAM and theres no change.

Noo this cant be the point where i just despair and start praying that it simply works! Is there anything more anyone can suggest?

On the PCI-E plug theres 2 pins that extend from the 6 pin plug but arent connected to anything... is that right? Is it worth unplugging the DVD drive and HDD and try it without them?
 
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it may be that your ram is currently incompatible with your motherboard or that your ram is the wrong voltage. Would type more but my phone is not liking the reply any and i cant see what i an writing . In going to freertyle cant see what ibm writing. You could try bios flashing the with the latest one using a contacke floppy. For the ran volts you can use different ran to enter the and them change the volts. I hope this makes sense sorry but he it helps them great. Heh.
 
No unfortunately i cant get anything to appear on the screen. This is driving me mad because in theory there shouldnt be any problem... plug this in, that in and switch it on! Simple! Arrgh. Could it be that it is actually booting to the bios and that i simply cant see it? The monitor just constantly says 'Check Signal' as if nothing is plugged in at all.

There isnt anything plugged into the SYS_FAN header if that makes a difference. Dont know what i would plug in there coz ive got the CPU fan on the CPU_FAN header and there arent any other fans with that kind of connection. What usually happens if the power supply isnt big enough? Could that be the issue? Also, on a side note, if ive only got a wireless keyboard would it be recognised when i first boot up to the bios (once i figure out how to get there!)?
 
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connect graphics ...1 stick ram...cpu..monitor..keyboard...power supply
nothing else if your trouble shooting
also make sure your heatsink is seated properly on the cpu...if its not making contact properly then you wont get very far.
it does sound like a power pack problem but that doesnt mean it is

also make sure everything is fitted properly..ram/graphics/cpu
try resetting cmos too
 
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That ram likes 1.9V, but the motherboard defaults to DDR2 standards which is 1.8V, which can cause issues. Had exactly the same problem when building a rig with that motherboard and ram for a friend.

Trick I used sucessfully was to only install a single memory stick. That got the machine booting up (All the way to windows infact). Anyway once it would startup, I could enter bios, and increase the memory voltage to 1.9. After that it was simply a matter of adding the second memory stick, and all was well after that.

Oh the power on power off power on thing... That seems to happen on IP35-E boards when a 1066FSB processor is installed. Im guessing it defaults to a 1333 strap, and when it powers up, if a 1066 processor is installed, it resets strap and power cycles. A bios update 'might' sort this howere, once past the initial cold boot it doesnt affect stability. Its just annoying the first time you power your PC. A 'reset' or 'reboot' doesnt trigger this effect. It only happens when the PC's been turned off.
 
memory said:
connect graphics ...1 stick ram...cpu..monitor..keyboard...power supply
nothing else if your trouble shooting
also make sure your heatsink is seated properly on the cpu...if its not making contact properly then you wont get very far.
it does sound like a power pack problem but that doesnt mean it is

also make sure everything is fitted properly..ram/graphics/cpu
try resetting cmos too
Click to expand...

Tried all that and still no joy. I realised this morning i hadnt plugged power into the 12v Auxiliary PCI-E power socket on the motherboard but even with that in there its not doing anything. I've reset the CMOS a number of times and tried with 1 ram, both ram, disconnecting things, plugging the monitor into each DVI port, taking the gfx card out, putting it back in and still nothing. If its a faulty component could it be the graphics card? I'll try hunting around for someone with a different card i can try in there but thats about the last thing i can think of doing unless anyone else suggests something.
 
Forgot to mention, nothing will come up on screen until the second time the board powers up, so you hit the power switch, it powers up, waits a few seconds, powers down, powers back up again, and then a few seconds later it should finally get around to powering up the graphics card etc.

Of course it is possible you have a faulty componant :(, The 12V Aux-PCI-E isnt really needed, but it does mean you get better loading on a multi rail PSU, and it puts less strain on the circuits within the motherboard, so worth using.. But forgetting to connect it wont actually damage anything in the short term.
 
Ok, tested a different graphics card and got the same result. Only thing is ive only just realised that on my monitor i hadnt switched over to the digital source so that was why it was complaining of no signal cable. Now thats done it sits on standby but it still doesnt fire up when i turn the computer on. I guess this means its not the gfx card causing the problems. *sigh* I guess that leaves the RAM or the motherboard. Ive tried with one ram in and theres no change there. Does that point to the motherboard being the source of my unhappiness?
 
no it could yet be the cpu or a lack of power also....just to be sure take the cpu out of the socket and check all the pins to make sure none of them are bent.
then re-seat it.

make sure you connect both power supplys into the motherboard..it could just be something silly so its best to check everything.

i would try and borrow someone elses power supply first....ive had a problem a few times when some lights come on...some fans spin yet nothing happens...its usually been the power supply so try and borrow someones to try.
 
It may still be worth trying the other memory stick (but still only 1 stick installed), or if you can borrow a stick from a friend, a slower memory chip may actually get you booting, as the SPD will detect the slower memory and change bios accordingly.

Likewise, if you have the chance, you could check your ram in another system to make sure its 'ok'

Im sure I read recently of someone having issues with the Corsair 520 when used with an IP35. however its basically the same as a Seasonic (the same neg voltage is missing on both PSU's), and my friends IP35 is running just perfectly on a Seasonic PSU.

I did notice when building my friends IP35, that even with the memory settings 'wrong' it would POST about 1 in 10 try's, the biggest clue about when it was going 'ok' was the cpu and gpu fans would slow down. The IP35 initially starts up with all the fans running full speed, and then reduces them to 'quiet' mode just before the screen normally comes on.

Hope you find the problem.
 
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