New build, no boot.

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 09:28

Hi all,

So I'm sure you're all looking forward to the 5 billionth new build not booting thread but here goes.

Agreed I would help a friend with a new build for him last night. Got all the bits round (thanks OCUK for quick delivery of some of the bits we ordered!) and started going through the motions.

Empty old case, fit new PSU, fit new motherboard, fit new CPU, fit CPU fan and plugged in fan lead to the board, fit RAM, fit graphics card, connect 24 pin and 8 pin power to board and CPU, fit 6 pin power to graphics card, fit power switch, speaker leads etc.

Everything seemed good to go. PSU switch on. Green LED on board. Great. Hit the power switch annnnddd nothing. No fans, no beeps, no anything.

So I go all the way back to basics, RAM out, GPU out, motherboard out of case and breadboarded on top of the box it came in with the anti-static underneath. Just the breadboarded motherboard, CPU, fan, and 24 and 8 pin power and power switch/speaker connected. PSU switch back on, green LED comes on, hit the power switch annnnddd nothing. Not a squeak. Again. Damn.

So luckily I also had my own Ivybridge build used daily, so off comes the sides of my own PC (real friend dedication here!). My first thought it PSU, so I disconnect the 24pin and 8 pin power of both builds, and hook up the 24pin and 8 pin from my PSU. Green LED comes on, great, hit the power annndd again nothing.

So I take off the CPU fan, take out the CPU, make sure nothing is bent or out of place, re sit it all, PSU back on, green light on, power switch pressed. Nothing. No boot. CPU isn't even warm.

Now I'm thinking, OK maybe the CPU is duff. So I begin the process of dismantling the massive heatsink on my own motherboard, take out my CPU, replace with the one from the new build, plug in the new CPU fan, connect the lead. Put the power cables back into my motherboard, PSU on, hit the power annndd voila! It boots fine. So its not the CPU.

My logic then leads me to the only thing left. The motherboard. And thats where we stand now. Friend has since taken the motherboard back with him to be RMA'd and hopefully get a replacement. But now I'm second guessing myself. Did I leave anything out? Did I forget something glaringly obvious? Motherboard wouldn't work with different PSU, wouldn't boot with both power cables in. CPU is fine. CPU is known to be valid with that motherboard so shouldn't be a compatibility issue. Also tried using the power switch from my own build, and that didnt do anything. Motherboard was breadboarded so now case interferance. Tried using the RAM from my own build. Surely it can only have been a duff motherboard?

Build is as follows:

ASUS P8H77-V LE
Intel i3 3220
550W Cooler Master GX PSU
1GB MSI Rad HD 7850 OC
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600

mranderson · 1 Mar 2013 at 09:31

Think you did everything you could have done. I would probably try starting the system without using the switch just to make sure it was not the switch or pwr cables connected the wrong way.

Jay85 · 1 Mar 2013 at 09:40

This happened to me before and as said above it was the power switches put in the wrong way round. Had s fiddle with that and it booted up fine.

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 09:47

Jay85 said:
This happened to me before and as said above it was the power switches put in the wrong way round. Had s fiddle with that and it booted up fine.

mranderson said:
Think you did everything you could have done. I would probably try starting the system without using the switch just to make sure it was not the switch or pwr cables connected the wrong way.

Cheers guys, I did think exactly this so made sure I tried the power switches from both builds (I know mine works perfectly) and also tried both, both ways round. Still didnt work. Admittedly I didn't try doing a short and eliminating the switch altogether, but I thought at the time that mine was fine so wouldn't have been a problem.

alex20000 · 1 Mar 2013 at 09:58

Mine did this, have you tried taking everything out and completely rebuilding again? I did this and it worked, I must have missed something small.

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 10:04

alex20000 said:
Mine did this, have you tried taking everything out and completely rebuilding again? I did this and it worked, I must have missed something small.

I'll be honest, we didn't try putting it all back and retesting. I figured if it didn't work breadboxed with just the CPU and RAM, it wouldn't work with anymore attached or back in the case, but now I'm thinking maybe I should have! Like you say, could have been anything small. I'm eager to hear back from the RMA on them testing the mobo.

riddler · 1 Mar 2013 at 10:28

Silly suggestion but did you make sure the raising screws were in the case and you didn't just screw the mb directly onto the panel? Would cause a mb to short circuit and I have seen it happen before.

Deceptor · 1 Mar 2013 at 10:32

Doesn't sound like you missed anything to me, I'd have drawn the same conclusion

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 11:10

riddler said:
Silly suggestion but did you make sure the raising screws were in the case and you didn't just screw the mb directly onto the panel? Would cause a mb to short circuit and I have seen it happen before.

Surely breadboarding the mobo outside the case eliminates that though?

Deceptor said:
Doesn't sound like you missed anything to me, I'd have drawn the same conclusion

Cheers! Thats what I'm mostly hoping to hear lol clutching at straws otherwise!

Leprechaun312 · 1 Mar 2013 at 11:56

Doers sound like a duff board if it was ram ro graphics card then you would boot and for ram hear beeps and for a duff g-card you would see nothing on screen but the fact that it wouldnt even turn on does suggest the motherboard if the cpu works in another motherboard....are you sure you had the right slot for the switch like could you maybe have put the switch into the pwr led? just a thought though i assume you've got eyes and can read and have used the right slot

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:42

Leprechaun312 said:
Doers sound like a duff board if it was ram ro graphics card then you would boot and for ram hear beeps and for a duff g-card you would see nothing on screen but the fact that it wouldnt even turn on does suggest the motherboard if the cpu works in another motherboard....are you sure you had the right slot for the switch like could you maybe have put the switch into the pwr led? just a thought though i assume you've got eyes and can read and have used the right slot

Aye, definitely in the right slot. Was pouring over the motherboard manual for hours trying to figure out what else it could be. Tried every combination of those damn switches I could think of lol

window · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:48

Where there any lights on the mobo to show power at all?

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:50

window said:
Where there any lights on the mobo to show power at all?

Only the standard single LED light to show power was getting through when the PSU was turned on. Thats what I couldn't understand. No shorts, CPU tested good, power getting to board. Working power switch used. No start. Just didn't make sense.

Idleman · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:58

Did you try it with your Cpu in his mobo?

jon. · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:01

Idleman said:
Did you try it with your Cpu in his mobo?

Unfortunately I didn't, we were trying to count our losses and so he took the motherboard back with him to get RMA'd and I kept his CPU to try in my mobo, which turned out to be absolutely fine. I figure if his original CPU was fine in my machine, my CPU wouldn't likely have been any better in his. Plus my CPU is all thermal pasted up for my Hyper Evo 212 heatsink and I was already dying inside with each component I was having to remove from mine and didn't fancy having to redo the CPU and heatsink when I reseated it all lol