Building PC Problem

[Penguin]

Hey Everyone,

Long shot, but a friends just built their first PC and is receiving no video output, no bios or anything. Seeing as we have some very tech aware people here I was wondering if anyone could help at all.

As described by my friend, everything is powering up nicely including the HD and DVD drive but nothing on the screen.

Heres the setup:

Asus M2N-E Socket AM2 NF570ULTRA Audio Lan USB2 2000FSB SATA ATX
Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 CL=5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR2-667 1.8V
Enermax Liberty 500W Modular ATX2.2 PSU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core (2.0GHz) Socket AM2 L2 cache
LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x DVD±RW/RAM Black - Bare drive
Asus Nvidia 7600GT 256MB DDR3 TV out DVI PCI-E

They've already replaced the Mobo thinking that was the problem as there was no start-up beep from the internal speaker? but the replacement is the same.

He's sure it's all setup right and is probably a hardware issue? Possibly GFX/Processor?

Naturally this is very frustrating >.< I wish I could help more but I've never built my own PC, if anyone here thinks they know what the problem is/could be any help is much appreciated.

Penguin

 

[Trem]

Generally wrong speed CPU for the mobo when this happens with Intel. Either that or dodgy ram, but that usually gives a bleep but not always. I aren't so good on AMD builds and the CPU's. I would try (if possible) another stick of ram and another CPU for starters, always hard when you haven't got any lying around.

Edit -

The mobo is certainly the right one for the CPU, after looking around. He hasn't got one of the case studs touching the mobo has he? You know the brass ones that the mobo sits on, important they are all where they should be. Could be causing a short if he has, he needs to re-build the PC out of the case. Try it from nothing then add a different component then try it again and see what that throws up.

 

[Penguin]

Generally wrong speed CPU for the mobo when this happens with Intel. Either that or dodgy ram, but that usually gives a bleep but not always. I aren't so good on AMD builds and the CPU's. I would try (if possible) another stick of ram and another CPU for starters, always hard when you haven't got any lying around.

Edit -

The mobo is certainly the right one for the CPU, after looking around. He hasn't got one of the case studs touching the mobo has he? You know the brass ones that the mobo sits on, important they are all where they should be. Could be causing a short if he has, he needs to re-build the PC out of the case. Try it from nothing then add a different component then try it again and see what that throws up.

Thanks for the reply. He's already tried completely rebuilding it a few times. Doesn't think it's case studs touching the mobo either. He's now tested the GFX card elsewhere and that's peachy too. He thinks it's the CPU so that's next up for replacing. Hopefully that's the break in the chain and it'll work once that's sorted.

 

[Whipped]

If you can, double check the PSU on another board and make sure you have all the power connectors plugged in. Nothing at all sounds more like a power issue to me.

I know it sounds stupid, but double check any rocker switches on the PSU are set to on, then try it set to off, just in case the rocker switch was put in up-side down.

 

[Kryten]

Have to agree with ol' Whipped on that one. I know I keep going on about it, but the PSU is far more important to you and the rest of the PC than any other single part - and is also the most common failing part that can be responsible for any number of symptoms ranging from the odd blue screen, performance issues or, as you're getting, absolutely jack.

It's also a good tactic to remove everything from the system and try by replacing things bit by bit.

Take everything out, leaving just the motherboard, CPU and cooling system. Turn on, see if it beeps. Please note, some systems PC beeper is connected to the onboard sound system, so you may need speakers in to hear said beep.
By leaving out the RAM, if the motherboard and CPU are working as they should, it should beep like merry hell. If it doesnt, check the mobo, CPU and certainly that power supply.

Are you sure that all the power connectors are installed? Some supplies have a single block (24pin) and others have 2 blocks (20 pin and a separate 4 pin for 12v)

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Penguin]

Thanks again for the replies guys. They've got a new processor on the way (Decided to go for a better one also) which arrives tomorrow. They've already been through power several times, hopefully the processor swap will do the trick. If it doesn't next up will be testing the RAM as you say.

Thanks for the speaker suggestion also Kryten, they weren't using speakers to test the previous setup and i'll be sure to suggest this one.

 

[Whipped]

One other thing. If the original motherboard was from a dodgy batch and a replacement was requested soon enough after the initial purchase, it's not unlikley that the new motherboard was also from the dodgy batch. So don't be afraid to request another new motherboard if nothing else pans out.

 

[Penguin]

Thanks for the replies again everyone. The issue is fixed now with the replacement processor so it would appear that was problem. Seems PC building can be tricky business if you're not experienced so the advice was much appreciated.

 

[Trem]

Knew it wouldn't be PSU but I kept me mouth shut