help with built please

Woden

ok so my friend wanted a computer, cheap as possible for office work and surfing so we went for this

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301141&cks=PRL

i also got the oppunity to build a computer which i had never done before.

so on saturday i built it and was well chuffed with myself. apart from slicing my hand on the case when building an a couple of minor problems it went fine.

then last night my friend said it wasn't booting, just powering on for a few seconds and then shutting down.

so i took it down today and surely it was doing what he said i.e cpu fan briefly spins up then spins down. i was wondering was it the heatsink seating as that was the part i had problems most with and thought it could be overheating.

i decided to try a different psu first though and connected an old codegen to the main power connector and left it outside the case and sure enough it booted to the bios. so i thought fine its just the crappy psu gone straight away.

so i put the codgen in the case and closed her all up but now when i try to get it on the same thing happens very brief spin up then nothing.

so does anyone have any ideas? could it be the heatsink? one of the minor problems i had was supporting the motherboard they only gave two brass thingies and the plastic thing in the case i couldn't get in, i just used the smalll plastic things put in the metal holes to stop the motherboard hitting the case.
and that was fine.

cheers

data

Töpher

If the motherboard is touching the case it would explain refusal to boot.

Woden

perhaps i should remake it, i found brass jobbies?

Webmonkey

What temperature does the BIOS show, if theres something like PC Health monitor in there. Most bios's have them.

TheHairyFairy

Sounds like a short deffo.

Fairy

Woden

cheers fairy seems to be leaning that way will look at it tomorrow morning.

webmonkey it doesn't even post to get to the bios, the time when it did post and i changed the psu the temp on the cpu was only 28c as it was booting up, the computer typically idled at 45c

ARKANGEL

make sure data that the 12 volt rail is plugged in too,,its the small long power adaptor,thought it does sound like a short between mobo and case,,hope its not fried...also make sure all fans ie system fan and cpu fan etc are all plugged into mobo cos this is another cause of short boots

Col_Loki

Its almost definetly one of two things....(from what ive seen)

1) Its shorting off the case, common problem you need to use the brass spacers and make sure you only use the ones that line up with the motherboard.

2)Its the power supply. You might get it to boot sometimes and have problems with cold booting, the PSU gives an initial surge of power which charges the capacitors and doesent have enough left to boot. Pressing the button again it will boot as the capacitors have held there charge and its easier on the PSU.

Another option now that i think of it is the heatsink, its rarer but still happens. Check the seating mabye try another......... that feckin caught me but there was a little light to tell me that was the problem (bottom corner of mobo).

Woden

cheers lads bought to go off and re seat the motherboard now.

with regards to the 12v rail is that the little four pin plug on the psu as i can't find any pins for that on the motheroboard for me to connect on it

on my nf7 its just above the main power connector but i can't see anythign on this epox

cheers

data

Woden

ok lads, reseated the motherboard with an extra brass spacer for support and there is a little plastic insulator between the motherboard and one part of the case that would touch off each other. they came with the motherboard.

when i tried to turn it on with the codgen same thing happened fan spun and spun down. when i tried it with the qtec psu it spun even less.

i'm wondering about the short coz i don't know why it would have worked all weekend and then not now.

but i'm also wondering why the codgen psu worked on initiall and then doesn't now.

is there something that can blow psu's on motherboards?

i'd try my antec psu but i don't want to risk losing it.

gonna try reseat the heatsink now, its a bitch to get off and i fear i'll damage the cpu

cheers

data

Woden

right i'm such a f-ing noob i had the heatsink on the wrong way around so that it was touching the socket. you know the lip that is meant to just come over the socket?

i had that on the wrong side. changed it around there and booted and it seemed to go ok

will do some testing and put it back together and hopefully all will be well and the temps will be ok as the thermal pad/paste is a bit messed up

ta for all the help, i'll keep yee posted.

data

Woden

only the codgen boots it, so it seems the qtec psu is gone and it was a seperate issue.

right i'm meant to be going to the cinema, i'll finish her off when i get back

data

Woden

ok put it back together and went to boot it up, but the monitor wasn't turning on, like it wasn't activating it or something

then when i went to boot it again i found the codgen wasn't working it wouldn't start the cpu fan.

so i dug out the only other psu i had a 145w from my old p3. plugged this into the motherboard and again the cpu fan was spinning away fine.

however once again the monitor didn't come on

any ideas

cheers

data

Webmonkey

hmm 145w is probably too little to power the processor, perhaps thats why you arn't getting a post or display. I would try a 300w powersupply and see what happens. If you are getting away with 145w, to have the fan constantly spinning then it must be PSU problem.

Only other thing could be the processor over heating, did you put terminal compond in between it. I have a similer problem like that here at work and the compond done the trick. Sometimes i wudn't get a monitor display either

Woden

ok i'll probably get a lend of a psu off someone tomorrow night and give it a try.
i refuse use my good psu on it i'm not risking it

Ciaran500

Get rid of that crappy qtec psu. The voltages they say on the box are the peak voltages, not the voltages the psu runs at. Its worth getting something decent like an antec.

Woden

the psu came with the case as the goal was for it to be as cheap as possible, i would have thought it sufficient to power such a small rig as this though

Webmonkey

Dataisgod wrote:

ok i'll probably get a lend of a psu off someone tomorrow night and give it a try.
i refuse use my good psu on it i'm not risking it

Well theres no risk really for the powersupply...only risk is you inputting higher voltage than required or dropping it...but computer won't do any damage to it

Woden

yeah i'm just a bit paranoid after two psu's seem to have gone after looking at this computer and i can't afford to replace my precious antec

Webmonkey

Yeah well we all paranoid bout things..
hmm wernt you ment to amputate my fingers tuesday

Woden

lol forgot about that sorry and i'm heading away next week for a while but we can make some arrangements in september if that suits.

perhaps i'll try the antec

/me swallows dramatically

Woden

ok tried my antec psu and same deal, fan spins rapidly but the monitor is not turning on when its connected to the computer.

is there something stupid i'm not doing?

Jammer

that happened me a while ago, it was a fan causing a short.

Webmonkey

Dataisgod wrote:

ok tried my antec psu and same deal, fan spins rapidly but the monitor is not turning on when its connected to the computer.

is there something stupid i'm not doing?

There could be the chance that you have upset the memory or agp while fiddling around in there. What I would do...Take everything out...and then just place in RAM and your graphics card if its not onboard and reset the bios using the jumper thats on the board, or if your too lazy to find it, pull battery out for 10 seconds. (Make sure mains are off) and see from there. Start basic and go from there

Woden

ok i'll give it one more lash tomorrow after work and if it doesn' work then 'll shout for rma