new build dead

Kadongy

I built a computer. It does not turn on or respond at all. Cables appear to be connected ok. What is the first thing I should look at?

I noticed current in the case after unplugging it. This was from the monitor connection, because I saw that the plug for the monitor was not grounded. Might this have damaged any components?

The package the motherboard came in was rather crushed. The packaging for the actual product inside seemed fine though. There was no visible damage to the mobo.

This is the first pc I have built so I might have done something stupid, or not done something obvious.

It has not responded at all.

Any suggestions?

Spec:


MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk - Graphics adapter - GF GTX 560 Ti - PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 1 GB GDDR5 - DVI,

Sony Optiarc DVD±RW burner AD-5260S Black 24x (DVD±R) - S-ATA - internal - 5.25"

Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2TB SATA II, 5400RPM, 32MB Buffer

ASUS P8P67 LE B3 Revision - Motherboard - ATX - LGA1155 Socket - iP67 - USB 3.0, FireWire -

Corsair XMS3 - Memory - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR3 - 1333 MHz / PC3-10600 - CL9 - 1.5

Zalman PSU 600W Ultra Silent SLI

Antec Three Hundred - EU - Tower - ATX - no power supply - sleek black - USB/Audio

Processor - 1 x Intel Core i7 2600K / 3.4 GHz -

slave1

I feel your pain, I've put together a few PCs without issue and my current week old build is random freezing, there are diagnostic cards but I've no experience of them myself

God Father

I don't understand what you were saying about the monitor cable and current.

How about some pics of your cables and connections inside the case. Show us the mobo aswell.

Have you connected the 24 pin and the 4/8 pin power for the CPU?

Also the switch at the back of the PSU?

Kadongy

yes to all.

I disconnected and reconnected the power to the mobo. Now the standby power led lights up when I turn on the switch on the psu, but nothing else.

Maybe I didnt connect the power switch properly . I'll check that and also put up a pic

Kadongy

Not the best pic. Dunno if it's any use.

Kadongy

Does it matter which way around you connect a sata cable?

lemd

Sata cables only fit one way so that shouldn't be a problem

Kadongy

Disconnected and reconnected the switch. No effect.

Maybe I have wired it incorrectly. My phone apaprently wont take a pic sharp enough for the required detail. Here is a crdue diagram instead. This thing plugs into the mobo after you plug switches and LEDs into it - I've only shown the connections for the power switch.

lemd: No the sata cables fit in either way. There wasnt room for the connector to one drive (L-shape) so I plugged in the end that was shown as being plugged into the mobo (- shape) into the drive instead..

lemd

I misunderstood you, i thought you were asking can you plug them in upside down. it dosn't matter which end of the cable you plug into the board or drive.

Solitaire

First of all, make sure the graphics card is seated correctly. Take a look through the mobo to make sure you don't need to press a magic button on it somewhere for some reason. And reset the CMOS - take out the battery for about a minute, and hit the switch/jumper if necessary. Then retest.

Are you sure you have the pin allocations right? If you do retest the mobo (with CPU and graphics card) outside the case, with one stick of RAM and the PSU and try shorting those pins with the tip of a screwdriver or similar, and see if it reaches the BIOS.

allen175

Where i have circled in the picture, there is supposed to be an 8 pin connector plugged in.

Kadongy

allen175 wrote: »

Where i have circled in the picture, there is supposed to be an 8 pin connector plugged in.

It says in the manual that a four pin one connected as I have is ok too.
The cable from the psu has two four-pin ones intended to be compatible with 4- or 8- pin sockets, but the second one doesn't fit the rest of the socket oddly (different shaped pegs and holes).

God Father

Nope as I said before you haven't actually got your 12v cpu 8 pin attched...



Edit: Ahh too slow... and I should resize this...

Solitaire

I can't see it very well in the pic but I think that your EPS12V connector is "upside-down" compared to most mobos, so you only have the "optional" block connected and were trying to insert the mandatory portion in the wrong way around (which the keying won't allow). Reverse it and see if it fits.

God Father

Solitaire wrote: »

I can't see it very well in the pic but I think that your EPS12V connector is "upside-down" compared to most mobos, so you only have the "optional" block connected and were trying to insert the mandatory portion in the wrong way around (which the keying won't allow). Reverse it and see if it fits.

I think you may be correct. It doesn't look right anyway...

Kadongy

That cable only fits the way I've plugged it in. The second four pin part of it has no square pegs. The socket has two square holes on each side.

The part that plugs in is labelled P2, if that is useful info in any way..

allen175

I can't get any good quality images to compare the 8 pin socket on the mobo to the connector, but they should all be the same, every motherboard and psu must have the same sockets so that they are compatable with eachother.

if you can post a picture of the socket and the connector, so we can see if we are wrong.

Kadongy

Well there are square hole on both sides. One part of the connector has trinagular pegs like I said. Here are some pics anyway

Kadongy

It doesnt seem to be the switch. The switched on the tpu on the mobo. Now when I push the power switch, the tpu lights up. It still doesn't do anything else; but this is some sort of response to the power switch..

Kadongy

Exact same issue described here with same mobo. In this case the mobo appears to have been faulty:

http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/995305-booting-new-pc-first-time-not.html

edit: Removed graphics card. No effect.

Kadongy

Took mobo out. Put it on cardboard box. Pressed button. No beeps, but chassis fan, processor fan and psu fan started, also memok led lit up red.
Something shorted in that mess of wires I guess.

Solitaire

See the clip on one side of (both parts of) the EPS12V connector? Turn it so that the clip is pointing inward toward the mobo - there's a nub on that side of the EPS12V socket which the clip attaches to.

And while its hard to make out, one half of that Zalman's EPS connector does seem to lack square pins - it only has keyed ones. Odd This doesn't affect things too bad as the keyed pins can fit in either type of hole

Kadongy

Seems to be fine now. Must have been a short smewhere. Thanks for the help.

Oops no - spoke to soon. It powers up but then gives a messages "Fatal error - chasis intrude. Please check your system"

edit 2: Not that much too soon. Common occurence with asus boards apparently. The "turning it off and on again" method works to fix: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20100910141859640&board_id=1&model=P5V800-MX&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

God Father

Have a look in your manual and see if you can set chassis intrusion jumper "disabled".

And reset Bios.

Edit: A so sorted now?

Kadongy

Nope. "Windows cannot install the required files. The file may be corrupt or missing."

Not sure if it is the dvd. In some cases this issue is caused by defective RAM apparently

God Father

Try with one stick of ram installed and if u have a problem then swap that out for the other stick of ram.

Kadongy

I think it's more likely to be the disk. It's an old burnt disc, not a new pressed one. I'm going to download another image later [legally]. I'm going to try swapping the RAM if it stilll doesn't work with the new iso/disc.

Kadongy

Yes it was the disk. Working fine now. 7.8 on windows experience index.

But

The cpu is running way too hot 70 C on boot.
I have stock cooler and arctic 5 thermal paste. Two preinstalled chasis fans.

I removed the thermal paste and reapplied it, thinking maybe I hadnt put the cooler in right. Still just as hot.

Changed the settings to power saving mode for the moment. I will need to upgrade the cpu cooler I think.

edit: While the computer is running it shows the cpu temp as <40C with normal settings. Possibly I misunderstood what the 70C thing refers to in the bios menu. Odd.

God Father

Kadongy wrote: »

Yes it was the disk. Working fine now. 7.8 on windows experience index.

But

The cpu is running way too hot 70 C on boot.
I have stock cooler and arctic 5 thermal paste. Two preinstalled chasis fans.

I removed the thermal paste and reapplied it, thinking maybe I hadnt put the cooler in right. Still just as hot.

Changed the settings to power saving mode for the moment. I will need to upgrade the cpu cooler I think.

edit: While the computer is running it shows the cpu temp as <40C with normal settings. Possibly I misunderstood what the 70C thing refers to in the bios menu. Odd.

I hate those oem coolers. I had probs with one before because of those stupid push down connectors. I discovered one corner would release itself partially and it overheated.

yeah ditch the cooler and get another one.

Good to see it's more or less up and running for you.

Trevor451

Kadongy wrote: »

Yes it was the disk. Working fine now. 7.8 on windows experience index.

But

The cpu is running way too hot 70 C on boot.
I have stock cooler and arctic 5 thermal paste. Two preinstalled chasis fans.

I removed the thermal paste and reapplied it, thinking maybe I hadnt put the cooler in right. Still just as hot.

Changed the settings to power saving mode for the moment. I will need to upgrade the cpu cooler I think.

edit: While the computer is running it shows the cpu temp as <40C with normal settings. Possibly I misunderstood what the 70C thing refers to in the bios menu. Odd.

Is the computer in power saving mode when the cpu is at 40C? When its in power saving mode the motherboard reduces the clock speed of the CPU so it will use less power/ generate less heat.

Kadongy

Yes that was why I switchd to power saving mode.
It runs around 40 at idle in normal mode. However it goes up to almost 90 just running the windows experience index. I reset the cooler and reapplied thermal paste. No improvement. I will need a better cooler I think.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Intel-XTS100H-CPU-Cooler-Review/1217

That stock cooler is not fit for purpose tbh. They would be better not providing one at all, so at least you'd know you needed to get one.

Kadongy

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermaltake-CLP0564-Frio-CPU-Cooler/dp/B003JZO176/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1308826051&sr=1-2

I think I'll get that.

Trying to see if the psu will support it though (600W supply).

edit: Yes it should be fine

Jonny7

Kadongy wrote: »

Yes that was why I switchd to power saving mode.
It runs around 40 at idle in normal mode. However it goes up to almost 90 just running the windows experience index. I reset the cooler and reapplied thermal paste. No improvement. I will need a better cooler I think.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Intel-XTS100H-CPU-Cooler-Review/1217

That stock cooler is not fit for purpose tbh. They would be better not providing one at all, so at least you'd know you needed to get one.

It should not be running that hot with the stock cooler. However I think people are just suggesting getting a good cooler rather than trying to troubleshoot this after all of the issues.

Kadongy

Jonny7 wrote: »

It should not be running that hot with the stock cooler. However I think people are just suggesting getting a good cooler rather than trying to troubleshoot this after all of the issues.

77 after play tf2 for an hour or so. 45 within a minute. Close enough to figures I looked up online.
I think it is just the cooler is crap tbh. I ordered that frio in any case.

edit: around 50 after playing l4d2.

Sephiroth_dude

I am having a similar problem to you,overheating,temps are reaching the high 60's when Its Idle and and 70's when I tryed to play shogun,Those stock coolers are a pain in the ass to get back in properly.

Kadongy

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I am having a similar problem to you,overheating,temps are reaching the high 60's when Its Idle and and 70's when I tryed to play shogun,Those stock coolers are a pain in the ass to get back in properly.

Crappy thermal paste, especially dried up thermal paste will cause big problems too. I know that from my m1530 laptop. Ditto with clogged air vents.

Sephiroth_dude

will you have to take your motherboard out to put your fan on?

Kadongy

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

will you have to take your motherboard out to put your fan on?

No the processor cooler is easily accessible just by opening the side panel.

Sephiroth_dude

Kadongy wrote: »

No the processor cooler is easily accessible just by opening the side panel.

ah your lucky so,I'm gonna have take mine out :eek:

Kadongy

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

ah your lucky so,I'm gonna have take mine out :eek:

I had to take mine out already to get the system to work at all Something was shorting it I think. It was easy enough to take it out and put it back tbh.

Kadongy

It comes up with the message "overclocking failed!" about half the time I boot. This is odd because I didn't set up any overclocking. I did enable the epu and the tpu though, so presumably it is related to one or both of those..

Solitaire

EPU? TPU? If anything I'd guess that a mobo auto-OC solution (SmartDoctor for Asus IIRC) has gone mad and is OCing the system without your consent, which would explain the crazy temps and stability issues!

Can you install CPU-Z and see what it says about your CPU speed and voltage?

Kadongy

tpu and epu are onboard processors on the mobo. I turned them on to see if their LEDs would light up while the thing wasnt working at all. They aren't even on the mobo I actually ordered, but I received a better model I just realised. Turning them on might have enabled overclocking maybe.

Armedocr

Kadongy wrote: »

tpu and epu are onboard processors on the mobo. I turned them on to see if their LEDs would light up while the thing wasnt working at all. They aren't even on the mobo I actually ordered, but I received a better model I just realised. Turning them on might have enabled overclocking maybe.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but that core speed and voltage look very wrong...

God Father

Armedocr wrote: »

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but that core speed and voltage look very wrong...

It's just underclocking itself as the system is more or less idle.

Solitaire

Yup, you really need to take the screenshot while fully loading the CPU...

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Armedocr wrote: »

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but that core speed and voltage look very wrong...

Thats very much normal for a idle CPU. With speedstep and the likes the cpu will underclock and undervolt.

Kadongy

Solitaire wrote: »

Yup, you really need to take the screenshot while fully loading the CPU...

I really need to *not* fully load the cpu The cpu is getting too hot!

I will load test it when I have the new cooler installed.

Kadongy

Odd problems coming out of sleep - wouldn't come out until the third or fourth go fr example. Then it would recover system state fine.

Then a bsod while just using skype just now. On restart would not detect hard disks. Then would not detect second hard disk nor boot. Several times. Turned it off and left it a while. Turned on and booted fine after that.

Dodgy motherboard?

Kadongy

bsod again while left on overnight. Left it a off for a minute or two. No problem restarting this time.

Checked the event log. Both critical events recorded were categorised as kernel power events (event id 41)

Solitaire

Sounds like either marginal memory or a bad CPU or mobo power phase It could still be some kind of auto-OC issue of course...