First Build Failure!!!

[climbtek]

ok, ill admit it now, i'm a n00b
as a high school student with little income, my computer experience has been limited to a family-owned Compaq Presario Windows 98 PC for the last eight years or so. recently i decided to save for my own build and i got all the parts. here they are:


COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WWs ATX Mid Tower Case
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W PSU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner IDE/ATAPI
XFX Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Now here's the problem. I fired the whole thing up and POOF! nothing happens. No fans, nothing but the standby LED on the motherboard lighted up. After multiple attempts, I saw that sometimes the case fans would jerk slightly then stop once I started the pc. Then I looked around on the internet and tried this site, joined, and checked the thread which said to try setting up the motherboard outside the case. This had a greater degree of effect. I turned it on this time and low and behold, the PSU fan, case fans, case power light, and GPU fan started. Also I noticed the HDD and the DVD drive whirring normally. However the CPU fan did not work and when i connected a monitor there was no POST or anything. And thats where I am now. I think I may have fried the motherboard because I believe part of it may have been in contact with the case when I first started it. I was just wondering if anyone else out there had an idea about this it would really help. Thanks. -climbtek

[tempus]

DId you get the cpu and heatsink installed correctly?
Which part of the motherboard was in contact with the case?
Was there an extra standoff that was not removed?
When you say "fried" did you smell something burning?
Double check all connections and one trick is to do a minimum build. By taking it down to the minumum you may be able to isolate a fault.

[climbtek]

something definately smelled like it was burning. thats when i pulled it out of the case and tried it. i havent done a minimum build yet, but thats what ill try next. -climbtek

[tempus]

Originally Posted by climbtek something definately smelled like it was burning. thats when i pulled it out of the case and tried it. i havent done a minimum build yet, but thats what ill try next. -climbtek

The you will need to find out what burned.
If it was the motherboard then you will waste your time continuing. It may be the cpu heatsink not installed right.
Take a look at the underside of the mobo for any burn spots.

[climbtek]

i cant see any burn spots. (it doesnt help that the mobo is black). im pretty sure that the cpu and heatsink are installed correctly. so my guess is its probably the motherboard.

[Chazell29]

ok when he said the motherboard came in contact with the case, i havn't built mine yet and it will be my first, so when im installing my motherboard IT CAN NOT TOUCH THE CASE??? or it will get ruined??? i wans't aware of this

[jayb1234]

Refer to your case manual for mounting instructions.

Most cases use metal standoffs between the case and the board, 1 at each mounting hole, and only at the mounting holes, check the motherboard manual for the locations,

There are a few that mount differently, but if you follow the manuals, you shouldn't have any problem.

If your case comes with a removable motherboard tray, take a good look around the edges to be sure that the board isn't touching the lip on the tray.

If it is bend the lip down to get some clearance.

Some of the Thermaltake cases with removable trays have had that problem, and probably other brands too.