Need Help With New PC Build

[Fragg]

This is my first build and have a couple of questions about the joy of PC building (and I knew I would, even after reading all those great manuals written in broken English by people on the other side of the planet).

Got my rig built. I'm pretty sure I plugged everything in the right place, and I tested it to see if everything that is supposed to light or spin does. I hit the power switch at the front of the case and all the fans are cranking and the pretty blue lights are all coming on (and my DVD burner drawer even opens and closes--WOW, I'm a God). And yes I'm doing this with the case open because I knew something would be screwed up or have to move or be adjusted or plugged in elsewhere.

The system specs are as follows:

Mobo: ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz
RAM: Corsair Dual Channel TWINX DDR2 (2 x 1024MB)
HD: 2 x (Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA)
Power: XFinity 600 Watt ATX (SLI ready)
GPU: NVidia GeForce 6800 XTreme (two cards in SLI configuration)
Optical Drive: Plextor PX-755SA Dual Layer (SATA)
Temperature Monitor: SilverStone FP52 Thermal Controller

Now for what doesn't work.

Problem #1: I plugged in a keyboard and mouse and then a monitor to one of the DVI connectors on one of my two NVidia SLI cards (there are two cards connected with the SLI bridge and two connectors on each card so which one I'm supposed to use for video output to the monitor is beyond me--it does not say anywhere that it matters). And then . . . no signal to the monitor. I get nothing. I took out and re-seated both cards and made sure the power plugs to the cards were also firmly in place and still got squat on the monitor. I connected to all four DVI connectors and still got nothing. I'm using a DVI adaptor plug that came with the cards, but I can't imagine that would be the problem. It happens with both cards--so the likelihood of having two bad cards is pretty freaking low I think, so I'm ruling that out at the moment.

Problem #2: I turn on the power, everything goes on and then a few minutes later, the PC shuts itself down. I'm thinking that could be (a) overheating of the CPU or (b) something to do with the power supply?

I installed a front case fan controller and temperature monitor. I did this so I could have some diagnostic tool and not fry anything. I hooked it up to the power, but did not hook up the fan controllers, because you have to power the fans through the controller and I know some mobos freak out when they sense no fan plugs connected directly to the mobo and shut off (so I know it's not that). I figured I would take things one step at a time.

So I'm just using the temperature sensors to get an idea of how hot the CPU is running (with the case open) and the CPU temp is going past 60 degrees C with the sensor mounted between the CPU heatsink fins (is that too hot--is that the right place for the sensor? The directions say to mount the CPU temperature sensor "on the hottest part of the heatsink with the least airflow"). If it's running too hot it means it may be the fan/heatsink not doing it's job (and yes, I remembered to use the thermal paste that came with the heatsink/fan).

You guys ever run into anything like this or have any ideas?

Fragg

[Cricket]

For your first POST you should have the motherboard out of the case. Place it on the motherboard box and install only the CPU, heatsink, 1 video card, 1 stick of RAM, the monitor, the PC case speaker and the power supply. Use a small screwdriver to jump the two power pins momentarily to get the system to start up.

Make sure the LGA775 heatsink is installed properly. With the motherboard out of the case you can see if the locking pins are actually holding the heatsink down on the motherboard securely or not.

Cricket

[glc]

Cricket's procedure in greater detail:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409