A plea for help

[Bachboy123]

Hey this is my first post on this forum, thank god the forum exists . I've been reading through the past posts regarding first time builders. I've just completed my first build and i'm having some troubles getting to the bios setup screen, when i turn on the system the power and HDD LED's light up, the fans, including the CPU fan and GPU fan, all are going, but no image shows up on the monitor, it just remains in standby mode. here are the specs of my build:
Case: Thermaltake Tsunami, PSU: Ultra V-series 500W, Mobo: Gigabyte 965P DS-3, Proc: Core 2 duo e6300, GPU: XFX GeForce 7900GS, RAM: Corsair XMS DDR2 800 2x512mb, HD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10, DVD-R/RW etc.: Maddog 16x.
also, i'm using the logitech mx3000 cordless desktop.
few questions:
1. the case does not have leads for internal speakers, it has front audio (AZALIA) leads that i have hooked up to the mobo but i don't see any internal speakers, thus i may not be able to hear any warning beeps indicative of bad hardware. does your average compUSA or local computer store sell small speakers that can be hooked up to the mobo leads and placed inside the case so that i could hear any beeps? alternatively if i plug speakers into the mobo speaker jacks (either the main jacks or the front mounted ones) would warning beeps be pipped through them?
2. if the power LED and HDD LED's are lit, and the CPU Fan is running (it draws power through the mobo, not directly from the PSU) then can i reasonably assume that my mobo isn't the problem? I only ask because i can rule out faulty components such as RAM, and vid card but testing the mobo would be a huge pain.
3. When i start up the computer, there's no light on the optical drive. I've plugged it into the PSU (though i haven't switched around the molex connections yet, it was suggested by one of my friends) but i don't get a blinking light or the ability to open the drive. Is this typical (i.e. does the bios have to be setup before the drive will respond?) or could this be the problem with my system?

thank you so much. As a noob i'm looking for all the information i can get. troubleshooting my first build is frustrating because i'm not sure what i did (or didn't do) during the build that could have caused my system to be unresponsive. i'm sorry if i'm repeating others, but i could really use the input! thanks

[ktkendall]

Hello and welcome:

Here is a link to the new build troubleshooting steps:

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

[newbuilder14]

High chance your power supply is just bad... Ultras are low quality and yours may not be powering your video card. I'd replace it with one from the list in General Hardware.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 few questions: 1. the case does not have leads for internal speakers, it has front audio (AZALIA) leads that i have hooked up to the mobo but i don't see any internal speakers, thus i may not be able to hear any warning beeps indicative of bad hardware. does your average compUSA or local computer store sell small speakers that can be hooked up to the mobo leads and placed inside the case so that i could hear any beeps?

Are you sure your case doesn't have an internal speaker? If it doesn't you can pick up a PC case speaker from a computer shop for a few bucks. They look like this.

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 alternatively if i plug speakers into the mobo speaker jacks (either the main jacks or the front mounted ones) would warning beeps be pipped through them?

Nope.

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 2. if the power LED and HDD LED's are lit, and the CPU Fan is running (it draws power through the mobo, not directly from the PSU) then can i reasonably assume that my mobo isn't the problem?

Nope. In fact, your motherboard is probably partially to blame...it may be shorting/grounding out to the case. Follow the troubleshooting instructions in ktkendall's post.

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 I only ask because i can rule out faulty components such as RAM, and vid card but testing the mobo would be a huge pain.

Not really. See previous response.

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 3. When i start up the computer, there's no light on the optical drive. I've plugged it into the PSU (though i haven't switched around the molex connections yet, it was suggested by one of my friends) but i don't get a blinking light or the ability to open the drive. Is this typical (i.e. does the bios have to be setup before the drive will respond?) or could this be the problem with my system?

It could mean the optical drive is not good. But do the out of case troubleshooter first. You'll only be working with the core components (motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, power supply, monitor, keyboard) and that will help narrow down the problem.

Cricket

[glc]

You can't assume that without following the linked procedure. However, the V-series is not ATX 2.0 spec and is not suitable for a PCI-Express build, regardless of what you may be reading in the advertising for it.

[Bachboy123]

Glc: How bad is the V-series? if they do generally suck and don't come through with the necessary power than that could be my problem.
Yesterday i took out the mobo, reseated the CPU and the Heatsink to check for any damage (to the Cpu or socket, there was none), then reinstalled the board in the case. Now, everything is dead, whereas initially i could turn on the power and the fans, LED's and switches would all work, now pushing the power button does nothing.
When i turn on the power switch on the PSU i hear a high pitched whine, and for a brief period when i turned it on, the monitor flickered from standby to active, then shutting off. However, none of the fans were running (including the heatsink fan) nor were any of the LED's or drives active. I really confused as to what's wrong here.
Could a crappy power supply result in unequal distribution of power, for instance: if my power supply were faulty or just poorly made, could it supply power unevenly so that at first i'd get power running to the mobo and fans, but not to the optical drive and not enough power to the video card? (resulting in my inital lack of picture?) then when i reseated everything, the power was temporarily flowing to the vid card but not to the Mobo?
having not had experience in replacing PSU's, i'm not sure what kinds of things could go wrong as the result of a faulty or poorly constructed PSU. I'm willing to invest in a decent 450W-500W PSU if that's my problem.
I'm going to do the out-of-the-box core component test tonight after work and post the resullts. but here i'm asking about the potential effects of a faulty or poorly designed PSU.

[Alaron]

A poor quality power supply can cause all sorts of issues with new builds. You need to do the out of the case minimum component build as a starting point. If it still won't turn on then, you have a defective component in the mix. And given that Ultra PSUs are not known for quality, that would the best place to start.

Here is our list of power supply brands, you'll find Ultra on the Bad list. We even have an in-house review of some Ultra units, the link is there as well.
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Bachboy123 but here i'm asking about the potential effects of a faulty or poorly designed PSU.

Problems associated with a poor quality power supply can vary greatly from weird little system instabilities to random reboots or shutdowns to dying prematurely and killing other components in the computer when they die.

Cricket