New Build Won't Boot; Where Do I Start?

[Peter Venkman]

Just assembled the components.

Asus P5B Delux/ WiFi.

Corsair XMS DDR2 800 pair of 1GB total 2GB.

E6600

XFX 8800 GTS

2 Segate 7200 SATA 320GB 3.0 Gb/s

PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610

LG 18X DVD +/- R

Zalman CNPS9500 AT CPU fan.

Silverstone TJ09-S Mid Tower case.



Power on. All fans run- case, video card, Zalman CPU cooler.
Case light comes on.
HD light comes on.
DVD light blinks several times.
MB LED goes blue to red.

no mouse light (usb)
no keyboard light (usb)
no video monitor
no sound from speakers

I'm not sure about beep codes. The case didn't come with a speaker. I've heard some boards have an integrated chrystal (?) that chirps to eliminate need for speaker. I'm not sure about this one.

Where do I start? Buy a case speaker and hope for beep codes or just slit my wrists outright.

Help appreciated.

[Cricket]

Having problems with a new build? Try this.

That motherboard doesn't have a on-board piezo speaker. You need to connect a PC case speaker to the proper pins on the front panel header. If your case doesn't have a PC speaker you can get one from almost any computer store...they usually cost just a few bucks.

Cricket

[Peter Venkman]

Thx for reply.

Sigh,

Back to it.

[flanzig1]

May need to use a PS/2 mouse and keyboard until you can get into the BIOS(boot with USB option?).
24 pin and 4pin power to mother board? Video card power connected?

[Peter Venkman]

Ok, my son is on his way to Radio Shack to pick up a PC case speaker.

In the mean time, I started the out of case boot process.

MB out of case sitting on cardboard.

Reseated video card and memory. Haven't touched CPU yet.

24 pin and 4 pin power to MB connected. video card power connected.

Plugged in power and blue MB LED on. Normal.

Turned on MB and LED goes red- normal
Zalman CPU fan starts- normal
But, I get a very loud squeal from somewhere. I shut down power immediately.

Repeated once again to see if I could locate squeal, but it's so loud I couldn't localize it.
Too afraid of a melt down to leave it on.

What's up with that?

[Cricket]

Exactly what do you have connected/assembled together right now? Please list the parts.

Try starting the system with the heatsink fan power connector disconnected. As long as the heatsink is installed properly it will keep the CPU temps under control...just don't run it too long, you just want to find out if the fan is making all that noise.

You can do the same for the fan in the power supply, but use a straw or similar to keep the fan blades from spinning.

Cricket

[Peter Venkman]

OK, tried again.

The M/B is out of the case sitting on cardboard. 24 and 4 pin power connectors are firmly plugged into the M/B

The XFX 8800 GTS is firmly seated. The video card power connector is firmly plugged into the card. The prior squeal I heard was coming from the video card because the power connector was not firmly plugged into the card. Squeal is gone.

2 x 1Gb DDR2 800 memory firmly seated. One module in the yellow channel 1 slot and one in the yellow channel 2 slot.

I removed the Zalman heatsink fan and examined the CPU. Everything looks in order. CPU and socket not marred. Thin film of arctic silver 5 not quite to edge of heat spreader.

Power on, M/B red LED on, CPU fan runs, video card fan runs, nothing else. No boot, nothing on monitor.

My son said there was a past issue with the P5B Delux booting with the Core 2 Duo that required some BIOS changes. I thought that problem was long fixed but maybe not.

What are your thoughts.

Thx


Couple more points.

Haven't been able to locate a PC speaker in town. Radio Shack, CompUSA, Fry's; all say they don't carry them any more.
Guess I'll check some of the specialty places or order one.

One other point. I looked through the troubleshooting at Asus site. They said if no video display on system start up to clear the CMOS.

Any Help?

Thx

[newbuilder14]

From my experience the only time I've had a motherboard light change colors is when there is an actual processor problem. Your RAM could also be incompatible - is it the 4-4-4-12 timings version or the 5-5-5-15 timings version?

I assume you've tried only one memory stick?

I concur with the idea of clearing the CMOS.

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you are having, but I am sure you will get it all figured out.

[Peter Venkman]

Update.

It boots with one stick of memory. With the other stick alone, no boot.
So, I guess that says I got a bad stick.

This is corsair XMS2 Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC26400) 4-4-4-12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145168

Interestingly the M/B manual says:
Due to chipset limitation, DDR2-800 with CL=4 will be downgraded to run at DDR2-667 by default setting. If you want to operate with lower latency, adjust the memory timing manually.

I don't totally understand this, although I'm trying to educate myself.
If there's a simple explaination I'd like to hear it.

So, I guess I've got to send both sticks back.
As I understand it, if I don't want to OC, I might as well get the VS 667.

But if I want to OC, what brand and spec of memory would be best.

Thx for all the help. I'm working hard to learn .

Regards,



p.s.
the manual also says this:
Kingston® HyperX® PC2-8500 Ready (default runs @1066MHz)
The Kingston HyperX PC2-8500 is high-frequency memory that delivers outstanding performance. Built with only the best components, the P5B Deluxe and PC2-8500 HyperX memory are optimized for each other to reach maximum performance. Both are validated for stability and compatibility.
* The Kingston DIMM modules are not included in ASUS motherboard package.

Is this just an advertising deal between Asus and Kingston?

[newbuilder14]

No, the 4-4-4-12 timings do have incompatibility issues with that motherboard.

Here what you should do: Set your PC up with the working stick of memory. Order some new Kingston HyperX or Corsair XMS2 5-5-5-15 after Christmas and return the other stuff.

Glad that worked for you.

[Peter Venkman]

Thx for all the help.

Anymore thoughts keep'em coming.

Thx all

[newbuilder14]

Well if it boots with one stick of memory and not with the other, you know that most definitely your problem is a bad stick of memory.

[Peter Venkman]

I just wanted to say thanks for all the help.

Got new ram on the board and she runs great.

Thx again.

[robmu]

I'm about to buy the same board and am making decisions about which memory to go with. Did you go back to the Corsiar or opt for the Kingston 8500?

[newbuilder14]

He went with Corsair dominator memory with 4-4-4-12 timings and that was incompatible.

You would want to go with Corsair XMS2 memory with 5-5-5-15 timings to guarantee compatibility. And as always, there is no guarantee it will work, but Corsair has a strong reputation for making memory that is compatible, and is definitely my first choice.