PC rebuild won't POST

[relmich]

The other day I went to turn on the computer (which had been working flawlessly for the last 6 months) like normal and all the lights turned on for about 2 secs and then it immediately shut itself down. I tried again to power up the computer and again it turned on (no display) for just a couple seconds and immediately turned itself off.

I then did the normal trouble shooting by checking connections, systematically removing components, etc... The only change I could get after stripping the computer down to the bare bones was that the computer would stay powered and all that would run is the cpu fan with no hint of a display on the monitor. After searching around for advice I determined that either the cpu and/or motherboard was busted. Since I was contemplating and upgrade I proceeded to purchase an ECS P4M800PRO-M with a Pentium D 945.

I proceeded to assemble the PC rebuild and went to test the build with only the new motherboard, new cpu, RAM, and Video Card installed. After powering on I received the same result. All the fans would turn on, but no display at all. Again I tried to power up the set up outside the case....and still no display...just cpu fan spinning.

I am running out of ideas. I even tried a different outlet in the house Still no luck. I think I am going to try to re-seat the cpu and check for damage but after that I have no ideas except to return to the store for them to test either the cpu/motherboard. Am I just incredibly unlucky and the replacement motherboard and/or cpu are defective or am I missing something here? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

FYI: Here are my computer specs

Original Build
AMD ATHLON XP 2800+ barton core
ASUS A7N8X
1 GB RAM DDR333
GeFORCE 7800 GS AGP

New Build
Pentium D 945
ECS P4M800PRO-M
1 GB RAM DDR400
GeFORCE 7800 GS

[Panama Red]

See if I got this right. Two computers with all different core components - both have the same issue when installed in the same case? That assumes you're using the same power supply on both systems. And that's the item that I suspect has failed and started this entire scenario. Try a new, quality power supply. (check our sticky thread in General Hardware)

[relmich]

That is true. I am using the same power supply. I will go get a new one first thing.

One question though....could the power supply still be faulty even if the board appears to be receiveing power (since the cpu fan spins)?

Is there a chance the a faulty PSU could have damaged my new cpu and MB?

Thanks for the input

[Panama Red]

Yes and, unfortunately, yes. Psu's provide various voltages to many different parts of the mobo and other components. Spinning fans does not validate the quality of power being supplied on the various circuits. Hopefully neither of the pc's suffered permanent damage. Good psu's have protective circuits built in to prevent spiking/surging the mobo. Cheap/low quality ones don't. Keep your fingers crossed.

[relmich]

My old PSU is an ANTEC TRUE 330W and from what I know these PSUs are typically of good quality. It least I hope.

Ok...thanks for the advice.

[Panama Red]

That new high powered vid card most likely took out the psu. Take a look at the System Requirements for that card. Here's one at Newegg - 400 watt MINIMUM! And it needs 20A on the 12volt rail. You'd be better off with a 2.0 rated unit with dual 12volt rails.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143046

[relmich]

Oh....never noticed it required 400 W. Yikes!! In all honesty the 7800 GS has been running like a beauty on my old setup using the ANTEC TRUE 330 power supply. I guess it just couldn't hold on anymore.....poor PSU

The whole situation seems to be making more sense now. I imagine that everytime I turned on the computer and it had to fire up the 7800 GS, I was stressing the PSU.....guess it was only a matter of time before it gave up the ghost....

I will be purchasing a new PSU tomorrow...hopefully that will solve the problems...unless of course the old PSU trashed the new motherboard.

Anyways, thanks for the help. I will update this thread once I have the new build up and running.

P.S. I noticed in your profile that you are from Michigan (left coast). Where abouts? I am from the Grand Rapids area originally......

[Panama Red]

Just west of GR in Jenison but I've lived all over the GR area. Creston HS many years ago. Paid a visit to Toronto a few years back. Nice place.

[relmich]

Small world. I am actually from Jenison. My parents are still living there so I make it back that way from time to time. Moved from Ann Arbor to Toronto a few years ago....looking to move back to Michigan soon.....hopefully. No offense to Toronto which is a great city in its own right, but I need to move back to the good ol' US of A

[Panama Red]

Hope you can find a job before you commit to a move. The only job market with an optomisitic outlook in W. Mich is the medical field. Either medical research or hospitals caring for us baby boomers.

[relmich]

Quick update:

After taking Panama Reds advice I went and purchased a new power supply (500 W) and sure enough it POSTed. Of course now I am unable to boot to windows, but at least there is the machine is alive.

I now get a stop error (0x0000007b) at the the blue screen. The stop error occurs immediately after POSTing. No WinXP splash screen.

After doing a little research I believe that a reinstall/repair of windows by booting from the WinXP install CD is the best way to go. If anyone has a better solution please let me know.

Thanks

[glc]

That's what you have to do. Procedures are in the Tips and Tricks forum.

[relmich]

Final Update:

After reinstalling/repairing winXP I was able to boot successfully, but that only presented additional problems. I would repeatecly get stop error MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION (0x000009C) at the BSOD. This error is indicative of a hardware issue. Usually due to overclocking the cpu, or RAM issues. I was running the cpu at stock speeds and reseated the CPU to make sure that wasn't an issue. Now I tried about every combination of the 4 different type of RAM that I had available to no avail.

After researching possible solutions over many many hours I came to find that many people are have similar problems with RAM for the ECS P4M800-M board. I came to the conclusion that even if I got my system to run stable on this board that I probably would run into problem down the road trying to upgrade and all. So I bit the bullet and bought a brand that has always worked for me....ASUS P5PE-VM. I hooked it up and everything worked perfect on the first boot. I haven't really run the new set up very hard yet, but this is already rock solid stable compared to what I had on the ECS board.

Final Specs:
Pentium-D 945
ASUS P5PE-VM
1x1GB Crucial DDR400
GeFORCE 7800 GS