Did I ruin my processor? (First time building)

[jwdog]

This was my first attempt at building a PC. I plugged in all the basic components (video card, hard drive, CD-ROM drive, memory) but when I turn on the PC, the green LED on front of the computer comes on but the yellow light below that (the processor) comes on too and stays on. There is nothing being boot from the processor.

Let me list what is and isn't working:

- All fans inside of the computer are running. The video card, the CPU fan, hard drive, and case fan are all operating.

- My CD-ROM drive is connected via IDE and its status light is "yellow" when I turn on the PC. It will not open or close.

- Absolutely nothing is being displayed through the monitor.

- There are no beep codes at startup.


During the installation of the CPU to the motherboard, as I was locking the lever I heard a small crunching sound. I figured that was normal as the instructions before that said to simply line up the processor with the pins and set it straight down (which I did). I did not think anything of the crunching sound.

After a few tests, I took the processor out and put it back in again. This time it did not make a crunching sound as I locked the lever, however nothing still is processing on start-up. Are processors that delicate? Nothing appeared damaged on the chip's pins after I took it out and inspected it.

I looked at other threads here and made sure I had everything plugged in to no avail. Please tell me it could be something else I'm missing!

System Specs:

Antec Sonata II ATX Mid Tower Case 450W
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz LGA 775 CPU 4M
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965)
Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400 SDRAM 2 GB 2X1GB
Seagate 300GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200RPM 16MB
XFX GeForce 7900 GS 256MB DDR3 Card
48X CD-ROM drive

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by jwdog During the installation of the CPU to the motherboard, as I was locking the lever I heard a small crunching sound.

Crunching sound? That doesn't sound good. Did you remove the black plastic protector from the socket before you dropped the CPU in?

Originally Posted by jwdog After a few tests, I took the processor out and put it back in again. This time it did not make a crunching sound as I locked the lever, however nothing still is processing on start-up. Are processors that delicate? Nothing appeared damaged on the chip's pins after I took it out and inspected it.

Pins? The C2D processor doesn't have any pins on it.

Originally Posted by jwdog I looked at other threads here and made sure I had everything plugged in to no avail. Please tell me it could be something else I'm missing!

Having problems with a new build? Try this. You must remove the motherboard from the case when doing this. Let us know what happens.

Cricket

[minsonngo]

Do you have brass standoffs set between the motherboard and the case?

Do you have both the 24-pin main connector and the 4-pin square connector hooked up from the PSU to the motherboard?

Do you have the 6-pin PCI-E connector from the PSU hooked up the the video card you have?

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by Cricket Crunching sound? That doesn't sound good. Did you remove the black plastic protector from the socket before you dropped the CPU in?Pins? The C2D processor doesn't have any pins on it.Having problems with a new build? Try this. You must remove the motherboard from the case when doing this. Let us know what happens. Cricket

Yes, I removed the plastic protector from the socket.

I meant the sockets on the bottom of the processor... not the pins.

I did not test it outside of the box (but now I wish I did). If all else fails I will remove everything from the PC and place the motherboard on a table for a test.

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Do you have brass standoffs set between the motherboard and the case?

Yes, I have brass standoffs positioned in every place that lines up to the motherboard.

Originally Posted by minsonngo Do you have both the 24-pin main connector and the 4-pin square connector hooked up from the PSU to the motherboard?

I have the 24-pin ATX connector plugged in. I thought the 4-pin square ATX connector was for older PSU's? I do not have a 4-pin square plug to make that connection. Could that be why my CPU isn't processing?

Originally Posted by minsonngo Do you have the 6-pin PCI-E connector from the PSU hooked up the the video card you have?

Yes. However, the first time I tested the PC I forgot to plug in that one.

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by jwdog I have the 24-pin ATX connector plugged in. I thought the 4-pin square ATX connector was for older PSU's? I do not have a 4-pin square plug to make that connection. Could that be why my CPU isn't processing?

Yes... you need both the 24-pin AND the 4-pin plugged into the motherboard. The PSU in the Antec will have it.



This is the PSU included with the case: http://www.antec.com/specs/SP450_spe.html#

This is the connector that you need to plug into the motherboard along with the 24-pin: http://www.antec.com/images/atx12v.jpg

[flanzig1]

I would pull the CPU and inspect the CPU socket on the motherboard. Look closely at the pins and make sure that they are all straight. If any are bent over, may be able to starighten them by using a credit card and gentle pressure. If pins are broken, new board time.

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Yes... you need both the 24-pin AND the 4-pin plugged into the motherboard. The PSU in the Antec will have it. This is the PSU included with the case: http://www.antec.com/specs/SP450_spe.html# This is the connector that you need to plug into the motherboard along with the 24-pin: http://www.antec.com/images/atx12v.jpg

Thank you for your help so far (and everyone else that replied).

That was the problem. The 4-pin connector was hiding underneath the PSU and I overlooked it. It's running now.

Now my big problem is the CPU is running at 80-85 C degrees and the computer is shutting itself off after a few minutes. The heatsink fan obviously isn't making proper contact with the CPU.

[minsonngo]

Glad you got that part working.


Read this guide for proper installation of the HSF: Intel 775 Stock HSF Install Guide

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Glad you got that part working. Read this guide for proper installation of the HSF: Intel 775 Stock HSF Install Guide

Wow! I noticed the Intel thermal pads melted once I inspected the CPU, but didn't think it had to be replaced with new paste.

I will pickup some Arctic Silver and try completing the build. I will update this thread when I (hopefully) complete the build. Thank you again minsonngo.

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by jwdog Wow! I noticed the Intel thermal pads melted once I inspected the CPU, but didn't think it had to be replaced with new paste. I will pickup some Arctic Silver and try completing the build. I will update this thread when I (hopefully) complete the build. Thank you again minsonngo.

The thermal paste is supposed to melt to fill the microscopic holes to allow for better heat transfer. You need to make sure the HSF is locked in correctly.

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by minsonngo The thermal paste is supposed to melt to fill the microscopic holes to allow for better heat transfer. You need to make sure the HSF is locked in correctly.

I took the motherboard out and made sure the clamps were locked into the motherboard. It is now running at a reasonable temperature.

I haven't had much luck today. Now when I try installing Windows XP, a lot of files would not copy. When I try loading XP, the computer immediately crashes and reboots. I tried using the repair feature on XP, but it didn't make any difference.

I'm guessing it's either a bad sector on the hard drive or the fact I am using two sticks of RAM that is the cause. I'm going to try to see if Windows can detect a bad sector. If that doesn't work, I'll take out a stick of RAM. If there is anything else that could be the culprit?

[whubbard]

use your HDDs diags to find the bad sector.

[minsonngo]

During what part of the OS installation is it crashing or is it just random?

Did you make any changes in the CMOS setup?


Yep... you may want to leave ONE stick of memory in at a time and see if that helps. You can download memtest from memtest.org to run the test on the memory also.

What are your CPU temps now?

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by minsonngo During what part of the OS installation is it crashing or is it just random? Did you make any changes in the CMOS setup? Yep... you may want to leave ONE stick of memory in at a time and see if that helps. You can download memtest from memtest.org to run the test on the memory also. What are your CPU temps now?

I am prompted many times during installation that it cannot copy a certain file. It's not suprising after installation that the OS crashes during booting.

I did not make any changes to CMOS.

Right now, I am running CHKDSK /r to see if it can cutoff the bad sectors on my hard drive. If that doesn't work I'll try taking out a stick of RAM.

The CPU temps are ranging from 38-43 C.

[Panama Red]

Are you using a true XP disk or a copy?

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Are you using a true XP disk or a copy?

A genuine disk.

[Panama Red]

How bout the CD drive, hdd and ide cables? New ones or recycles?

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by Panama Red How bout the CD drive, hdd and ide cables? New ones or recycles?

The CD drive and IDE cable were taken from my old computer. The HDD is brand new using SATA.

[Panama Red]

Try a different CD drive and/or ide cable. The bad read is probably the drive.

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Try a different CD drive and/or ide cable. The bad read is probably the drive.

Will do if all else fails. I'll keep you guys updated.

[jwdog]

My new computer is up and running sound!

It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what the culprit was. I was sure it was my old CD ROM drive preventing Windows XP from installing because once I put in a brand new DVD burner the installation succeeded. Little did I factor in another variable I changed at the time of the optical drive -- the RAM.

Prior to changing the optical drive, I took out a stick of RAM thinking that would allow Windows to install. It did not (little did I know the bad stick of RAM was still in the computer). For the sake of it, I switched the unknown bad stick in the computer with the unknown good stick when I changed the CD drive with the DVD burner.

Thinking the new DVD burners solved my problems, I placed the bad stick of RAM into the computer. Once I started Windows, the operating system kept crashing and restarting itself. I couldn't even get into safe mode so I did another clean install of XP!

Finally during the clean install, when the same files would not install as before with the CD drive, I realized my problem the last few days was over a stick of RAM. Can you believe it? Something so little that appeared perfectly healthy wasted hours of my time!

I'd like to thank everyone who responded especially minsonngo and Panama Red for being so helpful. If not for you guys I probabaly would have dropped my new computer parts of the top of a roof long ago.

[whubbard]

Well thats great that its all fixed up!

...are you looking for new ram? or can you return the old sticks?

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by jwdog I'd like to thank everyone who responded especially minsonngo and Panama Red for being so helpful. If not for you guys I probabaly would have dropped my new computer parts of the top of a roof long ago.

Glad you got it working. Enjoy you new build! You went through a lot to get it up and running.

[jwdog]

Originally Posted by whubbard Well thats great that its all fixed up! ...are you looking for new ram? or can you return the old sticks?

I purchased the sticks together from an Ebay auction. I will be asking the seller for half my money back or a full refund if I return them both. The person who sold the sticks wasn't someone who had extras in stock.

I will definitely want to get a second stick of RAM. 2 GB of RAM is the norm for running today's intense applications smoothly.

[whubbard]

If I were you I would return them both, and getting matching sticks of corsair from newegg.