First build, need a little help

[captspeedy]

Hi all,
I've built a computer to replace my 300mhz Mac G3 as my always on general purpose/file and print server/ home theater PC. My objective was to make it fast and upgradable enough to last a few years if not more.

Here is my parts list
Gigabyte GA-965-ds3 rev. 1 mobo
600 watt powerstar PSU
Intel E6550 core2 duo 2.33 ghz, 4mb L2, 1333 FSB (stock fan for now)
Asus PCI E16 graphics card with GeForce 6600 gpu ( sorry, this is all the info I have on it)
2 sticks of Super Talent 512mb ddr2-667 pc5300 with heatspreader (T6UA512C5)
Exelstor 160gb SATA Hdd
LG SATA DL DVD burner
Generic PCI firewire card


Here's the problem, when I boot it all fans start spinning ( power light on, hdd light blinks once , msg light on) for about 5 seconds then it seems to reboot,(quiet for 2 secs then starts the same way and stays on continously. cpu fans spins slow while cpu gets hotter and hotter. I turn it off before it gets too hot to touch. the monitor says " no input" through all this.

I removed all the stuff till I had only cpu, mobo, 1 stick of ram and a grapics card and it still does it. I switched ram around, triple checked connections, retried and reset a bunch of times, reset the clock memory and everything else described in the post.

most of my parts came from Newegg.com exept for the PSU and graphics card, I tested the graphics card in another comp and it worked, I assume the PSU is good since everything works like it should as far as I can tell. The ram was selected with Neweggs ram selector. The only thing I can think of is that the mobo is bad because it was an open box unit.

Is there anything wrong with my setup or should I return the mobo?

Thanks, Ben

[Cricket]

Before you do anything else, do this troubleshooter. You must remove the motherboard from the case when doing this.

I've never heard of that power supply brand before. How much did it cost? Most good quality power supplies that provide 600 watts is going to cost over $85...if yours cost much less it's probably a low quality power supply and it may be causing your shutdown problems.

You'll also want to be sure the heatsink is installed properly. Here's a guide.

Cricket

[captspeedy]

I followed the basic troublshooting steps and I installed the processor and heatsink the way the tutorial shows. It bends the board quite a bit but I've heard its normal.

Is the heatsink pressure necessary for the electrical contacts between the processor and mobo?

The powersupply was quite cheap off Ebay. I'm sure its not a high quality one. I did check all voltages from the powersupply and none of them were off or changed during bootup.
Unfortunatly I don't have easy access to another 24pin atx powersupply