Trouble with new build

[Masaki 7-11]

I've started building the computer I mentioned in my other thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=200273, and I've come across a bit of a problem; my computer won't start when the power button is pressed (neither the power button on the case nor the power button on the motherboard work).

I currently have all the parts plugged into the motherboard, power supply and case, but I first did a out of case build using just the motherboard (placed on the cardboard box that it came in), processor, heatsink, power supply, 1 stick of ram, and the video card, and the computer booted fine and let me get into the bios.

When the power supply is turned on, the motherboard shows the power LED to be on, but pressing any of the power buttons does nothing. At this point I think that either there is a short in the motherboard which is preventing the system from receiving the command to power on, or the power supply isn't delivering enough power for all the parts. The motherboard I have has many LEDs on the motherboard for diagnostic purposes, but these are not turning on right now, so I would discount any motherboard incompatibilities with the PCI cards, ram sticks, and sata devices I've added compared to the out of case build.

I'm thinking of doing a bare build inside the case first to make sure that the power supply is providing enough power (If the system boots with a bare build, then most likely the power supply isn't providing enough power. If the system does not boot inside the case, I will try a bare build outside the case, followed by a full build outside the case if the bare build boots (If it doesn't boot outside the case with the bare build, most likely one of the parts has fried). If the problem turns out to be a short, is there any trick to making it stay in the case without shorting, or is all I can do reseat the motherboard until it stops shorting?


Here are my computer specs:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550

Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with 120mm Scythe S-FLEX medium flow fan and Arctic Silver 5 (not sure if it is seated properly as it pivots on the spot, but there is full contact with the processor and the bios reported 20C in the bios with the out of case build)

Motherboard: MSI P45 Platinum

Memory: 4x2GB Mushkin HP2 DDR2-800

Optical Drive: LG Super Multi Security DVD Writer 22x, SATA w/ Lightscribe

Hard Drive: 2x640GB Western Digital

Video Card: Visiontek HD4870

Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-E

Wireless Card: D-Link Xtreme N Desktop PCI Adapter

Power Supply: Corsair TX 750W

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000


Thank you for your time, any thoughts or help would be appriciated.

[shadowpr]

Sounds like you have the right idea.

Try with just the bare minimum inside the case. If that's a no go, then it's back to the out of case build.

If the out of case build works, then it was probably a short. I would then check all the standoffs. Make sure you don't have any extra in there.

[Masaki 7-11]

I got the computer up and running, and installed vista 64-bit (the motherboard had a short which was fixed after reseating. Everything went pretty smoothly for the first hour while I was getting the drivers installed and applications installed, however every time I try to use applications which use up more ram, I get a blue screen regarding memory management. Is this a problem related to vista or could it be a problem with my ram (I've heard that running a lot of sticks of ram has a higher chance of containing a bad stick). I'm using 4x2GB Mushkin HP2 running at DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 @ 1.8V and they are rated to run at DDR2-800 5-4-4-12 @ 1.8V. I'll load up memtest soon to test out the memory, how many passes should I let memtest run for in order to figure out if the ram is bad?

[shadowpr]

I know when I was running 4 sticks, I had to either lower the speed, or up the voltage. For some reason, sometimes they just aren't as stable when using all 4 slots.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by shadowpr I know when I was running 4 sticks, I had to either lower the speed, or up the voltage. For some reason, sometimes they just aren't as stable when using all 4 slots.

I'll try doing that, I seem to be getting other blue screens as well though, so I think it may be either the installation of vista or perhaps a virus. I just bought a brand new version of Vista Home Premium 64-bit with SP1, so I kind of doubt that the installation went wrong. Currently doing scans of my computer with Avast! free edition.