Need help with new pc

[Abremer00]

My friend and i just got done assembling his new computer. Everything seems to be connected properly however when we hit the power switch the fans start and the processor starts then the system turns off. We checked the power connections and everything seems to be connected correctly. Any advice would be appreciated.

[shadowpr]

PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!!

Make sure it's out of the case.

[Abremer00]

Alright now the computer will start, however it does not send a signal out to the monitor. Everything seems to be running correctly in the case there is just no video signal being sent out.

Specs are:
Asus m2n-sli deluxe
Athlon 6400 64 x2
xfx 8800 ultra (2 in sli)
8 gb corsair xms 2 ram pc6400 800mhz
1000 w ultra x3 modular power supply
creative labs x-fi

[shadowpr]

Is the computer out of the case?

Are you truying to get it to work with just one video card and one stick of ram?

[Abremer00]

The computer is out of the case and we removed 1 of the video cards and all but 1 stick of ram and still no signal is being sent to the moniter. We individually tested all of the hardware and everything powers up correctly so atm we're kind of lost.

[minsonngo]

Do you have the CPU heatsink/fan installed securely as instructed?

Are ALL of the required cables connected from the PSU to the motherboard, video cards, and other components?


Ultra power supplies are usually not recommended... something you might want to keep in mind if the other things check out fine.

[minsonngo]

Do you have the proper cables from the PSU installed to these connectors on the video card? See link below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...20Video%20Card

[Abremer00]

Well I finally got the bios screen to come on, so I put everything into the case and I ran into the same problem I had before. All the fans are functioning properly, all cables from the psu are connected to the motherboard and hardware. Both video cards are connected using 2 6pin cables as shown in the manuel I received in the video card box and on the link that you posted. The problem before as far as I could see what I was somehow shorting out the signal that was supposed to be going to the moniter which could be the issue I am facing now with everything in the case. I installed everything properly and as shown in the instruction manuals. When I got the bios screen to come up the one time I was excited because it was almost like a fluke, but I'm back to the same issue with all the hardware in the case now.

I dunno if the signal isn't properly being sent through the cable because of the sli configuration. Does it matter if I have both cards connected at intiial powerup before I go through and configure everything? I only have 1 stick of ram in there atm because people have mentioned to set it up first with just 1, does that also apply to video cards?

The only other thing I can think of is that somehow the signal is getting shorted out somwehere, but I've looked at the case and can't honestly see anywhere that could be happening.

I picked the ultra psu because they were running a deal through tiger right now and the reviews that I read on them were actually quite good so if they aren't recommended then I'll know that for next time.

Everything powers up just as it should though so I am really confused atm.

[minsonngo]

Do you have standoffs between the case and the motherboard?

If it works outside of the case... but you run into problems when all the hardware is put back inside of the case... then something is shorting out the motherboard most likely...

[Abremer00]

Yep I used 9 standoffs to support the motherboard. This is really odd because everything powers up perfectly, theres just no signal being sent from the video card to the moniter.

[minsonngo]

I would try another PSU then.

[Abremer00]

Just got the bios screen to boot in the case when I removed the second graphics card. I was sli'ing them with the provided connection that came with the motherboard, but I guess it just didn't like 2 graphics cards right away, so I'll just setup the computer as it is right now and then figure out how to properly sli them later.

[Abremer00]

This is getting irritating because as I was setting it up and the video signal went out again so I took everything out of the case and remounted everything looking to see if there was anything that could be giving the system a short. I turned it back on and everything powered up fine again. All 4 case fans were running, the video card fan was running, the hard drive sounded normal, but no video signal. When I did get the bios screen to boot 1 of the 2 times everything was recognized and was in running order so I know that I don't have any bad hardware. Is the only explanation a short for why I am still not getting a video signal?

[shadowpr]

Like has been said, try a different power supply.

Also try with the other video card. (Just one, just switch which one you try with.)

[Abremer00]

I switched the video cards with the same results, I don't have another power supply here so I guess I'll have to try and borrow one just to see if that was the issue. Everything powers up fine though and all fans are running so this is just kind of bazaar.

[Abremer00]

Alright well it seems like everything else checks out just fine. I am just curious. Why would a different power supply matter? I am new to this and i am just wondering the reasons behind this so that i know for next time.

[doubledragon5]

Some psu like the Ultra are garbage period. You should us a good psu that is certified for a sli configuration. Pick one from this list What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside Also make sure you check the box for the video card and check its psu recommendations..

[Abremer00]

I finally managed to get ahold of a different power supply and got a refund for the ultra one. this time I got a Corsair HX1000w psu and as soon as I plugged it in everything was working. I just wanted to jump back onto the board here and say thank you for the helpful feedback and I'll be sure to stay away from ultra products.

[minsonngo]

Glad you got things working!

[Abremer00]

I ran into a bit of another snag, not sure if this can be answered here or not but I'll give it a shot. Everything is in the case now and powers up fine I get a signal from the graphics card to the moniter. I decided to install windows and such while everything was working outside of the case so that when I plugged everything back in it would just go into windows straight away. During the process of putting everything back into the case and checking for shorts and whatnot I think I may have reset the system or shut it off too many times because when I got everything working right an error message came up on the screen saying windows failed to boot properly because it did not fully load the last time the system was turned on.

Something to that effect and it gives me 5 options 3 of which are running the computer in safe mode, starting windows from the last know good setting that worked and starting windows normally. I have tried the last 2 options and the loading bar with the windows xp64 logo will show up on the screen and then it will freeze and hang there with the loading bar on the screen. I turned the computer off and tried it again and the next time I was able to get to the login point, but then it froze and was hanging there again. I got as far as to have the mouse icon load on the screen, but windows would not completely load.

So then I booted up the system and went into the bios settings and I was going to attempt to format the harddrive and reinstall windows because my guess is that some of my windows files were corrupted during the power off and resetting of the case when I was trying to get rid of the short. It hindsight I wish I wouldn't have installed the os before I had everything in the case and working.

Does this sound like windows files are corrupted and I need to do a clean install? If so another issue I ran into was when I did try and boot off of the cd it won't give me an option to install windows it just goes into setup checks a few things and then tries to load windows from the cd.

Do I need to remove the harddrive and bring it to a different system that could format it? Any help here would be appreciated.