Need help, new build won't start

[PAMom]

Hi all,

I've been a PC user for 20+ years and have replaced/upgraded parts in the past, but this is my first attempt at a build from scratch.

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Here's my parts list (taken from a recommended build on this forum):

COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-SWN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-SWN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750

A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH
Newegg.com - A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH

ASUS EAH5830 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH5830 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

2 Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

Samsung 21.5" 1920x1080 5ms B2230HD HD HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor w/TV Tuner & USB Port 300 cd/m2 70,000:1 Dynamic
Newegg.com - Samsung 21.5" 1920x1080 5ms B2230HD HD HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor w/TV Tuner & USB Port 300 cd/m2 70,000:1 Dynamic

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I was brave right out of the box and installed everything, turned the power on, and of course it didn't work. All I got was the SB_PWR light on the motherboard. No fan spin on the power supply.

I know the power cord and outlet both work fine. I checked and reseated everything, tried again, same thing. Only SB_PWR light.

So I went through the troubleshooting on this thread:
PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!!

EDITED TO ADD: At one point I also removed the battery and left it out for awhile (at least 1/2 hour) while I was occupied elsewhere.

Took it all apart, put together the minimum components outside the case (working on a cardboard surface). The only activity I got was the green light for SB_PWR on the motherboard.

Today I took it all apart again and tested the power supply with a multimeter. Seemed fine...but this is the first time I've ever done that, so it's possible I missed something. Found guidelines for this online (another site) and after I shorted out pins 15 and 16, I was able to get the fan on the power supply to spin while it wasn't connected to anything other than a power source.

Tried putting the power supply back on the system and plugging in the motherboard, memory, and video card. No fan spin. Back to just the one green light for SB_PWR again.

Any ideas?

Please keep in mind that while I've been a heavy PC user for a long time, I've got no experience at a full build and I haven't had technical training...all I've got is what I've learned out of necessity over the years (so please keep the acronyms to a minimum...dumb it down for the PA Mom please!). Thanks

[Raiden619]

May be a dead board..

If you can try using the PSU on a different computer and see if the computer turns on..

[David M]

Agreed, given you did everything to the letter, I think you have a dead board. It happens.

[PAMom]

Is there any way to test a motherboard to confirm whether or not it's a dead board?

[rwest]

Unfortunately-not really. Not unless you have a pc that uses the same format of components the suspected board has, then you could test each component.

It's highly unlikely the processor is at fault, ram and motherboard would be the first components to suspect. Even with a bad hdd or optical drive you should be able to get into bios. Ram is quite interchangeable, if you have another pc around let us know what it is, and we can tell you if you can install it and verify for good. Same goes for the vid card.

Here's a few things you can check first:
There is a four pin ATX 12v connector right above the cpu hold down, located at the top of the board. It's light blue. Same color connector as the main power. This is common to miss. Did you have this power line connected? There is also a six pin connector on the back of the video card. It is additional power for the video card, and must be plugged in.

[PAMom]

Thanks rwest. These are both plugged in.

The only other PC I have here is a pretty old one. It's a Dell Dimension 4400.

[Nikon]

it may be possible that you connected the wires to your power switch (on the case) backwards. i did this once, resulting in similar a problem.

[rwest]

Yep, specs on the dimension doesn't match a thing, except for the psu

Pretty easy check, I would think. The Antec won't have any problem at all booting the Dimension 4400. Sure woth a shot.

Definitley check the PSU. I just ran the calulator for your system and Newegg's calulator puts you just over the 547watts reccomended with a high end motherboard. If ran as a standard desktop board, the calculator suggests 521watts. The Antec BP550 psu is a highly reccomended unit, but it's not their best, and if your system needs a bit more than what the psu can supply-well that may be our problem. Antec usually doesn't lean this way, but there's always the exception.

[jdeb]

did you jump the pins on the front panel connector to try and start rather than using the panel power switch??

[PAMom]

jdeb, yup tried that too...forgot to mention it above

rwest, I'll give that a shot

Found this on another site:
No Power to Computer - How to Troubleshoot a Computer That Shows No Sign of Power

"Note: I highly recommend that you test your computer with a Power On Self Test card (POST Card Definition - What is a POST Card? - Power On Self Test) to confirm that the motherboard is the cause of your computer not turning on at all."

Opinions...is a POST card something that would be worth it for me to get? Keep in mind I'm not a techie...is there one out there that's feasible for someone like me? Mostly a PC user, occasionally replace/upgrade parts, but not a fully trained tech...

If you think it'd be worth it for me to have something like this on hand, any recommendations as to brand/model?

[PAMom]

Nikon, re this: "it may be possible that you connected the wires to your power switch (on the case) backwards. i did this once, resulting in similar a problem."

All of the plugs have clips and tabs they click onto, so I don't think I've got any on backwards. Also they seem to all have square and rounded alternating parts so it looks like it'd be almost impossible to plug any of them in backwards...they wouldn't fit.

Assembly of these parts looks pretty idiot proof to me. Sitting here looking at this based on my past experience with replacing parts, it looks like it should have been easy to put together and get going! LOL Even things like the small pins/plugs are labeled both on the pins and the motherboard, so all I had to do is match them up and, worst case, reverse the direction on those (which I've also tried).

[PAMom]

rwest, re this: "Definitley check the PSU. I just ran the calulator for your system and Newegg's calulator puts you just over the 547watts reccomended with a high end motherboard. If ran as a standard desktop board, the calculator suggests 521watts. The Antec BP550 psu is a highly reccomended unit, but it's not their best, and if your system needs a bit more than what the psu can supply-well that may be our problem. Antec usually doesn't lean this way, but there's always the exception."

Can you post the link to Newegg's calculator?

If I don't have everything plugged in, shouldn't it still power up if I don't have any dead parts? If this turns out to be the issue, do you have a recommendation for a PSU that can handle all of my components?

[Nikon]

i was referring to the pins that go from the switch itself to the main connector on the mobo (looks kind of like a usb header). these are often single pin wires. ill see if i cant find a pic.

this is not a connection from the mobo to the psu, its from the case to the mobo.

edit: here is an example. this one has them together, but often times they are 2 seperate pins.

http://www.icalvyn.com/how-to-on-com...-power-button/

[PAMom]

Nikon re: "i was referring to the pins that go from the switch itself to the main connector on the mobo (looks kind of like a usb header). these are often single pin wires. ill see if i cant find a pic.

this is not a connection from the mobo to the psu, its from the case to the mobo."

I think I know what you're referring to. Tiny little 2-prong pin labeled POWER SW on a thin orange & white wire pair? If so, I've tried it with that plug on, reversed it, and also removed the plug/shorted it with a screwdriver for 4 seconds as recommended in the troubleshooting thread. No luck.

If that's not it, yes please post a link to a photo. Thanks.

[PAMom]

Nikon, you're bloody brilliant! This link:
http://www.icalvyn.com/how-to-on-com...-power-button/

Showed me I had that little plug on the wrong way. Fixed it and turned on the power and the fan is running and the system is beeping! YAY! Now I can start putting the rest of the parts on and see if the power supply can handle everything.

THANK YOU!

I'll let you all know how it goes from here...

[glc]

550 watts is more than enough for that system.

That motherboard has a 8 pin CPU connector, not a 4 pin. 4 of the pins may be covered by a plastic cap, you have to remove it and use the 8 pin connector from the power supply (I believe this one is marked P3). Quad cores require all 8 pins. You also have to connect all 24 pins on the main connector.

The video card has a 6 pin and a 8 pin PCI-E connector, those must both be connected. You have 6 pin and 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors - one each.

[rwest]

PAmom I've actually never used a post card. Not sure what it is either. I'm just a hobbyist. Some of the guru's will probably jump in later. But as far as POST(power on self test) goes, I think all pc's go thru this when powering up. That first beep you hear is completion of POST. It says your hardware is working right. Depending on the manufacturer will depend on what the beep codes mean. No beep usually means something's wrong with the hardware. Two short beeps-usually ram. One long beep....etc.

Yeh it's almost idiot proof putting one together. But we all have managed to prove that theory wrong.

there's two of our guru's

sorry PAmom I tired to help. they got your back now

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by PAMom Nikon, you're bloody brilliant! This link: http://www.icalvyn.com/how-to-on-com...-power-button/ Showed me I had that little plug on the wrong way. Fixed it and turned on the power and the fan is running and the system is beeping! YAY! Now I can start putting the rest of the parts on and see if the power supply can handle everything. THANK YOU! I'll let you all know how it goes from here...

you must not of jumped the pins then or not not correctly.

[PAMom]

jdeb: "you must not of jumped the pins then or not not correctly."

Yup...not correctly. Wrong 2 pins. DOH! LOL

[Nikon]

=D sometimes the most confusing problems have the simplest solutions =D i gather the problem is fixed? if so, glad i could be of service.

[PAMom]

Yes, that did it. My computer has been up and running all day. It's stable, and Windows 7 is humming along.

I just have one more glitch to work out...it's not recognizing my second hard drive.

[Nikon]

is the HDD detected in bios or device manager? (right click 'computer', choose manage, on left side pick device manager)

[PAMom]

Both HDD's show up in bios and device manager. When I look at properties for each drive in device manager, it says both are working properly.

But when I navigate to Computer (Start > Computer) to look at drives, all I can see are one HD and one DVD drive:

Hard disk drives (1):
C:

Drives with removable storage (1):
DVD/RW Drive D:

I've tried unplugging/reseating all plugs, rebooting the computer, no change. I'll try swapping out cables next...could be a bad cable or power plug.

[PAMom]

Have another issue with the computer. I'm trying to get Sims2 to run on it but when I try to load the game, I get this error:

Failed to find any DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system.

I checked for graphics card driver updates and it says I have the latest driver installed.

Anyone have any idea if it's possible to get this game to work with my system? (See components list earlier in this thread). Thanks.

[Nikon]

have you tried compatability mode?

[PAMom]

Originally Posted by Nikon have you tried compatability mode?

I'm not familiar with this. Instructions please?

[Nuclear Krusader]

PAMom, my guess is that you didn't format the other HDD. Do this: Click on the Windows Orb, right click on Computer then Manage. On the window that opens navigate to Disk Management; you should see your drives there. I'm assuming the HDD you can't see in Windows Explorer will have a black band and say unallocated or something like that. Just right click on it and choose Format.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally Posted by PAMom I'm not familiar with this. Instructions please?

Right click on the Sims 2 icon, choose Properties. You should see several tabs, one of which says compatibility. Therein you can choose to run that program as if Windows 7 were any of the previous Windows OSes. You can also check the box that says Run as Administrator. See if that works.

[PAMom]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader Right click on the Sims 2 icon, choose Properties. You should see several tabs, one of which says compatibility. Therein you can choose to run that program as if Windows 7 were any of the previous Windows OSes. You can also check the box that says Run as Administrator. See if that works.

Thanks. Tried it for XP SP 3. Same error.

Did Troubleshoot Compatibility and it recommended XP SP 2. Still got the same error.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Is this a 64-bit version of Windows 7? Does this game use any DRM such as SecuROM or TAGES?