First Time Builder, Needs some Help!

[rottenpixies]

Hey there.

I have been tinkering with computers for about 10 years now and repair xbox 360's so I have some knowledge with working with a mobo and what not.

So I finally decided to build a PC. I did some research and got an Asus P5G43T-M Pro Mother board with a Dual Core Intell Chip.

Everything is plugged in correctly even all the tiny pin cables for power/reset/etc...

I plugged it in and the Led light on the mobo went green... so I figured that was a good sign.

I pushed the power button and the fan starts to spin than stops. If I unplug the power and than plug it back in and attempt to power it does the same thing... the fan spins once than nothing happens... doesnt sound like anything is happening at all.

If anyone can give some help I might get some sleep tonight... was so anxious waiting for my 4gb of ram so I could finally fire it up and now it won't start.


Thanks!
Josh

[glc]

PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!!

[rottenpixies]

Hey thanks a lot, I'm glad I now know to do a "benchtest" before installing a new mobo.

I did that and I am getting the same result... The fan turns on for a second than stops and nothing happens.

I had nothing hooked up except a monitor and the power supply to the mobo on its own box and connected the power pins...

Does this mean that my power supply is bunk? Is there anything else that would cause this such as the cpu or heat sink fan not being perfect? Thats the only thing I could think of at this point since that is all thats connected is the processor and the power.

Thanks again for any help, I have been playing with computers for many years and I'm glad that I'm begging to build my own finally. This seems like a great place to learn!

[glc]

What are you using for a power supply, ram, and CPU? Did you connect both the 24 pin main connector and the 4 pin CPU connector? Are the heatsink pins completely snapped down into the holes in the motherboard?

[rottenpixies]

Originally Posted by glc What are you using for a power supply, ram, and CPU? Did you connect both the 24 pin main connector and the 4 pin CPU connector? Are the heatsink pins completely snapped down into the holes in the motherboard?

The pins are snapped down with the heatsink, and yes I had both the 24 pin and 4 pin connected to the cpu. I had a green light on the cpu but would not boot.

Asus P5G43T-M Pro Motherboard
R363-M-BK Rosewill case With ATX 12v 400W built in power supply
X2 Crucial 2gb 240-Pin DIMM 256MX64 DDR3
Dual-Core Intel Processor E6600 LGA775

[rottenpixies]

I tried to reset it by moving the jumper back and forth on the mobo and taking the battery out for a minute... this didn't work either. So frustrating, could my power source not be strong enough for this mobo?

[glc]

The power supply in that case is made by L&C, and it's total trash. You are not going to find a $50 case that comes with a decent quality power supply, it's not happening. A quality 400 watt power supply by itself costs that much. The power supply in that case is worth maybe $15. I'd recommend you order one of these if you are not planning on adding a video card:

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

If you are going to put a video card in it, get one of these:

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

[rottenpixies]

Thats what I kind of thought... Once I looked up all the parts I thought that was pretty cheap for a case and power supply. It was a Christmas gift and my dad doesn't probably realize with all new technology that the power supply is important.

Thanks a lot for your help, I will order this tonight and post back here with results!

[rottenpixies]

I'm wondering if even though that is a cheap power supply if I can put it in my girlfriends desktop. She has an EMachine with only like gb ram and a single core processor... no vid card or nothing.

Her computer doesn't start anymore and since I'm starting to learn how to diagnose the insides I might keep the power supply if its worth for testing older computers?

[glc]

It's worth keeping for a tester - assuming it's not defective! The chances of it being defective with your symptoms are pretty high.

[rottenpixies]

Im glad im putting the better power supply in now anways. I have a 1gb nvidia graphics card so it sounds like this power source would of not handled it anyways. I got the One you said to get for a graphics card. Can't wait to finally get this build going. I will post back once new power supply arrives and I hook it up.
thanks
josh

[glc]

Try it with the onboard video first to make sure the motherboard, CPU, and ram are good. Take it one step at a time.

[rottenpixies]

I just got the new power supply hooked up and its doing the same thing. I'm just using the on board video card to my monitor and my motherboard on top of a box.

I tried testing both sticks of ram... what else could it be at this point... it has to be the motherboard of the processor right?

[rottenpixies]

Oh... I just swapped out the ram again and now atleast the fan is running!!!

I'm not getting anything on the monitor thought =(

Any ideas?

[rottenpixies]

Atleast I'm making progress... The cpu fan is running when I trigger the power pins. I am getting nothing on the monitor though. Do I need to install bios or anything for a new motherboard or should I get some kind of message on the monitor? Grrr So close!!!

[glc]

You should be getting a POST display. Let it run for about 5 minutes and feel the CPU and motherboard heatsinks - are they getting warm?

Note - there were 2 completely different E6600 processors - there was the original "Conroe" Core 2 Duo, and there's the Pentium Dual Core. The Conroe is not compatible with that motherboard, and the Pentium Dual Core requires bios 0601 or newer. The bios revision the board shipped with should be on the bar code sticker on the box, and may also be on a sticker on the motherboard itself.

[rottenpixies]

I have 0601 Motherboard... I talked to the asus tech guy and he said it was compatible.



This sucks... its not making any sounds with the system speaker or showing anything on the monitor. All I have hooked up is power, processor, 1 ram stick, monitor, and keyboard.

The fan is running now on the power source and cpu...it doesn't really seem to be putting out warm air... I'm going to let it run a little longer and see.

The tech guy from asus said if I can try to hook it up to a different power supply that i know for sure worked even though I've tried two brand new ones... than he said it might be the motherboard and that I can have ti replaced under warranty...

Really wish I could know for sure before i go messing with sending it back and all. glc thank you so much for helping me this far!! You have helped me not to give up hope

The processor says S-spec: SLGUG, which the asus tech guy asked me.

It sucks I'm not even getting any system noises to try to figure out =(

[rottenpixies]

The cpu area isnt getting hot after letting it run for 10 minutes

[glc]

Ask your dad where and when he bought the motherboard - it may still be under the vendor's return policy. If it was Newegg it's 30 days, exchange or refund - and that board is not in stock right now. If not, contact Asus for a RMA. If it's not getting warm, the motherboard is DOA. It should still run with no RAM at all - and without RAM it should be constantly beeping.

[rottenpixies]

He bought it from new egg for me for Christmas, he most likely purchased it from them more than 30 days ago. I believe asus said its 3 year warrantied and he said it would be no problem to get exchanged if I need to.

There is no way that it could mean the chip doesn't have enough thermal paste or isnt making contact for some reason?

Would you say its definitely the mobo and I should contact about an exchange instead of testing other power supply's or anything?

[glc]

You have already used two PSU's.

I suppose the CPU might not be installed correctly or could even be defective. You remove the plastic cover, lift the ZIF arm, lift the metal cover, drop the CPU in the socket, close the metal cover, then close the ZIF arm. Then you drop the heatsink on and punch the 4 pins down completely.

[rottenpixies]

Yea I even tried taking the chip off and redoing it... I even applied a bit of Arctic thermal paste because it looked like the stuff they put on wasn't covering the whole surface.

The guy from asus tech suport said it was very unlikely that its the processor and that if it's not the power supply or the system speaker on the case that it's probably the mobo.

I'm going to contact newegg and asus about an exchange tomorrow morning unless you can think of anything else.

[glc]

Don't overdo the paste - if you are going to use Arctic Silver, clean the factory paste off first with isopropyl alcohol. Follow the application instructions on the Arctic Silver website.

Have your dad log in to his Newegg account and pull a copy of the invoice. If it's less than 30 days, they will probably give him a refund because the board is no longer in stock. They only have open box now, which I wouldn't trust. Asus will fix you up regardless, but that can take about 3 weeks.

[rottenpixies]

They gave us shipping codes to send back the motherboard and they are exchanging it (newegg). I sent it out with UPS today. Hope the new one works as planned!

[rottenpixies]

The motherboard is out of stock like you said with new egg so I have to find a new mobo that will work with the parts I bought.

I am having trouble cross referencing to find a compatible mobo for my ram and processor.

This is my mobo I need to replace




This is my processor that I need to find a new compatible mother board that will also fit my ram.

[glc]

I just did a cheap upgrade with one of these:

Newegg.com - ASUS P5G41T-M/CSM LGA 775 Intel G41 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

It works very well.

[rottenpixies]

Unfourtantly according to ASUS Support page the Dual-Core Intel Processor E6600 LGA775 Processor is not under the support list.

I found the same motherboard we got on Amazon for 10 dollars more. Since I already know all parts are compatible with that MOBO I figured I'd play it safe with that.

My next build, I am going to pick out the parts my self. I can't find a single other ASUS Mobo that is compatible with my Processor.

[glc]

Most of the P5G41 boards are compatible. Search the Asus CPU support site by CPU instead of motherboard. Note that some are DDR2, some are DDR3, and some will take either/or.