Computer Build Woes....

cfullilovecfullilove
edited February 2006 in Hardware
Hiya everyone here's what I need help with:

Ok so I've been spending the last few weeks getting the pieces together to build a new (any my first) system. Here's what I bought...

CP - Intel P4 2.8 Prescott 800fsb 1mb cache
MB - Abit IC7-G Advance II
HS - Zalman CNPS7700-CU Copper Zalman
RAM - OCZ Platinum 1g
Video - Nvidia 5700 LE 128m 128bit DDR
Power - 450w Supply

ok so hooked all of the stuff together and went to turn on the power....when I hit the switch a light on the MOBO comes on that signifies the power supply is connected to the Mobo....

I double check all the switches and connections....and try again...SAME THING!

ok so now I know something doesn't work, I take out the mobo/cpu/ram/vid card/ and plug the mobo in (both the 24 pin and the 12v connectors) to the power supply. Again the light comes on to tell me the power supply is working but when I try to jump the power switch with a screwdriver....nothing happens.

I asked a friend and he said that the battery on the MOBO needs to be removed sometimes and re-inserted to get it running...so I did that, and when I tried to turn it back on again...nothing.

The Heatsink is plugged into the mobo.....so It's not that...

can anybody out there give me some pointers or help me out in any way???? thanks for your time.

-Frustrated.

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Do any of the fans come on - case fan, CPU heatsink fan, northbridge fan (if any), and PSU fan?

    You said you took out the motherboard. So you tested it outside of the case?

    Test outside of the case (to rule out shorting against the case):

    power plugs connected
    CPU & CPU heatsink installed
    one DRAM module


    Check the motherboard manual and ensure that the CMOS jumper is the run position. Ensure that the battery is inserted correctly (flat side facing you).
  • cfullilovecfullilove
    edited February 2006
    Yeah I took out the MB, in fact its out right now.

    No the fan's do not run when I turn on the power supply. The only thing that happens when I turn on the power switch to the power supply is that a led light located on the board turns on. That light signifies the board is connected to power supply.

    Could it be possible the power supply is bad??? I mean could it just be putting out enough juice to turn on that LED....but not the rest of the system? Im asking this because I got the power supply with the case. It's a generic thing I was gonna eventually replace.

    Thanks for your help!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    Do you have all the power connectors to the MB plugged in? That board has an extra four-pin connector next to the RAM slots which would be easy to miss.

    Are you sure that you have the right pins for the power switch?
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited February 2006
    I'm not a genius or anything, but like you I put my first sys together a month or so ago, and I had the same problem. In my case, I plugged in the case's Power ON/OFF button reversed, which I didn't really think mattered, but I guess it does, so try reversing it. Then, try putting just the basic neccities and turm it on and see if it works, then put on the vid card etc....
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    If you count major upgrades and complete rebuilds, I'm now up to about 20 homebuilds. I still sometimes get PWR and RESET connectors on wrong sometime! I've started using a flashlight shining on the prongs to make sure I get the connectors oriented correctly.
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited February 2006
    Leonardo wrote:
    If you count major upgrades and complete rebuilds, I'm now up to about 20 homebuilds. I still sometimes get PWR and RESET connectors on wrong sometime! I've started using a flashlight shining on the prongs to make sure I get the connectors oriented correctly.
    So it does matter which way you put it huh. All the research I did before building it, not one of the tutorials said that. hmm. Does SM have a PC building tutorial, If not you should get lemon to make one haha. No but seriously, you guys are more helpful than most of the other places, and all the tutorials I read were atleast 2 yrs old, so it would be nice to have one that is up-to-date.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited February 2006
    SCAR wrote:
    So it does matter which way you put it huh. All the research I did before building it, not one of the tutorials said that. hmm. Does SM have a PC building tutorial, If not you should get lemon to make one haha. No but seriously, you guys are more helpful than most of the other places, and all the tutorials I read were atleast 2 yrs old, so it would be nice to have one that is up-to-date.


    That might be a good idea for someone to make a computer building tutorial. (not picking the parts out, but just assembling). Although all the regular posters here are "advanced" in this area, it might be good for the people who come here and ask for this kinda help.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Short-Media's very own Building a PC form Parts to Software
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited February 2006
    Leonardo wrote:
    Short-Media's very own Building a PC form Parts to Software
    Haha, just proves my point.
    SCAR wrote:
    All the tutorials I've read so far are 2 yrs old or so
    It's better than most, but if any of you guys have the free time, you should make a new one. As for the "advanced users", I'm not that advanced and I come here everyday and I'm sure there's a lot more people that are just like me. :respect:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    The basics of building a PC have not changed much at all in over five years. The main differences now are SATA hard drives, SLI, and BIOS tweaking options. But for the most part, building a dual core system with DDR2 memory and a single video card is about the same as building an Athlon Thunderbird or Pentium III system. Performance enhancing tweaks, especially when overclocking though, do bring a whole host of BIOS settings that were not around a few years ago.

    For the most part, motherboard manuals are better than they used to be, especially with high performance boards. Many of the discrepancies between new hardware and that listed in older how-to guides can quickly be rectified by instructions in the manuals.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    Actually the power button simply shorts the two pins together. Getting the right two pins is the tricky part. Lots of MB's these days are making it a little easier by color coding the front panel connectors, which really helps old blind guys like me. The LED's definitely do care about the polarity, though there is no permanent harm done if you accidentally get them backwards - they just won't light up.

    It's not the best picture in the world, but for our SMx rigs I just use a couple of old cdrom audio cables which I've done a little plastic surgery on:
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