Build new PC, no display, no post, no beep, but keyboard, mouse, DVD drive works

Daichi

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May 2, 2014
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I have a problem. It's the first time building a pc and I've run into a problem which is common but none of which fix my problem. The PC starts but nothing displays on the monitor. I have tested the monitor and it works. All the computer parts are new. The Motherboard beeps when i take out the RAM sticks. Do I need to say that the fans and lights work as well as the keyboard works (Tapping caps Lock, Number Lock will change the lights) and the mouse lights up as well. It just doesn't beep, or display anything. What does it mean?



CPU: AMD Athlon X4 750K
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
Graphics card: Gigabyte radeon R9 270X
RAM: 2X4 Gb corsair vengeance
Hard drive: 1TB WD caviar black
Powersupply: 500W corsair CX500

Case: Rosewill Line-M


- Problem
*It won't boot
*Screen no turn on

Possible reasons for problem

- CPU: when attempting to re-seat it ONE pin was bent. I did my best to make it straight and checked to see if more than one was bent, aligned all the rows of pins to see if their all even. Then I placed it on the CPU socket, which it fit into place without any pressure or force. I sealed it up and secured it. I placed the cooler and all that back. Took off my RAM sticks to hear 3 beeps and I assume it still works...

- Motherboard: When installing my Graphics card I scratched the Motherboard enough to see it. I test to see if the motherboard was at least able to beep. So I took out my RAM sticks and yes it does it's 3 beeps. Not sure if it will cause any booting problems or if it passes booting, the future of this computer's performance.
If it still beeps even just error beeps is it OK?


My motherboard's details: http://us.msi.com/product/mb/FM2A75MAE35.html#/?div=Overview
The AMIBIOS beep codes as well as others: http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

Could you confirm whether these reasons can or can't apply, it would be helpful.
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UPDATE SOLUTION: Bad CPU, replaced it
 

Daichi

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May 2, 2014
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ingtar33, thanks for your quick response and sorry for my slow reply.

First, I tried restarting cmos it didn't work. Took out batteries, set the jumpers and such.

As for trying different gpu and psu or any parts in general i simply don't have access to do so. With reason I believe the ram may be my problem, but i want to confirm it. I don't think my ram sticks are compatible with my motherboard. And finally addressing the video cables i could and would get one but would that really make a difference to the fact that the system itself won't boot

Now my questions are...

Does my system need to beep to confirm successful boot?

Here: http://www.villagegeek.com/downloads/amibeep.pdf
I did some research, on that site it shows my motherboard's bios which is AMI beep codes
It says nothing about 1 short beep means success.
As far as booting goes, When i take out my ram it beeps 3 times. When I place them on
it doesn't beep, when it should be beeping 8 times because it does have a graphics card.
So does that pin point the ram faulty?
 
... i don't have enough info to be able to give you a good answer... since you can't test most of the main culprets of your problem...

I'll just point you at what I can sorta see going on.

1) you don't tell me what type of vengeance ram it is... (ddr3 1600? 2133?) so i don't know if the ram will or will not work with that board. but your issues aren't mimicking bad/incompatible ram much... it could be the issue but it's pretty low on the totem pole for me.

2) most likely issue is a video card/cable problem. I would try that card in another computer to make sure it works.

3) next most likely issue is a psu problem... you give us no info on the psu, but it's pretty high on the suspect list atm

4) the motherboard is just as likely failed as the ram...

 

Daichi

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Yeah, not being able to test parts isn't doing any good.

for 1, I tested it couldn't be the stick of RAM.

for 2, What do you mean by cable problem? I wouldn't be able
to test the video card on other computers because this is the first
ever desktop in this household.

for 3, I already gave you some info on the psu which is "500W corsair CX500".
What more do you need? The problem that I have with the psu being the
problem is the fact that I got this build list and says that the psu
should be enough to, power the graphics cards and some extra components.
I just can't afford to spend more money for a new psu to test this idea.
Infact, I've already overstretched the budge and it hurts when I see I
buy a new part only to know it just doesn't fix a damn thing.

for 4, I see the fact that the motherboard's DIMM slots could fail.

To refresh the issue...

The motherboard beeps 3 times when their is no ram.
The motherboard beeps 0 times when ram is on.


 


Your computer won't start with no ram in the system ever... so lets not test it that way. try just one stick at a time. try each slot on the motherboard.
 

plaintuts

Admirable
i admire a DIY guy like you, but i think you're over doing stuff.

question, have you already installed windows or any OS to your new computer?

edit: sorry i didn't see the no post symptom there.

so basically the first time you assembled the computer, you didn't even reach the bios.

 

Daichi

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"
-You must have friends or acquaintances with computers. ask them if you can stick the video card into their computer for a few minutes. all you need to make sure is it will display something on the screen on another system.
"
Yeah, I got some people I know that I could try the graphics card in. In fact I'm trying to get someone who knows and build his own pc to see what the problem could be and test some pc parts.

"Yes, the psu should be strong enough... the problem is the cx500 is a low quality (for corsair) psu... it is possible you got a lemon. "
So your saying the psu can power the build, but the quality of it makes it less likely to work. What do you mean it is low quality for corsair? Does that mean comparing the cx500 to corsair only psu? So in general is a corsair psu good or bad comparing to other psu? And I'm guessing a lemon means bad.

"Your computer won't start with no ram in the system ever... so lets not test it that way. try just one stick at a time. try each slot on the motherboard. "
I know it won't start with ram, i did that to see if the motherboard would beep, to know if it's working and alive. I tried using only one stick at a time in each slot.
 


I mean generally corsair PSUs are fairly good... not XFX or Seasonic good, but pretty good. The CX versions are their budget psus... I'd say if you were grading them on a 5 point scale with 5 being an x series seasonic and 1 being a bargain cooler master crap psu, the cx series would probably be a 2.5 maybe 3.0 on that scale. It's decidedly a "C" grade psu. Which means the likelyhood of getting one that's DOA is much higher then it is with a high end psu.

glad to see you're trying the card on someone else's system. We need to eliminate that from the list of suspects.
 

Daichi

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So my PSU may be a dud but it's suppose to be good enough to power my build, got it. The PSU powers all the fans, lights, optical drive turns on so it delivers power to the computer. I know that just because the fans run doesn't mean it's functioning right. I just hope it isn't the psu because I can't return it now.


I'll try to test my card on someone's system but it will be some time until that happens.

If you want my opinion of the problem I think it could be the motherboard. The motherboard still beeps when there's no ram. When there is ram it just stays silent. I Already tried a new stick of ram on the motherboard and no effect. So part of the motherboard is damaged, like maybe the DIMM slots are at fault because they can't read the ram? The only thinks I could return up to this point is the motherboard, Graphics card and the RAM. I am limited by the number of returns I can make.
 


well... MSI has a LOT of DOA boards... it's part of their "charm" (that's sarcasm). They're notorious for poor quality control, and since that's not exactly a high end high quality motherboard i'd say the chances of a DOA board are pretty solid.

As i said... there isn't a lot to go on, but you eliminated ram by trying other ram, so i would give the motherboard a shot.

As for the psu... turning on the fans and lights doesn't take much power, in some cases it doesn't even take any power from the 12V rail... so it's possible your psu isn't working. But if i had to chose between an MSI motherboard and a CX psu, I'd probably lean toward the motherboard being DOA. While the CX psus are budget/mediocre psus, they're quite popular, and i rarely see one turn up DOA in these forums... MSI isn't nearly as popular with thier motherboards, and you see those turn up DOA all the time on these boards.
 

Daichi

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So should I get another MSI motherboard or buy a different motherboard brand?
As for the psu, should I do a paperclip test to see if it functions?
 
Well... MSI, like Asrock, make some solid intel motherboards... unfortunately, their AMD offerings are often quite poor, atleast their motherboards don't burst into flames like some Asrock AMD boards... but they do come DOA quite often. You can exchange it straight up if you like the board. Chances of getting 2 straight DOA boards is pretty thin. Or you can go with Gigabyte or Asus, both of whom tend to make some excellent AMD boards.
 

Daichi

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So basically MSI makes good intel motherboards but not AMD. Okay, I'm planning to get a ASUS A78M-A
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132080

The motherboard is Micro ATX so it should fit into my case (Rosewill Micro-ATX Mini Tower) . It should support my RAM which has 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin. The CPU should fit into into it, it's the same socket (socket FM2+). As for the graphics card, not sure if it fits into the PCI slot, very likely.

Not sure if that's all I need to check. Not sure if the Motherboard can support the AMD Athlon X4 750K even though it can fit into the socket. The CPU fits into a fm2 socket and the motherboard is fm2+. Will it make a difference?

I think it's important to refresh the problem here before i go and buy this new motherboard...

It won't post. According to this website
http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/amibeep.htm
3 beeps means RAM problem. The current motherboard does beep, so it does work. When I put on RAM it doesn't beep. From here I got new RAM and still does the same thing... I'm very wary on buying new parts because i want results. I suspect the motherboard to be the problem, not because the whole thing is defective but that the DIMM slots (all 2) are faulty. Still, this is only a theory. I already spend far more than I was suppose to. This new PC I'm suppose to be using by now is just sitting collecting dust for more than 2 weeks.
 

Daichi

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So do you really think the current motherboard may be dead. In the AMI bios beep code 3 beeps means the ram ic is probably bad.
 

Daichi

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I agree, so the motherboard's IC chip is bad, according to the error beep code. Changing ram did no good. And attempting to even tinker with the IC chip is a real tech expert's job, I'm just putting expensive parts together. I'll see if I can squeeze some more money into a new motherboard if it's really necessary.
 

Daichi

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It appears the the CPU was at fault. Got a replacement and the pc is good to go, installed windows and even tested a few games. Thanks for everyone who contributed to the solution. I was able to test the old CPU on other computers that worked and confirmed no go on those when my old CPU was installed. I picked Suztera as my solution because around the end I did get the pc to boot but no image on screen when installed new CPU. I was puzzled at first then referred to Suztera, So i plugged it into my T.V in the graphics card and it worked. (Note: Same thing done on original CPU, DIDN'T work). Special thanks to ingtar33 for taking the time to help me.