Shut Down Before Post?

[ArizonaRandal]

Last night, I built my first computer... a gaming rig. Here are the specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo 6550
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R MoBo
Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200rpm 16MB 320GB
LG SATA multi-format optical drive
RaidMax Ares Case w/ 450w PSU
GeForce 8800gt oc
NetGear WiFi PCI card
Patriot 4 GB Dual-Channel 4-4-4-12 RAM

I meticulously followed the instructions which came with the motherboard. I also watched many videos on youtube. Everything is where it is supposed to go.

However, when I hit power, the 7 cpu activity lights all light up, a "powering down... ZZZZzzzzz" sound can be heard and 1 second later, nothing. This all happens in less than 2 second. Nothing appears on the monitor. There is no fan activity or HD activity. Pushing the power button does no good until the I/O switch in the back has been turned off and then on again.

I am NOT a hardware guy. I am trying to become more of one and am learning a lot. However, I have no diagnostic equipment to test for shorts and the like. Can someone please help me and give me some ideas to try. I'm optimistic that someone on the forum will offer me sound help. Thank you.

 

[slickjr169]

First off, ditch the powersupply that comes in that raidmax case; trust me that powersupply is a huge liability and it's continous power ratings are no where near 450watts. Also I've seen some raidmax cases having grounding issues and shorting the motherboard.

Now, to determine that you dont have a dead piece of hardware take the motherboard out and place it on top of the antistatic bag that it came in. Then attach components that are neccesary in order to post (cpu, heatsink, one stick of ram, videocard, and powersupply). If you post continue adding ram and then your harddrive. If you get through all of that then you got a short somewhere on the motherboard and the motherboard try in the case. But, if you dont post on the firt attempt cycle through your sticks of ram (remember only one stick for now). If you dont post still then try another powersupply (and dont buy a raidmax; get either PCpower, seasonic, or an antec for the best of reliability and current stablity). If you still dont post then get another videocard, and then if you still dont post then either its or motherbaord or CPU.

Good Luck!

 

[badge]

Have you plugged the CPU 12v lead from the PSU into the MB to supply power to the CPU? Use one DIMM RAM in slot 1 only. Enter BIOS and set the Memory voltage to 2.0-2.1v for PC6400. If the system fails to POST to BIOS, unplug EVERYTHING except the CPU fan, video card and 1 DIMM of RAM. Try bootin the system with The CPU/fan, video card and 1 DIMM of RAM only. If that doesn't work, you want to remove the MB from the case and try booting outside of the case to insure the system is not shorting out to the case. At some point you would need spare parts like power supply, RAM, video card, etc. to further troubleshoot the system. HTH.

http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Troubleshooting+a+New+Build?t=anon

 

[ArizonaRandal]

Thank you so much for the responses. These are things I am able to do even with my limited knowledge. I will try them and report what happens.

 

[jsc]

And carefully, carefully, double check everything. The stock heatsink with the push pin mounting can be tricky to install properly. Memory sticks can require a surprising amunt of force to install.

 

[ArizonaRandal]

One more quick question:

When I am testing everything outside of the case, what are the things that don't need to be tested yet? For example, I probably don't need to test the hard drive, dvd drive, or wireless card, right? Thanks again.

 

[slickjr169]

One more quick question:

When I am testing everything outside of the case, what are the things that don't need to be tested yet? For example, I probably don't need to test the hard drive, dvd drive, or wireless card, right? Thanks again.

That would be correct, none of that is needed in order to post.