Alright guys/gals I have just bought a new computer putting the parts together. I have gone into a problem where my mobo lights turn on when I click the power, but no POST or BIOS (no monitor output). Alll fans work. I triple checked if not twice that, to see if all the cables were in. I KNOW all the cables are in correctly. It can't possibly be my VGA card because I have 2 of them (I switched them around to see if one of them were faulty). I am leading to the CPU being DOA or the RAM being incompatible. Please help quick. I tried alot of things on the internet with the same problem.
I have:
MSI P7N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
e8400 intel 775 chip
A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820211188

oh and I already switched the ram around and taken them to just one 2 gb stick.
I read that the p6n is compatible with the ram, but the p7n wasn't shown, but I assumed it will work.
please reply
I know this is all over the internet and probably in this forums, but nothing and I mean nothing has worked so far so...

The correct term for "won't boot or beep" is "won't post."

Not sure if this would be your problem, but have you tried posting with only one video card installed (I have not played with SLI boards enough to know)?

If so, I would guess it is your CPU.... kinda hard to get a memory kit with both sticks DOA...

Is your 4/8-pin CPU connector plugged in?

Also, I've come across boards that just weren't happy with default memory voltages with certain RAM. I keep two extra sets of $20 RAM just for booting just because of it. If you can, borrow someone else's stick of RAM and try that, then up the DRAM voltage to 1.9 or 2.0 volts, shut the system down, put the A-DATA back in, and see if it turns on.

What are the 'symptoms' of bad ram vs bad cpu? I am almost sure that its my cpu, but the ram is still kinda iffy. Its a matter of a bad cpu or incompatible ram. I think it won't post by means it won't do anything. So I can't install software (starting with vista) It turns on, lights, fans, almost action. But where's the BEEP? and no output is going out. I know its not the Video cause I have 2 cards so I can switch it. Does geek squad do this fast and cheap or free? These are the only people I know that could switch the ram or cpu

I think it is the ram. I hardly ever see DOA CPUs. When I first did my build I had a bad stick of ram and it wouldn't post with it in. I had to remove the bad stick to post and install windows. Just to make sure, did you test both sticks of ram individually? Like someone esle said try using known good ram.

edited for unnesecarry question.

Assuming that all the new components are fine and compatible with each other and that everything is connected well the first thing that needs to be verified is BIOS version of your motherboard. I had the same problem 2 years ago when I assembled my first PC. It would not boot, beep, monitor was totally black. The only signs of life where light on my motherboard and CPU fan running. You should go to your motherboard manufacturer web site and check if newer BIOS version is available. I will describe my case now. I had INTEL motherboard and I was able to find good instructions on how to update BIOS using floppy drive. Original BIOS version that my motherboard arrived with was printed on the motherboard packaging. After searching INTEL’s web site and MB/CPU compatibility list I found out that it had to have newer BIOS in order to be able to run with the CPU installed. On another computer I downloaded the latest BIOS file from the Internet and saved it on a floppy disk. After that I connected my floppy drive to the new motherboard, and I also had to remove one jumper so that motherboard would know that new BIOS is going to be installed from a floppy drive. When this jumper was removed I started my new computer with floppy disk inserted in my floppy drive. Motherboard started to search for new BIOS and green light started flashing on floppy drive. You should not interrupt this process as some people say that your motherboard may become unusable. INTEL is offering easy solution even if the process is interrupted but I am not sure about your MB. Whole process lasted between 2 and 4 minutes as far as I can remember. All this information on how to do BIOS update was given on INTEL’s web site. I hope that MSI is giving detailed information also. Some people use another CPU that is compatible with the motherboard as it is. They install Windows and update the latest BIOS. After that they put new processor in and do whole Windows installation process again. Problem with this is: Where do you find another processor?

I forgot to tell that I had to put the jumper back after the update. Whenever connecting or disconnecting anything from your PC make sure that it is turned off.

Check out these two links:

1.
http://www.msicomputer.com/product [...] m&class=mb

There is a warrning about incompatibility with some memory modules.



2.
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php [...] incat_no=1

This is MB/CPU compatibility list. Your CPU appears to be compatible. See if it is memory and let us know if you were able to solve your problem.

I agree to try each video card first. You might not have enough power to run 2 cards. You didn't mention what power supply you had.

There is some incompatibility between BIOS v1.0 and E8400 processor as per MSI web site. New BIOS v1.1 is available that fixes this problem. Here is the link:

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php [...] od_no=1373