Hey guys need some serious help here

Heres a setup ive just build for my mate, he just spent a grand on this and isnt too happy that its not working from the start

1 x Hi-Power Black 800W Modular PSU 135196
1 x AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition Processor Retail with Fan143263
1 x Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-Ray Reader 12X DVD±RWDL/RAM SATA Black - OEM 130747
1 x Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 XMS2 Dominator Memory 119190
1 x Western Digital WD800JD Caviar SE 80GB 7200RPM SATAII 59556
1 x Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 790FX 140081
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Case 143854
1 x HIS HD 3870X2 1GB DDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card 140324

The red numbers indicate ebuyer quickfind codes as thats where all the parts were purchased

Problem im having is the PC wont post at all and it constantly reboots every 5 seconds
All the fans spin up, GPU PSU CPU CASE and the only reason i know its rebooting constantly is the change in GPU fan speed and its red LED lighting up and going off

One thing im sure of working is the GPU ive tested in all day on a different pc and it works fine, although me running it all day did make my 580w 3rail PSU go pop

So please Obi-Wan your my only help!!!!

Try unplugging all non-esential components, extra hard drives fans ect.

Re-check your power connections and make sure everything is plugged in properly. Do you have the 3870x2 powered correctly?

Run 1 stick of ram untill you get a bios post, then set your voltage, and timings to what your ram needs, then shut down and add the other stick.
If that doesn't work, try with 1 stick but the other 1, to see if it's faulty ram.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply ill add that do my list of things to check lol

The 3870 is powered right, like i say ive tested it on a different pc and it works, tried both 2x6pin and 16pin and 18pin veriations

Sorry for the bump but im still looking for a few more answers to my query thanks for understanding lol

i agree with sportsfanboy. everytime ive had similar boot failures, it was due to bad/incompatible RAM... so if you've already done what he said to no avail, then try some other RAM, a different brand preferably. second most likely fault would lie in the CPU. but ram and cpu are easy to test if you have another motherboard around. if both are working fine, then its most likely a bad mother board, however the power supply could also be at fault. try the PSU in another rig to see if it functions properly, and if the voltages are correct and don't fluctuate too much.

also, if you havent already, reset the CMOS on the mobo just to be sure it's not trying to use some incorrect stock settings.

good luck!

I'd recommend you try a different power supply, if you have it. It could be faulty and the system might be cutting out due to this.

hmm possibly but would it really cut out every5 seconds exactly, ill still put it down on my things to check lol, thanks

what's it doing in the 5 second interim, surely the post screen is coming up ?

It almost sounds as it is passing post super quick and rebooting the second it tries to boot windows to me.

This symptom is also consistent with a shorted power switch. Unplug the power switch from the mobo. Use a screwdriver to short the power pins momentarily. If this works, then check the wires from the switch to the connector for breaks or to see if a factory drone put a screw through them.
If this doesn't help, then I'd be inclined to suspect the RAM. Reset CMOS to defaults, try only one stick initially, and if that works you may need to go into the BIOS and bump up the RAM voltage.
Another question, does that mobo specifically support that CPU? For a mobo to say it "supports Phenom" does not necessarily mean it supports the 125W chips, maybe only the 95W ones.

jtt283 - that gives me a good idea for my own boot problems on my media pc. i had tried everything that i mentioned above, but still have the same problem as zerosugar, i assumed the mobo was bad but was too cheap to buy a new one

ill try to short it or get a new switch, hopefully that works.

Its a brand new system, there is no windows on it yet, it does nothing at all in the 5 seconds absolutly nothing

hmmm ill have to checkout the chip compatability, witht he CMOS since its never been on at all, does it need reseting? its never gone as far as getting to the bios yet, there all brand new parts never been put together till now

Well as for the CPU iv found out that the motherboard supports the Phenom X4 9750 125W CPU but it doesnt list the 9850 125W can it really be that or maybe they just havent updated there cpu list????? ohhh!!!

If it supports the 9750, I would think the 9850 would also work. There is certainly no harm in resetting the CMOS. I am not familiar enough with the testing of brand-new motherboards to know in what state the CMOS is certain to be.

ive seen 3 brand new motherboards that needed a CMOS reset before they would boot properly. some list/run the CPU at a lower clock too, which is usually fixed on second boot, but perhaps yours was running a higher clock and crashing...

resetting the CMOS is the first thing to try when dealing with boot failures...

Well the first thing ill try is the cmos when i get back to his, This is my first time putting together a Phenom and 790FX board and an ATI GPU for that matter, ive never had the funds to build myself something on this scale

I WISH!!!!