So this is the first system I've put together completely on my own in years. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if something might be bad.

The problem is that once everything is connected and I hit the power button the green light on the motherboard lights up and the internal fans connected to the motherboard spin for a split second then stop. The fan on the power supply never even spins up for a second. I disconnected all the power cords from the power supply thinking maybe the power supply was bad (I just bought it from newegg and just opened it.) and tried turning it on with nothing attached. I'm not sure if the fan is suppose to spin up when not connected to anything but power but it didn't do anything. So I don't know if it's the PS, a short, something isn't hooked up properly or if something else is dead.

I've been using macs for the past 8 years so I haven't had to deal with building a system in ages and I really don't know what to do at this point. I'd really appreciate any help you guys could give me.

Thanks so much in advance

**edit**

Sorry thought you could tell me if the power supply sounds like the problem or not. New to this and these forums.

Specs:

Intel Duo Core E6400
Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard
Corsair 2x2gb TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX Ram
PSU OCZ OCZ600SXS 600W RT
CASE ROSEWILL R5601-BK RT
Seagate 7200.11 500gb HD
Video card is the ArcadeVGA from Ultimarc.com it's a modified ati card to be used with arcade monitors...I'm going to be using this system for a MAME arcade cabinet.

If there is any other info I'm leaving out please ask, I'm new at this and need help.

Thanks so much


***Edit 2***


Ok so the PSU fan does come on for a split second as well. Seems as if the PSU is working.

This might be dangerous but I thought it might help eliminate the possibility that the case is the problem. I removed the motherboard from the case, placed it on a cardboard box, hooked up the power supply, harddrive, power on cable, video card, ram and cpu and that's all. I powered it on and it did the exact same thing. I read on some other boards that the board should turn on outside the case and this would eliminate the possibility that the case is shorting the motherboard. So now I have that checked off. It seems like the only thing it could be would be a short somewhere else (CPU???) or its a bad motherboard (I did buy it used off ebay but it was suppose to be in perfect condition and it looks perfect...) Ugh...any suggestions???

thanks

Welcome to Tom's.

PEOPLE DO NOT POST QUESTIONS WITHOUT SPECS!

Seriously, its a waste of your time and ours because answering your questions are next to impossible

Please try again.

Did you put the grounding screws in your case?

Your experience sounds identical to one of my friend's building attempts, sure enough, he did not put the grounding screws in.

Hmm...are those the copper lifting type screws? The manual for the case said that they were not needed because of some special design of the case, but I was thinking the same thing that it seems like a short. Would those copper screw things be the grounding screws? If not which are they? Would I have fried the system by not having them in??? THanks

He means standoffs, i have never seen a case that does not require them.

Yes copper screws you screw into the case with your fingers.

Well my case has raised areas and states to only use the copper standoffs for a micro atx motherboard and that the atx motherboards use the little raised mounds instead. Regardless though I tried hooking it up outside the case and I still have the same problem. Everything I've read today seems to state that there is no actual grounding going on in the case, the grounding happens through the PSU and that the case and standoffs are just to hold it in place and make sure the contacts on the bottom of the PCB don't touch metal.

So I can't figure out what is wrong. The guy I bought the motherboard from said he updated the bios in jan. and was using a E6600 which is almost the same as mine (E6400.) The power supply is defintely giving out power, the case doesn't seem to be the issue, the only other things hooked up are the ram, the cpu and the video card. I don't know what to try next and I don't know what if anything is defective or how to tell.

I hope someone can read this and offer some sort of explanation.

Here is where I am at. Tried hooking up the motherboard and psu outside of the case. Reseated CPU. Reseated ram and took out the second dimm. Removed the video card. Disconnected the hard drive. Still same thing is happening. The green motherboard light comes on, all the fans spin for a second then stop. the light stays on. Thats it. I can't figure this out.

Can it be the CPU?

The PSU?

The motherboard?

I'm guessing it's one of those things. Something isn't right. Everything has been ruled out and everything has been reseated or reconnected. There is no grounding issue. No short seems possible. So how do I figure out which one is the problem? Can it still be the PSU even though the light comes on and th fans spin for second? The PSU is 600w, should be plenty of power for the fans, CPU and RAM.

Ugh.

I really don't know where to go from here. I'd really appreciate some help or a suggestion.

Thanks

If you didn't use the standoffs to begin with you may have shorted the board and damaged it. Removing it from the case doesn't fix that problem. I did the same thing on my first built. I would just return the motherboard (again unfortunately).

No I am positive I didn't need the standoffs. This case has them built in (they are like raised mounds with threads that make the motherboard not touch the case) and it specifically says in the manual not to use them with the ATX motherboards. I'm absolutely positive this has nothing to do with the standoffs. If I used standoffs none of the cards would fit in the back of the case...trust me they are built into this case.

It's definitely not a short.

Wait, I'm confused now; did you use the standoffs or didn't you? I don't understand why it would say your motherboard doesn't need the standoffs, because it definitely does, but is it possible you could tell me the case model so I can get idea as to what you're talking about?

Oh, and having the standoffs doesn't necessarily affect if your expansion cards fit of not. Like I said, on my very first build I put in the motherboard without using the stands and all of my cards still fit.