Power on, no boot with different hardware

Hi everyone,

I really need help on this one. My desktop (p4 3.0ghz, older intel 915pbl board, 2gig of ddr2-667 ram), after a car trip, would no longer boot. It would turn on, with the HDD and DVD drive LEDs solid, send no video signal and just sit there, doing nothing. So I figured hey, might as well upgrade.

So I bought a new mlb (asus p5ql pro), new cpu (intel e5200) and a new psu (450w corsair). Using the same vid card (radeon x1600 pro), same ram (kingston 2x1gb ddr2-667), hard drive (seagate 80gb), dvd drive (some old lite-on) and case, it does the exact same freaking thing. I tried unplugging the hdd and dvd drives and the same thing happens(minus the LED's being on of course).

I know for sure the monitor works, but have not tested the ram or vid card anywhere else. Somehow though, it doesn't seem to be a ram or vid card issue.

Does anyone have any ideas??

Thanks!

Well, I just tested with another video card and the issue remains. I've tried 4 different sticks of RAM (individually) with no relief. It almost seems like an electrical issue, so I tried a different power outlet, to no avail. I could not be more puzzled!!

Currently, I have the old motherboard sitting on its box with only 1 stick of RAM, the old CPU and its heatsink + fan, and the old video card plugged in. I connected the 20 pin power adapter (the connector on the board is 24 pins, but the one coming out of the psu is only 20 pins, and it used to work) and the extra 4 pin power plug to the board (the vid card does not require extra power). Exact same result. Oh, and if I remove the RAM altogether, it beeps 3 times, like it should.

Next, I will set up all my new gear (mlb, cpu, psu and vid card) on the cardboard box and test. My gut tells me it won't work. Could it be there's some stupid cable or something I'm forgetting to connect??

Help?

Ok, did the same test with the new equipment and the same results.

The new psu has a 24-pin connector and two 4-pin ones (the mlb only requires one). I plugged those in, a stick of RAM, the new cpu and video card, and still no video being displayed. I tried that one without any RAM and while it does not beep, the video card's fan does not turn (it does when RAM is installed, which seems to indicate the mlb recognized when RAM is installed).

This makes absolutely no sense, right?

In the current minimal setup, none of the parts are common, except for the power cord (though I also tried a different one)! The RAM is common I guess, but I have 4 different sticks and have tried them all individually. I'm starting to wonder if say my original video card was bad, by putting it in my new board, maybe it shorted it somehow?

Have you tried a different video card in the new system?
Because it sounds like a graphics card problem to me...

I just got a new video card today BobfaceBilly and the same thing happens.

Well, for the sake of closure, here's the winning combination: I put in the old psu, reset the cmos, and bam, it was able to boot. I can't put in the new psu though; the same problem happens with it, cmos reset or not. But it now works with the old psu, which is WAY better than how the day started! Thanks everyone for all your input. Guess I'll be returning the psu!

Thanks BobfaceBilly. To be honest, I still don't know what exactly it was that is/was bad. This is the same PSU I had on my old system and it too would not boot, even after I reset the CMOS on the old board. It seems to be some kind of weird combination of defective old board + defective new PSU + CMOS needing to be reset on a brand new board.

Lol yes, now off to the zoo to find some pigeons, hopefully of the virgin kind!