New build - no video - monitor stays in low power

What are the complete system specs? It's hard to offer advice without knowing what we're working with. This checklist is the first place to start.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-postin...

The checklist contains troubleshooting ideas from a number of forum members. The chances are very good that the resolution to your problem is contained in the checklist. Be sure to actually perform each step in the checklist. Most people with boot problems SAY they've read the checklist. In the end their problem was right there in the checklist the whole time.

I read that topic. And it's hard to try any of the suggestions near the end without video.
Don't have the specs cause I'm not at his house.

The only thing that I can think of is if he got DDR2 on a DDR3 only mobo but even then it should still boot with or without memory installed.

No knowledge of your config, dunno whether your mobo has an onboard speaker. and can only guess but it seems you have tried no RAM, one stick, etc.

But you can see this sort of behavior with a bad psu (yes, lights can light up), bad mobo, a BIOS that doesn't support the processor, a bad vid card . . . lots of stuff.

Hopefully you have some hardware you can substitute to narrow the problem down. First thing I'd try to eliminate is a bad psu. Most likely issue after that would be mobo related.

Too many times people confuse a complete no-POST situation with a video card problem, no signal to the monitor type deal. Most of the time, you are not getting far enough down the list to even start thinking about the video card yet.
Your problem is very likely at the very beginning.
Fans spinning, drives spinning, lights on board etc without any beeps means 1 of 2 scenerios.

1. You do not have a speaker hooked up to the board. (don't laugh, I have seen many, many people complain they are getting no POST beeps, and come to find out they have not hooked up a speaker was the only problem)

2. You have a memory problem, or the board is mounted incorrectly, or you do not have the CPU power connector plugged in/CPU problem. Any of these issues will cause a no-POST, no beeps at all, but you have fans spinning and lights. This does not mean "something" is happening, no beeps at all means NOTHING is happening, POST is not even initializing.

There are many other things, as Twoboxer has brought up, but you need to go back to the list, and concentrate first on the very beginning of the list, taking the board out of the case and starting with only 1 stick of memory, processor and video card if you have too. That narrows everything down considerably to probable causes.
In the worst case, and it happens to every builder at one time or another, you simply got a bad board. Think of this as an opportunity to deepen your troubleshooting skills!

PS.....if the memory is installed correctly, but the settings are not right, the voltage is not right, no....you will not get anything, it will do exactly as it is doing right now. This is common if you are trying to boot with memory that needs over 2 volts. The wrong type of processor will exhibit the same problems as well.
(45nm CPU placed into a board that only supports 65nm process CPU's)

I was wiped out after work today so couldn't get over to help him again but I'll definitely double check that everything is plugged in correctly. I'm positive I have a speaker hooked up because it was this little dinky thing that was almost like an ear bud, I remember it specifically.

will post back when I find out more.

Yep, that little earbud thing is it. If you hear no beeps, go to step 2 I outlined. Start there.
And good luck!

You know what, now that you mention it. I think it is the CPU Power. I thought the 4 pin from the cpu was for video cards. And again I'm not there yet but after looking at pics on newegg. It looks like he'll have to buy a new PSU too because the cpu power connector on his mobo is 8pin not 4.

I didn't notice the cpu power connecot because it was hidden between a pretty massive heatsink and the optical audio port.

Is the any kind of adapter I can get from 4 to 8 pin or do I have to buy a new psu?


Do you think this would prevent my cd-rom from powering up too?

You should be able to use the 4-pin CPU power connector on your PSU. You still didn't list which motherboard you have, so you'll have to check your motherboard owners manual to see which four pins to use. Most motherboards let you use the four pins closest to the CPU if your PSU doesn't have an 8-pin connector.

I doubt the CPU power is causing the CD-ROM to not power up. You'll probably need to double check the molex connector on the back of the drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P

I have a spare cdrom I can bring over to test.

Page 25 in the motherboard owners manual explains the ATX 12v CPU power connector. As long as you have it turned the right direction the 4-pin CPU power connector from your PSU will only fit one way because of how the pins are shaped. It looks like you use the top four pins with a 2x2 connector. Just look at the shape of the pins. The square one goes on the bottom right.

What CPU do you have? The 8-pin connector is usually required for high wattage CPU's like the Phenom II X4 965. If you have a high-end CPU like that then you would probably be better off getting a new PSU. Listing the full system specs would be very helpful since we don't even know if you're using a quality PSU.

I was able to get over there yesterday and yep it was the cpu connector. The 4 pin worked fine I forget which side it connected too buy yeah you can't plug it in wrong because of the shape of each pin.