GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R Fine on Bench, Not in Case

[GroovesEthnikon]

This one is really stumping me. Second build, here are the specs, problem below:

SPECS:
NZXT Hades Case
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
Antec TruePower 750W
Intel i7 930 [with stock cooler]
HIS Radeon HD 5850 Turbo
G-Skill PI Series 6GB [3 x 2GB]
LiteOn DVD Writer
2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
1x Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB

PROBLEM AND ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS:
First thing I did when everything arrived was bench test all the core components. Motherboard posted fine with and without RAM in, got display from the video card after the CPU was installed, etc. Note that the CLR CMOS light is solid here.

So, I think that everything is just dandy and I go ahead and install everything in the case. I go to power the thing on for the first time and nothing happens. I try taking out the cables to attach the power button and doing it manually and still nothing happens. I notice that the CLR CMOS light is now blinking, so I try holding the button in, to no effect. I try taking the CMOS battery out for 10 minutes and popping it back in, no dice. I try a different power supply just for fun [even though the PSU gave the motherboard, CPU, RAM and video card power fine on the bench--I also know that the case is getting power because I was able to get the case fans to spin for half a second when they first receive power by reseating the 24pin mobo power cable], and nothing. I try every combination of RAM, doesn't make a difference. The only thing I could think of that I didn't try was moving my video card from the second PCI-E slot to the first. I couldn't do it while it was all still in the case because the wiring was a little messy. Frustrated, I resolve to take it all apart again and bench test again to see if I screwed something up while I built.

Bench test #2 [took everything but the PSU out of the case--this rules out the possibility of the PSU being in the case being the source of the problem]: mobo posts fine with just CPU, fine with each individual stick of RAM, fine with all 3 sticks of RAM, not fine with graphics card in second PCI-E slot. 'Woohoo!' I think, figuring I found the source of the issue when it DOES post after moving it to the first PCI-E slot. So, I go about reassembling and when it's all said and done, I get the exact same behavior.


So, all my components work, but not when they are in my case. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[GroovesEthnikon]

Solved! It was shorting out. I took everything out and put it all back again, no problems this time, did the screws on the mobo a little looser, not sure if that's what did it, though.

I am currently installing Windows 7 on it, so that's good, but I'm now having a different problem: it won't power on [same activity as before] when I plug the front USB cable into any of the motherboard's three f_usb slots. I just left it unplugged so I could get the thing up and running in the meantime, since that functionality, though annoying not to have, is by no means necessary. Is it possible that the other end of the front USB cable has some exposed wire and is shorting it out up there. It's a pain to get to those plugs and I can't really see what I'm doing in there, so I might just live with it as is, unless someone has any insight...

 

[jsc]

Either that or the USB cable is not plugged into the motherboard correctly. Take a close look at the motherboard manual and the manual that came with the case.

 

[roonj]

When I was in the business we used to tell our customers that's a
"Gung Ho Fat Cho" case. In effect when the worker bee's returned from the chinese new year with a bad hangover they misswired the case fitting- until they sobered up.
This is not as uncommon as it may appear and your Professional Approach would be a good example for the "Read this first" section of the forums for new builders.
Excellant Job!!