First build gone wrong: NO POST

[shaado]

No major issues during the process:
-I seated the CPU with care onto the pins on the board
-I was grounded well.
-I made sure no screws or standoffs were either overtightened or too loose.
-All power/data connections were triple checked.

The first time I powered on the system. I hear all the fans (cpu, gpu, and case fans) but nothing shows on monitor.
No BIOS, nothing, just black. When I open up the case. I can see the CPU_LED on my board solid red.
I did some research along with basic troubleshooting and went to sleep.

So today I open case again to make sure cooler wasn't too tight on cpu, even reseated GPU, RAM, etc...
The stuff I researched from last night....
When I powered again I got the same result. All fans and lights are on, but nothing to monitor just black and CPU_LED light is still solid red.

I'm thinking about RMA'ing the CPU.
Any troubleshooting left to do?
Will local shops test another CPU for FREE?
Help me out. If you need more info/details let me know.
Thanks.

[fixed]Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - Retail
ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
APEVIA CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan - Retail
APEVIA CF4SL-UBL-LED 80mm Blue LED Case Fan - Retail
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM[/fixed]

 

[dpaul8]

I apologize for asking this question, but are you sure you have the 4/8 pin CPU connector plugged into the motherboard near the CPU?

You did not mention any beep codes. Does your motherboard have a speaker? Can you connect an external motherboard speaker and report the beep codes?

It is highly doubtful that the problem is your CPU. I would suggest you breadboard your system to determine the faulty component. Follow this guide:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-262730_13_0.html

And report back your findings. Good luck!

 

[pont]

check and make sure there's no extra standoffs in stalled that are causing a short

 

[jsc]

Our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

 

[shaado]

I don't get any beeps. I'm sure that board has a speaker and I have a HD Audio connection plugged into the board.
If by CPU connector you mean the 4-pin connection attached to the fan on the heatsink, then yeah that is connected.

However, I took the whole thing apart and built from scratch again.
The system turns on again but it's still the same result as before:
solid red CPU_LED light.

Reading about the thermal compound on the standard checklist thread, I realized that I did NOT remove the thermal pad on the heat sink before applying the arctic silver paste. Could this be the cause of the problem?

 

[dpaul8]

If by CPU connector you mean the 4-pin connection attached to the fan on the heatsink, then yeah that is connected.

The connector you mention above is the for the heat sink fan, which you have correctly identified.

The CPU power connector I mentioned in my earlier post is near the edge of the motherboard, and has a label next to it that reads "EATX12V". From a picture of your motherboard that I downloaded, it looks like you have an 8-pin connector, although 4 of those pins may be covered. Just take the plastic cover off the 4-pins, and use the 8-pin plug from your Corsair power supply. Let us know if this solves your booting problem.

 

[Paperdoc]

YES you have a problem with the CPU cooler system. Or two! First, you say your heat sink had a "thermal pad". Now, does that mean that it simply had a protective film stick on and, under it when removed, there is bare metal? Or (more commonly), is there a thin layer of heat conductive paste on that metal, exposed by removing the plastic film? IF there is already a thermal paste installed under that removable film, you do NOT use that PLUS the Arctic Silver. You either use it with NO Arctic Silver (which means you need to clean off the CPU surface carefully to remove the AS), OR you must clean off the AS from the CPU AND remove the pre-installed thermal paste on the heatsink, then start from two bare metal surfaces and apply Arctic silver per their instructions. Do not over-use the AS - follow the instruction on their website.

I heartily agree with dpaul8 that you should examine how your power supply connections to the CPU / mobo have been made. Although I believe you need to fix the heatsink / thermal paste installation error, the symptoms you describe do suggest you are getting NO power to the CPU and both problems need to be addressed.

 

[shaado]

The connector you mention above is the for the heat sink fan, which you have correctly identified.

The CPU power connector I mentioned in my earlier post is near the edge of the motherboard, and has a label next to it that reads "EATX12V". From a picture of your motherboard that I downloaded, it looks like you have an 8-pin connector, although 4 of those pins may be covered. Just take the plastic cover off the 4-pins, and use the 8-pin plug from your Corsair power supply. Let us know if this solves your booting problem.

OK. So then I think I just plugged in the CPU Heatsink fan then.
SO, I need to plug in a connector from the PSU into that EATX12V behind my CPU.
Which I am assuming is the 8pin light blue connector that has a black cover on 4 of the pins (on the far right of both pictures below).
http://img.hexus.net/v2/motherboards/intel/asus/P55/IMG_0204-copy-big.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/asus%20p55%20evo/ASUSinside/P7P55D%20Series/P7P55D/P7P55D_CPUPHASE.jpg

Is this correct??
I will try this when I get home tonight.

YES you have a problem with the CPU cooler system. Or two! First, you say your heat sink had a "thermal pad". Now, does that mean that it simply had a protective film stick on and, under it when removed, there is bare metal? Or (more commonly), is there a thin layer of heat conductive paste on that metal, exposed by removing the plastic film? IF there is already a thermal paste installed under that removable film, you do NOT use that PLUS the Arctic Silver. You either use it with NO Arctic Silver (which means you need to clean off the CPU surface carefully to remove the AS), OR you must clean off the AS from the CPU AND remove the pre-installed thermal paste on the heatsink, then start from two bare metal surfaces and apply Arctic silver per their instructions. Do not over-use the AS - follow the instruction on their website.

BEFORE I plug in that CPU connector, should I get rid off the paste on the thermal pad? (it's the 2nd one you mentioned with a thin layer of the paste on the metal).
I already mounted it with both pastes the first time around, but since it seems the CPU connector was never connected should I go back and get rid of the paste on the thermal pad?

Thanks for everyone's help. I'll post back my results later tonight.

P.S. Using 3 manuals (CPU, PSU, and motherboard) I never saw any directions to plug in this connection. The motherboard manual only discusses plugging in the CPU_FAN.....

 

[dpaul8]

Shaado -- Yes, remove the black plastic cover and plug in your 8-pin connector from your power supply unit.

The extra paste is probably not good and should eventually be cleaned off. However, I would plug in the CPU power connector and see if your motherboard will post. If it does, then shut it down and clean up the CPU paste, reseat your heat sink, and you should be off and running. Good luck.

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, get rid of the excess thermal paste, but remember to put the right amount of new paste (AS) on there as you re-assemble. You need thermal paste for good heat transfer from CPU to heatsink - it fills in minute air gaps and is much better than air for carrying heat. BUT it still is not a perfect heat transfer medium, so too thick a layer of this paste also reduces cooling capacity. As I said, Arctic Silver's website has a good explanation of just how much to use, and how to get it spread around correctly.

 

[shaado]

Everything is good now. I'm writing this post from the machine now.
I'm still a little bothered by the fact I didn't catch that step in any manufacturer manual. (Whatever...)
I have not taken off the paste on the pad yet....
I did not apply a lot of the arctic silver since I saw there was already paste on the heatsink.


I'll monitor the temps closely and do that over the weekend if necessary.
Thanks for the help.

 

[shaado]

It's running hotter than it should. So tomorrow I will re-do the paste and heatsink.
50C idle / 90+ C at 60% load

At BIOS it reads at 57C.
After booting into Windows the Real Temp core readings are low 50's to high 40's Celsius on IDLE.

When under load (under 65%) it jumps towards 80-90+ C.
For example, when I opened a game it went past 90C and was only on 65% load.
The third core even had the "Thermal Status" change from OK to Log (using Real Temp).

Here is a short log from when I had the game open (not even playing the game yet it was just the movie intro)
The last five columns (the relevant ones) are the temps for the quad-core: Core1, Core2, Core3, Core4 and CPU Load is the last column.
[fixed]01/13/10 01:24:00 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:24:05 2808.76 83 77 80 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:24:10 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.8
01/13/10 01:24:15 2808.76 84 77 82 77 35.5
01/13/10 01:24:20 2808.76 84 77 81 77 36.0
01/13/10 01:24:25 2808.76 84 77 80 77 35.8
01/13/10 01:24:30 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.7
01/13/10 01:24:35 2808.76 84 77 82 77 35.7
01/13/10 01:24:40 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.9
01/13/10 01:24:45 2808.76 84 77 81 77 37.2
01/13/10 01:24:50 2808.76 84 77 80 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:24:55 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:25:00 2808.76 85 78 83 77 61.5
01/13/10 01:25:05 2808.76 84 77 82 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:25:10 2808.76 84 77 82 77 35.9
01/13/10 01:25:15 2808.76 84 76 81 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:25:20 2808.76 84 76 81 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:25:25 2808.76 84 77 80 76 35.7
01/13/10 01:25:30 2808.76 85 77 82 77 49.1
01/13/10 01:25:35 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.8
01/13/10 01:25:40 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.5
01/13/10 01:25:45 2808.76 84 77 80 77 35.7
01/13/10 01:25:50 2808.76 84 76 81 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:25:55 2808.76 84 77 80 76 35.7
01/13/10 01:26:00 2808.76 84 77 80 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:26:05 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.5
01/13/10 01:26:10 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.8
01/13/10 01:26:15 2808.76 83 76 80 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:26:20 2808.76 83 76 80 76 35.7
01/13/10 01:26:25 2808.76 85 77 81 77 35.7
01/13/10 01:26:30 2808.76 83 76 81 76 35.8
01/13/10 01:26:35 2808.76 84 76 81 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:26:40 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.8
01/13/10 01:26:45 2808.76 84 76 80 76 36.1
01/13/10 01:26:50 2808.76 84 76 80 76 36.6
01/13/10 01:26:55 2808.76 83 76 81 76 35.7
01/13/10 01:27:00 2808.76 83 76 80 76 35.8
01/13/10 01:27:05 2808.76 83 76 81 76 36.4
01/13/10 01:27:10 2808.76 84 76 80 76 41.9
01/13/10 01:27:15 2808.76 84 76 80 76 37.4
01/13/10 01:27:20 2808.76 84 77 82 76 42.8
01/13/10 01:27:25 2808.76 85 77 82 77 45.0
01/13/10 01:27:30 2808.76 84 77 81 77 43.8
01/13/10 01:27:35 2808.76 84 77 80 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:27:40 2808.76 84 77 81 77 36.1
01/13/10 01:27:45 2808.76 83 77 81 77 41.7
01/13/10 01:27:50 2808.76 84 77 81 77 39.1
01/13/10 01:27:55 2808.76 83 76 81 76 35.7
01/13/10 01:28:00 2808.76 84 77 81 76 45.1
01/13/10 01:28:05 2808.76 84 77 81 76 36.0
01/13/10 01:28:10 2808.76 84 77 80 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:28:15 2808.76 83 76 80 76 36.0
01/13/10 01:28:20 2808.76 84 76 86 76 37.3
01/13/10 01:28:25 2808.76 83 77 81 76 39.4
01/13/10 01:28:30 2808.76 85 77 82 77 41.3
01/13/10 01:28:35 2808.76 86 79 90 79 50.2
01/13/10 01:28:40 2808.76 86 79 83 79 35.8
01/13/10 01:28:45 2808.76 86 79 83 78 43.0
01/13/10 01:28:50 2808.76 85 78 82 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:28:55 2808.76 85 77 81 77 35.7
01/13/10 01:29:00 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:29:05 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.6
01/13/10 01:29:10 2808.76 84 76 81 76 36.3
01/13/10 01:29:15 2808.76 84 76 80 76 35.6
01/13/10 01:29:20 2808.76 84 77 82 77 47.0
01/13/10 01:29:25 2808.76 84 77 81 77 35.8
----------> starts getting to 90+ here-on after
01/13/10 01:29:30 2808.76 86 81 86 79 75.6
01/13/10 01:29:35 2808.76 88 82 88 81 60.9
01/13/10 01:29:40 2808.76 89 83 89 82 61.0
01/13/10 01:29:45 2808.76 89 82 93 82 60.8
01/13/10 01:29:50 2808.76 89 84 90 84 61.4
01/13/10 01:29:55 2808.76 91 85 93 85 61.0
01/13/10 01:30:00 2808.76 91 85 95 85 60.9
01/13/10 01:30:05 2808.76 92 86 92 86 60.9
01/13/10 01:30:10 2808.76 91 87 93 85 61.0
01/13/10 01:30:15 2808.76 92 86 91 86 61.0
01/13/10 01:30:20 2808.76 92 86 94 86 60.9
01/13/10 01:30:25 2808.76 93 86 92 86 61.0
01/13/10 01:30:30 2808.76 92 87 95 87 61.0
01/13/10 01:30:35 2808.76 93 88 94 87 61.7
01/13/10 01:30:40 2808.76 94 90 93 87 62.2
01/13/10 01:30:45 2808.76 94 88 96 88 62.4
01/13/10 01:30:50 2808.76 95 90 95 89 62.5
01/13/10 01:30:55 2808.76 95 89 95 89 62.5
01/13/10 01:31:00 2808.76 95 91 95 89 62.5
01/13/10 01:31:05 2795.39 95 89 95 89 61.4
01/13/10 01:31:10 2808.76 93 87 91 87 36.0
01/13/10 01:31:15 2808.76 93 86 94 86 61.4
01/13/10 01:31:20 2808.76 91 85 90 85 36.4
01/13/10 01:31:25 2808.76 90 84 88 84 41.1
01/13/10 01:31:30 2808.76 91 84 94 84 49.2
01/13/10 01:31:35 2808.76 90 83 87 83 38.9
01/13/10 01:31:40 2808.76 89 82 86 82 35.7
01/13/10 01:31:45 2808.76 88 81 86 81 35.7
01/13/10 01:31:50 2808.76 88 81 85 81 35.7
01/13/10 01:31:55 2808.76 87 81 85 81 36.0
01/13/10 01:32:00 2808.76 87 80 85 80 35.7
01/13/10 01:45:20 2688.36 54 50 54 50 2.4 (idle)
[/fixed]

Can I just remove the paste on the heatsink pad... or do I have to remove it from CPU and reapply again?

 

[Paperdoc]

To ensure you get the right amount in place, I recommend you clean off BOTH the heatsink and CPU surfaces. Since this is all new thermal past (not old hard, etc.), I wound say you only need to wipe it off reasonably well with a tissue or cloth - scrupulously clean and shiny is NOT necessary. Check to be sure you have not left behind tiny balls of lint that will interfere with a good fit. Make sure you don't push any down around the CPU edge that can get under onto the pins. (I'm assuming you do NOT need to remove the CPU from its socket and handle it in order to do this job.) Then apply the new bit of paste, spread as instructed, and re-attach the heatsink / cooler. I bet your temps under load will come down quite a bit.

 

[shaado]

Thank you.
I was wondering about using tissue/cloth because of the lint issue but I will listen to your directions.
I will do this when I get home tonight and report back the results.

 

[shaado]

Reapplied the paste. But I believe the real issue was that my cooler (Arctic Freezer Pro 7 rev2) was facing the wrong direction.
It has a fan that blows sideways and not directly over the cpu like other designs.

http://www.myalbumbank.com/albums/userpics/10080/17FinalManaged2.jpg
I had to turn mine 90 CW. So now it looks like the pic above. (It's either that way or 180 degrees the other way.)
When I booted back up BIOS was reading 27C for the CPU.
Thanks for help.

 

[Paperdoc]

If I look at this right, before you turned it the fan's intake end was pointed up at the same area as the fan in the PSU. That means BOTH fans were trying to suck air from the same small space. Then the CPU fans was trying to discharge (after the fins) onto a "blank wall" of the (video?) card, also interfering with air flow through the CPU cooler. No wonder it was not working well! I am glad you got this adjusted and working the way it should - your CPU temp is MUCH better!

 

[Archikrates]

I just write this reply in case somebody else is looking for a solution.

I had a similar issue with an ASUS P7P55D-E Pro. No POST, blinking CPU LED, even with both PSU 4-pin 12 V connectors attached.

The solution in my case was to replace the PSU (BeQuiet BQT E5-500V) with a newer model (BQT E7-680V).

The new PSU comes with two 12 V CPU connectors, one 4-pin and one 8-pin.
The board only posts with the 8-pin connector attached.

Regards,
Archikrates