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AMD Build Issues

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Hi and thanks for reading.

I have constructed a new build and have had a slew of issues with it. I currently have only the CPU, 1 stick of RAM, and my video card hooked up. When I power on my system, it shows the start up graphic (picture of Gigabyte mobo) and then the screen immediately goes black. If I press DEL to enter BIOS, the screen will either go black as if I had just let it start up normally, or go grey, go blue, or show vertical lines.

I have tried unistalling everything, and re-seating the card/RAM. I have tried removing the battery from the MoBo. I have tried using the CMOS reset jumper. None of these things has helped. Currently I have the computer built breadboard style, with the MoBo outside the case, resting on a cardboard box. The fans spin, the case lights light up, and the power and reset button work.

My ingredients:
proc: Phenom xII 955 BE
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3
RAM: OCZ platinum series OCZ3P1333V4GK PC3 10666 2x2gigs
Vid: Gigabyte Radeon 5670
SSD: Kingston V+ series 64gig
OS: Windows 7 Home 64bit

Further story: When I first put it together I was able to get into windows. Things got Fishy when i installed the driver for the video card (off the included disk). The computer would randomly reboot pretty frequently once this happened (5 to 15 minutes into windows). I didn't have a wireless card at the time so I wasn't able to go online and get the updated drivers. Once I got my wireless card installed I went online and while downloading AVG the computer rebooted. Instead of starting back up the screen went black before a successful POST. I would power the system off and back on, never making it to the windows loading screen again. 2 or 3 times I would get a message immediately upon startup saying something like: "The system messed up because of OCing" and then show some specs of what the processor should be running. I didn't change anything in regards to the processor in the BIOS, I did however disable the floppy disk (because I don't have one), and make 1 or 2 other changes (don't remember exactly what, but nothing to do with voltage or clock speed or multipliers, something like boot order maybe).

Thats about where I am, a black screen within seconds of turning my computer on.

I have read through a bunch of guides recommending common fixes, while I would obviously like your comments on how to get my windows to stay stable, I am more concerned about getting back to Windows at all!

The only thing that really jumps out at me as a possible mess up on my part is the thermal paste. I didn't go crazy with it, but probably applied a little too much. While installing additional case fans I removed my heat sink and fan from the CPU. A small strand of paste fell on the board. Its a very small amount, and it doesn't look like any paste got down into the processor. I was able to get windows to load once after that happened.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

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If you can't get into the BIOS and have it stable while you're in BIOS, that's a major hardware problem and should be solved before worrying about getting into Windows.


The black and grey screens and vertical lines while trying to get into BIOS could be a bad videocard or worse, your CPU might be overheating almost immediately. You metioned paste so not using the stock cooler? Did you recheck the seating? Get a magnifying glass and flashlight and inspect the CPU socket where you think you dropped the thermal paste.

Are you able to get into the BIOS now? Everything should be on default or auto.






Hi, Thanks for your posts The PSU is a OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V.

The thermal paste is Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

and the CPU fan is Rosewill RCX-ZAIO-92 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail.

The seating of the cooler looks good, it latched with minimal difficulty when I re-attached it. I'll post a pic or two of the socket when I have a chance.

I tested the PSU in an older computer and it worked. Since my backup 'puter isn't very new I cant swap out many more parts tho.

When I removed the CPU cooler to install case fans it was really hard to get off because of the thermal paste. I used a twisting motion to remove it. Is it easy to damage the CPU while removing a fan/heatsink?

Thanks again for your help!
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check your jumpers on your mobo. jumpers will control what your computer does on startup. you might have bumped a jumper when installing a fan causing it to go from A-B to B-C or something.

i did something like that on my first build and i ended up OC my cpu 32x. fried the cpu...luckily i was still in the 30 day window and i just RMA EVERYTHING!!!

i would recommend rma all parts that you arent sure about, mobo, cpu, gpu, and ram??

i would check the jumpers though before all that

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked over the MoBo and there aren't a whole lot of jumpers to mess up. Everything is unplugged basically and the only jumper I used was the CMOS reset (which is back to its default 'unjumped' state). Any comments on the pics? Does that paste look like its the cause? There is very little on the board but it looks like some got on the SIDE of the chip.

I understand that often the PSU is the cause of the problem. 1. It isn't too hard to check it out with an multimeter correct? 2. If I am able to run a different PC off of the PSU can we rule that out?

I removed the thermal paste and will reassemble in a while. I think I did a good job removing it so hopefully we'll see a result.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, if you have anything else to suggest please share it!

I just put everything back together, (minimum components required for startup) and the same thing happens. I get the very first screen (MoBo pic) and then the screen starts to glitch out ending up with vertical lines. I am leaning towards having to return something. Any idea how to pinpoint where the mess up is?

hell if the parts are all still under warranty then just RMA ALL OF IT!! =P

if you rma one thing its gonna keep you from using a computer anyways and if its not that component then you're screwed and have to return something else. skip the middle man and just RMA it all.

Best solution

salyander said:
I just put everything back together, (minimum components required for startup) and the same thing happens. I get the very first screen (MoBo pic) and then the screen starts to glitch out ending up with vertical lines. I am leaning towards having to return something. Any idea how to pinpoint where the mess up is?



This particular problem is almost certainly the GPU. I would try that first, then the motherboard.

jitpublisher said:
This particular problem is almost certainly the GPU. I would try that first, then the motherboard.

I agree with jitpublisher. All these symptoms point to a faulty GPU.
i4yue said:
hell if the parts are all still under warranty then just RMA ALL OF IT!! =P

if you rma one thing its gonna keep you from using a computer anyways and if its not that component then you're screwed and have to return something else. skip the middle man and just RMA it all.

Do NOT do this! Any monkey can replace all their parts and accidentally "solve" their problem. It's people like this who return perfectly working hardware because they were too lazy to do actual troubleshooting that make the rest of us pay more for our hardware. :pfff: 

How will you ever know what the faulty component was if you just replace all the components? Start with the GPU. It will most likely solve your problem.

Thanks for the input. I will try that either later tonight or tomorrow (Girlfriend is getting back from a trip). My roommates don't want me inside their computer since I "Broke it" so I have to locate someone that should have a compatible vid card slot. I will update after I check it out.

I couldn't find someone with a PCIex16 slot so I ended up buying a new card. I got it last night and my computer works again! The card I purchased: Gigabyte 5670 got a slew of terrible reviews on Newegg starting the day after I purchased it (go figure). I will be trying to return the card. Thanks for all the help!
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