New build. Please help, issues with starting up.!

[Dewm]

Hey,

So first off, I have some hardware experience (replacing RAM, HDD's, CD drives and such) But i've never done anything of this scale. So I finally broke down and bought all the parts I need for my new comp, here is a list of the build.



Antec 1200 Case.

LG Flatron 23" monitor.

ASUS P6TD Deluxe ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131403

Intel i7 960 3.2 GHz

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820227365

OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (50GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820227528

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139009

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822152181

CoolerMaster V8

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Video Card http://www.portatech.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?id=27306&r=p




Last night I finally got the last of the parts, I sit down and start to put it all together, (I am using a static mat with a wrist band and a ground on the case) I put the processor on the motherboard, but the arctic fox thermal past on, put the cooler master on (with the annoying back plating) mouth the MOBO, install the RAM, SSD, HDD, CD drive, Video Card, power supply. Do all the wiring, (SATA to all of the devices, and power to them, power to the MOBO.

So I finally finish the installation, check everything I can think of once, then again. I plug it into a surge protector. Fire up the monitor first, then the power on the power supply. then finally the big test, I hit the power button. The thing comes to life, all the fans start up, and light up (I have lights and fans on the case, the CPU, the graphics cards, they all start up and run)

So i'm waiting and waiting, nothing comes on the screen, I wait about 2 minutes, nothing. Hmmm weird. So I turn it off and check my MOBO book. It has a "before you start" checklist sorta thing, and at the bottom of this list it says that for diffrence symptoms i'll get diffrent BOIS "beeps" (one stead beep then a short one to indicate that it can't detect memory, that sorta thing) Well I didn't get ANY beeps, so I turn it off. plug in some speakers to the back of the MOBO, and fire it up again. Nothing on my monitor, nothing beeping, just silently running all of its fans and lights, not doing anything else.



So end result: Monitor doesn't detect any input from the DVI, I don't have anything on the screen, and the BIOS doesn't come up. I would say "oh thats probably a Video card" But I don't hear any beeps and it doesn't seem like the think is thinking at all. I dunno.


Like I said, HELP!


Thanks!

Dave.

 

[ashleypower]

I'd try to unplug everything from the board except power, then turn it on. See if anything happens.

This usually isn't a good sign. From my experience, it's probably the board or processor.

 

[ace700]

Check to see if you plug 2x 6-pin Power Cable into the video card. Alot of times when people build computers like this or first time building an sli or xfire gamming computer they forget to plug in the power to the videocards.

 

[ace700]

I'd try to unplug everything from the board except power, then turn it on. See if anything happens.

This usually isn't a good sign. From my experience, it's probably the board or processor.

yeah theres are times when people forget that some video cards needs a seperate power cable to make them run properlly or it could be due to an heating problem

 

[shovenose]

do you have the 8pin cpu power connector? power to the graphics card?
if you have onboard video try that.

 

[Dewm]

I do I have power to the video card. And no I don't have onboard video.


Found this forum with some information on it. If some one could look through it and tell me what they think. Should I send the Mobo back? or try and flash the BIOS?

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic35515-2.html

 

[shovenose]

cant flash the bios without seeing

 

[Dewm]

Well. I guess that if I installed a processor that was compatible with the current BIOS then I could see, flash it and put mine back in.

I got on ASUS's website and here is a list of the current revisions that support my processor.

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=1H6537GW0fPVHNhO

So I guess the next step is to find out what my BIOS is. How do I do that? :S

 

[shovenose]

look at the little bios chip on ur mobo.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

There's a link to a troubleshooting checklist in my signature. If you perform every step in the checklist it will help isolate what's causing the problem. Step #2 is by far the most common mistake.

You need a system speaker like described in step #16 in the checklist. The speakers that plug into the back of the motherboard will NOT give you beep codes.

 

[Dewm]

Aight so a little update,

The BIOS revision I need to run the i7 960 3.2Ghz is 0106, and I have 1.00. So my BIOS is not new enough..

Now the questions....


What would you do? send back the MoBo or try and flash the BIOS?

(I'll take a look at that list shortstuff, thanks!)

 

[Dewm]

Hmmm I do see a few things here that I need to fix, Thanks shorstuff.



But I also think that my bios is gunna cause me problems.

 

[Dewm]

Ok, So I checked everything, and to my embarrassment I forgot to plug in the 12v power to the CPU.


So I did that and the BIOS started up. and I was able to load windows. Now I have a couple of questions...

1. Even though my BIOS has excepted my i7 960 should I still update my BIOS? (I was able to run windows for around 4 hours yesterday without a glitch)

2. Does anyone know on a ASUS mobo how to get rid of that splash screen? it pops up every time I go to turn off the comp.


All right. So I installed windows and my mobo drivers, my video card drivers, but i'm still have some issues, maybe you can help.

1. My front USB ports fried a jump drive. How to best go about diagnosing this?

2. Whenever I run a program in windows, when I exit back to my desktop my background image returns to black.

3. Windows doesn't seem to run auto-plays. I wen't to install a couple of games and on both of them I had to (Go to my computer -> right click on drive "D" -> explore -> run auto play).

4. I go to "my system" and it says i'm running on 4GB of ram when I have 6GB, how should I best go about figuring out which card is the bad one? or does newegg just want me to return the whole deal.


And last but not least. Does anyone have a list of programs I should run to make sure my system is running at peak performance?

Thanks!

 

[Dewm]

Aight I think that the desktop issue can be solved with one of the Microsoft updates. correct me if i'm wrong though...

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/12688-Windows-7-Black-Desktop-Background-Issue

 

[Klosteral]

Ok, So I checked everything, and to my embarrassment I forgot to plug in the 12v power to the CPU.


So I did that and the BIOS started up. and I was able to load windows. Now I have a couple of questions...

1. Even though my BIOS has excepted my i7 960 should I still update my BIOS? (I was able to run windows for around 4 hours yesterday without a glitch)

2. Does anyone know on a ASUS mobo how to get rid of that splash screen? it pops up every time I go to turn off the comp.


All right. So I installed windows and my mobo drivers, my video card drivers, but i'm still have some issues, maybe you can help.

1. My front USB ports fried a jump drive. How to best go about diagnosing this?

2. Whenever I run a program in windows, when I exit back to my desktop my background image returns to black.

3. Windows doesn't seem to run auto-plays. I wen't to install a couple of games and on both of them I had to (Go to my computer -> right click on drive "D" -> explore -> run auto play).

4. I go to "my system" and it says i'm running on 4GB of ram when I have 6GB, how should I best go about figuring out which card is the bad one? or does newegg just want me to return the whole deal.


And last but not least. Does anyone have a list of programs I should run to make sure my system is running at peak performance?

Thanks!

Alright. This is one interesting set of problems you have...

1. Check that you have the right amount of power going into your USB ports and that there is nothing in the port (extra metal, liquid, etc) and - but I assume you do this anyway - always "safely remove" your devices.

2. Yes, the Windows updates will help with almost all issues but you may also want to check that you "Save Changes" to your desktop after you have finished personalising it or it will reset.

3. Windows 7 has a security feature that always asks for administrator permissions when things happen. For me this is just about every time I run Steam or put a DVD in the drive. There are options in the security centre that can be changed to reduce the amount of warnings you get but they are "Not Recommended".

4. You are probably running a 32-bit (or x86) version of Windows. This means that the computer is only capable of accessing 3.25GB of the RAM in your computer. Even if you have 6GB of RAM, only 3.25 will be used (Windows assumes 3.25 means you have 4GB in there). If you are running 64-bit (or x64) Windows, the problem is almost definetely your RAM. First check that all of the RAM is seated correctly in your computer. Next (I assume you have 3 x 2GB) take one of the cards out and boot with only two. If both cards are good, it will come up as 4GB, if not, it will read as only 2GB. Keep trying different combinations until you narrow down on the card.
I apologise but since I have never purchased anything from newegg.com, I have no idea of their return policy.

Well, I hope this helped,
Good Luck

 

[shovenose]

I apologise but since I have never purchased anything from newegg.com, I have no idea of their return policy.

YOU HAVENT PURCHASED FROM NEWEGG! DOOD, U GOT ISSUES MAN!
lol. i have never had to return a single thing there, but i hear theyre good at rmas yadda yadda yadda