Computer won't work!

[jgloeb]

This is the first computer I have ever built myself. I did quite extensive research to make sure all the parts work together and come recommended. I ended up getting it all together and everything seems wired correctly, but for some reason when my computer boots up there is no signal to the monitor. I was wondering if perhaps my motherboard arrived DOA because there were no beeps when I turned it on, but it does power the cpu fan. Maybe it's because I am only using one 2gb stick of ram and it needs a stick in channel a1 and a2, I have no idea. I have tried plugging the monitor in through both the VGA with the motherboard and my DVI graphics card but to no avail. At the moment, I'm just at a loss please help! Here's my specs.

CPU - AMD Phenom 9850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103286

Mobo - ASUS M4A785-M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595

Graphics - HIS IceQ Radeon 5670
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161334

PSU - Apevia 500w ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148027

HD - Western Digital 500gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

Ram - Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 2gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104072

Case - Rosewill Destoyer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147144

Monitor - LG W2040 20"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005146

 

[dndhatcher]

There is a sticky at the top of the forums called "READ BEFORE POSTING". It includes this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-boot-video-problems

Follow those steps and then post back with your results if it still isnt working.

Since you have onboard video, take the graphics card out of the equation for now.

 

[jsc]

My initial guess would be a problem with the PSU. Apevia is not known for high quality PSU's.

Work through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If not, continue.

I have tested the following beeps patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. You do have a case speaker installed, right? If not, you really, really need one. If your case or motherboard didn't come with a system speaker, you can buy one here:
http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU.

Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps:
At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card. Silence or long single beeps indicate a problem with the memory.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

 

[jgloeb]

Thank you for the urgent responses! It was a minor power wiring problem and I appreciate your guidance to that thread, I didn't even see it.

 

[aford10]

I bet it was step #2.

It's a common mistake.