[Solved] HELP! Everything boots up, no picture :S

Ok, so I have a comp I built, but now it isn't working. I stopped using it for about two years when my Maxtor died and then I recently bought a new HDD (WD Caviar Black 1TB) for it. I also was given a NZXT Lexa--never used-- mid-tower case (which does not have an onboard speaker to give me nifty audio beeps for errors.

Here's the build:

Celeron D processor (yes, it's old) 3.04GHZ duo core
WD 1TB Caviar Black HDD (new)
ASUS Striker Extreme MOBO (bought when I bought the CPU) w/ sound card
ASUS Optical drive (new, the specifics seem irrelevent)
3GB OCZ PC6400
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ or PNY GeForce 450 GSX (bought the latter to see if the issue was caused by a faulty graphics card, but the same problem persisted... will return tomorrow after I check on your suggestions)
APEXI 600W PSU

I think that's the important stuff. Now the problem:

I get nothing. Last time the computer worked, the HDD crashed and I stopped using it for one or two years. Then I got the new case, hdd, and optical drive and rebuilt her. Started her up (all lights came on great... mobo, graphics card. And all fans came on including HSF, case fans, graphics card fan, and PSU fans), but had no picture. I've tried everything.

Reassembled everything, took all but 1 ram chip out (the striker is renown for having issues accepting ram), reseated everything, made sure HDD was spooling, bought a new graphics card, cleared CMOS, cursed and got angry. Nothing worked.

So now I believe it is either the MOBO or the CPU. I'm leaning more towards the CPU because, well, for one, it's old and I want a new one, and two, all the lights come on and work on the mobo. Now the striker extreme does have an LCD read-out on the back of it, but unfortunately through age and neglect it isn't working correctly and only parts of the letters are showing, but I believe it says CPU INIT which is a common error I've had before and was usually an issue with recognizing the ram.

Does ANYONE have any idea what I need to do or what may be the culprit of my conundrum? I'll check back here in the morning just in case a fix requires the PNY card, but I plan on returning it to get my money back. If it is the CPU can someone please recommend a LGA 775 socket that can be bought for around $140? I think the mobo will do quad core, but nothing more fancy that is out nowadays.

I really appreciate any information you guys can give. Thank you!!! (sorry for the long write-up)

Does your graphics card have it's aux power input (or 2, depending on card) from power supply hooked up directly to it?

Is the graphics card FULLY seated?

Does mainboard have it's aux cpu power to mb conected from PSU?

This may seem rather obvious and I dont mean to insult your intelligence but have you tried a different display ? If not i would get a new chip since you want one anyways and if that doesnt work a new mobo, or just a new rig, sorry i couldn t be more help, the whole no display thing really throws a wrench in the mix.

First of all, start with the most obvious things.

Make sure that all connections have been made and are tight fitting.

Check the PSU to make sure that nothing got shorted. (Check voltages on 24 main power cord, CPU power pin, and PCI-e power pins). Google how to do this with a multimeter...it is very easy to do.

Make sure that your RAM works. Try it in another computer. I am going through the exact situation that you are right now, and I check the RAM in another board and found out that both sticks were dead.

Verify that the monitor works in another computer.

Check that the CPU works in another board.

It is most likely one of those issues.

Hmm... well I haven't actually broken out a multimeter to test the leads, but there is one I can borrow. I have 4 RAM sticks I doubt all 4 have gone bad, but I suppose it's possible. I've verified the monitor in another computer. I'm still leaning towards CPU. Is there a test I can do without a monitor that will allow me to tell if the CPY is bad??

Yes the 2nd PCIE may yield results, there are alot of C2D chips to choose from, those were just the best ones, look into it a bit

Throw it in the bathtub that should fix it lol, Go on craigslist or to your local PC shop or whatever, try and get your hands on a PCI card on the cheap, I have found em on CL for 5 bucks before. Just someting to Diagnose the PCIE bus

They wont be if you tell them your intentions lol,
Buy the card get what you need from it either way and bring it back, tell em you didnt end up needing it ; ) " I call it renting lol"

Good call lol, good luck let me know how it works out

bump

I have experienced the same issue with my strike extreme MB and my ram. The ram that I had purchased ran at a higher voltage than the default voltage on the MB. What I had to do was to insert a generic stick of ram that ran at the default voltage. It then would fire up and was able to get into the BIOS and change the voltage to match the ram voltage that I had purchased. Once I did this, I shutdown the PC and inserted the other ram and it fired right up, problem solved

Trust me I spent hour and hours with ASUS and other sites but none had an answer until I figured it out on my own. To future proof this from ever happening again I created a profile in the BIOS with the changes.

Hope this helps.

This seems like a very good theory theres only one thing that doesnt make sense and that is that his rig did run properly up until a HDD crash. So i would think if it was a RAM voltage no post situation that this machine never would have ran in the first place, just a thought.

I completely understand where you are coming from but it doesn't hurt to try. Why not check and eliminate the possibility. He did mentioned that the PC has been sitting there for awhile and who knows. Start with the basics and work form there, most of the time it's the simplest and overlooked solution. All my lights and fan came on and it too booted at one time but in the end it was the voltage. CMOS batt could be bad, have you thought of that, maybe clearing the cmos. I know it's easy on the striker extreme. All in all think outside of the box because it is a computer and strange things do happen which most of the time don't make sense. My .02

i was looking on newegg at the board/chip combos. Looking in the 200ish range.

i intend to upgrade the ram also, but shhh. Don't tell my wife...

how do you feel quad-core vs. dual core?

If you do alot of Video editing/ rendering and raw data id go quad

if you game and do general PC tasks id go dual, alot of modern games still arent programmed to benifit much from a quad core cpu

If I was running CAD would it bet better to have a quad core? I may be doing some architecture in the future.

PS you should be able to unlock that phenom chip i showed you earlier to a quad core

http://www.tigerdirect.com/include [...] &imgcart=1

what do you think of that one?

Also, I've never unlocked a chip before. Is it a fairly easy process? Risk of damage to the chip?

Haha yeah thats the board im running rite now lol, killer bang for buck, ThatX3 is pretty healthy and you might be able to unlock a 4th core on that one too, but still based off DD2, since you getting a new board im trying really hard to get you on DDR3

Good deal. Think I'm going to go for the quad core and some new ram, though.

ASUS evo and native quad. I am a bit of an ASUS fanboy. Lol.

NICE !!! Nope just a simple 8 pin to 4pin adapter that will run you about 5 bucks and you should have no problem finding one at your local pc shop. You sure you dont have a 4 pin on that PSU, that would be really weird if you didnt lol

Thought so, I was like No 4 Pin, WTF ?? lol Yeah that sector 5 stuff is pretty nice, i was looking into it and I guess some guys have been having issues running that stuff on amd platforms, there are fixes but they are pretty extensive in the BIOS and i would rather not have you risk it and instead run one of these 2 plus they better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227559

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231303