HELP! Everything boots up, no picture :S

[Didley]

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)

 

[mdd1963]

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?

 

[Didley]

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?

Yes to all. If relevant, the PNY card had only 1 6-pin connector and the XFX has two.

 

[cmi86]

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.

 

[Didley]

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.

Lol, yes I made sure the display worked. And it was the same one I was using before the first HDD died. Any recommendations on a 775 processor?

 

[bs6749]

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.

 

[cmi86]

Core 2 Quad Q9650, Core 2 Extreme QX9770 and Core 2 Duo E8600 are the best 775 chips. One more tip to check your mobo, i would think you could try running a standard PCI based graphics card to diagnose the PCIE 2.0 interface on your mobo.

 

[Didley]

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??

 

[Didley]

Core 2 Quad Q9650, Core 2 Extreme QX9770 and Core 2 Duo E8600 are the best 775 chips. One more tip to check your mobo, i would think you could try running a standard PCI based graphics card to diagnose the PCIE 2.0 interface on your mobo.

Well I would, but I don't have one. Would putting the Vid card into the second PCIE slot show anything? I know I'm asking, but I'm going to try right now anyways...

Those chips are a bit pricey for me... I said $140, not $1.4k lol. I do appreciate all the help guys.

 

[cmi86]

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

 

[Didley]

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

Well, no change. Maybe if I hit the computer hard enough it would get the point? No? Rats. Lol.

 

[cmi86]

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

 

[Didley]

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

Well, I just pulled it out of the bathtub, didn't seem to do anything but get everything wet. Only now I can't get anything to come on... weird.

Lol. Yeah my town's cl is the suck. But I have to go by the comp store tomorrow anyways. Hopefully they have something cheap I can use. And they're cool with you troubleshooting as long as everything is in working order when/if you bring it back.

 

[cmi86]

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"

 

[Didley]

well I told the girl today when I bought the vid card that i was troubleshooting and asked about their return policy. She said as long as everything is in good working order and has everything included that came with it, no worries.

I'll be sure to keep my mouth shut just in case a manager/owner helps me this next time, lol.

 

[cmi86]

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

 

[Didley]

Will do. Time to leave this til tomorrow... *kick* Thanks again. Any other suggestions from others are also appreciated.

 

[Didley]

bump

 

[cmi86]

How did that card work out for ya

 

[OgCracKer]

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.

 

[Didley]

How did that card work out for ya

they didn't have just a cheapy so I bought a new CPU and tried it. It didn't work.




This is interesting. It kept your bios from booting at all? Like no bios screen at all? It was running with this ram for a year then was turned off for 1 or 2 years. If you think this could be the issue, then I may just upgrade the ram at the same time. Running PC6400 and the better stuff should be more affordable nowadays.

 

[cmi86]

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.

 

[Didley]

my thinking too. Not sure why it would start up then and not now. Could sitting for a long time affect anything?

so far I've tested by replacing the Vid card, PSU, CPU, and ram one at a time (4 sticks total).

Nothing has worked. This leads me to believe that it may be that the mobo. Would a mobo still be bad if all the lights/fans come on? I guess that could just be showing that the power routing is still working, but I'm still on the low-end of the tech-savvy world.

 

[cmi86]

Ok i just got that last post of yours, the new cpu basically singles out your mobo, the HDD crash shorted out something on your board, you need a new one

 

[Didley]

aww... but i like this one


any good gaming recommendations? 775 socket type. Checked my comp store but all they had was micro or mini atx for 775.

Or a decenct mobo and processor combo. Checking out newegg, but it's been a while since I've kept up with any of this tech that I don't know what's good or not.

Can you run at 9800GTX+ on an amd board?