Put Together a New PC but nothing is showing up on the monitor

xxehanort

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Jun 6, 2011
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I fairly recently put together a new pc for myself and it was working fine. The components were
Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme
Graphics: EVGA 560 Ti SLI
RAM: Corsair XMS3 PC3 12800 DDR3 3x2 gb
Hard Drives: Two Hitachi 320 gb in RAID 0
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two
Monitor: Samsung BX2231
PSU: Apevia Warlock 900w

This computer worked fine, but was very crowded in the mid tower case i had so i ordered the HAF X. Also, the Apevia Warlock 900w psu wasn't the most stable PSU so i ordered the Corsair 1200AX which i know is overkill, but it is also future-proof for later upgrades. I moved all of the components to the new case and set it all up, but when i turn on my pc, the debug light (which on the ASRock X58 Extreme is a combination of two letters or numbers to tell you what is happening with the motherboard at any given time) flashes then turns off. At first I thought, possibly a defective PSU(the new corsair one), so i tested the system out with the older Apevia 900w and still the same problem. I again tested the system with a different 500w psu i had lying around(i removed one of the 560 Ti's when i did this) and still the same problem. After turning the computer on, I found out that it was not possible to turn it off even at the motherboard power switch inside the case on the motherboard itself. the only way to turn it off was to turn off the power supply itself in the back of the case. Also, adding to the confusion i am having, all of the fans and items connected to the motherboard run when the computer is turned on, the hard drives turn on, the graphics cards turn on, and all fans connected to the motherboard turn on. I believe it is a motherboard problem but i am not sure. Can anyone else tell me what might be wrong?

Edit: My CPU is an Intel I7 950
 
Solution
Could be motherboard. If you have tried several power supplies, it doesn't leave much?

Work systematically 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.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might...

xxehanort

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yes I have made sure the psu cords are all plugged in with all the different pus's I tested. also I have made sure to check my power strip and made sure the monitor is on and working. also the motherboard makes no sound or beeps, just a red flash where the debug numbers/letters usually are in red.

edit-also I did make sure I plugged all the slots correctly in the USB header. the switch to turn it on perfectly, but again the mobo debug lights are not on like they should be while all the fans and everything else attached works. the sixth both on the motherboard itself, and the switch plugged in through the USB header both do not work to turn it off however.
 

xxehanort

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Jun 6, 2011
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unfortunately the manual does not mention a red flash in the debug code area, or anywhere else in the manual. the flash only happens when it turns on, and them when I flip the power off on the back of the psu.

edit-also there are no onboard graphics
 
Could be motherboard. If you have tried several power supplies, it doesn't leave much?

Work systematically 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.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

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.

Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

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:
Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

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

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

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, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

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.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

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.
 
Solution

xxehanort

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Jun 6, 2011
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I had never seen that guide anywhere else before but it helped me alot thanks. I got the computer to work and its running great now. The problem was that i had installed too many standoffs underneath the motherboard and one of them was causing a short. Thanks for the help everyone.