New system, no post no beeps

[easymodo]

Brand new system, breadboxed everything and I got no post, no beeps. CPU fan and motherboard LEDs came on, but the heatsink never heated up at all even with the fan unplugged (yes, there was thermal stuff on the seating). Guessed the CPU might be bad, exchanged it, same problem.

Exchanged the PSU next, hooked up the new one, same problem.

Exchanged the motherboard next, hooked it up, same problem.

Parts list:
MSI 870A-G54
AMD Phenom II 955
Corsair x500 (psu)
G-Skill DDR3 - 1333

Those are the only things that have been hooked up, and everything was only breadboxed (never installed in the case). Removing 1 or both sticks of RAM does not have any effect, nor does it give me any beeps. All parts except the RAM have been exchanged once.

The only thing I can think of would be static, as one was placed on some carpet (not by me, I assure you), and I am not sure of the exact damage static causes or its symptoms.

And yes I went through the checklist

1. Read the manual, says nothing about problems/troubleshooting

2. Both 8 and 24 pins are connected

3. Breadboxed

4. Yes, but it is not a vcard issue, as it works in another system, and swapping different ones in and out or removing all of them entirely has no effect

5. Yes, vcards properly hooked up, no effect

6. Removing one or both sticks of RAM has no effect

7. RAM is properly seated

8. Tried the RAM in all possible combinations of slots, no effect

9. CPU 8 pin is in

10. CPU is seated properly (would it even go in otherwise) and I've tried reseating

11. No bent pins anywhere

12. Bareminimum of thermal paste used on seating


13. CPU fan plugged in and spins

14. Thermal paste went on clean, and the heatsink clip lever is tightened properly (way too hard to do that)

15. Breadboxed

16. It may have been static damage. I keep the motherboard on its anti-static wrap on top of its box, but my dad did place everyone on the floor (carpet) once.

17. Yes, no beeps

18. I've been manually touching the power pins with a screwdriver while breadboxing, as the case cord doesn't reach far enough.

19. Tried different cords and outlets for the psu, no effect

20. It's on the CPU list

21. Used both the pin and battery methods, no effect

22. No integrated graphics. Graphics cards confirmed to work in other systems

23. Everything is seated properly

 

[foverosiv]

I am going to have to go with static damage, because if you didn't know, only the inside part of the anti-static bag is anti-static, outside is still vulnerable to statics. also, check your PSU and the case plugs. try to start up the motherboard with ONLY the CPU, V-Card, RAM, PSU, and monitor plugged in by shorting out the 2 power pins ( your motherboard manuel should tell you which 2, touch both with a screw driver to short them out and turn the MOBO on)

 

[pjmelect]

It is very doubtful that you damaged anything with static, anti static material can be conductive so make sure that all anti-static material has been removed before powering up. Did you clear the CMOS memory? Do it properly with the link and with the power DISCONECTED. If the board is still not working then I would suspect the memory, is it compatible with your motherboard, try a different type.

 

[4z3rty]

technically just pluging the mobo psu an cpu he shoul get beep errors.... oh and the mobo speaker if he gets nothing i would very much suspect the mobo.... ive had 3 brand new asus mobo DOA in the same shippment

i would try testing the parts on another systeme if possible like ram psu vga card.. if it all works then ur probleme is mobo or cpu if u can test the cpu on another machine...

 

[easymodo]

It is very doubtful that you damaged anything with static, anti static material can be conductive so make sure that all anti-static material has been removed before powering up. Did you clear the CMOS memory? Do it properly with the link and with the power DISCONECTED. If the board is still not working then I would suspect the memory, is it compatible with your motherboard, try a different type.

I tried clearing the CMOS on both, using the pins and removing the battery for ~10 minutes. Nothing happened.

technically just pluging the mobo psu an cpu he shoul get beep errors.... oh and the mobo speaker if he gets nothing i would very much suspect the mobo.... ive had 3 brand new asus mobo DOA in the same shippment

i would try testing the parts on another systeme if possible like ram psu vga card.. if it all works then ur probleme is mobo or cpu if u can test the cpu on another machine...

I've tried testing the PSU and graphics cards on different machines and they both seem to work. I cannot do the same for the CPU as none of my older machines have DDR3 or an AM3 socket.

Makes me feel a bit better knowing that it may just be 2 DOA's and not me having some kind of cursed static touch

 

[4z3rty]

did u buy it online or instore?

 

[easymodo]

everything but the 2nd motherboard came from Amazon. The 2nd motherboard came from Frys

 

[4z3rty]

on jsp2 connector of the board do you have a speker connected if not u will never hear the beep codes as there is no onboard speaker....

 

[jsc]

I think Frye's can test motherboards. I'd take it back and talk to them.

Before you do, breadboard the system and assemble and test in stages.

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.