Is my motherboard dead?

[thekrohneee]

This is my computer build: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15695154

So I recently bought all of those parts, put everything together, and eventually hooked it up to my monitor. Everything seemed to work perfectly except for one thing, the video card. The fan on the video card wasn't doing anything and after asking a couple people, I found out it was doa. I did a rma request and got a new video card(same kind) about 10 days later. I installed the video card today and the fans actually moved. I was so happy at first. So all the fans were working and the four lights at the top of the motherboard were on. All I had to wait for was the beep we all love to hear. After about 2 minutes of waiting, I started to think that something was wrong and it wasn't the video card. I made sure all the standoffs were in place and that all the cords were plugged in correctly. I searched all over google and found a "what to do before asking if something is doa" on this site and looked at everything.

My friend said that my motherboard could be fried(which would really suck). If theres anything else u need to know, just ask and I would be more than happy to answer.

Could the ram be fried and not the mobo? <--I was thinking that.

 

[PCBEater]

Your RAM isnt in the QVL list for that board, I would look into that, power on but no POST is the usual sign of incompatible RAM
EDIT: interesting..all of the G.SKILL brands on the QVL list under 1333 of that board are PC10666 models, not 10600 FYI.

 

[thekrohneee]

Can you suggest a specific type of ram i could use?

 

[PCBEater]

Can you suggest a specific type of ram i could use?

Corsair, Crucial, and Kingston are all good brands. try these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104206

Have you tried every troubleshooting technique so far? like checking for no RAM POST beeps or the paperclip test on the PSU?
Do the south and northbridge chips get warm?

 

[thekrohneee]

Corsair, Crucial, and Kingston are all good brands. try these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104206

Have you tried every troubleshooting technique so far? like checking for no RAM POST beeps or the paperclip test on the PSU?
Do the south and northbridge chips get warm?

I have not yet considering I'm on vacation atm but when I get back I'll search up how to do some of the techniques you've said.

 

[PCBEater]

alright cool

 

[thekrohneee]

I actually asked a couple people about the ram thing and they all said that the problem is because of that. I'll try to return the ram i bought and buy this instead: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+Optima+4GB+PC3-10666+DDR3+DIMM+Desktop+Memory/2327496.p?id=1218532316525&skuId=2327496

 

[PCBEater]

I actually asked a couple people about the ram thing and they all said that the problem is because of that. I'll try to return the ram i bought and buy this instead: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+Optima+4GB+PC3-10666+DDR3+DIMM+Desktop+Memory/2327496.p?id=1218532316525&skuId=2327496

hmm those are only compatible with AMD boards so I guess those should work, PNY doesnt make their own RAM like Kingston does(who are rated highest) quality and reliability can sometimes be beyond the control of companies like that, I would get those Kingston HyperX sticks I recommended(since they are on the QVL list)

 

[thekrohneee]

hmm those are only compatible with AMD boards so I guess those should work, PNY doesnt make their own RAM like Kingston does(who are rated highest) quality and reliability can sometimes be beyond the control of companies like that, I would get those Kingston HyperX sticks I recommended(since they are on the QVL list)

The only reason I would buy the ram is because:
1. I can just drive to bestbuy and get the ram instead of waiting for it to ship to my house(if i buy it from newegg)
2. I'm going to bestbuy already to become a gamers club unlocked member to get 20 bucks back on each pre-ordered game. (so it would just be convenient)

Sadly, they are not carrying any Kingston HyperX sticks that are more than 2gb and PC3-10666 DDR3. Unless you can find a good enough price(and be much better than the link i showed you), I'll probably end up buying that ram from bestbuy.

 

[PCBEater]

The only reason I would buy the ram is because:
1. I can just drive to bestbuy and get the ram instead of waiting for it to ship to my house(if i buy it from newegg)
2. I'm going to bestbuy already to become a gamers club unlocked member to get 20 bucks back on each pre-ordered game. (so it would just be convenient)

Sadly, they are not carrying any Kingston HyperX sticks that are more than 2gb and PC3-10666 DDR3. Unless you can find a good enough price(and be much better than the link i showed you), I'll probably end up buying that ram from bestbuy.

your only getting one 4 GB stick? dont you want dual channel?(much faster.better for CPU RAM access, responsive OS, overclocking) If you get 2 of those thats more than 60 bucks

here is 2 4GB sticks of those Kingston sticks, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104231

Thats a steal in my opinion.

 

[thekrohneee]

your only getting one 4 GB stick? dont you want dual channel?(much faster.better for CPU RAM access, responsive OS, overclocking) If you get 2 of those thats more than 60 bucks

here is 2 4GB sticks of those Kingston sticks, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104231

Thats a steal in my opinion.

Wait... So this ram --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180 <-- won't work with it but this ram --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104231 <-- will? I'm a noob with computers but it seems to me that the only different thing is that one is 2 x 4 and another one is 2 x 2.

 

[PCBEater]

Wait... So this ram --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180 <-- won't work with it but this ram --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104231 <-- will? I'm a noob with computers but it seems to me that the only different thing is that one is 2 x 4 and another one is 2 x 2.

oh no they both work, I was just showing you a better deal like you wanted.

 

[thekrohneee]

oh no they both work, I was just showing you a better deal like you wanted.

So the PC not working is not because of the ram since I have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180

I'm officially confused :3

 

[PCBEater]

So the PC not working is not because of the ram since I have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180

I'm officially confused :3

okay so has anything changed since? does it stay on or does it shut off and restart?

 

[thekrohneee]

okay so has anything changed since? does it stay on or does it shut off and restart?

I'll tell you what happened again. I built a pc and when I finished, I hooked it up to my monitor. When I turned on the pc, everything inside the case looked like it was working.(all the fans were running and lights on the motherboard were appearing) I was confused when nothing was happening on my monitor.(it just stayed in stand-by mode) There were also no post beeps or anything of that sort.(the internal speaking was plugged in)

I ALWAYS had this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231180

You said that it would not work with my motherboard and then u said it should.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^is what I'm confused about

"so has anything changed since? does it stay on or does it shut off and restart?" I didn't change anything to it so nothing would be different.

 

[mikes1992]

lol I was confused... Ram should work in all motherboards as long as it's the right DDR version (in which case it would not fit).

If you suspect it is a ram problem try booting with one stick and change to the other to verify it's not a ram problem (it's rare to get two bad modules).

also try reseating components in the motherboard (CPU, GPU, RAM etc). make sure you apply new thermal paste if you reseat the CPU and make sure it is inserted the right way.

If that doesn't work the only way to test is to put your components into another computer (the GPU will fit all computers with a PCI-E bus but the CPU and RAM will only fit if they're using the same sockets "DDR3 and AM3+" and if the bios/chipset supports the CPU)

test your power supply in another computer as well, this is one of the most likely things after the motherboard of course to be causing this problem. CPU's are rarely faulty. Although you have a good reliable brand of PSU so it's more likely a motherboard problem

My first steps would be, check components are seated properly (only place one ram stick), disconnect then Reconnect the power leads to the motherboard, disconnect any external cables "Mouse keyboard DVI video Etc", attempt to boot, if it doesn't post use the clear CMOS button/jumper or remove the bios battery for a few hours, after that (if you removed the battery replace it back into the socket) then boot again, if that still didn't fix it I'd personally diagnose as a motherboard problem but I'm not 100% sure on this... unfortunately you never can be... this could also be a PSU problem and without proper testing equipment or a multimeter there isn't any way to test it apart from the paper clip test which just verifies it's not completely dead and spins up

 

[mikes1992]

Oh, make sure the PSU is switched off when you are doing any of this (especially if you're dis/re-connecting components and cables and trying to clear the bios by removing the battery "Do not clear the bios when the computer is powered up")

 

[PCBEater]

RAM does not work in all motherboards even if its the same DDR version, thats why there is a QUALIFIED VENDOR LIST aka QVL. It has something to do with form factor, voltage and timings the memory controller was designed for on the motherboard. Since there is a wide spectrum of RAM types memory controllers support about 70% of them from my guesses. For clarification (@TheKrohneee) I did not say neither those Kingston RAM would not Work with that board, I was showing you a better deal since thats what you asked for right??? You have the 2x2GB sticks then those should work according to the QVL list, If it doesnt then the RAM is not the problem

 

[mikes1992]

RAM does not work in all motherboards even if its the same DDR version, thats why there is a QUALIFIED VENDOR LIST aka QVL. It has something to do with form factor, voltage and timings the memory controller was designed for on the motherboard. Since there is a wide spectrum of RAM types memory controllers support about 70% of them from my guesses. For clarification (@TheKrohneee) I did not say neither those Kingston RAM would not Work with that board, I was showing you a better deal since thats what you asked for right??? You have the 2x2GB sticks then those should work according to the QVL list, If it doesnt then the RAM is not the problem

Interesting. I'm guessing it's mostly high performance ram? as opposed to standard ram? Personally I've never had any problems with it.