Hi
Just built my new system (below) and can't seem to get it working...
AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU
Asus M5A99X Evo MOBO
2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM
Asus ATI Radeon 6450 HD Graphics
Corsair CX500 V2 Builder Series PSU
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 64MB HDD
When I switch it on the Asus splash screen appears, there is a beep and it quickly disappears and reappears again. This seems normal. However, it just seems to freeze on the Asus splash screen the second time it is shown. I can not proceed any further, nor enter the BIOS. I have also tried entering the BIOS by holding DEL on power on and also pressing it before splash screens appear - I just can not access it.
So I went through the usual checks;
- Reseated RAM modules and Graphics card
- Ran without additional chassis fans, front USB hub or DVD-RW drives, in case the 500W wasn't providing enough power (although I think 500W should be sufficient for this system? Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
- Ran without RAM to check MOBO recognised no RAM and sure enough I got the correct beep codes.
- Ran with each of the RAM modules induvidually
- Clearing CMOS (Power off, battery out for 10 mins, change jumper while battery out and then replace, replace battery, power on)
My final check was to run without the Hard Disk connected and I was then able to enter the BIOS.
Since it seemed to be the Hard Disk causing problems, I borrowed my brother's 500GB Seagate Barracuda HDD with Windows Vista installed on it. It ran to the Starting Windows screen, the progress bar cycled through a couple of times and then the system just reboots. I entered the BIOS after this had happened several times and configured the SATA drives as IDE rather than AHCI. On doing this, Windows Vista boots but the neither the USB keyboard nor the PS2 keyboard nor the USB mouse are recognised and I can not log in. The same thing happens when booting in Safe Mode.
Continuing my investigation, I installed my WD HDD in my brother's computer to see if it prevents his computer from entering BIOS. It doesn't. His computer (Dell Studio) recognises the disk, but there is nothing on there to boot from. I tried to install the Windows 7 Home 64-bit that I'd bought, using his computer, however it loads the Windows files, then just freezes on the Windows logo page. I have left it for 30mins and it is not proceeding any further.
I also tried both HDDs in my computer and I get the same freezing issue at Asus splash page (definitely seems to be related to the WD HDD)
And I tried both HDDs in my brother's Dell. It tries to boot Windows Vista but just gets stuck on Windows loading screen.
So my questions are:
- Do you think the WD HDD is faulty?
- Why does the WD HDD prevent me from entering my BIOS?
- Why does Windows Vista not recognise my devices?
- Could this be a faulty motherboard?
- Am I just being stupid and not selecting a correct BIOS setting?
I have built a number of systems in the past and never really had any problems. I can't think of anything I've done wrong, so I'm inclined to think it's a faulty piece of hardware. I'd really appreciate some advice as I can't think of anything else to try.
Just built my new system (below) and can't seem to get it working...
AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU
Asus M5A99X Evo MOBO
2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM
Asus ATI Radeon 6450 HD Graphics
Corsair CX500 V2 Builder Series PSU
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 64MB HDD
When I switch it on the Asus splash screen appears, there is a beep and it quickly disappears and reappears again. This seems normal. However, it just seems to freeze on the Asus splash screen the second time it is shown. I can not proceed any further, nor enter the BIOS. I have also tried entering the BIOS by holding DEL on power on and also pressing it before splash screens appear - I just can not access it.
So I went through the usual checks;
- Reseated RAM modules and Graphics card
- Ran without additional chassis fans, front USB hub or DVD-RW drives, in case the 500W wasn't providing enough power (although I think 500W should be sufficient for this system? Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
- Ran without RAM to check MOBO recognised no RAM and sure enough I got the correct beep codes.
- Ran with each of the RAM modules induvidually
- Clearing CMOS (Power off, battery out for 10 mins, change jumper while battery out and then replace, replace battery, power on)
My final check was to run without the Hard Disk connected and I was then able to enter the BIOS.
Since it seemed to be the Hard Disk causing problems, I borrowed my brother's 500GB Seagate Barracuda HDD with Windows Vista installed on it. It ran to the Starting Windows screen, the progress bar cycled through a couple of times and then the system just reboots. I entered the BIOS after this had happened several times and configured the SATA drives as IDE rather than AHCI. On doing this, Windows Vista boots but the neither the USB keyboard nor the PS2 keyboard nor the USB mouse are recognised and I can not log in. The same thing happens when booting in Safe Mode.
Continuing my investigation, I installed my WD HDD in my brother's computer to see if it prevents his computer from entering BIOS. It doesn't. His computer (Dell Studio) recognises the disk, but there is nothing on there to boot from. I tried to install the Windows 7 Home 64-bit that I'd bought, using his computer, however it loads the Windows files, then just freezes on the Windows logo page. I have left it for 30mins and it is not proceeding any further.
I also tried both HDDs in my computer and I get the same freezing issue at Asus splash page (definitely seems to be related to the WD HDD)
And I tried both HDDs in my brother's Dell. It tries to boot Windows Vista but just gets stuck on Windows loading screen.
So my questions are:
- Do you think the WD HDD is faulty?
- Why does the WD HDD prevent me from entering my BIOS?
- Why does Windows Vista not recognise my devices?
- Could this be a faulty motherboard?
- Am I just being stupid and not selecting a correct BIOS setting?
I have built a number of systems in the past and never really had any problems. I can't think of anything I've done wrong, so I'm inclined to think it's a faulty piece of hardware. I'd really appreciate some advice as I can't think of anything else to try.
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