Fresh build, wont boot, HELP PLEASE.

alltheicons

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2011
107
0
18,680
I just got all my components in besides a video card, but I have a z68 board. I installed the cpu, stock fan, ram, psu, and monitor. But when i go to test boot it the cpu and psu just spin for a second or 2 and then stop for a second o two and repeat. I get nothing on the screen. These are my components:

CPU: i5 2500k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072
MOBO: Gigabyte z68xp-ud3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128512
PSU: Cougar SX700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817553005
RAM: G.Skill Sniper 2x4gb ddr3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231416
Monitor: Acer 18.5" flat screen
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+- [...] Id=9785647
SSD:Corsair 60gb sata3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233223
HDD:Hitachi 500gb 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822145299
Case: Corsair Carbide 500r
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139009

Please help. Also my monitor's input is VGA and the output on the z68 is hdmi so it goes from hdmi -> DVI - > VGA using the adapter the mobo came with and a dvi to vga i had already.
 
Solution
OK. It is time to approach this systematically.

theinfiniti, the G'byte motherboards will need the CPU power plug.

alltheicons,
Ignore the phase LED's. They will not tell you anything useful that you do not already know.

Yes, you need either a video card or motherboard graphics to successfully POST. You do not, however, need a hard drive, keyboard, mouse, or monitor.

Most cases do not come with a system speaker any more. If you have a non-booting system, you need one desperately. Without one, you will just be blindly changing parts.

Now onward to some troubleshooting techniques.

Work systematically through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread...
Alright, here it goes.

Do you have any spare parts compatible to this computer laying around that you can test things with? If so, what are they?

How old is the PSU?

The review site I use didn't have an SX 700 reviewed, but it did have a GX 700 reviewed and the Cougar GX 700 did put out the full wattage without blowing the PSU and the delivery was fairly clean so I will assume that the SX is equal to the GX version for now.

I am going to list some test numbers, so if you do them, respond to them by test number

Test 1 - Take the HDMI cable out of the computer and try to turn it on and see if something different happens

Test 2 - Unplug the Hitachi 500 GB HD and try to turn it on and see what happens

Test 3 - Take everything out of the case and plug it all in just strewn about on a wooden table and turn it on and see what happens

Test 4 - Take the RAM out of slot 2 and turn it on, see what happens

Test 5 - Take the RAM out of slot 1 and put the old slot 2 RAM in slot 1 and turn it on, see what happens

Test 6 - Unplug the SSD and plug in only the Hitachi and turn it on

Test 7 - Take off the CPU heat sink and re-apply thermal paste and turn it on again


You don't have to do all of them in that order, but I would start with Test 3 if it were me.

- Edit -

You asked a question as I was responding. To answer it, no you don't need a video card for it to work. If you did need one you wouldn't be able to plug in an HDMI cord to the computer. There is a graphics processor chip built into the motherboard that sucks but it is good enough for bare minimum tasks and the computer would not avoid booting because this was all that was available to the computer.
 

alltheicons

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2011
107
0
18,680
ok so its not in the case for 1. Also no hard drives are plugged in ether. I tried 1 by 1 unplugging the hdmi, then tried each ram seperatly, then re applied the cpu and stock cooler. I did put the hdmi cable back in when i tested each ram stick individually. Would it be my psu then? Its a brand new psu. In fact all of this is brand new, just took it all out of the box today. the "CPU" cable has 3 daisy chaned connecters on it, but the 8pin is the only one that would work with the cpu power socket on the mobo. the psu is semi modular if that means anything.
 

alltheicons

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2011
107
0
18,680
The 4 phase led lights come on with the same timming 3 green 1 orange. on with the fans and off with them and it keeps retrying to boot. Also I am in a basement so it is fairly cool down here
 
Also, I don't have much experience with 8 pin processor connectors, but they * may * be keyed the same way for both halves of 4. If so, you could try to take it out and move it to the other end of the connector and plug it in on the other side instead.

TBH, though, it sounds like a power problem, like your motherboard is touching metal it shouldn't be somewhere.
 
Are you sure that you oriented the CPU correctly when you put it in the slot?

Are you sure the 4 + 4 doesn't fit? 4 + 4 is designed such that they should link together to be able to fit into an 8 slot. Somehow you should be able to orient them so that it fits.
 

alltheicons

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2011
107
0
18,680
yes the cpu is oriented properly because it has the 2 notches so there's no other way to put it in. And for the 2x4 pin 8 pin situation; they wont match up. they can be put in the slots and i tried that already and it didn't work but theres 4 connectors:
an 8 pin and 3 4 pins. the slot needs sockets like this: (R= rounded S= Square)
SRRS
RSSR
which is the same as my 8pin
the 4 pins are
RR
RR

SR
RS x2
 

TheRedStorm

Distinguished
Oct 9, 2011
111
0
18,690
I'm guessing maybe one of the parts is faulty. I just finished doing my first build, and had strange problems with turning on the PC, but when I tested someone's power supply (their power supply had even less efficiency and wattage than mine) it worked.

Perhaps the power supply is faulty (or one of the other parts)
The best way to check is to use another power supply, if you know anyone who has one you can borrow, and if there's still a problem, try borrowing other parts that may be the problem, then when something works, you know the faulty product and you can return it :)

If you don't know anyone with other parts... not sure what you should do. :/
 
OK. It is time to approach this systematically.

theinfiniti, the G'byte motherboards will need the CPU power plug.

alltheicons,
Ignore the phase LED's. They will not tell you anything useful that you do not already know.

Yes, you need either a video card or motherboard graphics to successfully POST. You do not, however, need a hard drive, keyboard, mouse, or monitor.

Most cases do not come with a system speaker any more. If you have a non-booting system, you need one desperately. Without one, you will just be blindly changing parts.

Now onward to some troubleshooting techniques.

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
If the system POST's here, you have a case shorting problem.

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:

Check for line power at the PSU input. Extension cords, power strips, and power cords do fail.

If you have power and no beeps, suspect components in likely order are PSU, motherboard, and CPU.

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.

At this point, you can use the PSU from your old system as long as it has a 20 pin mainpower connector and at least a 4 pin CPU power connector. (The extra 4 pins just carry extra power that at this point you will not need.) Then, if you get the long single beeps, you know your new PSU is bad.

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 green wire will alway have 5 volts on it. When you press the power switch, the voltage should drop to 0 volts.
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. If you get this with motherboard graphics, your motherboard is bad.

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. In this case, you will POST successfully (single short beep). But your monitor will display a "missing signal" message.

In that case, the first thing you do is to test the monitor and data cable with another system to make sure it works. If the monitor works, the video card is bad. If you have motherboard graphics, again, the motherboard is bad.
 
Solution

alltheicons

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2011
107
0
18,680
Ok so i tried reseting the cmos. Also i tried using a different power cable and still no lock. I guess I'm going out and looking for a mobo/case speaker today. The only person I've seen online thats had the same problem, reset their cmos so that it defaulted to integrated video, but that didn't work. So it's probly ether my cpu or psu? Considering the cpu fan starts as well as the psu fan, even with just the 24pin connecter in, but it just wont continue. just starts and stops over and over.
 
I had the same problem after I bought my wife a second RAM stick of exactly the same kind she already had 1 of.

I screwed around with it for like 7 hours trying different stuff, but the things I did closest to the time when it was finally fixed was to take the battery out of the motherboard for 15 minutes (again) and pray.

After that, it quit turning on and off over again.

You can look in the "Memory" section of the boards to find the thread I made about it detailing what I did to test things.
 

venom4u

Distinguished
Mar 28, 2011
99
0
18,640
I've had a similar problem that took me nearly a week to diagnose on a build for a friend. The culprit ended up being an improperly installed back plate to the heatsink which I just didn't think to check.