New PC Issue

[entityjustin]

Hello,

Ok. This was my first attempt at building my budget gaming computer and I purchased a almost complete "Combo Deal" through Newegg and some other things that I needed for it. Now, I put it together now, three times, and the problem I'm having is that the Monitor keeps saying no signal. Everything is running, fans, lights, etc. Apparently the motherboards BIOS may not be up to date enough to read the CPU so I purchased an older CPU to update it, still same problem so I can't update anything...Not sure what else to say. Here are the specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M2A1600C9

Power S: CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

HD: Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Also got a Liquid CPU Cooler: CORSAIR H40 120mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

The CPU I got to try and use for BIOS Update is: AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX

Hopefully someone can help with this issue, thanks in advance.

 

[g-unit1111]

Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

There's your problem right there. In order to run FX you need to flash the BIOS on your motherboard and often times this requires use of an older CPU in order to do so.

 

[Outlander_04]

you have the cable from the monitor plugged in to the graphics card ?

it wont work if its in the motherboard connector

If it is in the graphics card then take the card out and use the mb connector to see what happens

 

[entityjustin]

Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

There's your problem right there. In order to run FX you need to flash the BIOS on your motherboard and often times this requires use of an older CPU in order to do so.

Yeah, I realize that, which is why I bought the older CPU:

AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX which I was told would work. However, still no progress.

@Outlander_04: I've had it plugged into both so far trying out each one, I'll try taking the vcard out and seeing how that goes.

 

[g-unit1111]

If your motherboard has onboard video you should try taking the card out and running it off the onboard.

 

[entityjustin]

If your motherboard has onboard video you should try taking the card out and running it off the onboard.

Just tried that now, still "No Signal" on screen, so can't do anything. =/

 

[g-unit1111]

Just tried that now, still "No Signal" on screen, so can't do anything. =/

Does your monitor have multiple inputs? Have you tried running it on a different input?

 

[jsc]

First, take a look at this:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274745-13-step-step-guide-building
to make sure that you didn't overlook something simple.

Then 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 no luck, continue.

The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

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 (standby power supply): 5 volts always on. The green wire should also have 5 volts on it. It should go to 0 volts when you press the case power button (this is also a good way to test the power switch and the associated wiring), then back to 5 volts when you release the case power switch. 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 (unless you have on board graphics available). In that case, remove any card and connect the monitor cable to the motherboard connector.

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.

 

[entityjustin]

Well I've actually done most of those things now. However, going over the checklist I noticed it said no 20/24 pin Power cable and to use the ATX12v one...my Power Supply doesn't have one of the 4 pin cables; tried using the 6/8 pin one but it doesn't fit on one side and the other wont power it without the 24 pin.

There are also no beeps on power up, though I don't think my board has a speaker.

 

[cancer_sucks]

I have the same power supply and I had a similar issue as well while assembling mine. I found my problem to be one of the 2X4 looking cables actually splits into two separate cables, one of which plugs into the 4 pin CPU power connector. It worked for me, hopefully it works for you? But I'm assuming after all this time you figured it out.