Upgrade problems

[cernunnos]

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice. I decided it was time to upgrade my computer and got a deal from dabs for an ASUS M4A77TD motherboard, a 3.2GHz AMD Phenom II X4 processor, and 2*2GB Patriot DDR3 1333MHz RAM. I have kept my case, DVD drive and hard drives and my Radeon X1900 XTX graphics card.

I believe I have everything installed correctly. I followed the motherboard manual and have checked connections several times. I believe my PSU is adequate being 535 Watt.

Unfortunately I cannot seem to get it to boot at all. The case lights flash once and then go dark. There is a light on the motherboard, all of the case fans work, the CPU fan works and the graphics card fan is working. Both motherboard power cables are connected correctly. The DVD drive light flashes but the drive will not open. There is no response on the monitor at all.

I am at a loss as to what I could have done wrong. Everything seems properly attached and I have been through the troubleshooting guide checklist as well. The only doubt I have is the system panel connectors (power LED, HDD LED etc.). They are attached to the correct pins but I am not sure if orientation is important.

Any advice as to what else could be wrong would be appreciated.

 

[tlmck]

Did you do the breadboard test listed in this troubleshooting guide? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

 

[geekapproved]

Did you plug in the 4 pin cpu power?

 

[cernunnos]

Thanks for the advice. I had plugged in the 4 pin power socket. On that note I have done a bit more checking on the power supply and it seems it should be more than adequate for the motherboard and components. I am assuming it is working OK if all of the fans work and the motherboard light is on. I have noticed a slight crackle sound as I plug the power cable back into the power supply before I turn the computer back on to test it. Normal or maybe a sign of a faulty PSU?

I have tried the breadboarding and have come rather unstuck at the first stage. CPU and heat sink only attached (although the front panel connectors were attached for the speaker) and I got no beep at all. Broken front speaker or problem with the CPU? I also notice a tiny fleck on the motherboard near the CPU, which when fully installed is obscured by the heat sink and fan. I think this may be a little spot of thermal compound. Is there a safe way to remove this and do you think this could be causing the problem?

Another thing I have discovered is that the RAM I have is not on the approved vendors list for my motherboard on the ASUS website. It is DDR3 1333MHz which should be compatible but the approved vendors list has only the 1gb version of this RAM by Patriot rather than the 2GB version I have. Could this be the problem? As I bought it all in a bundle I assume it would have been checked for compatibility.

Once again any advice would be welcome and thanks for the help so far.

 

[tlmck]

Your PSU could be faulty. 535 watts is an odd size these days. If it is not at least 80 plus certified from makers such as Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, Silverstone, OCZ, or XFX, I do not trust it.

I thought I saw your ram on the approved list, but guess I missed it. If you got the bundle from TigerDirect it rarely works. They just throw parts together that are not selling to get rid of them. It is because they truly care about their customers. Needless to say, I do not do business with Tiger.

 

[geekapproved]

Are you trying to boot an old windows install with new hardware?

Have you tried booting to the DVD drive with your windows disk in it?

If you cant even boot to dvd, take your mobo/cpu/ram back to dabs and see if they can get it to post.

 

[cernunnos]

The power supply is an Enermax 535 Watt. I think it is about 5 years old. The thing is this is an upgrade from the original machine I built about 5 years ago. The PSU was working perfectly before I took the old motherboard out and tried to install the new one. It seems rather a coincidence for it to fail just as I am doing the upgrade, although I suppose not impossible. Or maybe whatever the problem with the PSU, it had no major impact on the operation of the old motherboard but is a problem for the new one. The motherboard book says it needs a 300 watt minimum PSU and at least 15A on +12V. The PSU has 34A. I think it is this one:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1565893&CatId=1079

I am trying to boot an old windows install, and anticipate I will have to perform a repair install on Windows XP. Unfortunately I am not getting that far, I don’t get any response on the monitor at all. The DVD light flashes but the drive won’t open. Given the breadboarding results I suspect it must be the processor or motherboard that is the problem.

I think I may put the old motherboard back in and perform the breadboarding test on that. That should tell me if the case speaker is working. If so then I guess the suspects must be the CPU or the motherboard. I think I will contact Dabs to see if they will take them back and test them.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Tavo_Nova]

ah then you might need to buy a new PSU like seasonic 520w 80plus bronze would suffice, but unless everything else is messed up just buy a whole system if your budget is at 500$-600$

 

[geekapproved]

You always do a fresh Windows install when you install a motherboard.

If your lazy and don't, your bound to have issues.

I don't think you have any hardware issues, you have a driver conflict, which is typical if you try to do a half ass upgrade.

I bet if you used a new or formatted hd, it would load windows just fine.