First Boot problem

[kulukevin]

Hope this is not a repost, ive scoured multiple boards.

Upgrading an older homebuilt system. All im changing are the CPU, MB, Ram

H61m-VS
Gskill Ripjaws f3-10666CL8D-4GBRM
Pentium 620 Sandry Bridge LGA 1155


Nothing on first boot, so i took everything out and just attached the CPU, CPU fan and I get the three long beeps, my understanding is that this tells me its a memory problem, so i put in one of the sticks and nothing no beeps, i put that stick in the second dimm slot Nothing. Tried the other stick still nothing. So my question is how can i tell what the problem is?

I get the beeps before memory and then nothing after memory does that mean memory for sure? Or could it still be CPU and or even MB? and how do I troubleshoot further?

 

[COLGeek]

Do you know if your mobo has BIOS version P1.10 or higher? See here for details:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=H61M-VS

 

[kulukevin]

hmm how would i find this out if I cant get into bios?

 

[capt_taco]

Is it even reaching the POST screen? Or just a blank monitor the whole time? Does the system otherwise appear to be running (fans running, lights turned on)?

Also - what OS are you using? If you replaced the motherboard without reinstalling your operating system, that could be causing problems too. Windows 7 is pretty good about finding and replacing drivers, so sometimes you can get away with it. But with older versions of Windows, you can end up with a tangled mess of software conflicts that prevent the system from functioning properly, sometimes even from booting at all. The only way to solve that is to reinstall Windows.

 

[kulukevin]

Is it even reaching the POST screen? Or just a blank monitor the whole time? Does the system otherwise appear to be running (fans running, lights turned on)?

Also - what OS are you using? If you replaced the motherboard without reinstalling your operating system, that could be causing problems too. Windows 7 is pretty good about finding and replacing drivers, so sometimes you can get away with it. But with older versions of Windows, you can end up with a tangled mess of software conflicts that prevent the system from functioning properly, sometimes even from booting at all. The only way to solve that is to reinstall Windows.

I am not reaching any post screens, blank the whole time. I am getting three beeps when I plug in the MB and CPU before memory, once memory is added I get nothing no post no beeps nothing. I get the same thing once everything is hooked up including the HD. Thats where im struggling I dont know if I should RMA the MB, the CPU or the Ram or all three what does it mean when you get beeps from the MB before you install ram and then after ram goes in you get nothing. EDIT yes the cpu fan spins up, and the case fans if I have them connected, just trying to get to post and or rma whichever of these pieces has a problem

 

[capt_taco]

Hmm. What it sounds like to me is that the system is doing what it's supposed to - error message when there's no RAM, no error message when you insert the RAM. That plus the fact that you're not seeing anything on the monitor at all, but the computer otherwise looks as if it's running, suggests that the computer IS in fact running as it's supposed to, but there's a problem with the video signal.

Since this is an upgrade from a previous build, I'm guessing your old machine maybe had a standalone graphics card, and that's what you're trying to plug the monitor into? If that's the case, the system might be getting confused, since Sandy Bridge CPUs have a built-in graphics processor. Can you get any monitor signal by plugging the monitor straight into the motherboard's VGA port? If so, then you may just need to disable onboard graphics in the BIOS and then it'll recognize your video card. The newest generation of motherboards are SUPPOSED to auto-detect and figure that out on their own, but they don't always.

 

[COLGeek]

Is this system using a stand alone video card or integrated video?

capt_taco is on the right track here.

Regarding the BIOS version. There should be a label on the new mobo box that may provide the information.

 

[kulukevin]

Thanks for all the feedback so far, the old system was running a discreet video card but its not in this build, im plugging the monitor directly into the vga slot on the MB. No beeps and no post, it seems to me that I should get one or the other once the memory is in with or without the hard drive hooked up.

 

[kulukevin]

Thanks Geek ill check the packaging for the bios revision to see if this cpu is supported. I didnt even consider that when buying this MB from Newegg.

 

[COLGeek]

If you have access to another video card, just plug it in to see if your system actually posts.

 

[kulukevin]

hmm never considered that, like maybe the vga port on the mb is bad. Ill try that tonight then. Thanks for the idea, nobody has said anything about the ram. Its been concerning me regarding compatability. Even thought it shows on their website i noticed that the ram packaging said for LGA 1156 this is an LGA 1155 build, i figured it would not matter what slot it was to the ram but have wonderered ever since i read that, and now that im not posting it keeps coming up in my mind.

 

[COLGeek]

Pretty much any DDR3 memory will suffice. Yours (as long as not defective) should be fine.

 

[kulukevin]

sorry out of town for the past ten days. Bump to get back in there, so MB beeps with no memory then doesnt beep nor post with the memory. CPU looks good nothing bent, what should I RMA? the MB no clear evidence its the problem and since it does beep it is doing something. CPU? no idea how to figure if its the problem or not. Ram? seems unlikely both sticks are bad.

Anything more i can do? since memory is cheap would you all suggest grabbing a one gig stick just to check things out? I dont have another MB or CPU or memory to swap things out and check things, if I could just get to a post I could then troubleshoot any problems. Experts out there please help

 

[COLGeek]

Sure, try different memory and try again.