Sigh, new build help please...

[Augray37]

So...my PC won't boot . I've tried everything. brand new build. here's the relevant specs...

asrock z75 pro 3 LGA 1155
i7-3770
Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb (not plugged in yet)
Samsung 128GB 830 Series SSD (plugged in)
GTX 670 (which is proven to be in working condition in another build)
Windows 7 Premium
Corsair TX650


Here's the symptoms...

Set up PC. plugged everything in. all the leds turn on, fans spin on everything (cpu, gpu, chassis).

Put in Windows CD, plug in VGA cable to onboard IGP, PC posts to BIOS, I set to boot to optical drive and it boots just fine to CD, proceed to install Windows, everything is cool, I install drivers and antivirus and download Nvidia drivers for GPU.

Turn off computer. Insert GPU. Plug in GPU. Turn on computer....no signal. no signal with VGA cable to IGP, no signal with HDMI cable to GPU, won't even post.

Remove GPU.

PC will now post with VGA through IGP (without the GPU plugged in), but will not boot (no matter what i set it to boot to). "starting windows" pops up for a second and then the screen flashes and then there's a black screen...and then "no signal" pops up. When I set it to boot to CD, and try to install windows again, it says "cannot install to this type of partition" or something along those lines.


Steps taken to remedy situation....

tried a different and proven to work PSU
tried a different and proven to work GPU
tried plugging GPU(s) into other PCI-E slot
tried different RAM and RAM slots.
tried unplugging and replugging everything back in
tried resetting BIOS

nothing is working. any ideas? anyone?

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Do you have another cpu available? Another storage device? Does it boot to the BIOS? if so then it might be hard drive failure.

 

[NV88]

That doesn't make sense. You downloaded the Nvidia drivers with the iGPU, then you put in the GPU? What? Boot to BIOS, set the graphics boot up option to PEG, disable the inbuilt GPU, save, reboot, then immediately hold down the power button. Put in the 670 and boot.

That fix it?

 

[Augray37]

That doesn't make sense. You downloaded the Nvidia drivers with the iGPU, then you put in the GPU? What? Boot to BIOS, set the graphics boot up option to PEG, disable the inbuilt GPU, save, reboot, then immediately hold down the power button. Put in the 670 and boot.

That fix it?

um.....why wouldn't i download the drivers first?

so i tried just unplugging the SSD and installing the OS on the HDD thinking that it might be a bad SSD, but it did the exact same thing as before....AFTER i downloaded the drivers from the CD. i think that maybe one of the drivers is preventing me from booting, but i don't know why or which one. but now that each drive has been partitioned it prevents me from reinstalling windows apparently, or going back to a restore point, or anything. so i'm going to see if i can boot into the PC with ubuntu and delete it all and start over again. idk. i've never had this much trouble before.....

 

[Augray37]

wow...finally got it working, and i don't even know what it was that was the problem. i tried booting from ubuntu...and it refused! never had that one before lol. i was so pissed at that PC. i tried using different RAM and i tried hooking the HDD to another working PC so that I would have an OS to get into the drive and wipe it and that of course made the working PC not boot lol (and yes, i set the correct boot settings). i was eventually able to format and delete the existing partitions on the drive with the install disc, even though it wouldn't let me for the longest time, and then reinstalled windows on the HDD. the only thing i did different this time was that i updated the BIOS and installed the newest LAN driver from the website via USB. wow, what a battle...

 

[Augray37]

Best answer selected by Augray37.