Mythruna

So I finally got my motherboard, installed the RAM, put in the vid card, and hooked plugged in all of the cords for the power supply and motherboard, and it doesn't turn on. Only one power supply cord is unplugged, and I can't seem to find where it goes. I would upload a pic if imgur was working.

I assume you put the CPU on it and stuff, too?

So many things could be wrong... for example, you could have installed the case cables wrong on the motherboard pin header which prevents the computer from starting up, etc..

Building a computer is a little tricky and even harder to debug over the internet.   You'd have to provide us with a lot more details (and a picture or two would help, also) in order to properly debug this issue.

Well, my old motherboard didn't have a CPU on it... Idk why, I looked at it when I got the new motherboard, and I was wondering why. Imgur is apparently over capacity right now or else I would upload my pictures.

It most certainly did have a CPU on it.  Maybe it wasn't removeable (totally strange).

Either way, you will 10000% need a CPU on a new motherboard for your computer to work.

In fact, you should have a big empty white-ish socket or something look like something with a bunch of pins should be plugged into it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cpu+socket&client=firefox-a&hs=QWy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6fz2UafzL8iorAHekIDIAw&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1308&bih=859

And since I just imagined about 1000 horror stories starting with "I didn't know for sure so I just pushed..."

If you happen to find it then please be very very gentle with your CPU.  If you have it oriented in the slot properly then it should just drop right in and if it doesn't then don't force it.  Unless you don't mind buying a new one.

Socket 775 should look something like this. https://www.google.com/search?q=socket+775&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=ng33UZGYCJfH4AP4iIHgBw&biw=1920&bih=991&sei=oQ33UZfBLsPj4AOWvYGoCA

If imgur is over capacity then use tinypic.com.

AH-HA! The old cpu was underneath the fan!

Does the computer work now?

Yes... that fan is what cools the CPU and keeps it from burning up.

Now that I think about it, you're also going to need some thermal grease.

Yeah, I almost mentioned that, too.

It's watching someone else do this from scratch that makes me realize all of the lore I've accumulated over the years that I don't even think about anymore.  I think I even have three or four little packets of thermal grease up on my shelf that I saved from some CPU box "just in case".

I really hope this story has a happy ending.

i was told when it come to thermal grease that little is more dont put a big blob on put a little one on and then wipe of a flat head screw driver with rubbing alchol and gentale spreed it around for a even coat. thermal grease is just to fill the microsopice holes in the cpu becouse air isnt very conductive.

Just put thermal paste in the center of the processor and without spreading it around, put the heatsink on top of it; just make sure you are putting enough thermal paste on to cover the whole CPU. I don't know who told you to use a flathead screwdriver, that method to me spells disaster for air pockets within the paste itself.
Here's a nice video made by Tek Syndicate that explains thermal coverage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNgFNH7zhQ

...also, putting a screw driver right on a CPU sort of gives me the willies.  They are often magnetic even if only a little bit... and while the cover of the CPU should provide protection from shock and stuff, having something metal scraping over it makes me uneasy.

Most of the time I just let the heat sink squeeze it around from a dollup in the center as Sean suggests.  If I ever felt the need to spread it then I just used a piece of cardboard to smear a thick layer in the middle and make it flat... but you do risk air pockets that way.

Ok, so I am confused. There are 3 cords from the power supply unplugged and I need them plugged in, but can't find their ports. My old power supply had the same amount of plug-ins, so I'm guessing I have the ports but cant find them. I need help for that, and I would upload a pic but I cannot off of my phone. One of the cords that I cannot plugin is hanging inbetween two other cords, and it has 4 circles inside its plug. The second one is a really small cord that looks like its a 4 pin. The last one is a pretty slim and wide cord. I cannot find where they go. Any help?

Edit: The computer from this point turns on, but turns off after like, 30> seconds/after I turn on the monitor.
Also, I still have my old CPU fan, so I guess I wont be needing thermal grease because I'll put the fan on the new motherboard over the CPU.

The thermal grease is for making sure that the fan has nice heat-transfer contact with the CPU.

The power cables: it depends on what the cables are.  It is quite common to have many extra four-wire or sata power cables that are simply left over for devices that aren't installed.  Also, depending on the power supply you may have cables that would plug into other types of motherboard.

...you should worry more about if you have unused power sockets on the mother board, I think.

If you turn on the monitor and then turn on the computer... does the computer beep or make any noises?  Does the monitor show anything?

The first is probably a 4 pin power connector, the second is probably a fan connector although I haven't seen one built into a power supply before, and the third is probably a molex connector. They all don't need to be plugged in for the system to work. In my server PC I have too many different connectors not being used for me to count so consider yourself lucky if you only have 3 :P.

Wait are you saying you are running the computer without a CPU cooler?? and yes, you do need thermal paste unless I am misinterpreting what you are saying and the thermal paste has been pre-applied and unused.

So I just hooked up the old fan after touching the CPU after the pc turned off, because the CPU was VERY hot. Now the pc is still on and hasn't turned off on its own. The monitor shows nothing, and I plugged in the vga to both the video card and the orignal port.

oh jeez that was a very very very very very very very very bad idea to run your computer without a CPU cooler.

Well, that's why the pc shuts down when it overheats.
Now what must I do?

Considering you didn't burn out your processor you should buy or borrow some thermal paste, put the thermal paste on the CPU and then mount the CPU cooler.

What must I do to get the computer running in the first place? I'll worry about thermal paste once I can get the computer up and running.

the thermal grease as i was told by a man that build repairs and other things to computer i trust him on using a screwdrive to spreed it around

CPU-AMD A4-5300 Trinity 3.4GHz (3.6GHz Turbo)                                 (63.24)
GPU-SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3                                (74.99)
-GPU2-MSI N640-4GD3                                                      (99.99)
Motherboard-BIOSTAR A55ML2 FM2 AMD Motherboard                            (49.48)
-Case-GIGABYTE GZ-P5 Plus GZ-P5HB5C Black ABS / 0.5 mm SECC ATX Mid Tower          (28.12)
-Case2-Xion xon-18                                                         (30.08)
Ram-Pareema 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 MHZ                  (46.35)
Hard drive-TOSHIBA DT01ACA050 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"       (55.80)
PSU- Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS  80 PLUS (CX600)                    (57.99)
                                                             Case 1 gpu 1-375.90
                                                             Case 1 gpu 2-400.90
                                                             Case 2 gpu 1-377.86
                                                             Case 2 gpu 2-402.86

Thermal paste is an essential part to getting a computer ip and running.

So, if I apply thermal grease onto the CPU, it'll boot up? It looks like there was some residue on the top of the metal on the CPU, I'm assuming that's dried up thermal grease? The old set up worked, so I really don't know what to think, but thermal grease is cheap, so I'll look into that.

no u want new thermal grease wipe the old stuff off with rubbing alchol

I'm going to get a packet Arctic Silver Ceramique for 8$, and clean off the old stuff. Simple enough... ;)

It may not get your computer to run but you don't want to keep trying until your cooling situation is dealt with.

If your video card is plugged in and your VGA cable runs from the port on the card to your monitor... and the monitor is on... and nothing shows up on the screen during boot then something is very wrong.  You should at least get the startup screen for the BIOS.

And even if the display isn't working, you should at least hear a beep.

Pretty soon it may be time to find a local expert to help you over the last hurdles.

I know a local expert who fixed my computer awhile ago... I'll just have him put together the computer because I really don't know what I'm doing at this point. But, why is the computers current state 'very wrong'?

Because something should show up on the screen when you turn it on.  So something is wrong.  Something is not plugged in or not plugged in right, etc..  Could be a bunch of things.

what i would do is start over take everything off and this time i would make a video or take some pic

Stickman, It's not unusual to have leftover power cables in your PC. As long as all of your components are plugged in, all is well. I will repeat what the other guys are saying though, don't run your PC without a cooler on it, you're lucky you didn't burn it out.

As for your VGA issues, try removing the graphics card and using the onboard graphics. If this works, it could be a VGA error or a driver issue, and you will need to reinstall your graphic card drivers.

PS, to all other hardware nuts out there: I know that's a very old fix for older PC's, but sometimes, the old ways are the best ways ;)

No matter drivers or anything else... if the monitor doesn't at least show a blinking cursor or BIOS splash screen then something is not setup right on the motherboard.

Make sure to plug the screen into the graphics card and not the motherboard if it has onboard graphics.

I've tried to use the onboard video card, same result. I don't know what could be wrong, but I won't have to find out. I'm most likely going to have the cmputer put together by a local expert. I just don't know why I dont hear a beep or get a boot-up screen.

I'm sure your local expert will be able to tell you what the problem was.

Sounds great - I'll be on vacation in Wisconsin for a week so I won't be online, and he is in the family and also livea up there, so it'll work out. I'll have to leave a note in the computer that the motherboard won't be able to screw in.

Eek, it looks like that ASRock motherboard doesn't work or I somehow short circuited the motherboard... It never moved around when it was on, but I was told that I probably short circuited it somehow because I couldn't screw it in...but if it short-circuited and the fans all work... then what does that mean?
Above all else, I think I can get a free motherboard from a friend.

Ugh... sounds bad.  As a computer guy, I'm sorry for your loss. :)

Always screw the motherboard in.  If you can't... spend the $25 for a new case that will take it.  It's totally worth the piece of mind.

It could just have been a bad motherboard (it does happen) but you'll never know now, really.

Whn I got the computer back, it had one screw in and the video card kept the motherboard in place... so I wont need a new case. Most likely a motherboard that I can get wont be micro-atx and still will have socket 775 and as most modern motherboards do, it'll support Intel Pentium 4. I don'y know how it can short out in any way because it in no way contacted the bottom of the case because it always hovered above it due to the bulging screw sockets... but I still don't understand how the fans still all work if it short-circuited. There is no way that im getting a new case though. That's going a bit too far with the computer upgrade. The last original pieces would be the hard drive and the CPU. I wouldn't be able to call it my HP Pavilion.

Yes, well... you'll forgive me if I suggest that the last bit is not actually a rational argument. :)  But it is your computer to do with as you like.

Boards can be shorted out a bunch of different ways.  I once dragged a screw driver across the _top_ of a motherboard while it was on and fried the whole I/O section of the board.  The computer worked fine and would even boot up... but the mouse and other external devices were dead.  Only the keyboard worked because it was the old AT style keyboards and on a different part of the MB.

If you can't solidly screw the motherboard in so that it sits flat and doesn't move/flex then you also risk cracking it sometime... or flexing it to the point that other parts/connections break.  Also, if it's sitting on the other empty screw risers then those are usually conductive, too... they can short across links just like anything else.

I guess then from here I will do whatever I can with a new motherboard, carefully install it, then I should be OK as long as I follow a list of precautions. For the sake of novelty, may I get a list of things to know when installing a new motherboard? Would be appreciated.  ;)

If the fans are getting power from the motherboard and they are still spinning then that means the motherboard is still receiving and distributing power. Does the hard drive spin? Are there beep codes?

               When I turn on the computer, I hear noises coming from the area around the hard drive disc, unconfirmed if its the hard drive, other things in the area, or both. The only kind of beeping I can distinguish is some kind if beep/click noise that happens about 4 times, maybe 3. I can't tell if the hard drive spins, but I hear noise from it

I think it is safe to say the hard drives are spinning. Now is the beeping noise coming from the small internal speaker that is connected to the motherboard or is it coming from somewhere else?

I believe that it is coming from the hard drive area, not directly on the motherboard if i'm correct. The beeping produces a tone that isn't like most beeps though.

Odd, I'm at a loss then.

I could be wrong, maybe its coming from the motherboard, idk. I should be fine though, im probably going to be getting a motherboard from a friend.

i have alot to but it nice if ur going to upgrade later

just finished my build like 3 -4 days ago and it only toke me like a 2 hour time period everything work nice other than im using a 8 pin connector where a 4 pin is supossed to go should have looked at the power supply more owww well and as for haveing one screw in the mother board is very bad. If there was a different motherboard in there the the old stand off from the old motherboard may have touched on of those pointing thing on the back of the motherboard a fried it. so make sure any unused stand off are take out before installing the new motherboard otherwise u might fry the newwer one. and if u cant spare the 20 buck for a new case then u have more than just computer problem.

ill try to get my computer video up tommorow

Glad you got your new system up and running.  Congrats.

ya im happy with it , i can get about 200 fps in minecraft wowow

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/940974-162sonic-ethers-unbelievable-shaders-and-glsl-shaders-mod/ (http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/940974-162sonic-ethers-unbelievable-shaders-and-glsl-shaders-mod/)

yestorday i saw my first 300 fps and over damn