Hi everybody,

I started to build a computer from barebone parts. After I put everything together and turned the switch, all the fans worked, and I noticed the HDD and CD LEDs went on and off like normal. But there's no video output signal, or bios beep at all. Other than the moderate fan noice, I didn't notice any noice from any components.

Here's a list of all the things I have in there,

mobo: mach speed p4msd 800 2d
cpu: intel core duo 3.0ghz, 775
psu: ultra 400w
ram: kingston ddr2 1gb 240pin 667mhz bus

What could be the problem? Should I replace the mobo or the cpu?
One thing though, the motherboard supports up to 533mhz ram, and the one I had was 667, could that've been the problem?

Thanks much for any help!

One is supposed to bench test prior to installing in a case with minimal components:

MoBo
Cpu & Fan
1 stick mem
Video card
PSU

did you do this? you may have shorted something !!

Could be a short circuit. I had a computer that behaved like this ever time you moved it from one side of the desk to the other. The case was too flexible and it flexed the motherboard causing things to work lose.

Make sure everything is firmly seated, PCI card, memory and power plug into the motherboard.

Faster memory shouldn't be a problem, it should just revert down to a slower speed the motherboard can handle. That is providing you have the FSB configured correctly.

Stuart

Hi Orbital,

Thanks for the quick response!

I did the minimum test after finding out it wasn't booting(probably not a good idea), and I got the same symptom.

Every fan (cpu, case, case front, video car fan) spinns when I turn it on. So you think it's more like the cpu that's gone bad?

Thanks Stuart for the response,

I think we are on some thing here. The aluminum IS quite flexible. And in order to mount the huge heat sink I had to push pretty hard to get the screws in place.

Will try your suggestion later and hopefully won't have to spend another hundred bucks for another cpu...:)

I would suggest checking with the MBoard maker site to see if they have a memory compatibility chart. PSU could be suspect.

"I did the minimum test after finding out it wasn't booting(probably not a good idea), and I got the same symptom"

The "minimum test" is called a bench test for a reason...it's done on the bench BEFORE the board is installed in the case. This is done to assure that the board, CPU & RAM all work together. There's no point installing a board in a case if it doesn't work. But if it works outside the case, then doesn't work once installed in the case, the problem is *usually* a short.

Look here: http://www.machspeed.com/tech/intel...

Check that the clear CMOS jumper is positioned over pins 1 & 2.

Thanks guys,

Will keep ya'll posted on the process.

Will try the jumper setting later. That sounds very much like it.

Just an adjunct to the clear CMOS jumper. You might want to clear the CMOS with the computer off and unplugged from the wall, then set to the run position as I indicated above. If you do POST athe first thing to do is to enter the BIOS screens and setup things properly.

And you may want to pull the motherboard and make sure all your standoffs line up. Sometimes one of them can be one hole over and cause you these kind of problems.

Larry

Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness