BleepingComputer.com: New build won't power up

Ok guys, so I just built a computer with specs as follows:

HAF922 Case

OCZ OCZ600MXSP 600W SLI/CrossFire Active Power Supply

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB HDD

This was my first build, but I read up a lot on building and was very careful. When the moment of truth came I pushed the power button and all of the phase LEDs (indicate how loaded the CPU is) on the motherboard flashed for a fraction of a second and then nothing happened. I borrowed a friends PSU tester and tested the power supply which seemed to check out fine. I then RMA'd the motherboard with newegg and received a replacement. Put everything back together and when I push the button this time only one phase LED flashes briefly, the rear fan spins a millimeter, and still nothing happens. No beeps, no lights, nothing. I'm at a loss for what to do next. This is really discouraging for a first build, I'd appreciate any help you guys can offer. Thanks!

This post has been edited by jcastell: 13 August 2009 - 05:47 PM

Take it apart, put it back together carefully...ensuring all connections are proper.

You can test at various steps along the way, if you like.

Before you do that, you may want to try reseating the RAM and graphics card.

Louis

Tried that, still not working. Without the graphics card or RAM it still has the same problem so I guess we can rule those out.

Another note, the standoff threads in the case must be a bit off or the I/O shield isn't allowing the motherboard to be perfectly centered, part of the top right standoff is blocked by the motherboard and I can't get the screw into the standoff. I had the same problem with the first motherboard. I put the screw in a little sideways to make sure it was grounded correctly and the problem still persists, but now I have the screw out. Is this a problem? Could it be causing the failure?

This post has been edited by jcastell: 13 August 2009 - 07:38 PM

Have you tried shorting across the power switch to see if that will turn it on? If not, sure sounds like the mobo is grounding out somewhere.

You are at the point now where you should pull the motherboard out of the case, lay it on a piece of cardboard with only CPU/memory/videocard/PSU attached and see if that boots. If it boots, attach hard drive, then optical drives to verify everything works. On completely new builds this is SOP with me, I even install the OS with the parts outside the case.

Chances are good you are doing something wrong if the motherboard doesnt line up with the standoffs. Fix your I/O shield problem. Verify the standoffs are all in the correct position (no extras either).

It almost sounds like you may have your power button and reset button (if the case has one) crossed. Check your front header connections, check them again, then check them on more time to be sure.

Moby Purple, on Aug 13 2009, 08:59 PM, said:

I'm not sure what you mean by that, could you elaborate please?

dpunisher, on Aug 13 2009, 09:10 PM, said:

The i/o shield is in correctly and I'm using the correct standoffs, I'm sure of that. But I'll try the cardboard thing tomorrow when I get off work and let you know how it goes. Thanks, I appreciate it.

Sorry to double post but I actually tried it on the cardboard tonight, with just the CPU, memory, and PSU, and it worked (Thanks a lot for that tip dpunisher). So now what? I'm assuming this means that my motherboard is somehow shorting out inside the case. I triple checked and I'm using the correct standoffs so I think it must be that problem with the motherboard not lining up properly.

Edit:
So I put it back in the case and it all worked fine until I plugged the 4 pin fan cable into the SYS_FAN2 header on the mobo. Apparently that's what is causing the problem. Should I just leave that unplugged or will I risk overheating? The fans still power up and run fine but I guess this means the motherboard can't control them. To clarify, the rear fan is plugged into the PWR/SYS_FAN1 header and I have the top and front fans hooked up to the power supply and SYS_FAN2.

This post has been edited by jcastell: 13 August 2009 - 09:40 PM

Since no one else answered, if I understand you, when you plugged a fan into SYS_FAN2, it shut down the motherboard. Did you try one of the other fans in that connector to make sure it wasn't the fan causing the problem?

You can't have too many fans. There is nothing wrong with plugging the fan(s) directly into the PS, but like you said, the mobo cannot control them. One of my fans didn't have enough cord to reach the mobo plugin, so I hooked it to the PS, but I bought a 3-speed fan so I could manually regulate the speed on it.

What would concern me the most is why the SYS_FAN2 plugin is knocking off the mobo. You said this is your second mobo, so it is odd that this would occur again. I would be concerned about a future problem with the mobo, if not now, maybe down the road after the warranty has expired. I think I would contact Gigabyte about the board, and at least see what they have to say.