Newbie needs help....desperately!!

[rocky123]

This is my first post as I can normally fix my own problems but this time I am truly stumped. This is/was my system setup:

Scorpio 430W Mid ATX Case
Athlon XP 2800+ Socket A Barton
ECS N2U400-A Mobo
Corsair 1GB PC3200 400MHz
ATI 9800 Pro AGP AIW
Maxtor 250g HDD
NEC Burner ND-2500A
Liteon CD Burner
Generic DVD ROM

Wanted to switch out the PSU because I was running the one that came with the case and didn't think it was powerful enough(only 13a on the 12v rail I believe). Read a bunch of posts and went with the 450W Xclio from Newegg. Put on my anti-static strap and switched PSUs and now my PC doesn't work at all. All lights, drives and fans(including the one that is part of the heatsink)power up fine but I get absolutely nothing from the CPU. No post, beep nothing. Figured I'd work backwards piece by piece so I removed everything but the PSU and the CPU/heatsink and still get nothing. Any ideas...please...anyone?? Thanks

 

[crimson117]

Did you remember to plug in both the big power connector and the small (4-pin) power connector to the motherboard?

 

[rocky123]

Yes I connected the 4 pin on the left of the CPU and the 20 pin on the right. I then switched back to the old PSU and it wouldn't work either.

 

[IamElectro]

Try reseating the CPU, Ram and all the cards. It may not hurt to check and make sure the MB did not get moved a bit and is now grounding itself out. Also check to make sure that the power and reset connections are firmly seated.

 

[rocky123]

Even though I really didn't want to since CPUs are so touchy, yesterday I removed the CPU, cleaned it off, reapplied Arctic Alumina, reseated the CPU and heatsink and tried again and still got nothing. BTW, I really appreciate you guys trying to help me out.

 

[Harvey]

Just speculating, but did you check the connection from the front panel start button to the motherboard? It's just a logic connection where the momentary contact from the switch starts the ATX power supply.

If the switch fails, you can test it by shorting across the two pins of that connector.

 

[rocky123]

I'm pretty sure it's working as all my drives power up fine when I hit the power button as do all the lights and fans, including the fan on the video card.

 

[Harvey]

Oops. Sorry. I misread your first post about the lights and drives coming up.

As IamElectro suggested, try reseating your cards, especially your vid card. Reseating your RAM wouldn't hurt, either.

If that doesn't do it, try connecting your old PS to the system to eliminate problems with the CPU or motherboard, and, if possible, try your new PS with another board. That should identify where the problem is.

 

[rocky123]

I mentioned in a previous post that I did in fact try my old PSU and it was the same thing. All lights, fans, etc powered up fine but no response from the CPU which was not the case 10 minutes earlier when the old PSU started everything, including the CPU, fine. I will be bringing my new PSU to work and trying it on a PC here. The only thing is that neither PSU will get the CPU going now so I am more inclined to believe that the PSUs aren't the problem. Is it possible for a PSU to crap out the CPU or mobo even though it is properly connected? I am now scared to use my new PSU if/when I get a new CPU setup.

 

[brikis98]

i had an experience recently where my system would power up, show the BIOS logo, and then stop - it wouldn't get to post or anything. oddly enough, the problem was most likely related to the front panel connectors.

so, just in case make sure:

- any USB connectors are unplugged (if they short, it could cause issues)
- the power/reset button from the front panel are properly plugged in

you might also want to try to remove the mobo from the tower, put it on anti-static bag, set it on a non-conductive surface, and try again.

even if fans and such start powering up, a short somewhere in the system could cause unpredictable behavior.

if that doesn't help, your best bet would be to test that CPU in a different (known to be working system) to see if it's dead.

 

[Fern]

Well, didn't see this asked b4....

Did you plug in the PSU molex/power connector to the 9800 pro?

EDIT: Just because a PSU (or name any part) is new doesn't mean it works. I once got a new PSU with about half the molex connectors not working. Man, that was a tough one to diagnose. Finally found it when I tested all the molex connectors one-by-one by attaching a small case fan and booting up.

Fern

 

[rocky123]

I did connect the molex to the video card and got nothing. Just to eliminate faulty hardware one by one, I removed everything but the PSU and the CPU and still could get absolutely nothing, not even a post beep. Way to busy to mess with it yesterday but I will take it all apart today and bring the PSU to work to see if it shorts out a PC here. I want to thank everyone for trying to help me and I'm still going to plug away and try to fix it but I think I may have lost the CPU. One thing that may have had something to do with it is that I have a large Zalmaan fan/heatsink on top of the CPU and I kind of had to force the PSU past the fan in order to get it out. I wonder if I may have wrecked the CPU by doing that.

 

[Fern]

Occured to me it's odd that you aren't getting ANY beeps?

In your OP you mention trying to boot with only CPU & PSU, should've gotten beeps. At least for no ram, if not lack of gfx card.

If your CPU is faulty or not installed you should also get a beep (one long beep and then shutdown on my NF2 mobo)?

Check your mobo manual (or a site) for info on the beeps you s/b getting.

If my mobo doesn't give correct diagnostic beep I worry that it may be faulty.

I'm worried about the cpu socket from the mobo side. Don't know if a hard bump to the HSF would be more likely to damage the CPU (which s/b locked into the socket pretty well) or the mobo around the base of the socket?

Good Luck with it.

Fern

 

[rocky123]

Well here is an update(well more info rather than an update I guess). I took apart the CPU/Heatsink to remove the PSU so I could test it at work and now I'm pretty sure that the problem is the CPU. When I removed the heatsink I looked at the CPU and the Arctic Alumina on the CPU was still very white and sticky. Normally I don't think this would be the case. Since I left the PC on for an hour or so even though it didn't work I would think that the Arctic Alumina would have heated up by now and would no longer look like I just put it on. So either the mobo is bad(which I doubt since other things powered through it work fine) or the CPU is bad. This is just a guess on my part so if anyone sees a flaw in my logic please let me know.

 

[rocky123]

Anyone have any comments on my last statement concerning the Arctic Alumina still being sticky??

 

[DaSaint]

well since the CPU is pulled try firing the system it should beep yha or so i think, if not pull ram and try it again see if it beeps, if not pull vid card and see if it beeps... also u might try and Reset your CMOS w/jumper or whatever it takes... sometimes i have found that a bios can have a glitch and when its cleared the fubar goes away... worth a shot...