I got some computer parts as gifts!

This.

Edit: I have to admit that I initially thought it was ludicrous that you put a 20-pin power cable into a 24-pin power adapter, especially since most motherboards require at least a 4-pin power connector in addition to the 24-pin power connector. After doing some research I now see how you came to that reasoning.

(I still think you're crazy for expecting it to work though... :p)
 
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Odale said:
This.

Edit: I have to admit that I initially thought it was ludicrous that you put a 20-pin power cable into a 24-pin power adapter, especially since most motherboards require at least a 4-pin power connector in addition to the 24-pin power connector. After doing some research I now see how you came to that reasoning.

(I still think you're crazy for expecting it to work though... :p)
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It didn't post with a 24-pin connector PSU, either, BUT the 24-pin connector PSU I tested with was only a 280W unit.

I'm sincerely hoping that a new 600W power supply will get the machine to boot. If it does, I'll be throwing a party online to celebrate. :)
 
Did you plug in the 4-pin power connector... (behind the LPT port and the PS2 ports)? What brand of PSU was the 400w? Some of the older ones don't have those.
 
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I will say I think my 750 watt is overkill unless you plan on going multiple video cards (which I had considered but abandoned). Actually when I said 600 that was the power supply I felt I personally should have bought instead but it's still probably more than you will need. From googling hard drives take 7-10 watts and fans 3-4 watts per. Looking up usb devices...

A usb 2.0 device can consume a maximum of 2.5 watts.
A usb 3.0 device can consume a maximum of 4.5 watts.

Also there was a mention of the 3.0 specs getting changed to allow a whopping maximum of 100 watts. I don't know if that means a change in power supplies is coming after all. Regardless I assume you have 2.0 on your mother board.

Also video card power consumption seems to vary greatly so if you replace that down the road you could have a power supply issue. This was a colorful graph I found. To lazy to read all of what the guy says though :p .

400 still sounds too close to your calculated need but perhaps 600 is a tiny bit overkill after all. My whole idea is just get over what you need by a fair amount in quality and power and don't just "edge" by. When a part could fry everything I'm not going to skimp.
 
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Odale said:
Did you plug in the 4-pin power connector... (behind the LPT port and the PS2 ports)?
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Yep.

Update: I bought a 450W Antec power supply from Staples for $50 plus tax today, brought it home, hooked it up, and...same results.

:(

I called ASUS to troubleshoot the issue, but they went straight to working up a RMA for the mainboard (which I didn't expect). Apparently the mainboard is still under warranty.

The bad news is that I have to pay shipping, the RMA process takes 10 business days and that doesn't count transit time, and I am, by nature, impatient. :)

The good news is that it looks like I'm getting a new mainboard!

I then called Intel support at 7:05 p.m. Central, five minutes after they closed for the weekend. They open again Monday morning.

I'll probably wait until I can talk with Intel support to see if the E5200 is still under warranty. If it's not, I may still RMA the mainboard, even though it's a gamble. (The mainboard doesn't do me much good without a processor.)

Stay tuned to the continuing saga of Tek trying to get a desktop computer (other than an ancient PC running a 1GHz Athlon, of course) up and running!
 
So almost every time I plugged my new PSU into my UPS, the UPS beeped and the "On Battery" indicator lit up. I don't have much evidence to back up my theory, but I'm starting to wonder if my UPS has fried two mainboards in the last week.
 
I even went so far as to breadboard the mainboard, processor, heatsink/fan, and power supply to rule out the case as a culprit. Still no POST.

Then I took extreme measures and pulled a 17" CRT monitor from the garage and hooked it up, thinking maybe my HDTV didn't support the resolution the onboard video was sending. Still no POST.

I've pulled the CMOS battery and set the jumper to clear the BIOS settings. I'll let the board sit overnight then test again in the morning. But I'm not holding my breath.

I'm starting to think that God's plans for me don't involve playing Guild Wars 2--and I'm not saying that in a "woe is me" kind of way, but rather submitting to His plan if that's what He's decided for me. At some point, I started feeling like I'm just kicking against a wall.
 
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Wait I've figured it out, I know what it is, Tek is the machine plugged into the wall? Hey don't knock it I'm just as helpful as Microsoft Tech support. :p
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
Wait I've figured it out, I know what it is, Tek is the machine plugged into the wall? Hey don't knock it I'm just as helpful as Microsoft Tech support. :p
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/me throws things

EDIT: This message was posted on a machine running an Athlon 1GHz processor, 512MB DDR1 RAM, and an ATI Radeon 9600 (pulled from my now-deceased desktop; it replaced a GeForce 3 TI 200).

/flex
 
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So, good news. Really, really weird good news.

I figured out what was preventing the computer from booting.

It wasn't the mainboard.

It wasn't the processor.

It wasn't the RAM.

It probably wasn't even the power supply, though it was time to chuck my PSU if the multimeter readings were assumed to be accurate.

So what was the single item that had me spending hours testing, reading countless forum posts, and (figuratively) tearing my hair out?

It was the backplate for the heatsink.

Yes, that's right, the backplate for the heatsink was preventing the computer from booting. I know it sounds crazy--I couldn't believe it at first myself--but I tested, re-tested, and re-re-tested to confirm.

A few pages back, I mentioned that I was trying to pin down which heatsink/fan to purchase from Newegg. I finally decided on the MASSCOOL 8W553B1M3 90mm Ball CPU Cooler, in part because I wouldn't have to deal with those infernal Intel push pins. (Those pins are the bane of nearly every system builder's existence.) The heatsink/fan was super-easy to install and the fit was perfect, so I didn't think of it again, even while suspecting several other components, until today.

That's when--after I had already packed up the new 450W PSU I bought to return it after church tomorrow--I thought I'd remove the heatsink, put a dab of thermal paste on the CPU, and boot the system for about 10 seconds to see if the CPU heats up. (I was trying to gather data to decide whether the CPU might still be good or not.)

So, yes, I broke the cardinal rule of system building: Never, ever, ever boot the system without the heatsink attached to the CPU. This is dark arts kind of stuff here.

But imagine my surprise when, after pulling the heatsink/fan and heatsink backplate, connecting the power cable to the power supply, and shorting the power button jumpers with a screwdriver (yes, I actually did that), a few seconds passed and I heard the BWONG of a CRT monitor turning on.

Pretty awesome moment, I have to say.

So I shut the system down for fear of frying the CPU, reattached the heatsink backplate, and booted the system again. Nada.

Removed the heatsink backplate. Booted just fine.

Reattached heatsink backplate. No boot.

I then placed the heatsink/fan on top of the CPU and turned the system on. And it booted.

So it's definitely the heatsink backplate.

Given the bizarre results of testing, I can't help but think of Sherlock Holmes: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

So my plan now is to buy a 600W power supply and new heatsink/fan--one WITHOUT a backplate--from Newegg and see if I can tap some secret well of patience while I wait for the items to ship and arrive.
 
had to catch up on the posts and sorry I couldn't get back to you. i'm glad its working out so far... computers are a funny thing and sometimes trial and error are all you can work on.
 
Tek7 said:
...and shorting the power button jumpers with a screwdriver (yes, I actually did that)...
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Ahem.

Tek7 said:
So my plan now is to buy a 600W power supply and new heatsink/fan--one WITHOUT a backplate--from Newegg and see if I can tap some secret well of patience while I wait for the items to ship and arrive.
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Did you not have the stock heatsink that comes with the processor? Well I guess you have to wait for a power supply anyway.
 
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My power was off for 2 days, my internet longer, I come back and find that Tek is making dark pacts with computer components to solve his computer woes. Glad you finally found the problem.
 
Well, I thought I found the problem.

When I hooked up the new heatsink, I encountered the same issue: No POST.

When I fully install the heatsink, the system wouldn't boot.

When I remove one of the four push pins (the one nearest the bottom front side of the case), the system will boot.

If I decrease the pressure on that point by pushing the heatsink slightly away from the processor, the system will boot. When I let go, the system produces garbled text on the "Windows didn't boot properly last time" screen. I push the heatsink slightly, everything goes back to normal.

For testing purposes, I took my old heatsink (which I haven't yet returned to Newegg), placed a fair amount of pressure on the CPU, and recreated the issue.

So when there's sufficient pressure on the CPU to properly hold the heatsink in place, the system won't boot.

/smh

This has to be the most bizarre series of computer issues ever.

I contacted ASUS tonight (before I pinpointed the pressure cause/effect), they recommended an RMA, I told them I already had an RMA number, I asked if they would be willing to cross-ship (i.e. send me a new mainboard without me having to ship mine then wait for them to receive and process it), they said yes but I'd have to wait until Tuesday to set it up.

These new symptoms have me wondering if the processor has gone bad, too. It's very difficult to tell and it may be the paranoia speaking, but it looks like one pin is darker than the others.

If the processor is toast, then I sincerely hope it's still under warranty. If it's not, well, then I'll probably be eating the cost of shipping to return 2 heatsinks and 1 power supply to Newegg and still be without a media center PC.

But hey, on the off chance: Anyone have a spare Intel socket 775 processor laying around, just in case? :)
 
turn_key said:
sorry your having issues, if i knew the stuff was dead in the box i wouldn't have sent it.
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Oh, I know. :) Stuff happens, parts break, and that's when it's nice to have solid product support. ASUS has been very helpful, even going so far as to offer a final courtesy RMA since the mainboard is out of warranty. The excellent support so far will definitely influence my future hardware purchasing decisions.

turn_key said:
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294966995+4294939951

if it's the proc I can grab anyone of these, take your pick. in a horrific twist of fate microcenter is on the way to work and i have a nasty habit of spending lots of free time there and lots of expensive money to go along with it... ;)
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Well, the good news is that the evidence suggests that the processor is fine. I meant to post this update last Friday, but it completely slipped my mind:

I was able to borrow two socket 775 processors on Friday during work hours (yay for working in IT), then hurried home to test the two CPUs in my suspected bad mainboard. I installed the first test CPU (a Intel E2180), applied some thermal grease, attached the heatsink, and secured the heatsink to the mainboard. I powered the system on and...nada. No POST. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to see a computer NOT boot up in my life.

For the sake of thoroughness, I uninstalled the heatsink, rested it on top of the CPU, then booted the system again. That's when an error screen (posted as an image attachment) popped up, with a "Bad BIOS checksum" error and bizarre graphic artifacts.

Then I installed the second test CPU (a Pentium 4 3.4GHz), applied some thermal grease, set the heatsink on top of the CPU (but didn't attach it to the mainboard), and the system booted to the same error and same weird video glitches.

So, yeeeah, I think the mainboard is bad. :)

ASUS support said they would contact me today or tomorrow to let me know if they have the same model of mainboard available as a replacement. If they do, they'll ship one out then I'll ship back the bad one after I receive the new or refurbished mainboard. If they don't have the same board in stock, then I have to send mine in so they can repair it.

I should know this evening or tomorrow evening if they have a board in stock or not. Obviously, it will take much less time for me to get this system up and running if they DO have another P5KPL-CM in stock, so I'm hoping they still have one available.
 
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turn_key said:
i've always tried to by asus products for the same reasons. let me know if i can help.
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I think I'm good to go from this point forward, but I'll continue the saga of building this new-to-me system as the situation develops. :)
 
It's 8 p.m. Central and still no e-mail from ASUS. I'll probably call here in a few minutes to ask for an update on the RMA.
 
So, all those nice things I said about ASUS? Well, I'm not quite ready to take them back yet, but consider them on hold.

When I called in this evening, I was told that the request for cross-ship RMA was denied because the mainboard had been sent in before.

What's worse is that there was no record of anyone authorizing a grace period on the warranty which expired in April 2012, which is frustrating because that's what was previously promised. In fact, I approved the deletion of the first RMA I received because and ONLY because they offered to request a cross-ship RMA on my behalf. I was told that if they had a replacement board in stock, then they'd ship it to me; if they didn't have a board in stock, I would have to ship my faulty mainboard back for repair.

Fortunately, I still have the original RMA e-mail and the request (but not the approval) for a cross-ship RMA was included in the case notes. I also have the names of the techs who handled the case, so I'll know who to ask for.

Blar. I just want this all to be over and finish building this system.
 
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