Just finished build... No video output to monitor... Help!

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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Hi Guys I'm new here and haven't built a computer for over 5 years. I just finished installing all the hardware and connecting everything with power from the PSU. I went ahead and powered the system up and all the fans were working properly and everything looked and sounded good.

I am trying to output to a Dell 24" monitor with a VGA, DVI, and HDMI in. I tried connecting all of these to the motherboard connections and also to the ATI graphics card I installed (has one HDMI and two DVIs). None of the connections appear to be outputting to the monitor as it doesn't detect anything and "enters power save mode". I tried to connect it via HDMI to my Panasonic HDTV and also had no luck.

The only thing I am unsure of is the status beeps as it appears my mother board has the speaker connection but my Raidmax case didn't come with a speaker. So I'm sure where the best place to pick on up is locally, but I'm not sure what that will amount to...

I have everything connected and powered at this point. Are there things that should be disconnected for initial bios setup etc? I am also trying to use a wireless keyboard out of the keyboard/mouse usb connectors on the mobo, don't know if this is a problem...

Any help would be so very much appreciated! Thanks!

I have the following parts all brand new from Newegg...
CASE RAIDMAX|ATX-798WB RT
MB GIGABYTE|GA-880GMA-UD2H R
VGA XFX| HD-583X-ZAFV HD5830 R
PSU ANTEC|TP-650 650W RT
CPU AMD|PH II X4 955 3.2G AM3 RT
CARD READER| RCR-AK-IM5002 RT
MEM 2Gx2|GSKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
HD 1T|WD 7K 64M SATAIII WD1002FAEX
HD 1T|SEAGATE 7K ST31000528AS OEM
WIN HOME PREM 7 64-BIT ENG 1PK DSP
CPU THERMPASTE|AS5-3.5G %
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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1. Did you carefully read the motherboard owners manual?
Yes, and still reading hoping to find something I've missed...

2. Did you plug in the 4/8-pin CPU power connector located near the CPU socket? If the motherboard has 8 pins and your PSU only has 4 pins, you can use the 4-pin connector. The 4-pin connector USUALLY goes on the 4 pins located closest to the CPU. If the motherboard has an 8-pin connector with a cover over 4 pins, you can remove the cover and use an 8-pin plug if your power supply has one. This power connector provides power to the CPU. Your system has no chance of posting without this connector plugged in! Check your motherboard owners manual for more information about the CPU power connector. The CPU power connector is usually referred to as the "12v ATX" connector in the owners manual. This is easily the most common new-builder mistake.

Yes, both the CPU 12V and the Main Power are connect from PSU to motherboard.


3. Did you install the standoffs under the motherboard? Did you place them so they all align with the screw holes in the motherboard, with no extra standoffs touching the board in the wrong place? A standoff installed in the wrong place can cause a short and prevent the system from booting.

Yes, I installed 8 and screwed in all eight into the motherboard.

4. Did you verify that the video card is fully seated? (may require more force than a new builder expects.)

I pushed it into the PCI express slot until it clicked into place, I also made sure the two 6 pin power connectors on the back are connect to the PCI-E on the PSU.

5. Did you attach all the required power connector(s) to the video card? (some need two, some need none, many need one.)

See above, installed the two. The card seems to power up, fan is running.


6. Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM installed? (Try each stick of RAM individually in each RAM slot.) If you can get the system to boot with a single stick of RAM, you should manually set the RAM speed, timings, and voltage to the manufacturers specs in the BIOS before attempting to boot with all sticks of RAM installed. Nearly all motherboards default to the standard RAM voltage (1.8v for DDR2 & 1.5v for DDR3). If your RAM is rated to run at a voltage other than the standard voltage, the motherboard will underclock the RAM for compatibility reasons. If you want the system to be stable and to run the RAM at its rated specs, you should manually set those values in the BIOS. Many boards don't supply the RAM with enough voltage when using "auto" settings causing stability issues.

This is where I have a question... I currently have the two sticks of 2gb a piece installed into the mobo in a dual channel configuration via the DDR3 one and DDR3 three locations as per the MOBOs manual. I don't know if I should remove one... I only get one short beep at start up (system booted up fine?)and still no video out?


7. Did you verify that all memory modules are fully inserted? (may require more force than a new builder expects.) It's a good idea to install the RAM on the motherboard before it's in the case.

Yes they are fully in and locked into place.

8. Did you verify in the owners manual that you're using the correct RAM slots? Many i7 motherboards require RAM to be installed in the slots starting with the one further away from the CPU which is the opposite of many dual channel motherboards.

My manual says to use either slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 (which are like colored, 1 and 3 are blue, etc.) for dual channel configuration. I used 1 and 3.

Here is a picture of the setup:
eaqcfc.jpg


9. Did you remove the plastic guard over the CPU socket? (this actually comes up occasionally.)

Yes.

10. Did you install the CPU correctly? There will be an arrow on the CPU that needs to line up with an arrow on the motherboard CPU socket. Be sure to pay special attention to that section of the manual!

Lined up the arrows, dropped in the AMD Phenom II X4 into the AMD3 slot and it seated in, I then pushed the latch back down I locked it into place.


11. If using an after market CPU cooler, did you get any thermal paste on the motherboard, CPU socket, or CPU pins? Did you use the smallest amount you could? Here's a few links that may help:

I used the stock CPU cooler, removed the stock thermal paste with rubbing alcohol prep wipes, allowed to dry, then applied Arctic Silver 5 to CPU with a business card, I tried to get it thin... It was definitely as thin or thinner than the thermal paste I removed from the stock heatsink before I started. It was even and no areas were uncovered. No paste got on anything but the cpu top.


12. Is the CPU fan plugged in? Some motherboards will not boot without detecting that the CPU fan is plugged in to prevent burning up the CPU.

Yes, the fan is plugged in and it is spinning along with all case fans and the GPU fan.

13. If using a stock cooler, was the thermal material on the base of the cooler free of foreign material, and did you remove any protective covering? If the stock cooler has push-pins, did you ensure that all four pins snapped securely into place? (The easiest way to install the push-pins is outside the case sitting on a non-conductive surface like the motherboard box. Read the instructions! The push-pins have to be turned the OPPOSITE direction as the arrows for installation.) See the link in step 10.

Yes, the cooler was installed properly and the lever pushed all the way down to lock.

14. Are any loose screws laying on the motherboard, or jammed against it? Are there any wires run directly under the motherboard? You should not run wires under the motherboard since the soldered wires on the underside of the motherboard can cut into the insulation on the wires and cause a short. Some cases have space to run wires on the back side of the motherboard tray.

No wire underneath the board and I didn't see any loose screws nor did I drop any during the installation.

15. Did you ensure you discharged all static electricity before touching any of your components? Computer components are very sensitive to static electricity. It takes much less voltage than you can see or feel to damage components. You should implement some best practices to reduce the probability of damaging components. These practices should include either wearing an anti-static wrist strap or always touching a metal part of the case with the power supply installed and plugged in, but NOT turned on. You should avoid building or working on a computer on carpet. Working on a smooth surface is the best if at all possible. You should also keep fluffy the cat, children, and fido away from computer components.

I wore a discharge strap attached to the case the whole time I was touching any parts or the case.

16. Did you install the system speaker (if provided) so you can check beep-codes in the manual? A system speaker is NOT the same as normal speakers that plug into the back of the motherboard. A system speaker plugs into a header on the motherboard that's usually located near the front panel connectors. The system speaker is a critical component when trying to troubleshoot system problems. You are flying blind without a system speaker. If you case or motherboard didn't come with a system speaker you can buy one for cheap here: http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html

I installed a speaker that I had in another computer and it beeped one short beep a few seconds after start up. (MOBO manual stays "system boot successfully"


17. Did you read the instructions in the manual on how to properly connect the front panel plugs? (Power switch, power led, reset switch, HD activity led) Polarity does not matter with the power and reset switches. If power or drive activity LED's do not come on, reverse the connections. For troubleshooting purposes, disconnect the reset switch. If it's shorted, the machine either will not POST at all, or it will endlessly reboot.

I double checked all the connections in the F Panel and all are connect and polarity is correct.

18. Did you turn on the power supply switch located on the back of the PSU? Is the power plug on a switch? If it is, is the switch turned on? Is there a GFI circuit on the plug-in? If there is, make sure it isn't tripped. You should also make sure the power cord isn't causing the problem. Try swapping it for a known good cord if you have one available.

Yes, the power is on, the system boots, all fans run, LEDs are running, just no video out, so I don't know what is going on...

19. Is your CPU supported by the BIOS revision installed on your motherboard? Most motherboards will post a CPU compatibility list on their website.

Yes, MOBO manual says it can support the Phenom II X4 AMD3 chipset and I purchased the CPU, Ram, Mobo together in a combo off of newegg.

20. Have you tried resetting the CMOS? The motherboard manual will have instructions for your particular board.

I haven't tried this yet. Should I do it even if the system is says it has booted correctly?

21. If you have integrated video and a video card, try the integrated video port. Resetting the bios, can make it default back to the onboard video.

With the XFX GPU installed, will it automatically default to the GPU connectors? Should I be trying to connect my monitor cables here? I tried to no avail, but with keep trying if this is the case. I have tried on board VGA, DVI, HDMI, and XFX HDMI and both DVIs.

22. Make certain all cables and components including RAM and expansion cards are tight within their sockets. Here's a thread where that was the cause of the problem.

I am pretty sure all is tight, as all is locked into place. GPU in the PCI Express slot has the latch locking mechanism, and RAM is locked into place.\

Thanks again for any help or advice you guys can offer!
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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Ok, once again, sorry for the clutter...
I went ahead and remove one stick of ram, and viola! It booted up and I'm loading the OS, now I just have to figure out how to run both sticks of RAM, ha ha.

Thanks again for the link... It fixed my problem.

Cheers!
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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one more question if you don't mind...

My Computer doesn't show my Seagate hard drive... It shows my WD as the C: drive where my OS is loaded but doesn't show the other drive. I verified with the bios that it is installed and I ran diskmangement and it shows Drive 0 as unallocated... But doesn't give me any options to activate it or anything.

Any ideas on what I could try?

Thanks for all the help!
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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Yeah, I don't know where to select the drive to format it is the problem, unless the bios has this capability? The ram seems to be running fine now, after I installed all the bios drivers via Windows after bootup. But I don't know where to "find" the drive to format it... Disk Management, just has the drive listed and grayed out and the only options I have are Convert to dynamic disk, convert to GPT disk, properties and help. Oh and I can creat new "simple volume", is this what you are referring to pat?

Thanks again for the help guys, really appreciate it!
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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Ok, I went ahead and tried the simple volume. It did the trick!

Thanks! Last of all where would be the best place to read up on tweaking my system for performance given my Motherboard? (GIGABYTE|GA-880GMA-UD2H R )

Thanks!
 

teedoff00

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Mar 16, 2011
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Yes, I am using the stock CPU cooler, which has the smaller black fan on top of it. I removed the stock thermal compound from the heat sink the processor came with and applied the AS5 to the processor and installed the heat sink...