NEW BUILD, and NOTHING HAPPENS. Please HELP. Ceiling lights dim though...

[ValarMorghulis]

Hello guys. So I built my first pc today. I made sure everything was plugged in and I'm pretty sure my wiring is solid. BUT, when I click to power on, NOTHING happens, EXCEPT the ceiling lights in my room dim for half a second. What do you guys make of that? I'm very knew to building PC's and I really need your input! My parts are listed below:

Gigabyte Z87 1150 motherboard
intel i5 4570 lga 1150 CPU
Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4gb RAM
Cooler master evo plus cpu cooler
Corsair 430w Modular PSU
NZXT source 410 Elite black Case
Seagate 3.5inch 1tb hybrid HDD

and I don't have a graphics card yet.

 

[rgd1101]

always? try a different power outlet

 

[bambiboom]

ValarMorghulis,

The first component I would suspect is the power supply. If you've checked all the connections, and there are still no fans running, no beeping, no signs of activity of any kind and the lights in the room dim, my recommendations would be to check the specification for the power supply and put a DVM on the main power supply outputs and see if there any current. Corsair is a good maker, but occasionally a new power supply doesn't supply power!

If you have another power supply that you know to be working, you might be able to set it next to the new system > that is without installing it, plug it in, and see if it powers up.

Good luck!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[ValarMorghulis]

always? try a different power outlet

ValarMorghulis,

The first component I would suspect is the power supply. If you've checked all the connections, and there are still no fans running, no beeping, no signs of activity of any kind and the lights in the room dim, my recommendations would be to check the specification for the power supply and put a DVM on the main power supply outputs and see if there any current. Corsair is a good maker, but occasionally a new power supply doesn't supply power!

If you have another power supply that you know to be working, you might be able to set it next to the new system > that is without installing it, plug it in, and see if it powers up.

Good luck!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Thanks. Theres actually something in my motherboard's instruction booklet that I found last night. Its about the 12v cpu socket and it says that for expansion requirements, Gigabyte recommends at least a 500w PSU be used or else the system will be unstable or not even boot up at all. My guess is my motherboard might be preventing it from booting due to the wattage only being 430w. What do you think? is this most likely the problem? I'll get a new PSU later today, 500+ watts but...idk..hopefully only this is the issue..

 

[bambiboom]

""Thanks. Theres actually something in my motherboard's instruction booklet that I found last night. Its about the 12v cpu socket and it says that for expansion requirements, Gigabyte recommends at least a 500w PSU be used or else the system will be unstable or not even boot up at all. My guess is my motherboard might be preventing it from booting due to the wattage only being 430w. What do you think? is this most likely the problem? I'll get a new PSU later today, 500+ watts but...idk..hopefully only this is the issue..""


ValarMorghulis,

I suppose it's possible that a under-sized power supply could cause problems, but I think even a drastically limited one would still show some sign of life. Also, you mentioned that the graphics card- one of the biggest draws- was not yet added, so I still tend towards the idea that the power supply is not just not making electrons.

Did you make any tests on the power supply?

CPU's and GPU's are often more power efficient today- the i5-4570 has a typical usage of 84W, but a GTX 760 uses 170W, so a 500 or 550W PSU is reasonable. I have an HP z420 with a 130W Xeon E5 and 142W Quadro, and which can use 64GB of RAM, and it has a 600W power supply.

Let us know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[ValarMorghulis]

""Thanks. Theres actually something in my motherboard's instruction booklet that I found last night. Its about the 12v cpu socket and it says that for expansion requirements, Gigabyte recommends at least a 500w PSU be used or else the system will be unstable or not even boot up at all. My guess is my motherboard might be preventing it from booting due to the wattage only being 430w. What do you think? is this most likely the problem? I'll get a new PSU later today, 500+ watts but...idk..hopefully only this is the issue..""


ValarMorghulis,

I suppose it's possible that a under-sized power supply could cause problems, but I think even a drastically limited one would still show some sign of life. Also, you mentioned that the graphics card- one of the biggest draws- was not yet added, so I still tend towards the idea that the power supply is not just not making electrons.

Did you make any tests on the power supply?

CPU's and GPU's are often more power efficient today- the i5-4570 has a typical usage of 84W, but a GTX 760 uses 170W, so a 500 or 550W PSU is reasonable. I have an HP z420 with a 130W Xeon E5 and 142W Quadro, and which can use 64GB of RAM, and it has a 600W power supply.

Let us know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Well I got a new PSU. An Antec 520w Modular. It does the exact same thing. I press the power button, OR touch the two pins with a screwdriver and my ceiling lights quickly flicker and thats it. Nothing else. I'm thinking it might be a short. There was an additional motherboard stand-off hole in the motherboard but my case didn't label it as an ATX spot. I put it in either way. Do think maybe that has anything to do with it? Later Today I'll take it all apart and rewire it all from my desk and try to boot it with the mobo pins. I really don't want a dead motherboard...

 

[bambiboom]

ValarMorghulis,

Sorry to read that you're still having the troubles.

Yes, given the recent history, there's a strong possibility that the motherboard is defective. I think of Gigabyte as having good performance and quality but a quick look at user comments on Gigabyte Z87 LGA1150 boards on Newegg and Amazon showed is a reasonable proportion of DOA boards. Of course, user comments are much more likely written by those unhappy with a product than those satisfied, but with boards with a small number of comments, there were a couple of Gigabyte boards with 20% bottom ratings.

Faults in the motherboard power chain could be revealed if there are test points and you can measure the current at those points - I suspect the fault is very high up in the chain > there may be failed/shorted capacitors or fault in the connectors such that no power is going onbaprd. Are there any instructions in the motherboard manual that describe testing for faults? Does Gigabyte have telephone or chat help?

You mention an additional standoff, and this makes me think of problem associated with a motherboard that is accidentally grounded to the case, and there are examples where standoffs do this with a result similar to yours. The conventional way to eliminate this possibility is to mount everything outside the chassis on a test platform or some have make-shift wood frames- just create circumstances in which all the components are not touching any metal, are near enough to each other, and secure from moving around. There have to be YouTube videos on doing this properly. If you try this, be methodical and watch- and listen carefully. If the system works- fantastic, but there is the chance that you could set this up and there will be a little popping and smoke, which means that something was shorted earlier.

My guess at this point is that you probably will be trying another motherboard.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[ValarMorghulis]

ValarMorghulis,

Sorry to read that you're still having the troubles.

Yes, given the recent history, there's a strong possibility that the motherboard is defective. I think of Gigabyte as having good performance and quality but a quick look at user comments on Gigabyte Z87 LGA1150 boards on Newegg and Amazon showed is a reasonable proportion of DOA boards. Of course, user comments are much more likely written by those unhappy with a product than those satisfied, but with boards with a small number of comments, there were a couple of Gigabyte boards with 20% bottom ratings.

Faults in the motherboard power chain could be revealed if there are test points and you can measure the current at those points - I suspect the fault is very high up in the chain > there may be failed/shorted capacitors or fault in the connectors such that no power is going onbaprd. Are there any instructions in the motherboard manual that describe testing for faults? Does Gigabyte have telephone or chat help?

You mention an additional standoff, and this makes me think of problem associated with a motherboard that is accidentally grounded to the case, and there are examples where standoffs do this with a result similar to yours. The conventional way to eliminate this possibility is to mount everything outside the chassis on a test platform or some have make-shift wood frames- just create circumstances in which all the components are not touching any metal, are near enough to each other, and secure from moving around. There have to be YouTube videos on doing this properly. If you try this, be methodical and watch- and listen carefully. If the system works- fantastic, but there is the chance that you could set this up and there will be a little popping and smoke, which means that something was shorted earlier.

My guess at this point is that you probably will be trying another motherboard.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Well, I did the breadboard test. I have the motherboard sitting on its anti-static sleeve on top of its cardboard box with the cpu hooked up along with a cooler master hyper evo 212 plus cpu cooler and one stick of 4gb ram. I plugged in the 12v and 24pin plugs from the psu and hooked the psu up to an outlet and proceeded to make contact with the two pins in order to power on. I get absolutely nothing. Its a dead mother board right? I should have researched it some more before ordering it...not so great on newegg you're right. Awesome first build memories!

 

[shortstuff_mt]

It sounds like you've done quite a bit of troubleshooting, but this checklist may still come in handy.