New build, one beep, no display

[CoryT]

I am somewhat loathe to post ANOTHER one of these posts here, but I can't find an answer to my problem, so here goes.

New build (my first)

mobo - Asus M4A89GTD PRO
proc - AMD X955
ram - G Skill F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL installed into A2/B2 due to clearance with cooler
hdd - samsung HD154UI & Crucial 128GB SSD
800 watt OCZ Power supply
Coolmaster heat sink
27.5" hans g lcd monitor
5870's in crossfire

Upon power up, everything powers up, get one beep from external speaker, but nothing on the monitor. I have tried using the built in DVI and vga outputs, and dvi/hdmi outputs on both video cards. Monitor just flashes on and says no input then enters standby mode. Monitor works with VGA input from my laptop. hard drive whirrs and clicks as it should upon power up and HDD light flashes. What am I doing wrong?

I have gone through the troubleshooting guide, made it to pulling the motherboard out and setting it up externally (fitting everything into the case was a pain and thats my last resort) According my my manual, it says one beep is sucessfull startup and I should get a display...

 

[ko888]

Initial troubleshooting should be done with no discrete graphics cards plugged into the motherboard. When you tried using the built in DVI and D-SUB VGA outputs were there any discrete graphics cards plugged into the motherboard?

 

[CoryT]

ahh, didn't know that, yes I had both 5870's plugged in at the time, will try without them and post my results, thanks!

Edit: same results as before with no video cards..

 

[mattmock]

Make sure you have all the necessary power cables plugged into your MB. On my first build I left the 4 pin socket near the CPU empty since the manual had it labeled as optional, but without it my processor wasn't getting enough power and the system wouldn't boot past the initial beep and fan spin-up.

 

[Neog2]

ahh, didn't know that, yes I had both 5870's plugged in at the time, will try without them and post my results, thanks!

Edit: same results as before with no video cards..

Pretty simple most likely some type of memory issue.
Whether its your chips, or the controller im willing to bet that's where the problem is located.

If possible use the default cpu cooler if you still have it, or received it with your purchase. I say use the default cooler because you said you had some clearance issues and couldn't use some dimms on your board. This way if you use the default cooler you shouldn't have an issue while troubleshooting.

First off your motherboard has on board video so remove all add in cards and devices except processor and ram. Trust me by far the easiest way to trouble shoot is to eliminate as many variables as possible. No hard drive, no sound card, no video card, nothing but processor/heatsink, and ram. With one ram stick, processor and plugging into your onboard video you should be able to get to the bios. If you can get to the bios and see it then you obviously have video.

Use ONE stick of ram. Put it into each slot until you get a picture.

(Obviously make sure the machine is off and discharged each time you remove the ram then try another slot then power up.)

If you try all ram slots and still don't get a picture, repeat with your other ram stick and see what happens.

If you get a picture with one of the G. Skill chips and not the other in the same slot then you know for sure one of your chips is bad.

If you do all this and still get no picture at all then two things. You need to find out if your ram actually works so if you have another motherboard, or a friend who can drop it in there board to see that would be great.
If you have another DDR3 chip laying around the house or can get some from somewhere then try that one as well to rule out bad motherboard.

If you do what I said above and you know with 100% certainty that your ram works and you try a different DDR3 that's not the G.Skill then the problem lies with the motherboard.

One last thing before I go. I downloaded asus supported memory for that board, and although they support G. Skill and various models, that particular 4GB x 2 set isn't on the supported list. Now I know that rarely means anything but just in case you didn't know now you know. So be careful with calling asus because they will ask you what type of ram you have and I have had issues in the past with not using vendor approved ram and trying to get a RTM.

 

[beathdoggy]

CoryT -

I had the exact same problem last year with a computer that I built.

My motherboard was shorting out on the case.

All that was needed were spacers, and everything was gravy after that (other than drivers of course)!

 

[CoryT]

I managed to call asus last night (didn't realize they were open late), turns out my default voltage of 1.5 (running at 1.49xxx volts) volts wasn't enough, I could boot with one stick of ram, and upped the voltage to 1.6 volts (recommended for the 2x2GB sticks by asus, yes I noticed that they dont recommend the 2x4GB sticks, found out once they showed up). Checked both sticks in both slots I'm using, Works like a charm now, I got windows 7 installed last night, running off the internal video card, going to install my 5870's tonight and start overclocking! Thanks for the tips, Neog2, you pretty much nailed what the tech support said to me. I appreciate the time you spent to help me!

 

[Neog2]

I managed to call asus last night (didn't realize they were open late), turns out my default voltage of 1.5 (running at 1.49xxx volts) volts wasn't enough, I could boot with one stick of ram, and upped the voltage to 1.6 volts (recommended for the 2x2GB sticks by asus, yes I noticed that they dont recommend the 2x4GB sticks, found out once they showed up). Checked both sticks in both slots I'm using, Works like a charm now, I got windows 7 installed last night, running off the internal video card, going to install my 5870's tonight and start overclocking! Thanks for the tips, Neog2, you pretty much nailed what the tech support said to me. I appreciate the time you spent to help me!

No problem that's an old win 3.1 and win 95 tip. Ram not working right = no video.
Glad to see you got it working.