Pentium 4 build won't turn on

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j0ndafr3ak

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Feb 11, 2012
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Ok, I'm assembling a Pentium 4 build. The main components are:

M/B: Asrock G41M-VS3 R2.0
CPU: Pentium 4 HT 651 3.4GHz 65nm 2MB L2 cache
RAM: 1x G.Skill TridentX 2400MHZ 4GB stick
PSU: be quiet! System Power 7 500W
Heatsink: Cooler Master Vortex 211Q

ram and psu definitely work. the motherboard is new, bought it on Amazon. the cpu is used, but the seller told me it was tested and worked properly (he had a bunch of old p4 all tested)

the motherboard turns on, cpu and chassis fans start. the cpu fan spins for a few seconds, stops then gets spinning again, constantly this time. Nothing appears on screen though. No signal from the vga port. the cable isn't damaged.

One doubt I have is the the ram compatibility. the trident x have a spd of 1333mhz, but the manual says that 1333 mhz ram sticks are compatible only with 1333mhz cpus (45nm core 2 duo's and quad's in other words) might this be the problem? Modern motherboards don't have this kind of compatibility issues
 
Solution
jbrown156
ok so do you have a spare stiks of ram you could try installing to see if the ram is the issue or is there another pc u could test the ram on to see if it is faulty ?
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i have that motherboard and it works just fine with the 1333mhz ram .. try removing the cmos battery from the motherboard for a brief second then place it back then try to reboot once more .. most likely the cpu is the problem as the ram should cause no problem as i have used the speed on my pc before
 
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i see. the mobo manual says that with cpus with 800mhz of fsb, only 800mhz memory is supported. I thought the speed would get automatically adjusted.

one more thing, did you move the fsb1 jumper to use 1333mhz ram? it says that when using both 1333mhz cpus and ram it is better to move the jumper to the other pins..

i'll try your solution. I don't have a mobo speaker (didnt come with mobo package) so i can't determine the error code, but i also tried to remove the ram and boot without the memory installed and the behavior was exactly the same
 
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oh sorry i forgot to mention that .. you have to short pin the motherboard in order for 1333mhz cpu to work .. you should use the manual and find the instruction on how to do the short pin and then try remove the cmos and put it back and you shoul be ok from there forward
 
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it only gets hot wen your using onboard graphics .. try getting a dedicated gpu anything cheap will do as long as you dont plan on gaming....
 
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didnt work.. also tried to short circuit the cmos jumper.. still no vga output
 
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no, i don't plan on gaming on this build... and yes, i connected the vga cable to the onboard vga port
 
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Ok did it! it was a ram compatibility issue. I took the mobo to the shop and tried with another ram stick. I installed a Transcend ram stick (bought new) 2gb 1600mhz running @ 800mhz. I'm posting from the new build.

I must say that this P4 isn't doing that bad! Actually it looks like an a4 7300 lol.. had one and it wasn't that much faster lol
 
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ok thats great .. and the p4 is only doing great because you are yet to do anything other than regular desktop stuff on it .. if you even try to run a hd movie you will be so disgusted that you want to throw up .. its great new that you got the issue fixed though .. i suggest however you get a core 2 duo for your board off ebay and drop it in .. they are literally going for less than $10 us or abt 5 in uk pound
 
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Yeah, I know. a 1.6ghz core 2 duo (e4200) is faster than the fastest P4's and even than the fastest pentium d's...

Of course, I've noticed its speed is overall slower than what I'm used to (or is it Internet Explorer 8 that sucks? - waiting for updates to finish installing). I'll stick to it until I finish my other build.

thanks for the help!
 
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aint that the truth .. i too own one of that e7200 c2d .. coincidentally i had that same exact board and processor as you in my 775 build .. if you ever plan to play any games that cpu will do great trust me on that ,, but not on very cpu intensive games though ..
 
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I once owned an e7300 and it did great! I'm sure this one will do, too. I don't plan on gaming with this build. I no longer have time for it.... and for programming and other stuff, i don't need costy buids. these cpus are still up for the challenge... i paid only 11 euros for it, shipping included
 
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thats great .. i paid only $8 in the US for mine .. they are lovely cpu's ... i still have mine now and its still does really well even though most people on the forum will be quick to say its a weak and outdated cpu that cant do a thing ... i hope you enjoy your build very much 😀
 
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pentium g's are already super cheap i see some ivy bridge versions and even the haswell version for $50 .. they arent that expensive really..
 
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No, they aren't, of course, I was just kidding.

I've installed an amd hd6570 on the pentium 4 build (still have to receive the c2d), and video playback got much better while using the flash player plugin on youtube. Apparently it uses the gpu to play videos. On the contrary, youtube's html5 video player must use the cpu to render videos, because I can't watch videos at 720p. with the flash video player the p4 struggles a bit in the first few seconds (maybe a buffer bandwidth limitation) then it gets smooth.
 
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Ok, bought another 2gb ram stick and the system doesn't see it. I installed it both as a stand alone stick and in dual channel mode with the working one... it doesn't work.

the working ram stick is Transcend KJ1600KLN-2 while the new one is a Kingston KVR16N11S6/2 both can run at 1600mhz cl11. (the Transcend one no longer available for purchase in shops - shoud have looked online)

Couldn't the cpu be the problem here? I mean, with a pentium 4 the ram sticks must run at 800mhz, might it be that not all sticks can run at that speed? or is it just a mobo incompatibility issue? I still have to get the c2d (bought it from Germany) do i have to wait for the cpu, or is it useless, since it's pretty sure it won't work?
 
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the problem here is the two seperate ram manufacturers ,, its advised that you never mix rams bcz they could have different timing or voltage and that could cause the system to either not boot or even pick up the newer stick in the first place .. for example you should not mix kingston ram with a corsair rams as they might be incompatible with each other .. you should always use rams with same memory sizes (eg.1gb with 1gb or 2gb with 2gb)and same manufacturers and they should have the same timings and voltage or else you run the risk of having instability or nonfunctionality altogether .. hope that helped
 
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timings, voltage and capacity are the same but I'll keep in mind what you advised, though the new ram stick doesn't work even when it's the only one installed... and i dont know why... was it so difficult to find compatible ram?

i've read somewhere the 2 sticks should be compatible, but i guess i'll wait for the c2d or just buy another Transcend ram stick... thanks again
 
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