System worked until I plugged in video card

Kevin computer

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Oct 31, 2011
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Hello world,

I have been building my own system. After reading the forums there doesn't seem to be a problem exactly like mine. Please understand I am a 21 year old who knows software and programs, but that my knowledge of bulding computers&troubleshooting has just come from reading "how-to" guides, fidgeting with these parts for a week, reading forums, and talking to 2 knowledgable friends.

For starters, here are the parts I have purchased:

Case: Antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Motherboard: BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138319

Power Supply: Rosewill Green Series RG700-S12 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182191

CD drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Hard drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

CPU: Intel i5-2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GPU: EVGA Superclocked GTX 560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130610

RAM: G.Skill Sniper 2x4GB DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

Monitor: Dell SP2309W 23inch
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=gen&sku=320-7641

My first run through of the system worked well. I had every component seated and plugged in correctly, with the exception of the gpu. The graphics card was in the box. I figured: "because the gpu usually requires the most drivers and installations, i will sort it out after i get my system working first."

I fire up the system for the first time. I get the bios screen, read around for a while, then shut the computer off. Great. Next, i insert my dvd image of windows 7 64bit while the computer is off. I turn on the computer, it recognizes the windows 7 installation disk. Great. I install windows 7 perfectly. I get to the home screen and begin installing the drivers and utilities included with the motherboard from the cd included with the motherboard. This all works flawlessly.

With the system working well as expected, I finish installing some motherboard and bios drivers/updates, and shut the computer off. I wait a few minutes and sever the power supply from the wall. I thought now would be an appropriate time to put the gpu in the motherboard. I push the gpu in to the main pci-e x16 slot (with much more force than i thought would be necessary, the motherboard bending), plug in the two 6pin cables from the power supply to give my gpu power. I plug these in snugly, plug in the power supply to the wall completely, wait, and then fire up my system again.

Failure. On my motherboard there are 4 LEDs in the upper right next to the HDMI output and also 2 LEDs on the bottom left just below the SATA 2.0 plugs. These LEDs flash for a second and then go blank. Also, the two case fans, power supply fan, and the cpu fan spin for about 2 seconds, and then stop spinning. All fans stop working at the same time. I do not receive any image on the monitor. The monitor acts as if i did not power up the computer at all.

The only positive sign I have is the top LED on the front of the Antec 300 case. According to the case manual ( http://www.antec.com/pdf/manuals/300_EN%20manual.pdf ), this LED is the "power LEDs". This LED is on as if the system were working perfectly.

My initial thought: "un-do the change that made the system not work." I unplug the gpu from the computer completely and place it on my wooden kitchen table. I push power. Nothing happens (except the top LED, which is bright).

I remove power and disconnect the SATA cable from the CD drive (it is now just a piece of metal sitting there), and try the system. Nothing (except the top LED, which is bright).

I remove power and disconnect the SATA cable from the hard drive (now reduced to an object sitting there doing nothing), and try the system. Nothing (except the top LED, which is bright).

I take out both sticks of RAM, and power up, nothing. (I was told the computer will go in to the bios without RAM, correct?) Side note for RAM installation: as a first time builder, I did not expect to have to push the RAM as hard as I did to get it to "click" in the slots. I seriously thought I might be breaking it (and flexing the motherboard the in process).

My computer now consists of a power supply connected to a motherboard+cpu with no memory in it. The case fans are disconnected. I unmount the motherboard from the case completely and place it on the kitchen table. I disconnect all cables from the motherboard. I effectively start over.
As it turns out, subsequent constructions of a computer take about 1/5 the amount of time as the first build. Armed with knowledge and experience I start from the beginning again, being extra careful and meticulous.
The computer doesn't start, with many combinations of components tried. Throughout all this, however, the top LED stays bright.

With all components (except gpu) in place and the system off, I try to reset the cmos. According to my trusty motherboard manual ( http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=546 ) taking a cap off of pins 1&2 of a three pin setup and placing it on pins 2&3 should do the trick. I place the cap on 2&3, wait 10 seconds, and place the cap back on pins 1&2. Push the power button, no go.

I'm out of ideas. I've tried all logic and manual suggestions that I can think of. I can continually get the "power LEDs" on the front of the case to light up bright blue, yet none of the LEDs on the motherboard even blink and the fans won't spin. The power LEDs go from the LED itself to the post on the bottom of the motherboard to the right of the front USB connections. I've even tried messing around with the power switch/reset switch/power LEDs positioning among that 16 pin bank to no avail.

I am gracious for any help!
Thank you.
 
Locate a rocker-style switch at the back of your PC (if applicable), and switch it from the on position (I) to the off position (O). Or disconnect the power cord from power supply. Press the power button to release all power. Then reset the bios without the video card.

Go in the bios with integrated video and set the video card to PCI-Express. Save and exit.
 

Kevin computer

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Thank you, do you mean the on/of switch on the back of the power supply? If I turn it off how will I be able to get in to the bios? Or do you mean some sort of switch on the motherboard?
 

rozz

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Sep 18, 2010
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Evo never read the entire OP and didnt realized you already "reset the BIOS".. (or in your case you reset CMOS).

Here is what you need to try and do. We call it bread-boarding. You said you had a wooden table. Pull the motherboard out of the case and place it on wooden table (or breadboard like we do it). This way, you are eliminating all short circuits that could be caused by your motherboard and case. Test it out on the table with just the motherboard, CPU and RAM (and PSU of course).

Also, do you have a motherboard speaker? Do you hear any beaes coming from it?
 
Yes, unplug the power cable. Or turn off the switch at the back of the power supply. Push the power button with no power attached. Reset the bios without the video card, then reattach the power cable, power on, go in the bios.

It is essential that you remove the power before resetting the bios.
The bios may not reset with the power attached.
I say this by experience.
 
G

Guest

Guest
i don't know exactly but as u say u pressed hard bending the motherboard , possibly u damaged it .
if u can get another one for sometime try it , if it also doesn't works , try change the psu , 700w is good enough for i5-2500k and 560 ti more than enough . if u can calculate the watts used in idle mode and then see if yr psu is that much
also i don't think rosewell is that good psu . i don't own one but read on some forums
if removing the ram doesn't help , and only CPU + mobo is connected
only 2 parts could be damaged :-
1.mobo(most probably
2.psu
get a cheap compatible motherboard or call an engineer .
hope i help .
Maybe the psu overloaded and fused. Maybe some drivers or so didnt support
 

Kevin computer

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I have never heard any beeps coming from the motherboard. Not when it worked and not when it failed to work. I don't know if the motherboard has speakers because it doesn't specify in the manual or the product description online.
 

vx53c

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It is possible your psu overloaded your motherboard or your ram. All signs point towards there. Bad placement of your gpu will result in 4 beeps from your speaker with the first being a little longer than the other 3. This is not the case.
Bad ram placement either gives you no post (no beep) or one some occasions your mobo to power on including the fans and then off again. Long beeping may also occur for about 3 seconds. This is not the case.
Hdds when burnt out will allow post. Not the case.
By the method of elimination we have reached (most probably) the conclusion that your psu overloaded your motherboard (if the psu was dead nothing would be happening coz it would have blown it's fuse)
As the other posters mentioned it COULD be a short circuiting caused by a metal shaving from your case. If you have a second computer try out the gfx card there.

Also smell the board around the NB. Burnt smell or a fat transistor or capacitor will indicate the assumptions.

Lastly check near the cpu power (4 or 8 pin 12v rail usually yellow and black). It is an off chance but, who knows.

Any chance you forced the 24 pin plug the other way around? That is instant death for your board. Did you ground yourself each time before touching your hardware?
 

vx53c

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I find the bend of the motherboard insufficient to damage it. uATX boards stand on 6 screws and plugging the 24pin socket, the ram and sata/ide cables ALWAYS bends it.
Resistance of sockets for the first plugging on ram/gpu is absolutely normal.

I think your friend rosewill gave you a good insight why it is better to spend a lil more on a psu. After all it is the lifeblood of your computer ;)
 

Kevin computer

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Ok thank you, I think I have learned a good lesson in quality especially because I only paid $50 for 700W. In hindsight that it seems like that amount of wattage should cost far more than $50. And i'll definitely go modular next time too.

If we seem to agree that it is either the motherboard of the power supply, I wonder why the little blue LED on the front of my Antec 300 still shines hopefully. It is connected to a pin at the bottom of the motherboard. So if it lights up then that means the motherboard MUST be receiving power, correct? Which means that the power supply is outputting enough power at least to power a LED.

Although maybe the power supply is not outputting enough power to start the computer, only enough to power a LED. Would this explain the LED turning on but the computer not turing on?

 

rozz

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something is shorting out the motherboard and we gotta see if it'd damaged or still being shorted. To narrow down if it's them mobo or PSU, i recommend pulling the mobo out like i said before and try turning it on on a wooden table.

Also, do you have a PC speaker you can use to hear beep codes?
 
G

Guest

Guest

yup probably psu . either the mobo is damaged or some other part is taking more power .
Did u oc it ?
 

vx53c

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This:

speaker.JPG


Goes:

fpanel.jpg


If you don't have one of those speakers then your case surely does (4 pin plug but in fact only 2 are used)
Place on the "orange" area as you see in the picture.
 

rozz

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Not quite those speakers..

Motherboards usually come with a small speak that plugs into the motherboard (near where the front panel LEDs and power button plug into) that gives a "beep" when the computer is booting normally. Some cases may have them built in. These beeps can give audio diagnotics to some issues of the motherboard. For instance, if you have no RAM, the speaker will admit 3 beeps and one long beep repeatedly.

but again, I stress trying the breadboard technique to solve this issue.
 
G

Guest

Guest

yup probably psu . either the mobo is damaged or some other part is taking more power .
Did u oc it ?
 

Kevin - computer

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I tried the motherboard while it was on a wooden bread cutting board. The motherboard was connected to the power supply via the 20+4 pin main power connector and the two 4pin cpu connectors. The motherboard was connected to the case via the hdd LED (+) and (-) pins, 2 pin power switch, 2 pin reset switch, and the 2 pin power LED.

When I turned on the computer, all that happened was the power LED shone bright. No LEDs from the motherboard came on for the slightest second. The power supply fan did not spin. The cpu fan did not spin. It should be noted that when i hold down the power switch on the case for 5 seconds, the power LED turns off. This tells me the power switch is "working", correct? This is akin to force shutting down the computer, which explains why the power LED can be turned off this way.

I have acquired a multimeter, not sure how to use it. It seems like I need to measure the amount of power coming out of the power supply?

This leads me to think that the power supply is outputting power through the motherboard, but only enough to power the "power on" LED and NOT enough power to start the computer.

After a thorough search, I think there is no speaker on the motherboard ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138319 ) to hear beeps. There is not one in the box of accessories that came with the motherboard, either.
 

rozz

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Well crap..

Do you have another PSU you can use? Maybe run to Best Buy or Staples and pick up one of their Antec 600W PSU and test it out real quick.. If it works with that one, then you just have a bad PSU which should still be under warranty. if not, bad mobo.