Unable to turn on computer: won't go into POST, no fans, nothing.

[kroepoeksklok]

Hello there,

I've recently bought new hardware for a computer I want to build, and after putting everything together, the machine simply won't turn on.

Specs:
- ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0
- AMD FX-8350
- Club3D Radeon HD 7870 Royalking
- 1x8GB Kingston HyperX, DDR3-1600 (KHX1600c10d3b1/8g) (http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX1600C10D3b1_8G.pdf)
- TP-Link TL-WN851ND Wireless N PCI Adapter
- Cooler Master B500 (500W)

After assembling the machine and trying to turn it on, only a single thing happened: the red LED near the CPU lit up for a split second. After that, pressing the power button did nothing until I disconnected the power and reconnected it.
I figured it would work, because if I calculated it right, the above should not need much more than 450W, tops, and that's only when the graphics card is at its maximum.

Figuring a power issue, I removed parts from the machine while trying after removing a component. Again, same symptoms. Pressing the MemOK! button didn't do anything, either.

In the end, I had a system that only has the following: CPU, the fan + heatsink that came with the CPU, 1 DIMM, CPU fan connected and the PSU fan connected on one of the chassis fans (I couldn't find a system fan connector), and connected the regular 24pins ATX (the big, 2x12 one) and the 12V ATX (the smaller, 2x4 one close to the socket).

Other things I've tried, in the above, minimal configuration:
- Placing the DIMM in another slot
- Clearing the RAM by changing the jumper location
- Removing the battery
- A different, older 420W PSU

I cut the Power OK wire on the 420W PSU to see if there's a error somewhere, but nothing happened at all. The second time I tried that, I blew up the 420W PSU.
To ensure I didn't blow up the motherboard, I reconnected the old PSU and, low and behold! It ran! I turned off the machine, installed the graphics card, plugged in the monitor and booted it up again. It ran, again! But I forgot additional power. Oops. So, once more, I turned the machine off, hooked up the extra power (the 2x3 pins that go into the side of the graphics card) and tried to turn the machine on again. To no avail: same symptoms again. The LED would lit up briefly and nothing happened. A fan would turn, a little bit, before stopping.

So, in an attempt to rule out the chassis, I removed the motherboard from the chassis, placed it on the package it came it, hooked it up to the PSU, placed a screwdriver between the power pins. Again, absolutely nothing happened.

To be honest, I'm at my wits end. I have no idea what might be wrong, or how I can troubleshoot this any further. I don't have a multimeter, so I can't measure the PSU.

Funny anecdote: I first had the FX-9350 on the GA-78LMT-USB3 motherboard, but this showed the exact same symptoms! After reading up on the FX-9350 and wanting a better motherboard, I decided to trade return them for the FX-8350 and the EVO R2.0.

If you have any more ideas on how to troubleshoot this, then I'm all ears ... er, eyes.

Thanks!

 

[Quaddro]

try to build you system outside the case..
maybe electricity short happens

 

[kroepoeksklok]

try to build you system outside the case..
maybe electricity short happens

I already tried that:

So, in an attempt to rule out the chassis, I removed the motherboard from the chassis, placed it on the package it came it [sic], hooked it up to the PSU, placed a screwdriver between the power pins. Again, absolutely nothing happened.

Unless you meant the full system, because I didn't go beyond the bare essentials (CPU, heatsink, motherboard and memory), figuring that if that doesn't work, adding more stuff won't work, either.

 

[alexoiu]

Can you borrow a power supply and test?

 

[kroepoeksklok]

Can you borrow a power supply and test?

Just to make sure we're clear: any power supply, or one with more wattage than 500W? Because I have a 350W power supply lying around, but nothing above 500W.

 

[alexoiu]

The 350W does not help. The old one I suspect it is defective (at least the PCIe rail). Is it under warranty?

 

[kroepoeksklok]

The 350W does not help. The old one I suspect it is defective (at least the PCIe rail). Is it under warranty?

The one (420W) I blew up worked perfectly, until I decided to cut the Power OK (I think it was called that) cable to see what happened. It's over 5 years old and worked like a charm last week on my old PC, but no, it's not under warranty.
The 500W one is brand new.

 

[alexoiu]

Then try RMA-ing the 500 W one.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Work your way through this troubleshooting checklist step by step. It should help you figure out what's causing the problem. It sounds like a PSU problem. The specs on your PSU aren't great. It only puts out 24 amps on one 12v rail and 21 amps on the other. The requirements for your GPU are a 500w PSU, but yours is cutting it pretty close.

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4642/1/three-500-watt-psus-tested-antec-vp550f-cooler-master-b500-and-nexus-nx-5000-v1-introduction

 

[kroepoeksklok]

Work your way through this troubleshooting checklist step by step. It should help you figure out what's causing the problem. It sounds like a PSU problem. The specs on your PSU aren't great. It only puts out 24 amps on one 12v rail and 21 amps on the other. The requirements for your GPU are a 500w PSU, but yours is cutting it pretty close.

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4642/1/three-500-watt-psus-tested-antec-vp550f-cooler-master-b500-and-nexus-nx-5000-v1-introduction

Thank you for the list. I totally missed it, apparently. Here's the result of the list:

1. Did you carefully read the motherboard owners manual? Yes
2. Did you plug in the 4/8-pin CPU power connector located near the CPU socket? Yes
3. Did you install the standoffs under the mother board? Yes
3a. 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? Yes
4. Did you verify that the video card is fully seated? Yes
5. Did you attach the required power connector(s) to the video card? Yes, both of them
6. Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM installed? Yes, I only have one
7. Did you verify that all memory modules are fully inserted? Yes
8. Did you verify in the owners manual that you're using the correct RAM slots? Yes
9. Did you remove the plastic guard over the CPU socket? There was no plastic guard
10. Did you install the CPU correctly? Yes, it slid right in
11. Are there any bent pins? No
12. If using an after market CPU cooler, did you get any thermal paste on the motherboard, CPU socket, or CPU pins? I used the stock cooler which had some thermal paste/grease, but applied thermal paste on the CPU, anyway. It wasn't the smallest amount and some excess stuff leaked out onto the socket (but not in the holes where the pins go) and board (but only near the edges of the sockt). Took it out and cleaned it very carefully with isopropyl alcohol, let it dry for 30+ minutes before reassembling

13. Is the CPU fan plugged in? Yes
14. 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? Yes, and yes.
15. Are any loose screws laying on the motherboard, or jammed against it? Are there any wires run directly under the motherboard? No, no, no
16. Did you ensure you discharged all static electricity before touching any of your components? No. Bad me, I assembled it inside the case, without even the PSU present
17. Did you install the system speaker (if provided) so you can check beep-codes in the manual? Yes, but no sounds came out
18. Did you read the instructions in the manual on how to properly connect the front panel plugs? Yes, this particular board even comes with a helper for you
19. Did you turn on the power supply switch located on the back of the PSU? Yes
20. Is your CPU supported by the BIOS revision installed on your motherboard? With some Googling, it appears that the last four digits on the bar code sticker on the motherboard equals the BIOS revision. It says 2005. Support for the FX-8350 is since BIOS version 1006 so I'm going to assume that the BIOS supports it
21. Have you tried resetting the CMOS? Yes, with and without the battery plugged
22. If you have integrated video and a video card, try the integrated video port. There is no integrated video
23. Make certain all cables and components including RAM and expansion cards are tight within their sockets. They are.

Please tell me that thermal paste thing didn't mess it all up. ;x

 

[kroepoeksklok]

I feel rather silly.

Okay, apparently, I did not connect all cables correctly. I put the floppy drive power cable in the connector of one of the chassis fans... My father came over today and we had a look and I noticed he never connected that particular cable, so when I asked when he'd connect that cable, the following conversation ensued:
Him: 'I won't, it's for the floppy drive'.
Me: 'Oh, I thought it was for the chassis fan...'
Him: 'Did you put that in there'
Me: 'Yes, every time'
Him: '...'

:'D

Everything works, we've had multiple boots without problems, no scary red lights that stay lit up, I could boot into multiple Linux OS's. So, the answer: don't plug your floppy drive connector in one of for the chassis fans!

How can I mark this as the solution?