Upgraded computer wont do anything

Richard Laymon · 12-26-2006, 09:47 AM

I have just upgraded my girlfriends computer for Christmas and it doesn't do anything

It's a new mobo : Abit GD-8 Pro
New processor: 3.2Ghz Celeron D
New Graphics Card: Inno3D 7300 LE
New RAM module: 1GB Kingston

There are no beeps what-so-ever form the mobo but the lights on it work
There is no info getting to the monitor, the light stays yellow

I did notice when installing the mobo that it works with 2 (4) dual channel RAM slots, is this causing the problem as in I have only used 1 slot rather than 2 ?

I also noticed that the graphics card should be a PCI Express 16 card but it doesn't mention this anywhere on either the box or instructions. It just says PCI Express.

Any help much appreciated

**linderman** · 12-26-2006, 04:06 PM

you got some troubleshooting ahead of you there to narrow down the list of suspects.

In the future; try to change as little as you can, in a piece by piece manner

then when a problem pops up, you should have a much better oppurtunity to the culprit of the uncooperative component.

lets get started:

1) first off what is the make and model of the PSU in the system

2) did you connect the 20 or 24 pin motherboard connector to the motherboard ?????? which is it 20 or 24 ????

3) did you insert the 4 pin CPU power plug (should have two yellow wires in that plug) into the motherboard connector, very important, some guys have been mistaking the removable 4 pin connector that is associated with the 20+4 connector on a 20 pin motherboard and trying to use that as the cpu 12volt power >>>>> that wont work! the 12volt cpu power plug will have its own snap latch to secure it to the board?

4) install only one stick of memory until you get a bios post, verify which memory slot is the one to use for single stick memory use ??????

5) does your video card need a power plug ?????? or does the motheboard need a 4 pin molex power plug to fire your video card ???????

6) did you use thermal grease or thermal tape with the cpu heat sink ??????

7) are you confident that you connected the motherboard header to all wires correctly ???? the wires are color coded for such things as power switch, ide activity, LED, speaker, etc

8) do any of the cpu or video card fans spin when you try to power up the system ??????

9) can you hear anything trying to operate

Richard Laymon · 12-27-2006, 01:17 AM

OK I'll strip it down and start again from scratch.
The CPU is a Celeron D. 3.2Ghz
The mobo has a 24 pin female connector but the PSU has a 20 pin male connector. I followed the instructions and left 11, 12, 23, and 24 empty.
The four pin power plug was connected.
There is only 1 stick of memory, that was why I thought it may be the problem.
I put the memory stick into the first slot (nearest the CPU)
The video card doesn't need any additional power.
I didn't use any grease as the CPU came with it's own square of gloop.
Not confident that all wires were connected to the correct headers, different info on both wires and mobo.
The CPU fan and video card fans were spinning.
Everything sounds fine but nothing gets to the monitor and no beeps from the mobo :(

Richard Laymon · 12-27-2006, 04:49 AM

Well I stripped it all down with only the CPU and fan. The fan spun.
I then inserted the video card and 1GB RAM card. Both the CPU and the video card fans spun. Nothing else happened, I couldn't enter the BIOS because the screen remained blank and no beeps what-so-ever from the mobo :(

**linderman** · 12-27-2006, 05:14 AM

Hello Richard

first off do your memory sticks have "chips" on both sides of the stick (double sided memory) your board does not support double sided memory ????

second; did you connect the 12volt power see the red circle ????

**linderman** · 12-27-2006, 05:15 AM

also what brand and model or size PSU are you using ????????????

Richard Laymon · 12-27-2006, 05:22 AM

The white four pin connector is connected to the mobo.
The single stick of RAM has little black blocks on both sides
The CPU is a Celeron D 352+ (3.2GHz) with 512KB of cache and 533MHz FSB

Are you asking whether the board supports double-sided RAM or are you telling me (I have no idea, the man behind the counter suggested this particular RAM)

**linderman** · 12-27-2006, 03:59 PM

Your board does NOT support double sided memory !

return those memory sticks for single sided memory sticks

**linderman** · 12-27-2006, 04:04 PM

your manual

Richard Laymon · 12-28-2006, 06:11 AM

Took the parts back to the shop and after a few minutes of testing they came back and told me that although the motherboard supports that chip it doesn't support that particular chip core. They swapped the motherboard for a similar model that did support the chip core. They also tested it to make sure it did work and gave it me back.

I took it home and so far so good, it's up and running :D

12-26-2006, 09:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
Richard Laymon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 34 OS: XP Pro	Upgraded computer wont do anything I have just upgraded my girlfriends computer for Christmas and it doesn't do anything It's a new mobo : Abit GD-8 Pro New processor: 3.2Ghz Celeron D New Graphics Card: Inno3D 7300 LE New RAM module: 1GB Kingston There are no beeps what-so-ever form the mobo but the lights on it work There is no info getting to the monitor, the light stays yellow I did notice when installing the mobo that it works with 2 (4) dual channel RAM slots, is this causing the problem as in I have only used 1 slot rather than 2 ? I also noticed that the graphics card should be a PCI Express 16 card but it doesn't mention this anywhere on either the box or instructions. It just says PCI Express. Any help much appreciated

12-26-2006, 04:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,437 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	you got some troubleshooting ahead of you there to narrow down the list of suspects. In the future; try to change as little as you can, in a piece by piece manner then when a problem pops up, you should have a much better oppurtunity to the culprit of the uncooperative component. lets get started: 1) first off what is the make and model of the PSU in the system 2) did you connect the 20 or 24 pin motherboard connector to the motherboard ?????? which is it 20 or 24 ???? 3) did you insert the 4 pin CPU power plug (should have two yellow wires in that plug) into the motherboard connector, very important, some guys have been mistaking the removable 4 pin connector that is associated with the 20+4 connector on a 20 pin motherboard and trying to use that as the cpu 12volt power >>>>> that wont work! the 12volt cpu power plug will have its own snap latch to secure it to the board? 4) install only one stick of memory until you get a bios post, verify which memory slot is the one to use for single stick memory use ?????? 5) does your video card need a power plug ?????? or does the motheboard need a 4 pin molex power plug to fire your video card ??????? 6) did you use thermal grease or thermal tape with the cpu heat sink ?????? 7) are you confident that you connected the motherboard header to all wires correctly ???? the wires are color coded for such things as power switch, ide activity, LED, speaker, etc 8) do any of the cpu or video card fans spin when you try to power up the system ?????? 9) can you hear anything trying to operate __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial Last edited by linderman; 12-26-2006 at 04:08 PM.

12-27-2006, 05:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,437 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Hello Richard first off do your memory sticks have "chips" on both sides of the stick (double sided memory) your board does not support double sided memory ???? second; did you connect the 12volt power see the red circle ???? __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

12-27-2006, 05:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,437 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	also what brand and model or size PSU are you using ???????????? __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

12-27-2006, 03:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,437 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Your board does NOT support double sided memory ! return those memory sticks for single sided memory sticks __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

12-27-2006, 01:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
Richard Laymon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 34 OS: XP Pro	OK I'll strip it down and start again from scratch. The CPU is a Celeron D. 3.2Ghz The mobo has a 24 pin female connector but the PSU has a 20 pin male connector. I followed the instructions and left 11, 12, 23, and 24 empty. The four pin power plug was connected. There is only 1 stick of memory, that was why I thought it may be the problem. I put the memory stick into the first slot (nearest the CPU) The video card doesn't need any additional power. I didn't use any grease as the CPU came with it's own square of gloop. Not confident that all wires were connected to the correct headers, different info on both wires and mobo. The CPU fan and video card fans were spinning. Everything sounds fine but nothing gets to the monitor and no beeps from the mobo :(

12-27-2006, 04:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
Richard Laymon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 34 OS: XP Pro	Well I stripped it all down with only the CPU and fan. The fan spun. I then inserted the video card and 1GB RAM card. Both the CPU and the video card fans spun. Nothing else happened, I couldn't enter the BIOS because the screen remained blank and no beeps what-so-ever from the mobo :(

12-27-2006, 05:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
Richard Laymon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 34 OS: XP Pro	The white four pin connector is connected to the mobo. The single stick of RAM has little black blocks on both sides The CPU is a Celeron D 352+ (3.2GHz) with 512KB of cache and 533MHz FSB Are you asking whether the board supports double-sided RAM or are you telling me (I have no idea, the man behind the counter suggested this particular RAM)

12-27-2006, 04:04 PM	#9 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,437 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	your manual __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

12-28-2006, 06:11 AM	#10 (permalink)
Richard Laymon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 34 OS: XP Pro	Took the parts back to the shop and after a few minutes of testing they came back and told me that although the motherboard supports that chip it doesn't support that particular chip core. They swapped the motherboard for a similar model that did support the chip core. They also tested it to make sure it did work and gave it me back. I took it home and so far so good, it's up and running :D