plac

when i power it up and the gfx card is plugged to my monitor, nothing comes on the monitor. It's just a black screen. Can anyone help me?

Another one i have is when it's all on, i tried to open my dvd writer and the tray wont eject.

TheMatt

First, please post the system specs using this as a guide: http://www.techsupportforum.com/558208-post1.html

For the first problem: Re-seat the RAM. Try with only one stick in, then the other. Make sure your motherboard speaker is hooked up correctly.

For the second problem: Make sure the 4-pin peripheral power connector or SATA power connector is plugged into the drive. Also make sure the IDE ribbon cable or SATA cable is plugged into the optical drive and motherboard. If you are using an IDE optical drive, make sure its jumpered to cable select (CS).

plac

Power Supply: Pure power, xp550 np, 430W, 18 Amps on a 12v rail.
Mother Board: MSI, k9n4 ultra, AM2
CPU: AMD, amd athlon 64 x2 4400+, AM2, and this may sound stupid to you but i cant find how fast it is.
RAM: Kingston, ddr2, pc2 5400(i think that's what it's asking for in the format),1GB
Video Card: Gigabyte/nvidia?, GeForce 8500 GT or GV-NX85T256H (not sure), PCI-E, 256 mb, SLI
Hard Drive: Western Digital,SATA ,160 GB
OS: When it actually runs will be XP

But the thing you said about RAM, I only have 1 stick of it.

And also, thanks man, i appreciate you taking the time to help me.

TheMatt

Is your motherboard speaker hooked up? Is it in right (it is sensitive to polarity)?

Do you have a multimeter? If so, I would test the power suppy when it is running.

What to do: Turn on the computer. Stick one probe (the red one) into the back of the 20 or 24-pin main connector. Stick it into where a yellow wire goes into the connector. Touch the black probe to the metal part of the case. This is ground.

Repeat this with a red and orange wire. What are the voltages?

plac

I lack a multimeter, but as for the motherboard speaker, could you explain a little bit about it? I dont remember reading anything about it in any of the installation things i read through to put the computer together.

TheMatt

Did your case come with a speaker? It should be a twisted red and black set of wires with a four pin header connection. Plug that into the speaker port on the motherboard. Check the documentation for the speaker headers.

plac

I dont see anything like that in it. But it did come with an audio wire which i think is just for the front mic/headphone jacks.

TheMatt

The problem is you aren't getting the proper beep codes. These will tell what is wrong with the system.

If you have a friend who also has a custom built system, see if you can borrow their speaker.

You might want to look at something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815158065

plac

are there any other options to buying that diagnostics thing?

TheMatt

If you can borrow a speaker, then that will help diagnose it. I don't know of anywhere where you can simply buy the speaker, but most cases come with them. I am surprised yours didn't. Like I said, see if you can borrow one from a friends computer.

Too bad I can't just hand you one of mine through the computer.

plac

I cant do that either though. BUt i've been reading up a bit about my mobo, and apparently it's series has a few other problems too. Think maybe i should just replace it with a different one? I was thinking of shelling out a few extra dollars to get a better one.

dai

Power Supply: Pure power, xp550 np, 430W, 18 Amps on a 12v rail.
you need a minimum of 24a output on the 12v+ rail[s]
you would expect to see something like this in it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371002

plac

huh? Is that the problem that i've been having?

dai

see if you can borrow another psu to try in it

plac

the only other psu i have is the 300 W one on this computer i'm using right now. And it only has 19 amps on a 12 v rail.

dai

can you get one from an out let that will restock for a small fee

plac

What do you mean?

dai

some retailers will take it back if it does not fix the problem for a fee of 10-15% of the cost of the item

plac

So are you saying i should buy a diff power supply and return this one? I'm not completely sure what your asking me to do.

dai

if you have just bought that one get them to upgrade it for you for the difference in price