[ieatroofies]

I just upgraded my PC and it boots (fans/LEDs come on, hard drive spins, no beep code) but nothing comes up on my monitor.

Newly upgraded components:

• ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 motherboard
• CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM x2
• Intel Core i5-3350P Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor
• Sony SATA DVD-RW drive

Old retained components:

• Nvidia 9500 GT graphics card
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500gb hard drive
• Soundblaster x-fi soundcard
• APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Corday]

Did you confirm that your new parts are compatible with each other and the existing hardware. Also, be sure everything is solidly in place. This is kind of difficult to troubleshoot from a distance and you obviously can't run any tests. Can you enter the bios?

 

[spunk.funk]

no beep code

Do you get the motherboard logo, or the POST information with all the hardware on the DOS like screen? If not, and you do not get a single POST beep, then there is some hardware the motherboard doesn't like.
Make sure the RAM is the speed that is supported for this motherboard and that they are a matched pair: Memory Type: DDR3 PC3-10600, or DDR3 PC3-12800, or DDR3 PC3-14900 (non-ECC)
Remove all but the most basic hardware, no drives (CD/DVD, HDD, etc), leave 1 stick of RAM, video card, and see if you can at least get to the Bios.

 

[ieatroofies]

I'm not getting any sort of BIOS info when I boot at all. The rig powers on, fans spin, LEDs power on, If i put my finger on the hd I can feel it spinning but nothing comes up on the screen. Someone said since I'm using XP i should have updated the SATA controllers before I took out the hard drive. I rebuilt the old rig to update the controller, after that I'll put the new components in and try to get to the BIOS. Thanks for your input guys.

 

[spunk.funk]

Not having the SATA drivers installed would not disable the video. When you installed XP it would not recognize the HDD. If the HDD was recognized when you installed XP, then you are good to go.
As for no video, this would either be because you are plugging the monitor into the onborad VGA instead of the nVidia Video card, the nVidia card is not pushed all the way into the board, the monitor cable is not plugged in tightly to the video card, the computer doesn't support the RAM or other hardware, or you shorted something out on the motherboard when you were putting everything in.

 

[ieatroofies]

Ok I'm able to access the BIOS now, but I BSOD when I get to the XP logo screen.

It turns out I forgot to plug in a ATX12v connector on my mobo. It threw me off because my power supply has a 20+4 main power cable, a 6 pin PCI express power cable, and a 4 pin 12v power cable. However, the ATX12v connector on the mobo is a 2x4 connector, so I currently have the 4 pin power cable plugged into the the right part of the connector, leaving half the spaces available. Is this a problem?


Once again thank you all for your input it is greatly appreciated.

 

[spunk.funk]

the ATX12v connector on the mobo is a 2x4 connector.

If you have a very old motherboard, it will just take the 20 pin Power Connector. Any modern board you would slide the 4pin together with the 20 pin and they would slide into the Power Connector on the board and there would be no pin slots open. (image 2)
The P2 plug (as shown in the 3rd image) should be plugged into a different space on the board.

 

[Wrench97]

Did you install XP on this PC or did the hard drive come from another PC with XP already installed?

 

[ieatroofies]

If you have a very old motherboard, it will just take the 20 pin Power Connector. Any modern board you would slide the 4pin together with the 20 pin and they would slide into the Power Connector on the board and there would be no pin slots open. (image 2)
The P2 plug (as shown in the 3rd image) should be plugged into a different space on the board.

I'm not talking about the main 24 pin connector, the mobo has a 24 pin connector where I plugged in the 20 pin cable + the attached 4 pin cable. There is another 8 pin (2x4) connector up on the top of the motherboard by the RAM. Besides the 20+4 cable for the main power connecter, my power supply only has a 6 pin cable mark PCIE, and a 4 pin cable, which is currently connected to the 8 pin connector. Pic for reference

Did you install XP on this PC or did the hard drive come from another PC with XP already installed?

The hard drive came from another PC and already had XP installed on it.

 

[Wrench97]

Can't do that, the drivers from the last PC will make this one BSOD or hang on boot.

You need to do at least a repair install, however a clean install is the best route.

If the XP install is a OEM version you are done as the license terms ties it to the original motherboard it was installed on, it will install but not activate or validate.