[race08]

Hi,

I am building a new computer. When I go to turn on the system it boots up fine and all the fans spin but I do not get any video displayed on my monitor. I don't even get the bios screen. I am running a 400w athena power supply, a asrock v88 motherboard, one stick of 512mb pc2700 memory, a 400GB seagate hard drive, a P4 3.4 ghz proccesor with hpyer threading that is a 775 chipset, and a nvidia geforce 4000 video card with 128mb of memory. I was wondering if the motherboard is possibly fried or my power supply is to small.

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

I am building a new computer. When I go to turn on the system it boots up fine and all the fans spin but I do not get any video displayed on my monitor. I don't even get the bios screen. I am running a 400w athena power supply, a asrock v88 motherboard, one stick of 512mb pc2700 memory, a 400GB seagate hard drive, a P4 3.4 ghz proccesor with hpyer threading that is a 775 chipset, and a nvidia geforce 4000 video card with 128mb of memory. I was wondering if the motherboard is possibly fried or my power supply is to small.

Hi,

There are a few things that you need to consider:

1) An Athena power supply is considered very weak, underpowered, and of a very low quality, so I doubt if it is strong enough for what you want, and it could cause this problem. If it works perfectly, it may be too small and not have enough power to run this unit. (a quick way to find out is go to best buy or staples and buy a good one either an Antec or Enermax (expect to pay 100 bucks) in the 500 plus range and if it works, keep it, if not, take it back for a refund) Do yourself a favor and don't buy a cheap power supply....only an Antec or Enermax is needed.

2) When nothing shows from the video card to the monitor, the video card is always suspect or maybe not compatible with how things are on your computer. If you have access to another one via a friend or someone else, you might try another one to see if that helps.

3) There are some motherboards that require one to upgrade the BIOS before they will work with some of the newer processors. I am not familar with your board, so don't know if that is true in this case.

4) I seriously doubt at this point in trouble shooting that you need to think about the motherboard being dead, but that does not rule that out. Just that the probability is not too high until you have other things checked out.

Now the questions:

Do you have the ATX and the 12 volt square molex both connected?

Do you have the Heatsink fan connected to the motherboard.

Do you get a post beep when you start up the computer.

If you don't turn off the computer, does it reboot or just sit there without a display?

Is the memory you purchased on the QVL list for approved memory in your motherboard manual?

Anythng else in the way of information that might helps us to know what is happening.

Post back and one of us might be able to assist you.

 

[race08]

Hi,

As far as the video card goes I have a spare won that I swaped for it which is a ATI 9600 256mb, and nothing changed. On a second note the motherboard manual says if you use a video card that is 3.3v is will damage the motherboard, only use a video card that is 1.5v.

The atx connector and square connector are both connected, the heat sink and fan are connected and I double checked to make sure the processor is sitting properly. When the computer starts up I do not get any beeps what so ever and it does not turn off it just keeps going with no video display. The memory I'm using is compatible according to the motherboard manual.

I do not know if the bios has to be upgraded to adjust to the processor.


I am going to go ahead and purchase a new power supply and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[race08]

Hi,

I just purchased a new power supply which is a antec 500w. When I put it in and started up the computer it did the same exact thing and nothing changed.

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

Darn, I was hoping that would fix the darn thing. Unfortunately, I am not very familar with the Asrock motherboard, so that makes it more difficult.

Take out all memory and see if it beeps on you when it is started up. If not, then you may have a board that needs to be RMA'd. It bothers me that you do not get at least a post beep.

 

[Stu_computer]

Also try removing the cmos battery for 20 minutes, do not power up until battery is replaced. The cmos may be corrupt and causing the bios to hang.

Restart and press and hold the F2 key to enter the BIOS. Go to the Exit menu, select "Load Default Settings" and press Enter key.
Select "Exit Saving Changes" and press Enter key to exit the BIOS.


Note: Always unplug AC power whenever working inside the pc.

 

[race08]

Hi,

I pulled out the memory stick and turned the system on, I did not get any beeps. I also pulled the cmos battery out for 20 min. and had no such luck. At this point should I replace the motherboard? And if I replace it what would you suggest would be a good brand that would support a P4 775 chip with at least 2 gigs of memory?

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

I think it might be time to RMA or return for refund that motherboard and get a replacement. If it were me, I would get it back (if you have to RMA it) and sell it so someone else and get yourself an ASUS motherboard. They have several that will fit that chip, so you need to just browse or search through Goggle or Tom's hardware Website and see what they have to offer in features that you might want. I know, more expensive, but they are heads and shoulders above what you started out with. Choose what fits your situation best.

 

[Stu_computer]

Let's give it one more try to make sure the bios isn't hanging up...

Do a minimal start by removing all: pci cards; keyboard and mouse; all drives except floppy power cable (remove data cable); remove ram sticks.

Power up to check for a beep code.

If beeps, then shutdown/unplug and install ram and video card.

If no beeps then shutdown/unplug and connect the floppy data cable and put a floppy disk in, then power up and let it run for 10 minutes to see if it tries to access the disk.

 

[race08]

Hi,

I pulled the motherboard and power supply out of the case and set them on my desk. I disconnected everything including the hard drive and the video card. All I have connected to the motherboard is the atx connector, square connector and the cpu fan. I then went ahead and powered on the system. I did not get any beeps.

 

[Stu_computer]

The speaker is usually mounted inside the case so make sure you have the leads connected or there will be no beeps.

 

[Itsme2]

Hi
Did you ever solve this problem. I have the asrock V88 board with a Celetron number 331 CPU which works fine. I recently bought a Pentium 4 number 640 CPU. I fitted the new CPU & got the same response you had - black screen & no beeps. I tried putting the Celetron back - everthing works OK. Have you any info