help-first time p.c builder

hi there-im also building my first desktop but hit my first snag last night...i thought i had everything correct and hope i have all the correct hardward and connected properly...but when i went to power up there was nothing at all....is there something obvious i missed like a certain motherboard needs specific power unit wattage?

ive a asus p5k motherboard in the tower and assume the p4 processor i put in it is ok? does it matter if processors come from laptops or desktops as long as they are the right kind?.


so far its not

-the psu switch,its def on lol.
-memory is def in the slot ok.

 

OK, started your own thread -- good!

Now give us some more info about your hardware: make and model of motherboard; ditto the CPU, power supply, case, RAM (type and how much), graphics card and whatever else you've installed. Is all this stuff new or is any of it used? (I think you mentioned in that other person's thread that maybe your CPU came out of a laptop? Some laptops use special CPU's specifically designed for laptop motherboards while other laptops use "regular" desktop motherboards CPU's. The latter are, I think, becoming less common as they typically take more power to run thus reducing laptop battery life substantially. If your CPU came from a laptop give us as much info as possible about it -- model, power requirements, what make/model of laptop did it come from?)

Have you double-checked to make sure you attached all the small wires that hook up to the power button, hard drive light, power light, and so on, to their proper connections? It's easy to make a mistake as often the case and motherboard manuals/instructions and the labeling on the motherboard itself often isn't as clear as we'd like. You may have connected the wrong wires to the power switch, or even forgotten to connect them at all.

Many motherboards have a small light that indicates the board is getting power. Do you see such a light on your motherboard and is it on? (The light will be quite dim so you'll probably need to darken the room to spot it. Once you know where it is you can tell if it's on or not easily enough.) Similarly, some power supplies have a tiny light that is visible on the back of the case that indicates the PS is turned on and getting juice. Does your PS have one of those and, if so, is it illuminated?

OK, the power supply rocker switch is apparently turned on. Have you double-checked all the power plugs to the motherboard to be sure they're fully seated? For example, the 20/24 pin main power connector (that long narrow plug with a double row of tiny sockets) should seat fully allowing a small clip on the side to lock down securing that connector to the motherboard.

If you've double-checked everything listed above and you still aren't able to power up your computer, give us some more info as requested above.

 

That step is a really good thing to check first. Almost every time I build a new machine I get those wrong. It really is super easy to get them wrong and it will keep your machine from firing up.

 

ok some details

motherboard-asus p5k deluxe
ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE SKT 478 PRESCOTT / EXTREME HT READY PENTIUM 4 MOTHERBOARD. UTILIZING INTELS HIGH END 865PE & ICH5R CHIPSET COMBINATION.CRASH FREE SOCKETABLE BIOS, WIFI CAPABLE (OPTIONAL), DUAL DDR, SATA, SATA RAID, MULTI RAID, ATA100, ENHANCED 800fsb , ADVANCED HYPER THREADING, MARVELL GIGABIT PRO LAN, IEEE 1394 FIREWIRE, AGP 8x, USB2, 8 CHANNEL FULL DUPLEX DIGITAL AUDIO, GAME PORT +

case-unbranded basic case
psu-450 watt/24pin(i needed to swap the psu to a 20pin though)
ram-crucial 2GB, 184-pin DIMM, DDR PC3200 memory
hdd-just bought a maxtor 80gig diamond max plus 9 ata/133
processor-its a pentium 4 taken out of a working hi-grade 6500 laptop and i believe the asus p5k requires a p4 or celeron.
graphics card-hercules,not sure what model as ive taken it from my old one.ive just added the usual usb ports and a tv capture card.

its really the pernickedy things as a beginner that i need to get knowledged on like the hdd terms and the processor terms and how/which fits whatever motherboard.

i have the green light on my motherboard but nothing is lighting it as yet

i believe i have all the cables connected right as regards to the power switch etc....i hear power in the psu when u switch the rocker but nothing else....the 20pin psu i have in is a 300watt.

 

yeah i keep thinking i might be messed up around here...but i think i have them in right.....does it matter which way the cable socket goes into the board as it inserts either way? as in does the writing i.e 'power switch' etc face inward or outward etc?.

 

Usually the label/"writing" on those connectors faces outwards so, in theory, you should be able to read the writing when they're plugged in properly. (I say "in theory" only because the limited viewing angle to the installed motherboard may not actually allow you to read the labels on the pins.)

When you say "cable socket" I hope you're only referring to those small plastic connectors for the power switch, front panel lights and so on. You're not referring to that 20 pin main power connector I hope? That can only be inserted one way into the connector on the motherboard -- at least it shouldn't be possible, if all is as it should be, to plug that in either way.

You wrote: "psu-450 watt/24pin(i needed to swap the psu to a 20pin though)" You mean you now have the 300 watt PS with the 20 pin connector, right?

Are you certain that small green light on your mobo isn't on? It may be very dim and you may not be able to tell it's on, unless you darken the room (or block out most of the light by holding up the side panel you've removed).

If that light on the motherboard really isn't lit, that indicates the motherboard is not getting electricity from the power supply. That is, assuming the power supply rocker switch is turned on, even when the computer is shut down that dim green light on the motherboard should be "on". Is your power supply new? Have you read the instructions for it carefully to make sure you've installed it properly and that, for example, there's not some fuse or circuit breaker that needs to be checked/reset? It's sounds as though it's almost certain that either your power supply isn't working properly or it's not properly connected to the motherboard. Re-read your power supply instructions and your motherboard manual about the required power hookups and how to connect them. Even if you haven't correctly connected the wires to the front panel (including the "power on" button) that small light on the motherboard should light up. The fact that it isn't lit indicates there's no juice getting to the motherboard. (Unless that mobo light is burned out/defective -- which isn't very likely.)

 

def not gettin anything from the LED.and yes i did change to the 20 pin psu as the other psu was 24pin.....and its inserted correct and its working fine...but i just cant seem to fire it up ok and tired various ways of connecting the power switch/reset switch cables just to be sure and still nothing....thats why i was wondering if certain mobos need more wattage??? i dont have a manual with the motherboard you see.

 

I wouldn't think a Pentium 4 and an older Hercules graphics card with 2 gigs of RAM and the other hardware you list would require more than 300 watts to just boot up. And even if that were so I think the small green light on the motherboard should be illuminated if the board were getting any juice at all.

There's also an 8 pin plug from the power supply that typically has to be plugged into its socket on the motherboard. It's two rows of four connectors, 8 connectors total, that plugs into it's own socket, probably somewhere not too far from the CPU on the motherboard. Have you plugged that in?

And what did you mean when you wrote "and its inserted correct and its working fine"? What's working fine if you can't even turn anything on yet?

I couldn't find any reference to an Asus P5K Deluxe mobo on the Asus USA website. Where did you see that designation for this mobo? There are quick start guides and manuals for the ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE, a "socket 478" mobo. You can find and download them from this webpage:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Assuming this looks like the correct mobo, click on the small plus sign in front of "manual". Then download and save to whatever computer you're able to use 1) the "P4P800-E Deluxe Quick Start Guide for Multi-Language Edition (U1526)" [1st item in the manuals list on this page] and 2) the "P4P800-E Deluxe User's manual for English Version E1867" [the 15th item down in the manuals list if I counted correctly -- the other manual downloads are Chinese and Korean and other languages].

To begin downloading one of these items you click on a regional download site -- e.g. the "USA" link. These downloads are "pdf" files which means you'll need a free Adobe Acrobat pdf reader. If you don't already have one you should do a web search for that and download and install it. You won't be able to view and read pdf files with any sort of plain text editor, but the Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and there are other free pdf file viewers/readers available also. I think, for example, you can get the free version of the Foxit Reader here in MG's download section. And it loads up lots faster than Adobe's own pdf reader.

Anytime you're missing hardware manuals, quick setup guides, etc you can usually find the manufacturer's website via a search engine and usually find manuals and other documentation available for free download.

I may be able to give these items a look over myself, but probably not for another day or two. So you take a look, especially at the motherboard diagrams, and see if you've failed to plug in some other power connector, like that 8 plug pin I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Also look through any small manual or set of instructions for your power supply (or try to find that online also) to see if there's anything you've overlooked there.

If that small green light on the motherboard isn't lighting up that's a pretty clear indication that either something isn't connected at all, or not connected correctly, or that your power supply or the power connections on the motherboard or something is shorted, dead, fried. Most likely you've overlooked something or something isn't connected correctly, but it could be you just have a defective mobo or power supply. Are both of these items brand new? Can you try the power supply with a different motherboard in another computer? And can you try a different motherboard with the power supply?

As you're working around inside the case or even plugging stuff into or unplugging from the jacks on the front or rear of the case you have to be very careful about static electricity. Make sure you always ground yourself by touching the metal frame of the case before connecting, disconnecting or reaching into the interior to check connections. Static electricity is very high voltage and can easily fry computer chips in the blink of an eye.

 

To find the manuals for your specific mobo, once that Asus web page opens, note the three narrow search panels near the top of the page. Select "Motherboard" in the first window and let the page reload. Then select "Socket 478" in the second panel and again let the page reload. Finally select "Asus P4P800-E Deluxe" in the third window and then you should see the items available for download for that particular mobo. Most of them will be in other languages than English though, so select carefully, unless you read Korean or Chinese or whatever.

 

i def dont have the 2 x four pin connection on either psu's i have nor is there anywhere on the mobo for such a connection.....just a 1 x four square connection which is plugged in anyway.

what i meant by psu working is that its from the old pc and works fine so its not a dud.

i will have a look at the download now!.

 

Right, there's no 2x4 8 pin power connector on your mobo, just a 2x2 4 pin which you've apparently plugged in already. Just to be sure, I suggest you unplug that 4 pin connector and reseat it firmly. And do the same with that 20 pin power plug also, making sure it seats fully and the clip on the side latches it in place.

I've downloaded your mobo manual. That mobo pdf file is: e1867_p4p800-e_deluxe.pdf

Open that mobo manual file with whatever pdf reader program you have and take a look at the front panel connections on page 57 (look down at the very bottom of your reader where you should see something like "57 of 143", which refers to absolute page numbers, not the section numbers like 2-15. You can click in that page number box at the bottom and type in any page number to go directly to that page).

So, note the diagram on page 57 (or section 2-35) labeled "System Panel Connector (20-pin panel)". This shows the connections for the small wiring harnesses that hook up to the front panel of your case, including the connectors for the power switch. Note the connections labeled "ATX Power Switch". The connectors for the power switch should be connected to the contacts labeled "Power" and "Ground". I don't think it will matter if you reverse those connections, but make sure you realize that your power switch connections should be "side by side" (look closely at the diagram) and not "top and bottom."

You haven't mentioned if you have any manual or other instructions for your power supply. Is it an ATX power supply? If you don't have any instructions for the power supply, look on the side of the power supply itself and see if it says "ATX" anywhere.

While you're looking at the specs on the side of your power supply, compare that info with page 53 of your mobo manual where the various power requirements of the motherboard are specified. Does your power supply meet the minimum specs listed on page 53?

I'd be very surprised if your power supply isn't an ATX compatible but do check that. It does say, though, on p 53 that the minimum recommended wattage is 300 watts and 350 for a fully configured system. And further it does state that insufficient power may prevent the system from booting up.

Still, it bothers me that your green LED light on the motherboard doesn't even light up. Again, that suggests either something isn't plugged in correctly or something, whether the power supply or a connection on the motherboard, is fried/dead.

About your other power supply, the 450 watt one. I know it has a 24 pin power plug main connector, but often these plugs are made so you can break off four pins from one end and thus convert the plug to a 20 pin connector. You may need to do that so you can try a different power supply.

If the 300 watt PS is from an old PC it may not be putting out anything close to 300 watts any longer. As power supplies age they typically become more and more inefficient and over time begin to produce smaller amounts of power. So, especially given it's a used 300 watt PS, it just may not be up to snuff for this mobo. But again, I'd think if everything's plugged in correctly it would at least light up that green LED on the mobo.

You able to light that green LED yet? If not, can you adapt the 24 pin plug on the other power supply to a 20 pin and try hooking that up?

 

A couple of follow up questions. 1) Where do you see your mobo referred to as an "Asus P5K"? 2) In one of your earlier posts above you wrote "i hear power in the psu when u switch the rocker but nothing else". Is it the PS fan you're hearing? Or a sort of electrical hum? And is it steady or do you hear it for a bit and then it stops, as though maybe some sort of protective circuitry, a circuit breaker, is kicking in?

 

hurray! well almost....i didnt know about the 24/20 pin thing and when i look the 4pins could be taken off....so ive put the new 450w psu in and it powers up and the heatsink fan goes and the front lights up aswell but thats all thats happening.where do we go from here...i thought i was in the home straight there lol.

 

OK, you're making progress. But since this is the first computer you've assembled it won't be surprising if we hit some more snags along the way. Heck, even after you've built five or six machines it's not unusual to run into a few problems when you build yet another one. So don't be discouraged and don't forget to take into account all you're learning each time you figure out how to solve another problem.

What do you want to do next? Install an operating system to your ATA 100 hard drive I guess? OK, which operating system? Win XP or Vista? And which version of the OS do you have? XP Home or Pro? Do they include SP1 ("Service Pack 1") or SP2? If it's Vista, which "flavor" of the five available Vista versions do you have?

 

well i guess good sir its xp pro and sp2.is it normal it doesnt do fart all at this point?

 

make sure you do not plug the 4 that you pulled off the 24/20 socket into the 4 slot on the board. You will have a different one for that.one directly from the psu with 2 yellow and 2 black wires

 

dont worry,taped up and not to be mistaken for the other 2x2 pin.

 

When you turn the monitor and then the computer on, do you see anything on the screen at all? Some clunky looking white text on a black screen, I hope. Or does the screen just remain entirely black?

If you see some text on the screen, look down at the bottom. Do you see a message saying "Press <Delete> to enter setup"? (It may say some other key, but <Delete> is what you most often see as the key you must press to enter the BIOS setup screens.)

If you do see that message, as soon as you turn on the computer, begin slowly tapping <Delete> (or whatever key it tells you to press at the bottom of the screen to enter Setup). This should get you into the main BIOS menu screen.

Have you made changes to BIOS settings on a computer before? If not, don't just jump in and start changing things before you understand clearly what you should be doing. You can make your computer unbootable if you configure some BIOS settings incorrectly. There are ways to fix such problems but it's best to keep things as simple as possible and not create additional problems.

So, let me know if you see anything at all on the monitor when you turn the system on. Try entering the BIOS setup screen. If you are able to do that, look for the menu selection that will allow you to "Exit without saving changes", press "Y" for "Yes" to confirm that you do want to exit the BIOS setup without changing anything. Then let me know that you were able to do that.

The BIOS is stored in a chip on the motherboard called the CMOS. BIOS stands for "Basic Input/Output System" and contains information about the motherboard and the hardware attached to it, and the programming needed to allow the system to begin booting up. It's because of that that it's possible to make your computer unbootable so you have to be careful about making changes to BIOS settings.

Assuming you do see text on the screen and can enter and exit the BIOS without any problems, the next step will be to reconfigure the boot order in the BIOS.

Let me know what you see or don't see when you turn the system on and if you are able to enter and exit the BIOS (without making and saving any changes yet).

 

By the way, I think the P4 cpu should be fine as long as it fit easily in the cpu socket on the motherboard without being forced. Was there a small lever alongside the socket that you had to release in order to insert the cpu? And then you clamped that lever back down and latched it, right?

The cpu itself should be a relatively thin computer chip, but probably had some sort of heat sink (usually a larger metal finned device "glued' to the cpu itself). You're likely going to need to carefully remove the cpu from the socket (release that socket lever first) and then gently pull off the old heatsink and , clean off any gunk remaining on top of the cpu. You can use isopropol alcohol and some cotton swabs to do this -- but make sure you clean away all the gunk and and cotton fibers from the cpu and leave the top surface of the cpu smooth and shiny.

This careful cleaning is important in order to insure that the new heatsink you'll need to attach will fit firmly against the cpu to facilitate the flow of heat away from it.) And, of course, you should remove the entire cpu/heat sink assembly from the mobo before attempting to remove the heat sink/fan assembly and clean the cpu as described above.

Then you're going to need to buy a heatsink that's suitable for a P4 cpu that's going to be installed in a desktop machine. The cooling arrangements in the laptop were quite different than what you'll be able to arrange in the desktop. Hence the need to remove the old heatsink, designed for laptop use, from the cpu, clean the cpu carefully and reinsert it in the mobo socket. Then you'll need to purchase and properly attach (using a very small amount of Arctic Silver 5 or another similar heat sink paste) a new and larger heat sink/fan assembly designed for a desktop P4 installation which will then need to be clamped or screwed down securely onto the cpu.

Have you done all this already, or did you just remove the cpu/heatsink from the laptop and install it right into your desktop mobo?

 

the monitor just gives the usual adjustment options i.e vert/horizontal etc...not the bios etc and yes ive the correct heatsink bought and installed for the mobo,the p4 fitted in fine etc etc and inserted in right direction i,e arrow in proper corner.

 

In an earlier post I asked 'Where do you see your mobo referred to as an "Asus P5K"?' If you answered that I missed it. It may have nothing to do with anything or, on the other hand, it could tell me something that I haven't understood or have overlooked.

Tell me about this P4 cpu. Did you remove it from your own laptop or a friend's or from a laptop you found in someone's trash or what? What I'm getting at, of course, is whether you know from personal experience that the cpu was working fine when it was last used.

Tell me in detail exactly what happens now when you turn the machine on and in what order. Do any lights light up on the front panel, do you hear one or more beeps from the case speaker? If so, those beeps are a sort of code that can provide some help figuring out what's wrong, what's keeping the computer from even getting as far as allowing you to access the BIOS.

Do you know what the CMOS jumper is and have you checked to make sure it's in the normal position, not the reset position?

Have you downloaded both your mobo manual and instructions for installing and using the P4 cpu? If so, you can read those to insure you haven't overlooked something basic in how you've assembled the hardware. Together those sets of instructions should give you a pretty clear description of how to properly assembled your hardware.

 

lets see....p5k is on the box it came in but that may just be another mobo box.
the p4 is from my own laptop which was working fine until dropped but im assuming it was fine from being damdaged.
when i turn on the pc it lights up at the front and the psu is ok but no...no beeps etc etc.

as for the CMOS jumper ive no idea about that.i shall have a good read through the manual asap i guess.

 

Have you had any luck or made any progress at all?

 

heya,well had a nosey at the manual this week and i believe its because i have a 2gig ram and it mentions it only takes up to 1gig per slot and might not boot up if you have more than 1gig in the slot....sooooo i should have 1gig tomorrow and see where it goes from there.its a learning if anything lol.

 

Yep, sounds like a smaller bite of RAM in the slot should help you get further along at least. I wonder if you have your case speaker hooked up correctly? It bothers me that you didn't hear any beeping at all. Those POST beep codes can be important in situations like these where your monitor isn't giving you any info. There are, for example, special beep codes that indicate there's a problem with your RAM. It's sort of like morse code -- a combination of short and long beeps, which you then look up in your motherboard manual to find out what the beeps indicate is wrong. With any luck the smaller chunk of RAM will at least allow the system to POST and you'll be seeing any further error messages on screen. But it might pay to check and see if you have the case speaker hooked up correctly as if you have a problem in the future that prevents anything from being displayed on the screen the POST beep codes can reduce the amount of time it takes to figure out what's causing the problem. The speaker connections should be in the same group as the other front panel stuff -- the hard drive light, power on light, power switch, etc.

It's a bit frustrating, but you will learn a lot by building and troubleshooting your own system so hang in there. Lots of info to be absorbed in the mobo manual, so take it in small chunks. Some of it won't make much sense at first and some of it never makes sense -- mobo manuals are, in my experience, among the worst written computer hardware manuals of all.

I mean parts of them are fine and give you plenty of information while other parts, for example those describing some BIOS features, don't say much more than "There's a BIOS menu/feature here and here's what the menu looks like" but there's no explanation or list of what the possible settings are or what the various settings do! Invariably it's the settings that are newest (e.g. SATA related stuff when SATA hard drive controllers first began to appear on mobos a few years back) that are most likely to have little or no explanation about the required settings to activate them and what they mean or do.

So don't be surprised if some of the stuff in the mobo manual doesn't make sense at first. Do take a look at the procedure for clearing your CMOS and identify the CMOS jumper and the CMOS battery on the mobo for future reference.

It's possible to make your computer unbootable if you incorrectly set some BIOS features, but resetting the CMOS chip (which stores the BIOS programming and settings) should allow your computer to boot up once again in such a case. That's why it's important to understand how to do it.

 

welp nooo joy:confused....and ive def got the speaker etc in right places in accordance to what the maual has shown and still now beeps.this is baffling.

 

Have you removed the old RAM and installed the new 1 GB stick?

 

yes

 

You have only one stick of RAM, is that right? Make sure you have inserted it in the correct slot -- check your mobo manual. Typically the slot labeled "1" (or maybe "A") would be the first slot to use.

You mentioned in a previous post that your mobo box may have been for a different mobo. Where did you get this mobo? Is it used? Do you know for a fact that it's not damaged?

You also mentioned earlier dropping the CPU, I believe. I don't think it's likely that damaged it, unless you had something heavy clamped to it like a heat sink/fan assembly and dropped the whole thing. That's not what happened is it?

The green light on the mobo is lit now, even before you press the power button, right? What happens now when you press the power button on the front to start it up? The power light on the front of the case lights up? The case fans, if any, and the power supply and cpu fans (and the graphics card fan, if it has one) all are spinning? But nothing on the monitor, no "Press <Delete> to enter setup" or anything like that is displayed? The screen stays completely black when the power light on the computer comes on?

What about shutting it down? Can you turn off the power to the system using the front button (it will either shut off immediately or after you hold the button in for about 4 seconds)? Or do you have turn off the power using the power supply rocker switch on the rear of the computer?

Have you tried this monitor on another computer to make sure it's working fine? If so, I'm beginning to think that either your CPU or your motherboard is defective. Answer those questions above and especially let me know what you have to do to turn off the computer.

 

-yes the 1gig ram is in the right slot and the 2gig is taken out
-i got the motherboard on ebay and the seller seems genuine and good feedback etc etc etc
-im pretty sure the proc chip is not damaged from the laptop...it was mostly the screen and body that broke.
-the green light is on yes and the lights at the front are ok,when i press the power up the fan kicks in and thats it....oddly no the graphics card fan doesnt kick in and has only done so once but still never went to bios or anything....i have tried another graphics card and no difference.....and ive even tried a spare speaker to check why im not getting the beeps and still nothing.
-turning power of is ok by holding for 3 secs yes and the monitor is fine.

 

Check your mobo manual to be certain that it will support the use of a single RAM DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module).

Try resetting your CMOS/BIOS chip. Follow the directions for CMOS reset in your mobo manual. Once you've restored the CMOS jumper from the reset to the normal position, power up the system again and see if you can get into the BIOS now or see anything displayed on the screen.

If not you should also try removing your graphics card and reinstalling it carefully, making sure it's fully seated in the slot and then screw it back down.

Then release the clips on the ends of the slot your RAM is installed in and remove and reseat the RAM also, making sure to close the clip at each end of the slot.

Does the RAM require a lot of pressure to get it far enough in the slot for the clips to start to close? And do you then have to press rather hard on the clips to finish closing them? Or does the RAM seat easily with the locking clips closing on their own or with very little pressure needed to get them to close completely?

The answers to those last questions about the RAM could be very important so make sure you take note of how easy it is to reinstall the RAM and how easily the clips close.

If you're having a bit of a problem getting the RAM to seat fully so that the clips close (and if you have to press rather hard on the clips to get them to lock shut fully) I have one more suggestion you can try. But I'll wait until you report back about the RAM.

Beyond that I can only guess that whatever's wrong is happening so early that it's preventing any sort of beep codes from being generated as you've apparently double checked your case speaker connections. You have haven't you? I mean you understand the beeps I'm talking about won't come from your system's regular speakers, your "gaming" speakers? There should be a small speaker (about 3 inches in diameter) inside the case itself which has to be plugged into a couple of connectors in that same block where you hook up the power switch, power light, hard drive light, and so on. Just want to be sure, as you mentioned trying a spare speaker. But I guess you actually substituted another case speaker to see if that might make a difference?

Did you get any sort of guarantee on the mobo? Can you exchange it for another one?

I didn't realize you had dropped your entire laptop. I don't know what sort of cpu cooling your laptop had -- maybe just a thin fan blowing directly on it -- but I guess it couldn't have been anything very large or heavy given it was in a laptop. Still, I'd think the possibility of damaging the cpu is greater when it's installed and dropped in a much heavier device, a laptop, than if you'd just dropped the cpu alone.

Let me know how much effort it takes to reseat the RAM. If that goes fairly easily then I think the only options are to try to install the CPU in another computer that will take your P4 (but I don't suppose you have another computer you can try that with) or exchange your mobo for another one. Of course it's possible, but not very likely, that both your CPU and your mobo are damaged.

You could, of course, take it into a computer repair shop, but that's a last resort as it can be a bit expensive. Still, you might want to at least phone around and see what they might charge you to test your CPU or your mobo. I hope it doesn't come to that, but your options are decreasing.

 

well there is no issue at all with inserting the ram,and im pretty sure that its the correct spec and ive just put in a new p4 psu and stilllll nothing.

 

Did you try resetting your CMOS/BIOS chip?

I want to be clear about inserting the RAM. I'm not just asking if you're able to insert it and close the clips. What's important is that you don't have to push very hard to get the RAM to seat. Because if you do have to push hard you could have a very different sort of problem which I've experienced myself.

You're seeing absolutely nothing, no text at all, when you turn on the computer, correct? (Unless you start to adjust the monitor settings -- that doesn't count because that stuff is generated by the monitor's own circuitry.)

Do you have a battery tester? The CMOS battery should be more than 2.5 volts I think. They only cost a few dollars if you need to replace it. The CMOS battery, which recharges when the computer is turned on, is what enables the information in the CMOS chip to be retained even when the power is turned off. The hardware clock/calendar is also in the CMOS chip and also keeps running from that same battery when the system is turned off. That hardware clock is where Windows gets the correct date and time from each time you boot up. While CMOS batteries typically last 3 to 5 years you can get a defective one that goes bad much sooner and won't hold a charge and that might prevent your computer from starting up.

Still no beeps from the case speaker?

Unless your CMOS battery really is dead I'm thinking you may have a defective motherboard. The seller may well be reputable, but even a brand new motherboard purchased from a store can be D.O.A.

 

interesting development.....i think the 450w power unit is dodgy!.i inserted the old motherboard into the case and oddly it was slower and didnt boot up nor beep....so....i hooked up the old 300w power unit and there you go it booted the old board and beeped!.so of course i double check if the 300w mightttt boot up the new motherboard but no.......so im really hoping that a new 450w might be the trick.

and yes i reset the cmos and the ram has no issue at all-i.e it doesnt need forced etc etc