Computer hardware geeks - help!

[Ronin]

Working on the exact same issue with a clients $700 motherboard. Waiting for a replacement MB as we speak. Unlikely that it is the CPU which is the only other component left plugged in. Tested the power supply and its fine.

The short answer.... its the motherboard. You dont list which brand MB it is.

PS Are you running 64 bit Windows? If not why go to the 4 gig ram?

[Reido]

Working on the exact same issue with a clients $700 motherboard. Waiting for a replacement MB as we speak. Unlikely that it is the CPU which is the only other component left plugged in. Tested the power supply and its fine.

The short answer.... its the motherboard. You dont list which brand MB it is.

PS Are you running 64 bit Windows? If not why go to the 4 gig ram?

its running nothing atm, as i've only just got all the parts today. and so far it hasnt started!
its gonna be running XP pro, and vista 64bit
mostly XP though

i dont like vista

i'll be going to 4gb, (at least) soon, its a get it up and running ASAP thing, cause im poor.

mobo here
Asrock P43DE ATX MB
http://uec.co.nz/index.php?main_page...ducts_id=39105
a cheapy, sadly

[Ronin]

Looks like a not to bad board. Honestly, if all the plugs are in, CPU re seated then best guess is dead MB. Its more common than you think.

Win XP will only address 3.25 gig of ram.

[Reido]

Looks like a not to bad board. Honestly, if all the plugs are in, CPU re seated then best guess is dead MB. Its more common than you think.

Win XP will only address 3.25 gig of ram.

yeah i know, my last system only show 2.8gb (i think)

i liked my old system.. but i had to sell it to get my bike

[steve_t]

You'd think Asrock would be OK since they're made by Asus... but I guess even they can have duds.
Thinking about the CPU HSF.... did it come with a thermal 'sticker'? Or thermal paste?

[shingo]

its running nothing atm, as i've only just got all the parts today. and so far it hasnt started!
its gonna be running XP pro, and vista 64bit
mostly XP though

i dont like vista

Get a build of Windows 7, you'll never look back.

Been running it for a couple months now and its the best Windows OS i've used.

[Ronin]

You'd think Asrock would be OK since they're made by Asus... but I guess even they can have duds.
Thinking about the CPU HSF.... did it come with a thermal 'sticker'? Or thermal paste?

They come with the 'sticker'. Even the I7's have it lol

[Reido]

Get a build of Windows 7, you'll never look back.

Been running it for a couple months now and its the best Windows OS i've used.

need to get the thing running first >_<

[NDORFN]

You could always eliminate the heat-sync as a factor by disabling the CMOS setting which kills the power at a certain temperature. Although, if it IS the problem you may also fry the CPU in the process.

[MarkH]

It doesn't sound like RAM or Video card. If the heatsink is on fine then I don't think it is the CPU - I don't come across faulty CPUs very often.

PSU is possible - there are a lot of different voltages (1.8V, 3.3V, 5V, 12V, -5V, -12V) and a faulty component in the PSU can cause one of them to be wrong, the motherboard wont be having any of that shit and will shut down.

Motherboard is also possible - sometimes you get a dud.

Easiest solution is to connect another PSU and see what happens, no fix means that it is probably a dud m/board.

[MarkH]

mobo here
Asrock P43DE ATX MB
http://uec.co.nz/index.php?main_page...ducts_id=39105
a cheapy, sadly

It doesn't look too bad:
Only a P43, a P45 would be better - but the performance from the P43 Northbridge chip isn't all that far off, probably faster than your previous system.
ICH10 is pretty good, dearer boards often have ICH10R but that is the same performance just with RAID support, most people don't bother using RAID so no real meaningful difference there.

A higher model board would often be twice the price with nothing like twice the performance.

Any performance issues you have with your system wont be m/board related - it'll be the video card that will be you main limiting factor.

[Reido]

It doesn't look too bad:
Only a P43, a P45 would be better - but the performance from the P43 Northbridge chip isn't all that far off, probably faster than your previous system.
ICH10 is pretty good, dearer boards often have ICH10R but that is the same performance just with RAID support, most people don't bother using RAID so no real meaningful difference there.

A higher model board would often be twice the price with nothing like twice the performance.

Any performance issues you have with your system wont be m/board related - it'll be the video card that will be you main limiting factor.

i just wanted a cheap system that could run most games, even if not at the highest settings.

getting beeps when started up with no ram in, and it stays on. whats that mean?

[Blackshear]

i just wanted a cheap system that could run most games, even if not at the highest settings.

getting beeps when started up with no ram in, and it stays on. whats that mean?

Check what your motherbaord says, silly.

And +1 on what someone else said, I missed a 4pin plug with 6 pins coming from the PSU, I think i have the same PSU, shit's got too many fucking cables.

Check the mobo, and double-triple check EVERYTHING before someone tells you 'dead mobo' or 'you missed a plug'. costs lotsa dorrah to get a genuine guy to look at it.

THen afterwards we can turn this into a spec thread!


EDIT!!!!!! ---------------------- TAKE PICS, AND POST THEM!
You never know what us unREGISTERED™ people can spot.

[sosman]

Is it new or old ram? I've had issue's of my pc not posting a pic(because of ram) all thou my machine wasn't restarting every 5-10secs

[rphenix]

Asrock isnt the best manufacturer (next time get ASUS) so potentially DOA however its rarely motherboards that are the problem but the other components when everything is new.

I would suspect either RAM itself is faulty or incompatible try borrowing some ram from another PC if you can temporarily to test otherwise if the RAM you do have is in multiple sticks try only one stick in the first memory slot next to the CPU (then if that doesn't work try another stick by itself in the same slot).

Like others have said check you have plugged not just the main ATX power plug from the psu to the motherboard but also check the P4-12v (4-pin) sometimes its an EPS12v (8pin instead of 4 so double the size) is also plugged directly onto the motherboard without that the system wont boot properly.