Computer hardware geeks - help!

[Reido]

this is my second System i've put together. a rather budget one but still

Intel E5200
2gb DDR2 800 ram (soon to be 4)
ATI 3870 512
320gb HDD
silverstone 500w PSU

anyway, just finished putting it together, pluged it in and turned it on..
LEDs light up, fans start going etc. but nothing on screen
does this for 5-10 seconds then everything goes off
another 3-5 seconds go by and it tries to turn on again.. LEDs fans etc. then turns off.

I've checked all the connections, moved the ram, even taken the GFX card right out. no change.

Any Ideas?

Thanks

Reido

[Stirts]

I has one...

[Teflon]

have you tried clearing CMOS?

[Reido]

have you tried clearing CMOS?

who in the what now?

[Teflon]

Should be some jumpers on you mobo to clear CMOS... or just take the mobo battery out for a min...

[CookMySock]

Unplug EVERYTHING from the motherboard and power it on and see if it beeps. Add RAM, check for beeps. No beeps = DOA motherboard.

Steve
(not a hardware person..)

[Teflon]

or just wait until the geeks finish work......

[Mully]

or just wait until the geeks finish work......

But don't wait too long, cos they will have fired up the Dungeons and Dragons and you wont see them for the rest of the night.

[NDORFN]

Check the heat-sinc on the processor. If it's not attached properly and the processor is overheating then CMOS will be shutting the system down.

[Reido]

Check the heat-sinc on the processor. If it's not attached properly and the processor is overheating then CMOS will be shutting the system down.

yeah i've taken it off and put it back on twice now >_<

but you never know with the stupid intel heat sincs... it seems like you have to break the mobo to get them to on properly

[steve_t]

Sounds like a mobo or PSU problem

[Marmoot]

Check the heat-sinc on the processor. If it's not attached properly and the processor is overheating then CMOS will be shutting the system down.

I would agree with him, having experienced such issues twice in my lifetime. On each we arrived to a busted PSU and/or MoBo conclusion. On each the shop sales took them apart, kindly pressed the heatsink+fan assembly nicer, and the computer went life for 2 years following each incident.

Totally agree, Intel heatsink+fan assembly is a biatch to put in right.
Definitely worth another look. Don't stress it too much, it's normal.

P.S.
Make sure you are using just the right amount (i.e, not too much, not too little) of the heat transfer paste on the CPU yeah?

[Reido]

I would agree with him, having experienced such issues twice in my lifetime. On each we arrived to a busted PSU and/or MoBo conclusion. On each the shop sales took them apart, kindly pressed the heatsink+fan assembly nicer, and the computer went life for 2 years following each incident.

Totally agree, Intel heatsink+fan assembly is a biatch to put in right.
Definitely worth another look. Don't stress it too much, it's normal.

P.S.
Make sure you are using just the right amount (i.e, not too much, not too little) of the heat transfer paste on the CPU yeah?

heatsink had stuff on it already.

i'll take it somewhere tomorrow see if they can spot the problem.

[Metalor]

Make sure ALL the power plugs are plugged into the motherboard... mate of mine failed to do this when he was putting one together, forgot about the little 4pin connector and it did the same thing.

Doesn't sound like it's overheating... maybe the ram isn't in properly?

Does it have on-board video? Try it with just that if you can, cos they can be VERY picky, even sometimes if you don't have a monitor plugged in the refuse to start.

Or you could use the computer you're on at the moment to watch some porn and have a wank, with the non-working pc in the room so it can see, that way it might get jealous and decide to work for you.

[Reido]

Make sure ALL the power plugs are plugged into the motherboard... mate of mine failed to do this when he was putting one together, forgot about the little 4pin connector and it did the same thing.

Doesn't sound like it's overheating... maybe the ram isn't in properly?

Does it have on-board video? Try it with just that if you can, cos they can be VERY picky, even sometimes if you don't have a monitor plugged in the refuse to start.

I've tried with everything except the cpu (heatsink) and ram unplugged,
all power cables are plug in properly (first thing i checked) it still shuts down after 5-10 seconds.. so its not a GFX card