New custom build turns on (no bios beeps) but monitor never registers

[fenrir888]

I am in the middle of building an new computer (my first), and i've checked about 8 times (once with a friend who has built a system before) and i believe all the wires are hooked up how they are supposed to be and all hardware is put in correctly.. Yet, whenever i turn the pc on the monitor remains in sleep mode. The monitor works, it is the monitor of my old system, and i've tried both the on-board video and the video card video. I do NOT receive a beep from the BIOS and it does NOT turn itself off. I noticed in my system that my RAM requires 1.9V, but my motherboard supports 1.8V, is this the cause of the problem? If not, does anyone know what is causing my PC to not work correctly and how to fix it?

My system has the following:
-GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor
-EVGA 512-P3-N987-TR GeForce 9800 GT HDMI 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
-Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Power Supply Unit
-Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
-WINTEC AMPX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
-LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98

 

[Dent1]

I am in the middle of building an new computer (my first), and i've checked about 8 times (once with a friend who has built a system before) and i believe all the wires are hooked up how they are supposed to be and all hardware is put in correctly.. Yet, whenever i turn the pc on the monitor remains in sleep mode. The monitor works, it is the monitor of my old system, and i've tried both the on-board video and the video card video. I do NOT receive a beep from the BIOS and it does NOT turn itself off. I noticed in my system that my RAM requires 1.9V, but my motherboard supports 1.8V, is this the cause of the problem? If not, does anyone know what is causing my PC to not work correctly and how to fix it?

My system has the following:
-GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor
-EVGA 512-P3-N987-TR GeForce 9800 GT HDMI 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
-Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Power Supply Unit
-Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
-WINTEC AMPX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
-LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98

The problem can be anything really, ranging from a faulty motherboard, faulty memory, faulty video card, faulty, faulty processor. It could be that the heat sink hasn’t been positioned correctly. Honestly almost anything can relate to not getting a display. But to answer your memory question, your memory could be faulty however its most definitely not a voltage issue. The voltage of the memory and motherboard voltage can be taken with a pinch of salt, you can mix and match voltages just fine, at the very worst the voltage will just run lower and will still work as normal.

Your power supply unit should have two power connectors, a 20-pin and a 4-pin. Make sure both pins are connected into the motherboard securely, I believe on the GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P the two pin inputs on the motherboard are located on accent sides from one another.

 

[fenrir888]

hmm this is disconcerting. I am unable to individually test each part, since my old pc is way out of date. any ideas as to how i could test to find out what part is causing the issue?

 

[Dent1]

hmm this is disconcerting. I am unable to individually test each part, since my old pc is way out of date. any ideas as to how i could test to find out what part is causing the issue?

If the parts are new, the chances are that everything is fine. I wouldn’t worry too much I've heard this issue loads of time for first time builders and have experienced it personally. 9/10 its a user issue due to something they forgot to do. Like I said before I would start by visually checking that both the 4-pin and 20-pin power cables are connected into the motherboard, most people forget the 4-pin, have you done this yet? the picture below shows where I am talking about.

 

[Geofrancis]

Strip the computer and set it up on a table instead of the case to rule out shorts then set it up with the psu, motherboard, heatsink, 1 stick of ram if it doesn't boot reset your bios and double check your bios supports your CPU. If that all fails try and find somone with a similer Pc you can use to test your CPU and ram.

 

[twilyth]

According to the specs, that card has 2 DVI ports. Hook the monitor up to the other one. Dual port cards seem to default to one port or the other. Maybe you just picked the wrong one.

If you're really worried. Hook the HDMI port to a tv. I'm sure it will work.

 

[fenrir888]

i have hooked up both the 20+4 and the 4-pin connectors

the bios hasnt even been touched due to the fact that i haven't been able to look at them, so it is still factory defaults. also i have tried both dvi slots numorous times with each RAM stick, as well as without the vid card or the cd/dvd and hard drives still resulting in the same issue. so i believe the problem lies in the vid card,RAM,motherboard, or processor, and i'm iffy on removing the processor because i have no thermal grease (the processor came with a layer on the heatsink). the only thing capable of running DDR2 in my house happens to be the computer i'm building (upgrading from a 7yr old dell, 7 years!!!). i think the motherboard is running, the LEDs from my fans are running, as well as the processor fan and case lights. unfortunately the board has no LEDs on itself to give notice of functionality. and of course my vidcard is PCI-E and well a 7yr old dell can even use agp so...

i have yet to try the hdmi port on my vid card, i will try that tomorrow.

 

[twilyth]

the m/b has a built in vid chipset - NVIDIA GeForce 7025 - is that disabled?

 

[95Viper]

You don't mention the monitor to much...
Does it have selectable inputs (HDMI, DVI, VGA, etc.) through a button or the monitor control panel.

 

[sweeper]

Few examples from a few recent problems I've seen with the same problems you are experiencing:

Shorted MB - everything turned on, no post to monitor
Video Card not seated properly - same as above
CPU not supported by MB - same as above
CMOS needed reset. Pulled battery for 1/2 hour for fix
Bad Power Supply - quick replacement of PSU fixed no post.
Heatsink not seated on CPU properly - NO POST
MB wired to front chassis IMPROPERLY - NO POST

Just a few examples of the same thing you are experiencing. All systems would spin the CPU fan, PSU fan, Case fan/s, video card fan but had no post to monitor.

 

[Dent1]

i have hooked up both the 20+4 and the 4-pin connectors

the bios hasnt even been touched due to the fact that i haven't been able to look at them, so it is still factory defaults. also i have tried both dvi slots numorous times with each RAM stick, as well as without the vid card or the cd/dvd and hard drives still resulting in the same issue. so i believe the problem lies in the vid card,RAM,motherboard, or processor, and i'm iffy on removing the processor because i have no thermal grease (the processor came with a layer on the heatsink). the only thing capable of running DDR2 in my house happens to be the computer i'm building (upgrading from a 7yr old dell, 7 years!!!). i think the motherboard is running, the LEDs from my fans are running, as well as the processor fan and case lights. unfortunately the board has no LEDs on itself to give notice of functionality. and of course my vidcard is PCI-E and well a 7yr old dell can even use agp so...

i have yet to try the hdmi port on my vid card, i will try that tomorrow.

Does your 9800 GT video card have a dedicated 6-pin power connection located at its rear? most new video cards require external power, if so make sure that is connected.

Also

Your GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P motherboard has an integrated video card, remove your dedicated video card (9800GT) and run the monitor from the integrated video card's VGA output. If you still get no display then you know that the 9800 GT isn’t the problem.


When you installed the motherboard did you use stand off screws? they are these gold screws that raise the motherboard off the case about a half inch to stop the motherboard from short circuiting. Failing to use stand offs can result in a damaged motherboard.

Do not be afraid to remove the heatsink and re-adjust it, most new motherboards will stop the system from powering up fully if the heatsink isn’t secure properly for safety reasons.

Finally, it could very well be that your GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P has not been equipped with the latest firmware from the factory. If you were unfortunate to of received one of the first revisions of the motherboard because the shop had it in the stock room for donkeys years, I believe the board uses the nForce 630a chipset which is like 4 years old! so it very well might not have the latest firmware upon your purchase and hence it might be incompatible with the newer Athlon II X3 processors until it gets that updated firmware.

 

[fenrir888]

i know my mobo is compatible with my processor because it is clearly stated all over the box that is covers AMD phenom II, phenom, anthlon II, anthlon, and sempron processors

my monitor does NOT have selectable inputs, its a flat screen Dell monitor from my old pc thats 7yrs old, it has the blue connector (i forget which one that is)

i did use the raisers i do have the 6-pin in the vid card (though for now i'm not even gonna use the thing until i get a proper post. it is seated properly though. and i have tried without it ending with the same result

the only reason i dont want to remove the processor is that i dont have thermal grease and a cleaner at home.

the problem as far as i can tell is between the RAM,Mobo, and Processor, because i have everything else unconnected atm and still get teh same result.