P5Q-Pro System - Won't post, please help!

[ackbar_909]

I've just built a new computer based around an ASUS P5Q-Pro motherboard. The specs are:

Motherboard: P5Q-Pro
Graphics card: Gecube Radeon 4850
HDD(s): Western Digital 320 AAKS and WD 5000 AAKS
CPU - Intel 6850 Core 2 Duo
CPU cooler: Xigmatek HDT-1283
Power supply: Corsair 520W HX
RAM - 2x1GB Corsair PC2-6400 DDR2

Some of the parts aren't exactly new and were taken from my previous machine, the ram, case, cpu, fans, optical drive and one of the HDD are all from the old pc.

Basically I've wired everything up, double checked that all the cables are properly in place and everything is seated correctly but the computer won't post/display anything on startup. I've tested the output rails on the power supply (12V, 5V, 5Vsb and 3.3V) and all were normal. I've swapped the RAM with some spare I had around and so I don't think that is the problem. I know the hard drives are working and all the fans are moving so there is more than sufficient cooling.

My thoughts so far are:

- Could the processor be dead? I've no way of checking, I know it used to work and the cooler is definitely on ok (have already tried reseating). Would a motherboard post if the cpu wasn't working?

- Graphics card, I don't know for certain what's happening with the computer as I get no output from the graphics card. I've tried 2 different monitors and cables, both PCI-e slots on the motherboard but still the same. One thing I did notice is that on the back of the card a red light flashes when the power is turned on, is this normal for a 4850?

- Finally motherboard, I guess it could be broken but I'm not sure how to test besides swapping it into another machine (not an option in this case unfortunately), the 24 pin and 8 pin power connectors are certainly connected and since I've tested the output on a volt-meter I know they are providing power. What else can I do?

I'm sort of at a loss for what to do and a friend pointed me in the direction of this forum so hopefully someone can help me?

Thanks for reading all that, comments would be much appreciated!

[Viper81]

Do you get any beep codes when the system powers on?
My first thought would be either the motherboard or psu (it's hard to actually test a psu as you don't know how it going to behave under load). Have you tried powering on with a minimal setup, i.e. cpu, memory, graphics and keyboard only?
You mention some of the bits are from another system, did you reset the BIOS before adding the new parts?

[ackbar_909]

There are no beep codes, not sure if this is a good thing or not, i've read the list in the manual and there is no mention of a no code situation.

I have reset the bios if by that you mean using the clear cmos jumper on the board. That didn't change anything. I am at the moment on a bare bones system, just psu, motherboard, cpu. ram and keyboard. No change as of yet.

[ZIrdem]

Seems likely to be the mobo, it could have been DOA, its rare but it does happen unfortunatley

[ackbar_909]

Hmmm, it has a green light showing that it's receiving power so it is definitely running. Also anything plugged into it (e.g. fans on the headers) also run. Is it still likely that the motherboard is the culprit? Any way I can test it?

[Viper81]

Have you tried powering on without the graphics card (just to try and get a different result from the motherboard)? You should definitely get error beeps then!

[ackbar_909]

I have now. I got nothing, the manual says it should be one long beep and 3 short ones for no vga detected. I also tried without the ram and didn't get the beep code for that either. Either the board is dead or the speaker is broken (seems unlikely to me). Guess it's time to send it back. Still don't get why the power light works though.

Really annoyed to be honest, I'd spent a while putting everything together and done a pretty good job of cable management and it was all a waste of time

[Viper81]

Bummer, well at least it's under warranty Let us know how you get on once it's swapped out.

[McstylisT]

Very sorry to hear this. I have the same board too.

If you also look in the manual there are only specific ram modules you can use. It states what ones are tested to work by the ID number. Check these out.

Also try only 1 ram stick. It may boot with only 1 but not all your memory.

I have the exact same problem when i installed my 8GB ram. When it was all installed it did the exact same thing you mentioned without a beep and my monitor would flash and not boot.

It worked with only 1 ram module , and i was able to enter the bios. It was set at the wrong voltage by the system and the timings were all wrong too. I amended them to what was posted on the OCZ website and i was finally able to use the 8GB mem on a successful boot.

I would give it another few goes before you send it back my friend. Its a really nice board for the price.

McT

[ackbar_909]

Hmmm, very interesting to hear you had the same problem. I did check the RAM modules against the list in the manual and found the matching serial numbers. I have previously tried one stick at a time but I think I'll give it one more go. Think I'll have a run through of every possible set up I can think of before giving up, got to be worth it.

It's not like an RMA request is going to be dealt with until after the weekend now anyway. Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions, it's very helpful to have thoughts other than your own, i'd hate to send this back thinking it was broken just because I missed one little thing in the set-up!

[McstylisT]

We can only try my friend.

I hope you find a solution. Keep us posted too.

Regards

McT

[glorylin]

Hi all, i'm a new user here and I was searching for solutions on my new gaming rig and spotted this thread. To the thread starter I have a similar issue at the moment. I received all my equipment a few days ago and actually was stress testing all my items for stability when I started getting freezing and hang ups.

I decided to reformat because I figured there was a driver conflict... i went upstairs while i was reformatting and when I come back down I get no image on my monitor, so I restart my pc and I get no post, no beeps or display. But like yourself I get that green LED light, and I also tried CMOS resets and memory placement.

I pretty much crossed out 80% of the things that could have possibly went wrong out the window due to the fact that the setup was working perfectly for a few days. I don't think memory compatibility is an issue, I don't really think my cpu or vid card would die instantly.. I did do some light overclocking but nothing serious... anyways i've dealt with enough computers to know that motherboards and powersupplies are the most common source of no post.

I'm thinking my motherboard died out on me, or my psu did but more inclined towards the motherboard at this moment... i'm still trying to figure it out myself, but whatever the case I will most likely rma both and try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[glorylin]

i did further testing last night, took everything out of the case and tried to diagnose stuff very closely. I took out the video card and there were no beeps, took out the ram and no beeps either. I did more research on the motherboard on new egg and there are several complaints about the board not posting. I'm going to RMA both my motherboard and PSU and go for a higher end motherboard i guess.

[ackbar_909]

Ebuyer responded pretty quickly to my RMA request and having now installed the new board the system does POST. Which is a lot better than before and proves it was the board at fault.

New problem now though. I can't boot into windows. I think it's most likely something to do with the BIOS settings but I'm not really sure what to change. All the startup tests run fine and it correctly lists the devices the computer has. At the next screen it then says:

Marvell 88SE61xx Adapter - BIOS version 1.1.0.L70d
Initializing...

Adapter 1
Disks Information:
No hard disk detected!

Which makes no sense since the first screen correctly showed both the systems hard disks. After this screen it will then pause for about 30 seconds and then the windows xp logo appears. The computer then resets

Thinking that the installation may be corrupt I got out the XP install disk and tried to boot from that with a view to performing either a repair or total new installation. However whilst loading the information from the cd the system goes to BSOD. I tried another copy of the XP boot disk and got the same problem so again I think it's the computer that is at fault.

Browsing the manual I tried to find some BIOS settings that would be relevant to my problem, I'm not really sure what will help though. And another thing I can't find anything about 'Marvell 88SE61xx Adapter' anywhere in the manual, what is it?

[glorylin]

actually i had a similar problem, my pc broke down as i was reformatting.. went to take a shower and came back and it was busted haha.. I don't know if I can point the finger at the motherboard but it's not friendly that's for sure. Good luck with your problems and keep the thread updated. I'll let you know what happens when I get a different motherboard. The only real problem I might have if my pc is up and running is trying to transfer my new vista license to this new motherboard after activating it for a couple of days

[ackbar_909]

Good luck with yours, I never did find out specifically what was broken on my old board but it's good to at last be past the post stage!

I did earlier manage to get another result with my system, it put the usual messages up but actually loaded the windows screen. Thing is no USB devices were powered so I couldn't use the mouse or keyboard. Tried other ports but none of them were on. This was really weird since they were on before I got to that screen (I know because I had to select safe mode or normal mode with the keyboard). Not really sure what to do about that either.