Asus P6T Deluxe V2 + i7 920 build = blank screen

[rails]

Totally gutted. Was looking forward to playing on this wicked system but I get nothing on screen.No beep(not sure if mobo has built in speaker tho).

My components:
Asus P6t deluxe v2
i7 920
OCZ 6GB DDR3 1600Mhz OCZ3G1600LV6GK
640GB Caviar Black
corsairs 750w TX psu
sapphire hd 4890 oc

When I power up, everything whirls - cpu hsf is spinning, gpu fan spins+3 red leds on the gpu are on (not sure wot it means). However, the blue led near the dimm slots are not on. When I switch the power off, the dimm led flashes for a second.
*edit: I removed the HSF to see if the cpu was getting hot, and after leaving pc on with the blank screen for a minute or so, the cpu is already pretty warm. Is that normal?

I've tried the usual troubleshoots - remove everything and only try booting with cpu+gpu+psu+1 ram dimm(tried all 3 dimms that I have). Nothing. Nada. Monitor is blank. No beep, nothing flashing on mobo. Also tried clearing cmos jumper and removed cmos battery as well.

I'm really frustrated. I've done a google, and I've seen some people with similar problems and the forum veterans imply that the p6t deluxe v2 boards have been shipping DOA or with half dead cmos batteries. I don't know...the board doesnt seem doa as everything else seems to connect. I don't have spare parts to test (e.g. extra RAM) further.

What do you guys suggest I do?

[piggin23]

Have you plugged the P8 power supply connection into the motherboard (top left hand corner, next to the cpu).

[rails]

yep. done that. i have a feeling its the mobo but its hard to tell cos everything else connected to it seems to work. the ram dimm leds are a bit curious tho...should it be on all the time?

[rails]

update: i just realised that optical mouse doesn't light up as when PC is turned on. Given all the previous symptoms mentioned, it's beginning to look like a mobo fault. Do you guys agree?

[atmadden]

Could still be any of them unless you can test the cpu and gpu in another system you will probably have to send back all three. It will be trial and error to find out.

[filbert]

I removed the HSF to see if the cpu was getting hot, and after leaving pc on with the blank screen for a minute or so, the cpu is already pretty warm. Is that normal?

You said your other post was confusing, this sounds like your digging a deeper hole.

[Tagster]

That's the thing with tech that's so new that you can't swap out to another system to check it out! Does your Hard Drive spin up? Can you try another monitor, with a different connection type (eg VGA)?

[rails]

You said your other post was confusing, this sounds like your digging a deeper hole.

not sure what you're getting, filbert.

i removed the hsf to see if the cpu was warm (should have made this bold and underline as the title for my next sentence):
I left the pc on for a minute. turned if off, then removed the hsf to see if the cpu was warm.

is that better? i thought this was a help forum, not an english lit critique. if you're trying to point out that the cpu can't be run properly without a hsf, then thank you very much. that's why i bought an additional hsf - titan fenrir. i wouldn't have bought that if i figured the retail intel hsf was good enough for my needs. i'm trying to put as much detail as i can so the forums members can help me. it's a bit frustrating when your new build doesn't work, so pardon me if i havent structured my sentences in the most logical way that would leave little room to doubt what i'm trying to explain. nonetheless, this isn't really helping my issue. if you have any other advice, that would be most welcome.

tagster, you're right. i was stumped when i couldn't think of anything else to test it out with. Ive tried it with an LCD and CRT monitor. hard drive spins up, as does the dvd rw drive.

[piggin23]

Did you purchase this from SCAN?
If you did you can RMA all the items and they will tell you where your problem is. (very helpful)
As Tagster says the core i7 is still very new and finding someone to swap items with for testing is very hard.
With ASUS and OCZ there have been known compatibility issued over the years (more P & X series)
I dont know if this is still the same but I could not get my P35 & X38 systems to work with ASUS & OCZ components.

[rails]

hi piggin,
cpu mobo and gpu from scan.
I was thinking RMA would be a lot of hassle for both sides, but I guess after troubleshooting this amount, there's not much else I can do on my own. I've sent an RMA/tech query to scan. Will wait for one of the scan guys to pick it up.

I was thinking of just contacting scan directly without posting on the forum, but thought it might turn into a helpful thread for anyone else who's in a similar situation.

What happened with your asus X38 and OCZ? Just would not post or it posts, but problems getting it working properly?

I don't know if it's the RAM issue for me though. I wouldn't have thought it would cause the 3 LED lights on the GPU to appear as well. Oh well, fingers crossed, see what scan can do.

[filbert]

not sure what you're getting, filbert.

i removed the hsf to see if the cpu was warm (should have made this bold and underline as the title for my next sentence):
I left the pc on for a minute. turned if off, then removed the hsf to see if the cpu was warm.

is that better? i thought this was a help forum, not an english lit critique. if you're trying to point out that the cpu can't be run properly without a hsf, then thank you very much. that's why i bought an additional hsf - titan fenrir. i wouldn't have bought that if i figured the retail intel hsf was good enough for my needs. i'm trying to put as much detail as i can so the forums members can help me. it's a bit frustrating when your new build doesn't work, so pardon me if i havent structured my sentences in the most logical way that would leave little room to doubt what i'm trying to explain. nonetheless, this isn't really helping my issue. if you have any other advice, that would be most welcome.

tagster, you're right. i was stumped when i couldn't think of anything else to test it out with. Ive tried it with an LCD and CRT monitor. hard drive spins up, as does the dvd rw drive.

Ok sorry but it sounds like you ran the pc with no hsf in both threads.
No need to remove the hsf, you can feel the heat in that, it proves current is getting to the cpu, but because it gets warm doesn't mean it's ok.
Sounds like the only thing you can check is the gpu, have you got(or can borrow) any old pci, or pci-e to test with?

[rails]

Ok sorry but it sounds like you ran the pc with no hsf in both threads.
No need to remove the hsf, you can feel the heat in that, it proves current is getting to the cpu, but because it gets warm doesn't mean it's ok.
Sounds like the only thing you can check is the gpu, have you got(or can borrow) any old pci, or pci-e to test with?

=)
believe it or not, i was posting in hexus, tomshardware and going back to my build, every half hour back to forums again. i was really rushed and frustrated so i wasnt really thinking how to structure my posts.

by the way, i couldnt feel any heat from the hsf fan, thats why i removed it (AFTER i switched off, heh). bear in mind that since the rig never 'post'ed, i usually switch off the power after 30 seconds or so.

no pci/e gpu. my last card was an agp. can you believe that? thats why i wanted to build a pretty top end rig, now you can imagine my utter disappointment...bought several games, far cry 2, mirror's edge and lost planet extreme condition (apparently makes use of 64 bit addressing) and I still haven't opened them cause I cant get the stupid rig to work.

ive got fail written across my forehead.

[piggin23]

I would phone SCAN and speak to them directly. (more expensive but you get a decisive answer and things move along)

As for the x38 motherboard and the ocz ram - it would start to post but then fail. (would not see the ram). I ended up getting around this by selling the ram and purchasing corsair

[rails]

thanks pigging. Got an RMA now and it's not been as painful as I thought it might be..

[piggin23]

I think SCAN are very good with their RMA's
They will sort it out and you will be up and running in no time.