New build won't power up

[wither2000]

Just built up my new rig:
E6750 duo core with stock fan
Abit IP-35
Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR 6400
8800GTS BFG 320 MB
650W Xclio PSU

When I plug in the power lead the red mobo power LED lights OK. Then when I push the on button on the front of the case, the 'system on' green mobo LED lights and the CPU fan, PSU fan, GPU fan and case fan all start up for about half a second before they all stop and the system LED goes out, leaving just the red mobo power LED lights. About 3 seconds later the green LED and fans all start again then all stop again after half a second and this cycle continues on- off- on - off until I switch off the power.

If I disconnect the 8-pin CPU power connector (ATX12V1 in the abit manual) all fans apart from the CPU fan come on and stay on but the green LED doesn't light. Disconnecting any of the other power leads seems to make no difference

So it seems like if the CPU is attached it is powering down almost the instant it get power? Is it faulty? Anyone else had a similar experience?

[CrazyMonkey]

The 8-Pin power connector is needed, it wont boot without power to the fan.
Have you tried just one stick of ram - Try both individually.

Im pretty sure Abit boards have a LED display that gives error codes, im not sure if there is one present on your board. If there is what does it display?

[Rosaline]

As the system isn't even POSTing and allowing you to get to the BIOS, it's either the CPU, the motherboard, or the power supply. As the system is repeatedly trying to boot up at regular intervals, and you're not reporting the magic smoke escaping, I suspect it's not the PSU to blame.

As always, my first suggestion is to use a spare replacement parts or an alternative system to see which part, when swapped out, results in the problem being fixed.

The problem in this case is that the core 2 duo's bootstrap sequence is failing. It could be either a CPU fault, or a BIOS problem.

[tinners]

I had a very similar problem on my PC when I bought it. It turned out to be a memory problem which was fixed by upping the voltage to manufacturer spec in the BIOS and upgrading the BIOS to a new version. However to get it to boot I had to use a different stick altogether.

[wither2000]

Don't think its the ram as the symptoms are the same with both sticks removed.

[Defenestration]

I had exactly the same symptoms and the mobo was at fault.

[Agent]

The 8-Pin power connector is needed, it wont boot without power to the fan.

Unless they have changed things with the IP series, it will still boot with just the normal 4pin block
The QuadGT certainly will

May sound like a silly question, but is this in a case or out? It could be a short if its inside and this is your first powering up of the system - Build it outside before going crazy with the trouble shooting

[TrentBoy]

I have a similar problem, so ill post here instead of making a new thread.

Finally got the final parts to my new build on wednesday, the build went ok and she powered up first time and installed vista. Thursday everything was fine, apart from Vista's sleep mode not letting me power back up (think it doesnt like USB keyboard/mouse). So this morning I hit my power switch (Antec 900 Gaming Case) and nothing happens at all. I check my PSU (Bluestorm 2 500W), thats powered, check my motherboard (Abit IP-35E) and it has the Red power light. I unplug everything and start again but still nothing happens when hitting the switch.

Now is this likely to be a fault with the case or the motherboard? Seems weird either of them dying after a day and a half of use.

[TrentBoy]

Anyone with any ideas? Best find to quickly find the fault perhaps...

[alexander]

I had this problem exactly.

May sound stupid but have you pushed the PSU cable going into the motherboard COMPLETELY? I had mine 3 quarters in and booted up for a split second, took me around 5 hours to figure out.

[Max Tractor]

get it out of the case, clear CMOS, then minimal component boot, see if it will post

[TrentBoy]

This may sound like a stupid question but how do you boot up a board with it not being inside the case, you know, not being able to hit the on switch.

[Max Tractor]

Few ways, you can connect a spare switch, short the pins(screw driver/jumper) or if your board has a onboard pwr button

[TrentBoy]

Right i might just try putting a jumper on then, i can only see my fault being either the switch o nthe case knackered or the headers on the motherboard gone. Very annoying after 2 days

[cptwhite_uk]

or you can just rest the motherboard on a cardboard box next to the open PC case and use the cables from the PC as normal.

In situations like this it's always best to take everything out as per Max Tractor's advice.

You need to attach:

Motherboard / CPU / 1 stick of RAM at a time (ensure it's in the correct slot for 1 stick, see m/b manual) / Hard drive / Graphics Card / PSU

power up and see what happens. If it doesn't work check all cables thoroughly (unplug/replug) and check you have everything powered and all connection cables attached. If it still doesn't work try a different stick of branded but low spec RAM (which needs low volts, PC4200 256Mb for example), finally try a different graphics card (£7 PCI-E card from daveham's thread in bargains?) or if possible a different CPU so you can update BIOS...

Just a few ideas...

[TrentBoy]

Thanks for the advice. I just feel due to the fact everything was fine wednesday and yesterday and now the entire thing does nothing makes me feel its just the power switch, all thats left to find is if its the the case or the motherboard.