Ok, so i just built a PC from scratch (not my first time). i had the basics seated in (no hd, no cd, no g-card) - switched the switch for a prelim. test, whoooaaaaaaa it worked, lol. Registered CPU (correctly might i add), registered RAM, so i turned it off, too continue. I put everything else in, go to trun on and........nothing. Mobo mains LED lights up for a split second, fans move half a twitch, then everything goes dead, nothing. First time it happened, i had the nasty feeling i musta blown the PSU - so i replaced it - still nothing. Reconnected everything again, nothing, now i'm gonna disconnect all and reset the CMOS, but was hoping for some advice in the meantime. Is the CPU fried?? Am i being dumb?? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AMD Duron 850 (crappy, but dirt cheap)
Chaintech 7aja
30gb Samsung HD
Samsung CD-Rom
Geforce2 MX-400 64mb
Sound balster live
250w PSU
a big fat heatsink (that won't clip in right, lol)

Help a newb pls!

Ben

Welcome Ben0305,

I would suggest you start over with the basics, i.e. CPU, RAM, and video card. If this works add the HDD, then the CD-ROM, and finally the soundcard. This will make troubleshooting easier. I'm just wondering if you fried something on the motherboard.

Hang in there, the Pro's will sort you out.

Supa Dupa.

tried it - nothing

Have you tried with the board out of the case? Might be a ground problem. The extra movement might have revealed this.

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If I tell you to think for yourself, then you're not doing it.
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This is not directed at those asking questions in order to gain knowledge. That shows you are thinking.

checked it - its not - i'm gonna keep everything apart overnight, maybe some success in the morning. thx for the advice so far - and pls, keep it comin!

"Is the CPU fried??"..."a big fat heatsink (that won't clip in right, lol)"

No LOL about it, very possibly.
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

If the fan moves then stops, you have a short in your system. The only way to identify where is to remove EVERYTHING, then replace one by one... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/redface.gif

Hello !

I have kinda the same problem in the segment :
"... Mobo mains LED lights up for a split second, fans move half a twitch, then everything goes dead, nothing... "
I just build my first pc and it worked. Then i entered bios and changed some settings ( set RAM to 400 since i bought DDR400, then i might have tepmered with something in power managment - not sure, also i changed CPU clock from 100 to 166, multiplyer (CPU ratio) set from default to x10 - which is default, and last i changed the Add Voltage from +0.20 to 0.00 ( that was the DIMM voltage) )
I changed CPU clock because i have bought a Sempron 2400+ and thats the default settings. ( or so i have read ) OK. After changing the settings i save it, reboot, system goes to the blue screen for installing windows ( not the error blue :P ) and then jsut shuts off.
After it shuts off i get the same problem as Ben0305, which i have stated earlier. Oh yea, i checked the PSU and it works. I reset the CMOS. When it crashed, i didnt see any smoke or any noticable hardware damage. I unplugged everything except the 20pin and the 4 pin connector. Still the same. Plz some help, im out of ideas.

My specs:
Sempron 2400+
EpoX 8VTAI
PSU: LC Power 6420 ( 420 W )
GeForce G4 Ti4200
120gb WD
Cooling: Zalman CNPS6000-Al


anything will be greatly appreciated.

Hi islord - welcome aboard. You'll need to start your own thread for your problem - otherwise no-one will be sure who we are talking to when we give out the advice.

Ben0305 - Welcome to the Forums!

Could you clarify whether your graphics card is installed or not? this is an important part of the boot process - no graphics card will usually make the system fail. otherwise........
If the system fired up ok with no load, but fails under load there are several possibilities - a short is one, but the first place I'd look is heat.

Checkpoints - your CPU. Make sure that the heatsink (awkward aren't they?!) is correctly fitted, and you MUST use thermal paste as a conductor between it and the cpu. Make sure the cpu itself is seated correctly.
Ensure that the cpu fan is correctly powered.
If the system comes with a 4 pin cpu power lead, ensure this is plugged in correctly.
systems protect themselves pretty well if there is a heat problem with the cpu, and will just shut down immediately if things seem amiss.

Shorts:
Disconnect all the drives (it is usually a good idea to remove the mobo from the case, and do a barebones boot -place the mobo with graphics card attached on a piece of cardboard or other non-conductive surface) and see if the system will boot again.
Check the IDE cable for any damage. use a cd drive, set to 'cable select' and connect it to the END of the ide cable, (make sure the drive is connected to power as well!) and try booting again - if this is successful, then do the same with the hdd.
If you have been using an 'out of case' boot up to this point and things go ok, power off, disconnect everything and replace the mobo in the case, ensuring that the correct standoffs are used, then go through the routine of adding components one at a time checking to see if things work.