Hi,

I am assembling a new workstation,

Intel P4 2.4 800 MHz
ASUS P4P800-VM
1GB (2 512 Kingston RAM)

When I turn on the power supply and CPU fan spin a second the shut off.
I have the MB out of the case on cardboard surface still nothing.

Any suggestions?

Check the wall outlet for the correct voltage, bypass the surge arrestor, and try a different main computer power cord.

If no luck, then check the CMOS battery for the correct voltage(3V).
If that's ok, then make sure the 'Clear CMOS' MB jumper is not in the 'Clear' position.
If the jumper is in the proper position, then turn off the power, disconnect the power cord, and clear CMOS either with the MB jumper or by removing the CMOS battery for at least 30 minutes.

If that does not work, then do a barebones installation with only the power supply, MB, CPU, memory, video card, monitor, case speaker, and power button, and make sure the power supply's voltage selector switch is set to the correct voltage and the PS connection to the MB is securely seated.

If you get a display, then connect each drive and install each card one at a time.
If the problem reoccurs after a specific drive or card is installed, then that device is the cause. Replace it.

If the problem still happens after the barebones installation, then slightly raise the PS main power connector out of the MB connector a little. If the system fires up, then the connector on either the PS or the MB is bad.

If none of the above worked, then make sure the computer case power button's wires are securely connected to the correct MB terminal(POW-ON, Power On, etc.), and that the wires are not shorting out(bare spots). If that's ok, then remove the power button's wires from the terminal, and momentarily short out the MB terminals with a screwdriver. If the system now works, then the 'Power On' button assembly is bad.

If still no luck, then either the power supply or MB may be bad, and in your case they have to be swapped out to find out which one is bad.
Normally the power supply can be checked for proper voltages with a voltmeter, but the system has to be powered up to do this, and yours stays powered up for only a second or so.

Assuming that you already have a barebones config set up, check your connections, particularly the CPU fan to the motherboard and the Clear CMOS jumper to make sure they are set up properly. Check to make sure the power plug is in securely. If they are all okay, check the seating of the RAM and the CPU. If everything looks good, you probably have a bad board and/or CPU.

A couple of thoughts...

1. Be sure the power supply you are using is strong enough to power up your system (I would think a MINIMUM 350W) and agree with ski to check the voltages.

2. That board is rated for 4GB RAM, so you should be OK, especially with Kingston RAM; however, just for testing purposes, try each stick separately. It's not unheard of for even brand-new parts to be defective. It's happened to me more than once! Also, remove and reseat the memory and video card several times. Some AGP cards are notorious for being difficult to completely seat properly.

3. I've had systems that require some load to boot, so try adding a hard drive to your barebones config to see if that helps.

4. Not to be insulting of your skill in any way :), be sure to check the switch on the back of your power supply to be sure it's set to the correct voltage.

5. Doublecheck the HSF installation to be sure it's making good contact with the CPU. I don't know if P4s run hot like Athlons, but I've had similar symptoms with CPUs overheating within seconds and powering down until I reseated the HSF properly.

Maybe none of these will help, but it can't hurt to try. ;)

Kimbo

Edited to add one more:
That board has fan/temperature monitors, so be sure the HSF monitor is plugged into the board. Some systems will not boot if the CPU temperature monitor isn't connected (another personal learning experience!).

Double check the fan wiring. If the fan has 3 wires make sure they are plugged into the Motherboard correctly.

Thank you for your replies.

I finally found the problem, for this MB you have to have the 20 pin and 4 pin 12V connected to provide enough power to the CPU. This is the first Intel I have built. Never had this happen with AMD boards.

Keith

Glad to hear that you got things working ok.
And thanks for posting back with the solution.