After years of using a horribly outdated computer, i had recently bought something a little bit newer. it worked fine for about a month until i started adding a few things to it. I started off with buying a K7S5A mobo, amd 1600 xp, 256 ddr ram, 300 watt ps, case, hard disk, case, and just recycled all of the rest of the stuff i needed stuff from the older system. everything was going fine with this system for about 3 weeks, until i found that my cd-rom drive was faulty. I bought a new one, and since my processor had been getting pretty hot, i bought a new heat sync and fans along with it. at this point i realized 300 watts might not cut it, so i bought a 350. a week later, when everything got here, i began the surgery. the cd-rom went in without any problem. the the heat sync gave me some trouble because the old one was VERY tightly fit. i used my thumb and a thin metal file to pry it off, i hope that wasnt a bad idea. any way, after that, i began to switch out my power supplies. this presented the largest problem for me. i had never done this before and so i was pretty much diving in head first. when everything seemed in place, i put the case back on and attempted powering up. as the finale, my computer began emitting a pattern of electronic beeps. the monitor was black. I have no idea what went wrong. can someone give me a rundown of what i might have screwed up on? do the power cords go in any certain order? could the metal file have discharged some electricity or soemthing? should i just give up and call somebody to fix it for me? any help would be really appreciate. i am so stuck.

thanks,
will

Hi Will1,
Hmmmmm, by any chance did the file slip and scrape the MOBO? Have you tried reseating the RAM? Reseat the Vid card? What is the "Beep" pattern?

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I would start by making sure that everything that should be powered from the power supply is...trace down the wires and make sure they are connected.

Then check to make sure that the RAM, video card and any other cards are properly seated.

Then start looking for other sources/problems, actually the very first thing I would do is make sure that the fans are coming on when the power is applied....

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mjc
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Note the beep code, it's trying to tell you something. Post back with the exact sequence and that will help us a lot. What BIOS it has will also help.

Power connectors are hard to get backward, that should be an ATX form factor and they're keyed so they can only plug in one way. Also unplug and reseat memory chip(s) and video card, either could have a faulty connection.

To go any further I would need the exact beep code, post with that info, and BIOS brand and maybe we can look up the code and get an idea what it's telling you.

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I was in the very middle of counting beeps when i found that the vid card was indeed ill-set. Duh!! man im glad it wasnt serious. thanks for the help! this message board never ceases to amaze me. i cant believe that this place is free. i appreciate it very much.

just curious... are u using an ECS mobo? ive had a LOT of badluck with those... and i still am...

Congrats on fixing your problem! and welcome to the It world! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif

I use the ECS K7S5A board myself and am quite pleased ( i run a 400 watt ps however )-with DDR PC2100 1GB's of memory and a Geforce3 Ti 500 it smokes any other system i've ever had!

Cheaper than any board i've ever built and powerful to boot! Couldn't ask for anything more. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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