Building a new PC, defective mobo?

[Kleffman]

Hey Guys I've had great experiences here before so I thought I'd throw this question out to you again.

Bought a pretty sweet new system, been waiting anxiously for a week and it finally came. Just for reference I'm building this:

Intel P4 630, 3.0 GHz
Asus P5ND2-SLI motherboard
eVGA GeForce 6800 GS
Antec True power 2.0 550W power
Crucial, 1 GB PC4200 RAM
Lian-Li PC-7B Plus case
Using my current seagate HD and NEC burner.

Anyway, needless to say I'm pretty excited. I'm pretty savy with electronics too so rule out stupid things (not plugged in). Here's the problem I'm having. I assembled the mobo with cpu, ram, video and was just going to boot it into the bios, make sure the above is recognized, and then start adding hard drives and optical drives etc. Well I plug it in and there is no standby light illuminated on the mobo plus that funny "something is burned out" smell. The power button won't work, no power to anything. I've verified connections a thousand times and it's fine. I'd say the motherboard is fried, but can't see how it's my fault (I even wear a static wrist strap). Is it possible that other things burned out in the process like the video card, ram, cpu? I'm really worried now, and am RMAing the mobo with newegg, but if I get a new one and other things are still burned out I'm in a world of hurt. Any thoughts?

Thanks guys!

 

[rvnguy]

I would check first post of new mobo out of the case.

You possibly had a standoff shorting or not.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[Kleffman]

The other funny symptom is that when I switched the video card to the 2nd PCI-E slot the mobo standby light would illuminate, but still no power to anything. I thought of the grounded standoff problem too, but I'm not sure if that's consistent with this...

 

[electronicsfreak]

Well even though you might of just suggesting it again to be sure. First check for any buldging or leaking capictors on the board. Second if there arent any and if that 1GB is actually 2 512 sticks then put only one stick in at a time switching sticks. If one lights up and the other dont, the one that dont is the bad stick of ram. If neither do then the problem is probally elsewhere unless by some odd reason you have 2 bad chips of ram which is very rare. Also unplug it, read the manual on resetting the bios. Then plug it back in and turn it on. Let us know the results

 

[Kleffman]

could a bad stick of RAM cause absolutely no power though? I'm talking cold silence, I can't even get a fan to spin. I did however verify in another computer that the power supply is fine. I'll test the ram just in case before I return the motherboard, but unless I fried it I have a feeling the RAM is fine...thanks for the tips, keep em coming if anyone has any great ideas!

 

[electronicsfreak]

well its possible to do either. These boards now and days i wouldnt put anything past them. Although usually what I do see is no video and them turning on so it is a possibility that the board is fried. Here is an idea I just now thought of. Give the old afro engineering way of trying, take the board out of the case , lay it on something (non metal or conductive of course lol) , then hook up the basic components and see if it works. If it does you know it grounded to the case.

 

[paparazi]

Definately take everything out the case.
Place the motherboard on the box it cam in with the I/O side to one edge so the graphics card bracket can hang over.
Fit one stick of ram
CPU with heatsink/fan
graphics card
Power supply
Make sure********

You have any extra power connectors on the motherboard plugged in (main and P4 but could be more)

You have seperate power going to the 6800GS (think it has on)

Reset the bios using the cmos clear jumper (if it has them) or by removing the battery for 10minutes.

Now momentarily touch the pwr (power) header pins.

Post back with results.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Kleffman]

thanks, I will try this tonight and let you know the results.

 

[Kleffman]

Hey, so I tried all of the above suggestions and no such luck. I guess the motherboard is fried, because I can't even get the standby light to come on. I'm returning the mobo to newegg today and hopefully it's just that, because if it fried other parts somehow then it's bad times for me.

 

[Kleffman]

thought I'd come back and update this thread..

I got my motherboard replaced, and everything seems to be fine now!! Haven't put an OS on there yet because I've got a SATA drive coming tomorrow and I'd rather put it on that, but otherwise it all seems to be running well. So the motherboard was dead, and it didn't affect other parts. Thanks for the help to anyone that replied!

 

[rvnguy]

Thank you for bring this full circle.

Glad you are in business now.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[paparazi]

Respect
As rvnguy says, bringing the thread full circle with a conclusion helps everyone to learn by your experience.
Much appreciated.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.