Problem with AS Rock K7S8XE/Nvidia GeForce FX5200

[n00b007]

Ok, new to the forum and semi new to computers so try not to rip me apart too bad =). Just bought a brand new case and the AS Rock K7S8XE mb. Came with 1gb of DDR RAM and the processor which were all said to be compatable. I spent about 8 hours when I frist got the mb trying to figure out why it wouldn't even power up only to find that the grommets to keep board from shorting weren't long enough. I doubled the grommets and powered it up. YAAAAY! the power came on all 3 case fans came on, the neon light came on, I could hear the HD spinning, and I watched the video card fan spin. Life seemed to be great until I looked up at the monitor only to find there was no visual. I have a newer monitor that shows when there is no signal detected but regardless I hooked up another monitor. That didn't work. Though skeptical that 2 monitors could be bad I tried a 3rd then a 4th. Definately NOT the monitors. Reseated the video card. Rebooted...still same thing. Reseated the RAM. Rebooted...same thing. I decided to troll tech boards to see if I could get an answer and didn't find what I was looking for. Then I decided to try another video card. I tried the video card from my 2nd machine to be sure it wasn't the video card. Powered up machine and got same thing. Then I decided to check to see if maybe it was the AGP slot by taking out the PCI card from my 3rd computer and testing in the new computer. Nada. The wierd thing is I am not getting any beeps and since I don't have a signal I am ASSUMING it is going to BIOS. My power supply is 420W max and this video card isn't super new so I know it isn't a power issue. The onboard speaker is plugged in so I know I should be getting a beep or something at least but there is nothing. I guess this is where I politely scream, "HELP! Please." =)
Thanks in advance.

 

[paparazi]

Hi! n00b007, Quote:
the grommets to keep board from shorting weren't long enough. I doubled the grommets and powered it up.
You mean brass standoff's? or sprung standoff mount's? either way I am very suspect as to wether you have carried out this part of the build correctly.
These standoff's can only be used on the 7 dedicated mounting points (10 if you have the full width ATX version) these mounting points are recognisable as bright rings of bare solder, under no circumstanced should a "metal" standoff be used on the motherboard in any other position.
The symptom you describe is typical of an extra metal standoff fitted and shorting the motherboard.
Clear the cmos (use the cmos clear jumper with the power off)
Also another very common mistake on socket A motherboards is to fit the CPU heatsink the wrong way around and sometimes without paste.
Fit so the ofset gap or recess on the base of the heatsink is located over the raised cam box of the CPU socket, failure to do this will result in an overheated and damaged processor.
Last but not least, it isn't unusual for a failed power supply to spin the fans but fail to allow boot, this is when one or more of the PSU's power rails go down.
Martin


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