Computer won't POST. Please help.

loss4words

Weaksauce
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Aug 31, 2007
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So I decided to go from Dual Core to Quad Core CPU on my DS3L board. Installed the new CPU, but now the PC won't POST. It doesn't give me any beeps. On the monitor it just gives a "No Signal" message. I unplugged everything except the CPU and heatsink and plugged back only the essential parts (ram, hard drive, gpu) but it still didn't work. Also, tried to clear CMOS. I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.
 
You may need to update the BIOS to support the new processor.

Give us the complete spec of your system so that we can better diagnose it.
 
try your old CPU and see if it boots, if it does, then u should update your mobo bios.

Otherwise try putting the CPU, the HS-fan and the PSU in (the pc speaker should be plugged in) Test the system and see if u get error beeps, that way u would be eliminating variables, happy hunting ;)
 
The specs:

GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard
Q6600 CPU (used to be E4400 before I changed it)
ATI Saphire Radeon x1950gt 256mb 256- bit graphics card
A-Data 4gb ram (currently just 1 stick inserted)
80gb western digital IDE hard drive
xclio goodpower 500W PSU

It's not much by today's standards, but it's the only thing I could afford :)

Couple of questions questions: How would I update the bios if I can't turn the pc on? And also if it was a CPU issue, wouldn't the pc boot at all? Thanks for all your replies.
 
as i told you, test your mobo with your old CPU, or get yourself another one, ask a friend to do u a favor.
 
Thanks for replying, DFB.

I tried putting in the old CPU and the heatsink fan starts up for 2 seconds and then it stops. No beeps or anything. I tried putting the Q6600 back in and everything works fine but no beeps again. It could be that I'm connecting something the wrong way but I'm just out of ideas what I could be doing wrong...

I don't have another computer in which I could test if it's the motherboard issue or not. Is there any other way I could make sure that it's the motherboard that's faulty before I buy a new one?
 
If you were overclocking or not using default settings for bus speed, Vcore etc, they will likely be used on the new CPU.
There may have been some CMOS auto config applied when putting in the Q6600 which has messed the CMOS up for your old chip as well.

Reset the CMOS and see if it helps with your old chip then work from there.
 
I didn't do any overclocking but I tried clearing the CMOS anyway. No effect :(

If I were to buy a new motherboard for my Q6600 what is the best value for up to $200? I hope to be doing a lot of gaming on it, no overclocking or at least very little, no SLI needed.
 
So I bought an Abit IP35-E motherboard. POST issues are now gone but there's some new stuff that I just don't understand. First off upon booting up the PC everything turns on for few seconds, then everything turns off, then it boots up again. It seems to be working and I could get into my OS but ever since the 2nd boot I keep getting thes e continious beeps. I just don't understand what it could be. The PC detects the right clock speed of CPU, sees RAM, obviosly hard drive and GPU also since it's booting up and I see the output on the monitor. Any suggestions?
 
Apparently the continious beep was because BIOS sees my CPU Fan as 0 RPM eventhough I could see the heatsink fan working just fine. It also says that none of my other fans are working while they are. How could I fix this? Also computer only detects 2 cores out of 4 cores on CPU...Should I reseat the CPU or is it something having to do with the BIOS? This is the first time I'm seeing anything like this.
 
Its possible the cpu fans speed monitor isnt working.
Try plugging another fan in the socket with a known working speed sensor.
alternatively, change the setting in CMOS to stop it halting when the CPU fan is stopped.

Just a note, the old motherboard might be ok, it could have been refusing to turn on because of the faulty speed sensor.
Usually though, you can get through the first part of the post so you can at least get into the CMOS.
Still its worth a try using a different fan on the CPU header.

Someone else may be able to help with detecting all 4 cores.
My first suspect would be an old BIOS.
Check for newer releases.
 
Thanks for replying, Nenu. Updating the BIOS didn't help but made things worse :( Not only can't I utilize all 4 cores, but my PCI Wireless Card won't get detected and any changes I make (something like changing desktop resolution) go to the way it was before after restart.

I kind of wish I just stayed with my E4400 and never bought the quad core. All it did is give me trouble. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Well, I put in my E4400 CPU back and it works like a charm. The issues that I had with Q6600 are gone. My question is this: is installing a quad core cpu differs from installing a dual core? Maybe I'm just not inserting it the right way and it doesn't read all cores...It seems to be slighty larger to me than the dual core.
 
Was the BIOS only seeing 2 cores, or Windows?

You don't have to do anything special when you install the Q6600, it goes in just like the older Core 2 Duos.
 
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