help! first time builder, new build, won't post...

I

inbox899

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New build: gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l rev2, evga 8800gts 512, e8400, corsair hx620w, gskill 2-2gb ddr-800, wdigital caviar se16 640gb, ac freezer 7 pro

I am hearing that this motherboard does not support the e8400, except with the newest bios update (rev 8a). I understand it is shipping with rev 7. I have also read from reviews at newegg that the board is recognizing the chip right out of the box.

Question: will the board refuse to post if the chip is not recognized, or would it post and say "chip not recognized" or some such?

Also: I do not have another, older lga 775 chip sitting around. Is it possible to update the bios some other way? Possibly contact gigabyte and have a new bios chip sent?

And: does anybody have a good suggestion as to what to do to troubleshoot short of completely disassembling the system?

Any advice is welcome
 
Did you make sure to connect the 4pin cpu power connector? many first time builders forget this and they think they have a bad MB. Do you hear any beeps? lights turn on? fans turn?
 
yes, the 4 pin is connected. All the fans spin up, including the video card fan. The front of the case lights up. No beeps. I have an antec solo case - it apparently has no case speaker. The front i/o ports are all hooked up, and one of them hooks to my hd audio. I plugged in some headphones, but heard nothing. Strangely, if I hit control-alt-del, my number lock, caps lock, and scroll lock lights do their little dance. It's as if something is happening on the system, but it's not making it to the monitor. I couldn't have a bad dvi cable, could I?
 
btw- do you know of anyway to update the bios on a board without it posting? Can I replace the bios chip?
 
There is no way to update the bios on the MB without it posting. Take out your video card and reseat it, could be static (rare but it does happen). That board should run an e8400 with the bios it comes with, it is not the problem. Next I would suspect is the psu but the corsair's are quality psu's so that might not be it either. Do you have the 6 pin pci-e connected on your video card?.

I suspect its either the motherboard of the video card. Do you have another video card you can try?
 
No, my old system is agp. The 6pin is connected to the video card. I will try to reseat the card. Any insight on why, when I control-alt-delete, I get some action on keyboard lights?
 
Its probably working and you just don't see the video on your screen in which case its the video card that is problematic but I still suspect the MB is the problem in your case.
 
What exactly do you mean? Do you think the MB's shot, or do you think the video card kapuie? BTW, I appreciate your help. I'm really not sure what to do. Do you think I should pull everything and try to post the just the board and video card outside of the case? I have heard it suggested that the case itself could be shorting the board...
 
I highly doubt that's the case with an antec solo, but you can still try it on a wooden surface of some kind outside the case. It is also possible that you might have gotten an older revision of the board which didn't support the e8400 in the bios. The only way you can fix that is if you use an older socket775 cpu upgrade then plug in the e8400.
 
unfortunately, I don't have an older lga775 chip. My old system has a 1.2 athlon xp (nice!). The board revision is definitely rev 2.0, but I am not sure which bios it has. I heard from someone who recently bought the same board and had a rev 5 bios. Most are supposedly shipping with rev 7. The beta bios gigabyte has posted at their site specifically supporting the wolfdales is 8a. Would the computer do ablsolutely nothing if the chip is not recognized? Not even post? If so, it may very well be my bios revision. If thats the case, I may need to RMA the board and get an ASUS or something with a proven, updated bios. That would suck.
 
btw- I also have an x-fi fatality pci sound card installed. Could that make a difference? I have heard many people have had issues with sound cards, but that wouldn't cause a new build to fail to post, would it?
 
This might help.

1. Nothing but the power supply, CPU,installed on the motherboard, plug your power cord in and turn power on.
2. You should hear a series of long beeps & all your fans should be turning.
3. The board is looking for memory.
4. That tells you your 'board, CPU & power supply are working.
5. Unplug power cord (very important since an ATX power supply always has power to it when the cord is pluged in). Then press power button on PC once to discharge capacitors.
6. Install 1 stick of RAM in the first bank, it should be marked either 0 or 1
7. Plug your power cord in and turn your power on.
8. You should get 1 long and 3 short beeps. It will be looking for the video card.
9. That tells you your PS/'board/CPU/RAM are working.
10. Unplug power cord.
11. Install your video card and plug your monitor into your video card.
12. Plug your power cord in turn your power on.
13. You should get a power up test which is 1 short beep.
14. You should see your CPU/RAM/video reconized on the screen.
15. You will get a disk boot failure because you have no drives installed. In this case every thing you have installed is working.
16. Shut machine down and unplug power cord.
17. Install all your drives, set your BIOS up and install your operating system.


Easy Duzit
 
Are you using DVI to connect to your monitor?

Does your monitor have a VGA port? Use the DVI -> VGA adaptor to see if you get anything.

This happened to me on my old build.. The DVI wouldn't work til windows booted (the welcome screen) but if I used a DVI->VGA I could see the post and all that jazz.

I would give that a shot.
 
Pull a case speaker/buzzer from another system if you can and plug it in, so you can hear the post beeps.

If the case was shorting the board, the system wouldn't turn on and the fans would only spin for a split second.

It could be your DVI cable, do you have another you could try?
 
The troubleshooting guide lines I posted above are meant for exactly the type of problem you are having. New system; won't post. You need to get all the extra stuff out of there to properly figure out whats going on. Using the above method lets you isolate the problem with very little effort. And yes, get the sound card out of there at least until it posts.


Easy
 
I had almost the same exact problem and my video card turned out to be dead
Try using an old pci-e or pci card and see if you can see the post
 
odin said:
yeah beep codes would help
Click to expand...

AGREED.

You'll get a lot of good advice here, but that advice will have you going in multiple directions at once. :p (no offense anyone)

If you can get a case speaker, plug it in. Beep codes will REALLY help us to steer you toward the issue, rather than just "shotgun diagnostics".

If you can't get one, LMK and I'll mail you one. :)
 
My system wasnt suppose to post with my cpu, but it did for some reason. My bios was 1 year old and didnt support the wolfdale e8400. However, it posted but was limiting my cpu speed badly.

I doubt all motherboards are like this so: check the powersupply plugs.

Plug in another video card to check.
 
No offense, but if you guys are really that concerned about the beep codes, you could download the GA-P35-DS3L manual from Gigabyte's website.... ;)
 
tiraides said:
No offense, but if you guys are really that concerned about the beep codes, you could download the GA-P35-DS3L manual from Gigabyte's website.... ;)
Click to expand...

True enough. I actually have a list of beep codes and error codes for the three major BIOS manufacturers.

Now we just need the OP's motherboard to talk to us. It currently has a case of laryngitis. :D
 
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