New PC built Monday, still doesn't work!

ZacharyS,

This is all very frustrating now, but this is exactly how each one of us gained our own computer knowledge. Seemed like every other computer I built 8-10 years ago went like this one, and I've built over 100 now. But you learn in the process, get a little jaded about certain brands, and eventually you find that it's a bad IDE cable, poorly seated RAM, BIOS setting, or bad mobo and then everything runs just fine.

A couple of things that jump to mind are (and not having built with this mobo before...)

1. Are the RAM modules paired in the correct slots? This can be a noobie mistake.
2. Try replacing your IDE and/or SATA cables. A bad one can be super infuriating to troubleshoot.
3. If you have an old computer, or a friends that is similar, can you swap in a PSU or RAM to test them?
4. Try the sound card and any other PCI cards in different slots, sometimes some cards will have an issue.

You may be at RMA time though to get a new mobo and/or PSU. Sometimes the restocking fee or shipping can be worth the piece of mind to hopefully eliminate that part as the problem.
 
Yea, I know you're right, but it makes me so mad. Ya know? And will I have to pay for RMA through newegg, since I have 30 days on each part...?

1. Yea, the RAM is right, I checked the mobo. Both are in a blue slot.
2. I'll try that right now
3. My friend seems reluctant to even take his GPU out, and the fact of the matter is, he apparantly doesn't feel comfortable knowing mine doesn't work... (I only have one friend w/ a non crappy computer).
4. I've moved the sound card multiple times, and even took the thing out.

I hope the cables do the trick, but I really don't see how an SATA cable would make my computer freeze in the middle of a game or just on the desktop. It never froze in HL:2 or source games so far, but it has in NFS:MW. I don't know if that's just luck or something, or if HL:2 just wants to work? I'm gonna try playing it some more, just to see.
 
Like everyone else has said it's either the PSU or the motherboard. I had very similar problems with an older Barton based system. Would run great once it booted but once it started playing games it would randomly crash. Took me a long time to narrow it down to a faulty AGP slot. Buy an Antec power tester...best cheap piece of equipment you can buy. Then if it's not the PSU then replace the motherboard without causing yourself too much more grief over it.

Don't give up on it...everyone has had a build that has been a pain....
 
I'm just hoping the guy is at his shop tomorrow (why have a shop if you can't offer service :p). And then if my PSU is fine, I'll send in the mobo. What should I tell newegg? It was DOA? It was just defective, but still halfway worked?
 
ive returned a 6600gt cuz i needed the money, they didnt question me :D


-shig
 
i did have to pay to ship it back, Im sorry to say I cant remeber for certain if i payed restocking fees , it was over a year and a half ago, but I THINK I payed somewhere in the 30 dollar range for restocking, but i got a refund, not asking for a replacment

the website says "We offer RMA Replacement without any restocking fee to support customers who have received a defective product."

so you wont have to pay for restocking if you want a replacement :D [but you willhave to pay to send it back :( ]


-shig
 
I would still be suspicious of the RAM. I was having REALLY weird stability problems, random BSOD and lockups and such. No problems booting though. I ram Memtest multiple times (over 20 passes throughout the course of the problem) and it never found an error. I decided to run Prime95 (whichever stress test does the most memory, I think it is the large FFTs). It errored in around 20 minutes. What had happened? I had set my memory timings to 2-2-5-2 or something instead of 2-2-2-5 *oops*

It was just a tiny bit of instability, which caused completely random problems. I was dead set on it being the video card because 70% of the errors happened in the nv4_disp.dll

I would try raising the voltage on your chipset, memory, and processor a notch just to make sure that doesn't help. Also double check your timings and make sure you dont have a stupid mistake like mine, they can be tricky to catch sometimes.
 
Pretty sure the RAM is fine. And I doubt that would cause the booting problems anyway, right? And I have changed the vcore voltage and some other stuff suggested at other forums. I am pretty much getting a unanimous (I probably butchered that, hey its late >_>) vote on the PSU or mobo, and the PSU is hopefully getting checked tomorrow. However, if the PSU is fine, and the mobo is fine, and it does end up being the RAM, then I will have to thank you :D
 
well...

i recenly upgraded to 1gb of ram from 512mb, and instead of doing what i should have, i was a cheap bastard and bought another 512 mb of ram of the same ram, but it was a diff revision, [the other stick was a year old 0.o]. soooooo anyway i installed it and found 2 things:
1. i could push my fsb from 223 to 249 whil remainng completely stable
2. the newer revision was running a 166/200 divider automatically becuse of the timings [2.5-3-3-8] which [since i was a cheap bastard before] i couldnt adjust, nor turn of the divider

but the lesson is that while the ram may not affect the boot, it can certianly affect stablity.

on the other hand, memtest and prime95 caught the errors/instability so this whole post could mean nothing * smack * oh well.... :rolleyes:


-shig :D
 
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