Newly built computer doesn't turn on.

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Skizzy

Supreme [H]ardness
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Nov 28, 2006
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So, my friend built his first computer. I tried helping him out over the phone as much as I could seeing as it was 2am. He plugs everything in, tries to turn it on, and it doesn't turn on. No little fan spins, and no LED lights at the front.

I come over the next day to see what I could do, and first thing I do is take his new RAM out (I gave him my old RAM) to see if that might be the problem. No go. Then I try is to reset the CMOS. Doesn't work. I also checked to see if anything was shorting out on the motherboard, but all looks well.

So then we are just looking around to see if we forgot anything, and he discovered one of the pins on the 20+4 pin connector is missing. Could this be the problem? I have a strong feeling it is. It's unfortunate too, since he ordered it from Newegg. When flipping the switch to turn on the PSU, the lights flicker like it's getting power, but since the cord is missing a pin, maybe it's not giving power.

Could this be why it's not turning on? I thought of going to Best Buy to try out one of their new Power Supplies, but he has no money. His old PSU is also really old, so I didn't want to risk his components with that thing.

Thanks in advance.
 
What are the specs of his system? We need as much detail as possible.
 
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
XClio 500W
E4500
G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2-800
Seaagate Barracuda 7200.10 250gb
eVGA 7900GS.

Thanks, enginurd :D
 
Should boot fine. Pull it out of the case to test it.

/*------------- <cut n paste> -------------*/
If you have both the 20/24 pin main ATX connector plugged in, AND the 4-Pin ATX12V P4 CPU connector plugged in, then the board should boot fine.

You could test the PSU. Jump start it (on the main atx connector, short the green wire with any black wire, using a paperclip), and see if it stays on. If not, then its probably a faulty PSU. If it works then proceed (though, in rare cases, it may still be the PSU at fault).

Setup everything outside of the case, with the mobo on top of its cardboard box. Plug in only the essentials:
- PSU (namely: main 20/24-pin ATX connector and 4-pin ATX12V P4 CPU Connector)
- CPU w/ HSF
- Single stick of ram
- Videocard if there is no onboard video
- Monitor
- Keyboard
- System speaker/buzzer

* Use a screwdriver if your board doesnt have an onboard power switch. Jump the two power switch leads to turn the power on.

If it won't POST, try different RAM slots. If it still won't POST, pull out the ram (so no ram in the system) and listen for error beeps. If none, pull the vidcard and listen for error beeps. If none, re-seat the CPU/HSF and try again. Report back with results if you're still having issues.
/*------------- </cut n paste> -------------*/

The missing pin on the ATX24 connector shouldn't be an issue.
 
Best thing to do is just test the PSU, CPU, and motherboard together with nothing else connected. You do not need to insert ram, keyboard, mouse, monitor, GPU, or anything else. You do not need to have your CPU installed either since you just want to see if your PSU and motherboard turns on and stay on. Once you have determine that those three (PSU/GPU/motherboard) components are working you can add other parts piece by piece to see what is causing the problem. You can turn on the motherboard by shorting the "Power On" pins (2) with something metal. If that does not work, separately test the PSU/motherboard on a good system. If the motherboard turns on, you'll know by error beeps because of no ram. At least then you'll know that those 3 components are working . There is a way to test your PSU by itself, however I do not recommend it if you do not know. Plug in the AC power cord to the outlet and connect it to your power supply. Take a paper clip and make a U shape. Find the pin with the green wire and the pin with the black wire. Connect the two wires with your paper clip and your PSU should turn on (fan). If your PSU turns on then your PSU should be operational. I do not know if this works for all PSU. Good luck.
 
This may sound stupid, but have you checked the connections for the power/reset buttons?
 
All is well. Turns out it was shorting out. Apparently he didn't take out the case screws and they were still in the old mobo! Heh.

Thanks for the replies folks.
 
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