Upgraded PC not posting?

[discontentedfish]

Hello everyone, wondering if any of you could help me with this rather frustrating problem?

I've just got a new m/board and PCI-E graphics card to upgrade my PC (Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe 939 NF4 Dual x16 SLi DDR400 SATAII Raid 2xGbE Lan 8Ch Audio and 512Mb Asus PCI-E 7800GTX 2DHTV) and am reusing all the hardware from my previous build (AMD64 3500+ CPU, 2x80Gb HDD, 4x512mb DDR400 ram, 2xAOpen DVD Writers) as well as the case. When I first set it up I was still using the old PS as well (430W) and the system didn't post at all, just sat there with the fans running. I guessed that the PS couldn't handle the load so I got a new 600W Jeantech one and the system still won't boot. I've triple-checked all the connections and everything's in properly, and I've also tried removing the m/board from the case and setting the bare minimum up on the mb box.

The only thing I can think of that could be a problem is that when I was taking the CPU off the old board it was stuck so tight to the heatsink that when I pulled the heatsink out the cpu was pulled out of the socket without raising the release lever, and I had to prise it off the base of the heatsink after. I guess it's possible that the cpu's wrecked but I thought that this would come up with a post error and there's nothing. I was planning on upgrading the cpu soon anyway so don't mind getting a new one but I just want to make sure there isn't anything else I might be missing, so I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[ski]

If the 'bare minimum' refers to installing just the PS, MB, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, video card, monitor, and KB, then reseat the video card making sure it's fully seated(sometimes they need a good push to fully seat), and insert each RAM stick one at a time in each of the slots.

If no luck, then did you clean off the old thermal compound/thermal pad from the CPU die and the heatsink?
If you did, then reinstall the CPU and the remaining bare minumum components on the old MB.
If there's a display, then the new MB is probably bad.

If there's no display with the old MB, then the CPU is probably bad. And there will be no display if it is. Suggest replacing it.

 

[gbaughma]

The only thing I can think of that could be a problem is that when I was taking the CPU off the old board it was stuck so tight to the heatsink that when I pulled the heatsink out the cpu was pulled out of the socket without raising the release lever, and I had to prise it off the base of the heatsink after.

Ummm... yeah... you probably wrecked the CPU. If pulling it out of the ZIF socket didn't ruin it, by busting a few pins internally, then prying the heat sink off afterwards probably flexed the chip enough to do some damage.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[LawnBoy]

On the Dell Optiplex (270, 280), you have no choice but to pull the proc out of the socket, then pry the sink off of it (b/c the sink covers the release lever and won't allow it to be raised). Dell will even tell you to do it...

It's just wrong, but I've gotten away with it several times. By no means am I saying it's OK to do this.

 

[dazzaboy]

Def sounds like the CPU to me.

I was going to post a new topic regarding the exact same problem but you've described it for me so may aswell enter it here.

Just in process of repairing a mates machine which had a blown PSU and wrecked mobo. After replacing both, the fans are spinning on power up but no POST or anything on screen. He was having serious overheating issues on his old mobo before the PSU blew, so I think the CPU has burnt itself out.

Need to test with a known working chip to double check tho.

Hope this helps..

 

[BadFrog]

On the Dell Optiplex (270, 280), you have no choice but to pull the proc out of the socket, then pry the sink off of it (b/c the sink covers the release lever and won't allow it to be raised). Dell will even tell you to do it...

It's just wrong, but I've gotten away with it several times. By no means am I saying it's OK to do this.

Yep I've done this dozens of times and have yet to ruin a CPU. Bent a few pins but not bad enough to break.


"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein

 

[discontentedfish]

Thanks for the help everyone, problem's solved now...

Turns out that when I pulled the cpu out a couple of the pins were bent out of line and didn't fit in the socket properly when I put it in the new board - never noticed at the time for some daft reason. Just had to bend the pins back in shape & managed to get it to sit in the socket properly and now it's running perfectly. The moral it seems is to pay attention when dealing with a grands worth of hardware