Just built my new computer for the first time yesterday and it took me 5 hours to find out it won't even turn on. Here are the specs of my pc:

Asus PowerUp Case ATX w/ 450 Watt PSU
Asus A8SX Motherboard w/ AMD Athlon X2 processor 2.0ghz
512mb DDR RAM
80gb HDD Western Digital Caviar
120mm Fan installed on rear panel
E-GeForce 256 Graphics Card
DVD double layer burner


Here's how it's hooked up as of now:

1. PSU w/ 80mm fan was pre-installed on the case
2. Motherboard is screwed *directly* onto the metal part of the case (I know it's bad setup, I need help what a spacer looks like)
3. Optical Drive & HDD are connected to a single ATA cable (jumper settings are on CableSelect)
4. CPU Fan is successfully installed on top of AMD processor
5. Video card is connected via PCI-Express (no cables connected to it)
6. Front panel cables are connected (not sure if they're in appropriate places)
7. Optical Drive and HDD are connected to power cables provided by the PSU
8. Motherboard is connected to the power supply (20-24 pin & 4 pin power cable)
9. Memory is installed firmly
10. Case is plugged in (at first we tried using 230v [I'm in US] and then it didn't power up so we tried 115V and it still didn't power up)

Everything is new and right out of the box. I believe it is because of my amateure setup but because I am, I don't know where the source of the problem is.

Please help me!

Assuming you did it all right. This is what you can try to troubleshoot.

1. Disconnect everything on the motherboard, leave only
a. CPU
b. RAM
c. Power
d. Power Switch connection

2. Check if you mother has a standby light (LED), normally red, should lit up once you plug in the power, even without turning it on. 3. If you board has the LED, and it's not lit, then you need to check your power supply or motherboard.
3. If your board has no LED, you can try turn it on now. Take note of the CPU fan, see if it turn. In some cases, the fan might turn a bit, then goes off, which indicate problem with board.
4. If it turns on with bare minimum connection, then you need to plug in the other devices one by one why testing it at each step to find out which device causes the problem
5. If nothing works out, you are left with 2 option,
a.If you have a digital multi meter, try measure the standby voltage on the 20/24 pin connector. Purple and Black, should be 5V +/- 0.25V
b.Get another power supply to try, you don't need to screw the power supply into the casing to test it

If you're not sure of the connection, the most important and easily mistaken one is the power switch connector. Check your manual on that. You can also connect the reset switch to the power switch position, in case the power switch failed.

Good luck

<some duplicate info here as i wasn't quick enough to respond before faultylee>
it's a bit sketchy information, but how about the following:
Does your graphics card need to have a power cable attached to it? quite a few nowadays have a high power requirement, and have a 4 pin plug.
That's minor, but i think what the cause of the problem is, is your #6. You've got to check that those are correct, otherwise pushing the power and reset buttons on the case won't do anything. Your motherboard manual should say where all the cables are supposed to plug in to. then just trace the wires from the buttons to the plugs at the ends, if you're not sure which is which, and plug them according to the manual.

This post has been edited by Grafitti: Apr 26 2007, 05:05 PM

Actually that won't make the system not power up. It will only cause it to turn on for a short period then off, or it won't boot or boot with a blank screen.

The power connector from the front panel to the motherboard is most likely the cause as mentioned earlier. But also take a look at the power supply itself. It should have an on/off switch in the back. Make sure it's not off

Ok, I've removed everything and replaced the wires and cables. Here are the observations after plugging it in:

1. When I plugged in the power cable to the PC, no lights turned on.
2. When I switched the PC to ON, the motherboard LED lit up, the power fan spun and then a second later it turned off.
3. When I pressed the POWER button on the front panel, nothing happened.

So.. what's the deal?

Well there could be a number of issues here.

What I would do, is first double check all the cables are hooked up correctly. Make sure that nothing is missing from anything.

The fact that it is turning on for a second, and then nothing, indicates that something isn't really letting the computer get as far as the POST....I would make sure that the CPU is correctly installed and look at all the jumper settings, one jumper set incorrectly could cause the issue.

Once you have done that if you are still having problems, let us know....

Well, it has been a while since I've dealt with such problems and without a look at your connections and of course the MB schematic, it is hard to get an idea. If your MB LED is coming on and the fans spin up, then you could have the following issue or issues.
Your system immeadiately is failing the POST
- Misconnected component or non-configured essential component.
- Power switch connector incorrectly attached.
- Reset switch connector incorrectly attached.

Here is where I would start. Locate your MB manual! find the section that covers your BIOS setting jumper configuration. Configure your jumpers for setup mode for your BIOS. Some motherboards require this to tell the BIOS how to start the BOOT process. It allows you to configure memory, drive, and other boot options. It will jump to the BIOS setup screen as soon as POST is complete without the need to F2, F1, or Esc...

If the system still won't POST, then double check the front panel connections. Some cases have unidirectional power and reset switches. Be sure that they are connected to the correct pins and the positive and negative leads are in the right position. Check all of the front panel wires. There are probably several white wires paired with various other colored wired. For example, Red/White, Green/White, Blue/White, Orange/White... In this case, the non-white wire is positive usually. The motherboard may have a single pin marked for positive or negative! This is relative! If from your point of view, the right pin is marked as positive, then the positve lead should be on the right side for every connection. Your motherboard manual will have much more information.

Be sure that you have a keyboard and monitor connected before power-up. Failure to do so will cause the system to fail POST.
These are essential components and must be properly attached. For monitor problems, you need to be sure that the BIOS has properly identified the graphics card which will require the BIOS setup jumper configuration I already explained.

Generally difficult to do but if you install the processor, memory, or graphics card incorrectly, you won't POST. On some newer MB's, if you install the CPU fan incorrectly, you won't post. Be sure that the fan tachometer is connected correctly if a seperate lead is used. If the BIOS detects that the CPU fan isn't working correctly, then you couls fail to POST.

As suggested before, I would disconnect everything except for the following:
Keyboard
Monitor
1 Hard Drive
1 Floppy Drive (if available)

If you still can't POST, disconnect ALL drives as well.

Finally, let us know what you have found...
Any beeps?

vujsa

yes, you're absolutely right. I was just thinking of what other side things could be forgotten, since he said he was new at this.

So, that means the power supply is working. Most likely the board also working. Now you should try check your power switch connection "6. Front panel cables are connected (not sure if they're in appropriate places)"

Remove all connection, connect only the power switch one. If still doesn't work, put the reset switch one to the board as the power switch, and press the reset to on the pc.